The FKMM-invariant in low dimension (Q1635786)

The present paper derives from previous publications by the authors [Commun. Math. Phys. 339, No. 1, 1--55 (2015; Zbl 1326.57047) and J. Geom. Phys. 124, 124--164 (2018; Zbl 1390.57017)]. The latter publication on the cohomological nature of the Fu-Kane-Male invariant can be considered as the main reference and the departure point for the present analysis of the classification of ``quaternionic'' vector bundles in low dimension. Both the Introduction and Section 3 give a self-contained introduction to ``real'' and ``quaternionic'' vector bundles, whose origin is explained and set against the traditional complex or real vector bundles. The FKMM-invariant, its construction and main properties are outlined as well. In Section 2 an overview of varied physical motivation is given for the present study. The main objective of the paper is the surjectivity of the FKMM-invariant in low dimension (\(d\geq 3\)) which extends the previously given proof of its injectivity. Technically that amounts to a demonstration that there exists a characteristic class, here called the FKMM-invariant, which takes value in the relative equivariant Borel cohomology and completely classifies ``quaternionic'' vector bundles in low dimension. That comprises an extended Section 4 of the paper, with a detailed discussion of the \(d=0,1\), next the \(d=2\) and ultimately the \(d=3\) cases. The last section of the paper discusses the case of the three-dimensional lens space and aims at proving that the related FKKM-invariant fails to be surjective.