Rational smoothness, cellular decompositions and GKM theory (Q2636584)

Suppose that \({\mathbb C}^*\) acts on a smooth complete variety \(X\) with a finite number of fixed points \(x_1,x_2,\dots,x_s\). By \textit{A. Bialynicki-Birula} [Ann. Math. (2) 98, 480--497 (1973; Zbl 0275.14007)] \(X\) is a disjoint union of algebraic cells \(W_i=\{x\in X:\lim_{t\to 0} tx=x_i\}\). The B-B decomposition is also available for singular varieties, but then \(W_i\)'s are just locally closed algebraic sets. The author studies the situation, when the sets \(W_i\) at the fixed points (hence everywhere) are rational homology manifolds. He shows that the classes of closures of \(W_i\)'s form a dual basis of the equivariant cohomology with rational coefficients. The usual consequences follow: the odd cohomology of \(X\) vanishes and \(X\) is equivariantly formal (in the sense of \textit{M. Goresky} et al. [Invent. Math. 131, No. 1, 25--83 (1998; Zbl 0897.22009)]). The paper is motivated by an important class of examples provided by so called standard embeddings of an algebraic group \(G\subset X=\overline G\) considered e.g. in [\textit{M. Brion}, Mosc. Math. J. 8, No. 4, 647--666 (2008; Zbl 1170.14035)] with an action of \({\mathbb C}^*\subset Z(G)\).