Generating functions and topological complexity (Q2182482)

In the present paper TC\(_r(X)\) (\(r\geq 2\)) denotes the higher topological complexity introduced by \textit{Y. B. Rudyak} [Topology Appl. 157, No. 5, 916--920 (2010; Zbl 1187.55001)]. Note that the authors use the reduced version, i.e., \(\text{TC}_r(X)=0\) if and only if \(X\) is contractible. In [\textit{M. Farber} and \textit{J. Oprea}, Topology Appl. 258, 142--160 (2019; Zbl 1412.55003)] it was conjectured that, for any finite CW-complex \(X\) the formal power series \(\mathcal{F}_X(x)=\sum_{r\geq 1}\text{TC}_{r+1}(X)\cdot x^r\) is a rational function of the form \[\dfrac{P_X(x)}{(1-x)^2},\] where the numerator \(P_X(x)\) is an integer polynomial satisfying \(P_X(1)=\text{cat}(X)\). The principal theorem of this paper is as follows: Theorem 1. Let \(X\) be a connected finite CW-complex such that for all large \(r\) one has \(\text{TC}_r(X)=\text{zcl}_r(H^\ast(X;\mathbb{K}))\) where \(\mathbb{K}\) is a field. Then the power series \(\mathcal{F}_X(x)\) is a rational function of the form \(\dfrac{P_X(x)}{(1-x)^2}\) where \(P_X(x)\) is an integer polynomial satisfying \(P_X(1)=\text{cl}(H^\ast(X;\mathbb{K}))\). Here \(\text{cl}(H^\ast(X;\mathbb{K}))\) denotes \textit{the cup-length} of \(H^\ast(X;\mathbb{K})\), i.e. the largest number of elements of \(H^\ast(X;\mathbb{K})\) of positive degree with nonzero product. The number \(\text{zcl}_r(H^\ast(X;\mathbb{K}))\) is the \textit{r-th zero-divisors-cup-length} of \(H^\ast(X;\mathbb{K})\), i.e. the longest nontrivial product of elements of \(\text{Ker}(\mu_r)\), with \(\mu_r:H^\ast(X;\mathbb{K})^{\otimes r}\to H^\ast(X;\mathbb{K})\) given by \(\mu_r(a_1\otimes\cdots\otimes a_r)=a_1\cdots a_r\). Moreover, the authors show that the above conjecture is false, namely they show that for a specific connected finite CW-complex \(X\) the power series \(\mathcal{F}_X(x)\) is a rational function as above, however the value \(P_X(1)=\text{cl}(H^\ast(X;\mathbb{K}))<\text{cat}(X)\) (\(\mathbb{K}\) is a field).