Relating VFCs on thin compactifications (Q2324869)

In [J. Symplectic Geom. 17, No. 3, 703--752 (2019; Zbl 1467.53094)], the present authors used homology theories, including Steenrod and \(\check{\textrm{C}}\)ech homology, to define a relative fundamental homology class of a topological manifold \(M\) that has a thin compactification \(\overline{M} = M \cup S\), and they showed that their approach to fundamental classes applies to many of the moduli spaces studied in gauge theory and Gromov-Witten theory. A thin compactification of oriented \(d\)-dimensional topological manifold \(M\) is a compact Hausdorff space \(\overline M\) containing \(M\) such that \(S=\overline{M}\setminus M\) is a closed subset of codimension 2 in Steenrod homology \({}^SH_k(S)=0\), \(k>d-2\). There is an isomorphism \(\rho_M:{}^SH_d(\overline M;G)\to{}^SH_d(M;G)\) for any abelian coefficient group \(G\), where the fundamental class \([M]\) extends uniquely to a class of \(\left[\overline{M}\right]\in{}^SH_d(\overline M;G)\) by \(\rho_M\left[\overline{M}\right]=[M]\). By considering the moduli space \(\mathcal{M}\) of all pairs \((\varphi,p)\), where \(\varphi\) is a solution, modulo gauge, of some family of non-linear elliptic partial differential equations parameterized by the elements \(p\) in a Banach space \(\mathcal{P}\). The space \(\mathcal{M}\) embeds in one or more compactifications \(\overline{\mathcal{M}}\) such that \(\mathcal{M}\hookrightarrow\overline{\mathcal{M}}\), \(\overline{\pi}:\overline{\mathcal{M}}\to\overline{\mathcal{M}}\), and \(\pi:\overline{\mathcal{M}}\to\overline{\mathcal{M}}\), where \(\pi\) is differentiable and \(\overline{\pi}\) is proper and continuous. This determines an entire category \(\overline{\mathcal{M}}_\sigma\to\overline{\mathcal{M}}\) where \(\sigma\) is a proper continuous map from a path-connected space. The authors defined a relative fundamental class as a functor on this category associating a \(\check{\textrm{C}}\)ech homology class \(\left[\overline{\mathcal{M}}_\sigma\right]^{\text{rfc}}\in\check{\mathrm{H}}_*\left(\overline{\mathcal{M}}_\sigma\right)\) that satisfies a normalization condition. The normalization consists of the requirement that, for a dense set of \(p\in\mathcal{P}\), the fiber \(\overline{\mathcal{M}}_p=\pi^{-1}(p)\) over \(p\) is a thinly compactified manifold and that, taking \(\sigma\) to be the inclusion of \(p\), \(\left[\overline{\mathcal{M}}_p\right]^{\text{rfc}}\) is the fundamental class \(\left[\overline{\mathcal{M}}_p\right]\). The main result of the paper was the existence of a relative fundamental class under the assumption that it is a Fredholm stratified thin compatification. In this paper, the authors strengthen the existence result by replacing the stratification requirement by a covering condition which is much easier to show in applications. There are several existing and proposed methods of defining invariants in geometric analysis approaches to Gromov-Witten theory and other gauge theories. Some of these involve constructing a virtual fundamental class (VFC) similar to the relative fundamental class (RFC). The authors consider three (i) the standard definition using pseudo-cycles, (ii) the signed count of elements in a 0-dimensional cutdown moduli space, and (iii) the VFC defined by \textit{J. Pardon} in [Geom. Topol. 20, No. 2, 779--1034 (2016; Zbl 1342.53109)], and they prove three compatibility results. First, the authors extend the above results on the existence of a relative fundamental class. The construction involves a combination of Steenrod and \(\check{\textrm{C}}\)ech homologies, together with the Sard-Smale theorem. One of the results states that if a compactified moduli space is a Fredholm thin compactification, then it admits a unique relative fundamental class. Next, the authors relate the numerical invariants defined by an RFC to intersections of pseudo-cycles. They show that a pseudo-cycle determines a Steenrod homology class and relates it to the pushforward of the fundamental class of a thin compactification. It is shown that the geometric and homological intersection numbers of pseudo-cycles are equal. The first compatibility result states that, for maps from a Fredholm thin compactification, the pushforward of the RFC is equal in \(\check{\textrm{C}}\)ech homology to the pseudo-cycle class defined by the images of generic fibers. In particular, the numerical invariants defined by the RFC are equal to those defined by the pseudo-cycle approach. The second compatibility result relates the relative fundamental classes of the original moduli space and the cutdown space. Finally, the authors prove the third compatibility result stating that the relative fundamental classes agree with Pardon's virtual fundamental classes for thin families that admit an implicit atlas.