Equivariant basic cohomology of Riemannian foliations (Q1628517)

This paper is an investigation of the relationship between the basic cohomology of a Riemannian foliation $\mathcal F$ on a manifold $M$ and that of the union $C$ of the closed leaves of $\mathcal F$. In particular, when $M$ is simply connected the authors prove that the total basic Betti number of $(C, \mathcal F)$ is less than or equal to the total basic Betti number of $(M,\mathcal F)$, and give necessary and sufficient conditions for equality. Moreover, they determine the basic cohomology of $(M,\mathcal F)$ either when there exists a basic Morse-Bott function whose critical set is $C$ or if the space of the closure of the leaves of $\mathcal F$ is a simple, convex polytope. \par As an intermediary the authors study the $\mathfrak {a}$-equivariant basic cohomology $H^*_{\mathfrak{a}}(M,\mathcal{F})$ where $\mathfrak{a}$ is the structural Killing Lie algebra of $(M,\mathcal{F})$ which acts on $M$ with fixed point set $C$.