On rack cohomology. (Q1861467)

A rack is a set provided with a binary operation subject to axioms that abstract the main properties of the conjugation in a group. Racks were used in topology because they give rise to solutions of the quantum Yang-Baxter equation. There exist rack cohomology theories as well; with different levels of generality, they can be found in \textit{J. S. Carter, D. Jelsovsky, S. Kamada}, and \textit{M. Saito} [J. Pure Appl. Algebra 157, No. 2-3, 135-155 (2001; Zbl 0977.55013)], \textit{J. S. Carter, M. Elhamdadi}, and \textit{M. Saito} [Algebr. Geom. Topol. 2, 95-135 (2002; Zbl 0991.57005)], \textit{N. Andruskiewitsch} and \textit{M. Graña} [Adv. Math. 178, No. 2, 177-243 (2003; Zbl 1032.16028)], \textit{N. Jackson} [Extensions of racks and quandles, math.CT/0408040]. In the present paper, the authors show that the lower bounds for Betti numbers given by \textit{J. S. Carter} et al. [Zbl 0977.55013] are in fact equalities. They also compute the Betti numbers for the cohomology introduced by \textit{J. S. Carter} et al. [Zbl 0991.57005]. Finally, they also give a group-theoretical interpretation of the second cohomology group for racks. This second cohomology group plays a rôle in the classification of pointed Hopf algebras, see \textit{M. Graña} [J. Algebra 231, No. 1, 235-257 (2000; Zbl 0970.16017)].