Configuration space models for spaces of maps from a Riemann surface to complex projective space (Q1423886)

Let \(M = M_g\) be a closed Riemann surface of genus \(g\), and let \(X\subseteq \mathbb{C}P^m\). Then for any \(f\in [M,X]\) (where \([M,X]\) denotes the set of pointed homotopy classes from \(M\) to \(X\)), \(\text{Map}_f^*(M,X)\) denotes the space of pointed maps in the pointed homotopy class of \(f\). In the special case \(X = \mathbb{C}P^{n-1}\), maps \(f\in [M,\mathbb{C}P^{n-1}]\cong \mathbb{Z}\) may be identified with integers \(d\). The purpose of this paper is to show that certain spaces related to configuration spaces can serve as homotopy-theoretical models for \(\text{Map}_d^*(M,\mathbb{C}P^{n-1})\) in a range of dimensions that increases with \(d\). Let \(SP^d(X)\) be the \(d\)th symmetric product of \(X\); a typical point \(\alpha\in SP^{d}(X)\) may be written as a sum \(\alpha = \sum d_i x_i\) where \(x_i\in X\), \(d_i\in \mathbb{Z}^+\) and \(\sum d_i = d\). The author filters \(SP^d(X)\) by the subspaces \(SP^d_n(X) = \{ \sum d_i x_i\, | \, d_i < n\;\forall i\}\) (thus, for example, \(SP^d_2(X)\) is the ordinary configuration space of \(d\) distinct points in \(X\) and \(SP^d_{d+1}(X)\) is simply \(SP^d(X)\)). Let \(M'\) denote the punctured manifold \(M - \{ x_0\}\). The main theorem shows that for \(g\geq 1\) and \(n\geq 2\), there is a map \(SP^d_n( M') \to \text{Map}_d^*(M,\mathbb{C}P^{n-1})\) which is a homology equivalence in a range of dimensions that tends to infinity as \(d\) increases. Since the colimit of the spaces \(\text{Map}_d^*(M,\mathbb{C}P^{n-1})\) is \(\text{Map}_0^*(M,\mathbb{C}P^{n-1})\), this result provides a sequence of increasingly good homology approximations of the latter space by finite-dimensional configuration-type spaces.