Rational homotopy theory of automorphisms of manifolds (Q2175211)

Let \(M\) be a simply connected, smooth manifold of dimension \(n\geq5\) with boundary \(\partial M=S^{n-1}\), and let \(\text{aut}_{\partial}(M),\widetilde{\text{Diff}}_{\partial}(M)\) and \(\text{Diff}_{\partial}(M)\) be the subgroups of homotopy automorphisms, block diffeomorphisms and diffeomorphisms of \(M\) that fix the boundary pointwise. In this paper, the authors study the rational homotopy types of their classifying spaces \(B\text{aut}_{\partial}(M),B\widetilde{\text{Diff}}_{\partial}(M)\) and \(B\text{Diff}_{\partial}(M)\) and calculate their rational cohomology for \(M\) a highly connected manifold. The rational homotopy groups \(\pi_*^{\mathbb{Q}}(M)=\pi_{*+1}(M)\otimes\mathbb{Q}\) of \(M\) equipped with the Whitehead product \([-,-]\) form a graded Lie algebra. Let \(V=s^{-1}\tilde{H}_*(M;\mathbb{Q})\) be the desuspension of reduced rational homology of \(M\), and let \(\mathbb{L}(V)\) be the free graded Lie algebra of \(V\). Then there exists a differential \(\delta\) on \(\mathbb{L}(V)\) such that \((\mathbb{L}(V),\delta)\) is a minimal Quillen model for \((\pi_*^{\mathbb{Q}}(M),[-,-])\). The inclusion \(S^{n-1}\hookrightarrow M\) of the boundary sphere is represented by a canonical element \(\omega\in\mathbb{L}(V)\). Let \(\text{Der}^+_{\omega}\mathbb{L}(V)\) be the dg Lie algebra of those positive degree derivations \(\theta\) on \(\mathbb{L}(V)\) such that \(\theta(\omega)=0\) and \[ [\theta,\psi]=\theta\circ\psi-(-1)^{|\psi|}\psi\circ\theta \] is zero if \(\psi\) is of degree 1. In Theorem 3.12 the authors show that \((\text{Der}^+_{\omega}\mathbb{L}(V),[\delta,-])\) is a dg Lie algebra model for \(B\text{aut}_{\partial,0}(M)\), the classifying space of the connected component of \(\text{aut}_{\partial}(M)\) containing the identity map. Let \(p_{i}(TM)\in H^{4i}(M;\mathbb{Q})\) be the Pontryagin classes of the tangent bundle \(TM\) of \(M\), and let \(q_i\in\pi_{4i-1}(\Omega BO)\) be the generator given by equation \(\langle{p_i,\sigma q_i}\rangle=1\). Denote \(P=\pi_{*}(\Omega BO)\otimes\mathbb{Q}\) and \[ \tau=\sum_ip_i(TM)\otimes q_i\in\tilde{H}^*(M;\mathbb{Q})\otimes P. \] The action of \(\text{Der}^+_{\omega}\mathbb{L}(V)\) on \(\mathbb{L}(V)\) induces an action on \[ \mathbb{L}(V)/[\mathbb{L}(V),\mathbb{L}(V)]\cong s^{-1}\tilde{H}_*(M;\mathbb{Q}) \] and hence on \(\tilde{H}_*(M;\mathbb{Q})\otimes P\). In Theorem 4.24 the authors show that dg Lie algebra \[ \mathcal{M}^{\tau}=\left(\tilde{H}^*(M;\mathbb{Q})\otimes P\right)_{\geq0}\rtimes_{\tau}\text{Der}^+_{\omega}\mathbb{L}(V), \] with differential \(\partial(x,\theta)=(\tau\cdot x,[\delta,\theta])\), is a dg Lie algebra model for \(B\widetilde{\text{Diff}}_{\partial,0}(M)\), the classifying space of the subgroup of block diffeomorphisms homotopic to the identity map. Then the authors apply these results to study the stable cohomology of automorphism groups of the generalized surfaces of genus \(g\), \[ M=M_{g,1}=\#^g(S^d\times S^d)\backslash\text{int}(D^{2d}). \] For \(2d\geq 6\) and \(k<\frac{1}{2}(g-4)\), \(H^k(B\text{Diff}(M_{g,1});\mathbb{Q}), H^k(B\widetilde{\text{Diff}}(M_{g,1});\mathbb{Q})\) and \(H^k(B\text{aut}(M_{g,1});\mathbb{Q})\) do not depend on the genus \(g\). This stabilization result for the first automorphism group was proved by Galatius and Randal-Williams and the other two cases are proved in this paper. Taking homotopy colimits of these automorphism groups gives a sequence of stable cohomology \[ H^*(B\text{aut}_{\partial}(M_{\infty,1});\mathbb{Q})\overset{J^*}{\longrightarrow}H^*(B\widetilde{\text{Diff}}_{\partial}(M_{\infty,1});\mathbb{Q})\overset{I^*}{\longrightarrow}H^*(B\text{Diff}_{\partial}(M_{\infty,1});\mathbb{Q}), \] where \(I^*\) and \(J^*\) are induced by inclusions \(I:B\text{Diff}_{\partial}(M_{g,1})\to B\widetilde{\text{Diff}}_{\partial}(M_{g,1})\) and \(J:B\widetilde{\text{Diff}}_{\partial}(M_{g,1})\to B\text{aut}_{\partial}(M_{g,1})\). Denote \(V_g=s^{-1}\tilde{H}_*(M_{g,1};\mathbb{Q})\), \(\mathfrak{g}_g=\text{Der}_{\omega}^+\mathbb{L}(V_g)\) and \(\mathfrak{a}_g=s^{-1}(\pi_{*+d}(BO)\otimes\mathbb{Q})\otimes\tilde{H}_d(V_g;\mathbb{Q})\). The intersection form induces an inner product \(\langle-,-\rangle\) on \(V_g\). Let \(\text{Aut}(V_g,\langle-,-\rangle)\) be its automorphism group. In Section 5 the authors show that there is an arithmetic subgroup \(\Gamma_g\) of \(\text{Aut}(V_g,\langle-,-\rangle)\) commensurable with \(\pi_1(B\text{aut}_{\partial}(M_{g,1}))\). Using the above results, they obtain isomorphisms \[ H^*(B\text{aut}_{\partial}(M_{\infty,1});\mathbb{Q})\cong H^*(\Gamma_{\infty};\mathbb{Q})\otimes H^*_{CE}(\mathfrak{g}_{\infty})^{\Gamma_{\infty}} \] and \[ H^*(B\widetilde{\text{Diff}}_{\partial}(M_{\infty,1});\mathbb{Q})\cong H^*(\Gamma_{\infty};\mathbb{Q})\otimes H^*_{CE}(\mathfrak{g}_{\infty}\oplus\mathfrak{a}_{\infty})^{\Gamma_{\infty}}, \] where \(H^*_{CE}(\mathfrak{g}_{\infty})\) and \(H^*_{CE}(\mathfrak{g}_{\infty}\oplus\mathfrak{a}_{\infty})\) are the Chevalley-Eilenberg cohomology and the actions of \(\Gamma_{\infty}\) on them are induced by the evident action of \(\Gamma_g\subset\text{Aut}(V_g,\langle-,-\rangle)\). By Borel's result \(H^*(\Gamma_{\infty};\mathbb{Q})\) is a polynomial ring. Furthermore, the authors express \(H^*_{CE}(\mathfrak{g}_{\infty})\) and \(H^*_{CE}(\mathfrak{g}_{\infty}\oplus\mathfrak{a}_{\infty})\) in terms of the graph homology, which are related to the cohomology \(H^*(A_{n,s})\) of outer automorphism groups of free groups. Here \(A_{n,s}\cong F^{s-1}_n\rtimes F_n\) denotes the group of homotopy classes of homotopy equivalences of a bouquet of \(n\) circles relative to \(s\) marked points. It is known that \(H^*(B\text{Diff}_{\partial}(M_{\infty,1});\mathbb{Q})\) is freely generated as a graded commutative algebra by classes \(\kappa_{e^np_{i_1}\cdots p_{i_s}}\) that correspond to certain monomials \(e^np_{i_1}\cdots p_{i_s}\) of degree greater than \(2d\) in \(H^*(BSO(2d);\mathbb{Q})=\mathbb{Q}[p_1,\ldots,p_{d-1},e]\). Comparing this known result to the above calculation, the authors reformulate \(H^*(B\text{Diff}_{\partial}(M_{\infty,1});\mathbb{Q})\) as freely generated as a graded commutative algebra by the Borel classes \(x_i\) and classes \(\tilde{\kappa}^{\xi}_{p_{i_1}\cdots p_{i_s}}\) that correspond to cycle classes \(\xi\in H_*(A_{n,s})\) and monomials \(p_{i_1}\cdots p_{i_s}\) satisfying certain conditions. Furthermore, they show that homomorphism \[ J^*:H^*(B\text{aut}_{\partial}(M_{\infty,1});\mathbb{Q})\to H^*(B\widetilde{\text{Diff}}_{\partial}(M_{\infty,1});\mathbb{Q}) \] is injective and the image is the subalgebra freely generated by the classes \(x_i\) and the classes \(\tilde{\kappa}^{\xi}\) for \(\xi\in H_*(A_{n,0};\mathbb{Q})\) and \(n\geq2\). On the other hand, the morphism \[ I^*:H^k(B\widetilde{\text{Diff}}_{\partial}(M_{\infty,1});\mathbb{Q})\to H^k(B\text{Diff}_{\partial}(M_{\infty,1});\mathbb{Q}) \] is surjective. Let \(\epsilon_{n,s}\) be a generator of \(H_0(A_{n,s})\). The authors conjecture that the subalgebra of \(H^*(B\widetilde{\text{Diff}}_{\partial}(M_{\infty,1});\mathbb{Q})\) generated by the Borel classes \(x_i\), where \(1\leq i\leq\frac{1}{2}d\), and the classes \(\tilde{\kappa}^{\epsilon_{n,s}}_{p_{i_1}\cdots p_{i_2}}\), maps isomorphically onto \(H^*(B\text{Diff}_{\partial}(M_{\infty,1});\mathbb{Q})\) under \(I^*\). In particular, \(I^*\) is an isomorphism for \(k<2d\) and it has a 1-dimensional kernel for \(k=2d\). If their conjecture is true, then the extra element \(\tilde{\kappa}^{\epsilon_{2,0}}\) associated with the generator of \(H_0(\text{Out}F_2;\mathbb{Q})\) could be the source of the failure of injectivity in degree \(2d\).