Lifting classes for the fixed point theory of \(n\)-valued maps (Q2307613)

A multivalued function \(f:X\multimap X\) is called an \(n\)-valued map if it is continuous, that is, both upper and lower semicontinuous, and \(f(x)\) is an unordered set of \(n\) points of \(X\) for each \(x\in X\). Let \(F_n(X)=\{(x_1,\ldots,x_n)\mid i\neq j\text{ implies }x_i\neq x_j\}\) be the configuration space of \(n\) ordered points on \(X\), which is topologized as a subset of the \(n\)-fold Cartesian product of \(X\). Let \(D_n(X)=\{\{x_1,\ldots,x_n\}\mid i\neq j\text{ implies }x_i\neq x_j\}\) be the configuration space of \(n\) unordered points on \(X\), which is the orbit space of \(F_n(X)\) under the free action of the symmetric group \(\Sigma_n\). We can then view an \(n\)-valued map \(f:X\multimap X\) as a single-valued map \(f:X\rightarrow D_n(X)\). It is well known that the theory of lifting classes is a fundamental result in the Nielsen fixed point theory of a single-valued map. In contrast to the setting of single-valued maps, the lifting \(\tilde f:\tilde X\rightarrow \tilde D_n(X)\) of an \(n\)-valued map \(f:X\rightarrow D_n(X)\) to the universal covering spaces, for \(n>1\), is not a convenient object of study because the fixed point set of \(\tilde f\) is not defined since \(\tilde D_n(X)\neq\tilde X\). In this paper, the authors extend the theory of lifting classes and the Reidemeister number of single-valued maps of a finite polyhedron \(X\) to \(n\)-valued maps by replacing liftings to universal covering spaces by liftings with codomain an orbit configuration space, a structure recently introduced by \textit{M. A. Xicoténcatl} [Contemp. Math. 621, 113--132 (2014; Zbl 1333.57002)]. The liftings of an \(n\)-valued map \(f\) split into selfmaps of the universal covering space of \(X\) that are called lift-factors. An equivalence relation is then defined on the lift-factors of \(f\) and the number of equivalence classes is the Reidemeister number of \(f\). The authors prove that the \(n\)-valued Reidemeister number is an upper bound for the Nielsen number of an \(n\)-valued map. The authors also extend the Jiang subgroup to \(n\)-valued maps and use it to find conditions under which the Nielsen number of an \(n\)-valued map equals its Reidemeister number.