On the number of simplices required to triangulate a Lie group (Q2661708)

An open cover \({\mathcal V}\) of a space \(X\) is called \textit{good} if all elements of \({\mathcal V}\) and all their non-empty finite intersections are contractible. Clearly, a triangulation \(K\) of a space \(X\) yields a good cover where the open sets are the open stars on each vertex. The \textit{strict cover type} of \(X\), denoted by \(\mathrm{sct}(X)\), is the number \(\min\{\#({\mathcal V}) : {\mathcal V}\) is a good cover of \(X\}\). The \textit{covering type} of \(X\), denoted by \(\mathrm{ct}(X)\), is the number \(\min\{\mathrm{sct}(Y) : Y\) is homotopy equivalent to \(X\}\). For a simplicial complex \(K\), \(f_i(K)\) denotes the number of \(i\)-simplices in \(K\) for \(i\geq 0\). For a space \(X\), let \(\Delta^{\simeq}(X) =\min\{f_0(K) : K\) is a simplicial complex and \(|K|\) is homotopy equivalent to \(X\}\). \textit{D. Govc}, \textit{W. Marzantowicz} and \textit{P. Pavešić} [Discrete Comput. Geom. 63, No. 1, 31--48 (2020; Zbl 1431.55003)] showed that if \(X\) has the homotopy of a finite polyhedron then \(\mathrm{ct}(X) = \Delta^{\simeq}(X)\). Thus, for a triangulation \(K\) of a space \(X\) we get \(f_0(K) \geq \mathrm{ct}(X)\). Therefore, for the minimal triangulation problem, it is very useful to know \(\mathrm{ct}(X)\) (or a good lower bound of \(\mathrm{ct}(X)\)) for any space \(X\). Govc, Marzantowicz and Pavešić [loc. cit.] also showed that if there are elements \(x_k \in H^{i_k}(X)\) with \(x_k>0\), \(k= 1, \dots, \ell\) such that \(x_1\cdot x_2\cdot\cdots\cdot x_{\ell}\neq 0\) then \(\mathrm{ct}(X) \geq \ell +1 + \sum_{k=1}^{\ell}ki_k\). In this article under review, the authors consider compact Lie groups. If \(G\) is a compact simple Lie group of rank \(\ell\) and dimension \(d\) then they show that \(\mathrm{ct}(G) \geq (\ell+1)(d+2)/2+(\theta+\theta^2)\ell^2-2\theta\), where \(\theta = \{(d- \ell)/2 \ell\}\) is the fractional part of \((d- \ell)/2 \ell\). They also show that (i) \(\mathrm{ct}(U(n)) \geq (4n^3 +3n^2 +5n+12)/6\), (ii) \(\mathrm{ct}(SU(n))\geq (4n^3 -3n^2 +5n+6)/6\), (iii) \(\mathrm{ct(Sp}(n)) \geq (8n^3 + 13n^2 + 11n + 12)/6\), (iv) \(\mathrm{ct}(SO(n)) \geq (4n^3 + 3n^2 + 5n + 12)/6\), (v) the covering types of the exceptional Lie groups \(G_2\), \(F_4\), \(E_6\), \(E_7\) and \(E_8\) have the lower bounds 44, 259, 486, 1288 and 5870, respectively, (vi) the covering type of a closed symplectic manifold of (real) dimension \(2m\) is \(\geq (m + 1)^2\). They find a lower bound for the number of facets (maximal simplices) of any triangulation of these spaces.