On pseudomanifolds with boundary. III (Q1333063)

The main result of this paper is a characterization of orientation preserving continuous closed paths in certain types of locally orientable pseudomanifolds. The following theorem, the proof of which takes up over one half of the paper and depends, in part on results in linking theory developed in the author's previous papers, is a fundamental step leading to the main result. Theorem: If \((X,A)\) is an \((n,p)\)-manifold in \(\mathbb{R}^{n + 1}\) with the prime \(p \geq 3\), then a continuous closed path in \(X - A\) preserves the orientation if and only if it preserves its banks, i.e. if and only if each of the (two) chains of banks associated to the path is closed (end where they begin). It is further shown, again relying on methods and results from the author's previous papers, that appropriate locally orientable topological \(n\)-pseudomanifolds are \((n,p)\)-manifolds. This and the theorem above imply: Main result: A continuous closed path in \(X - A\), where \((X, A)\) is a compact pair lying in \(\mathbb{R}^{n + 1}\) and homeomorphic to a locally orientable nonclosed topological \(n\)-pseudomanifold with boundary and without homologically singular interior points, preserves the orientation in the \((n,p)\)-manifold \((X,A)\), with the prime \(p \geq 3\), if and only if it preserves its banks.