Nilpotency in instanton homology, and the framed instanton homology of a surface times a circle (Q1790259)

The instanton homology of a surface times a circle with bundle whose second Stiefel-Whitney class is Poincaré dual to the circle plays an important role in the general structure of instanton homology. It is equipped with a ring structure computed by \textit{V. Muñoz} in [Topology 38, No. 3, 517--528 (1999; Zbl 0927.57032)]. When the bundle is non-trivial, the instanton homology comes with a degree four endomorphism \(u\), which is an isomorphism. Using Muñoz's ring one can see the nilpotency of \(u^2 - 64\) for non-trivial admissible bundles. The authors investigate the degree of this nilpotency. The second result regards the mapping cone of the endomorphism \(u^2-64\) on Muñoz's ring. This is related to the framed instanton homology of a surface times a circle. The authors compute the framed instanton homology of a surface times a circle with non-trivial bundle.