Cohomology of generalized Dold spaces (Q2670100)

The aim is to calculate the mod 2 cohomology algebra of some generalized Dold spaces. \par Let \((X,J)\) be an almost complex manifold with a smooth involution \(\sigma: X \rightarrow X\) such that \(\operatorname{Fix}(\sigma)\) is nonempty. Assume that the differential of \(\sigma\) anti-commutes with \(J\). The space \(P(m,X):=\mathbb S^m \times X/\sim\), where \((v,x)\sim (-v,\sigma(x))\), is a generalized Dold manifold. This definition admits an obvious generalization to a much wider class of spaces; the resulting space \(P(S,X)\), where \(X\), \(S\) are arbitrary topological spaces (\(S\) is instead of the sphere \(\mathbb S^m\)), is called a generalized Dold space. When \(S\) and \(X\) are CW-complexes, satisfying certain requirements, then \(P(S,X)\) has a CW-structure. Under certain further hypotheses, the authors determine the mod 2 cohomology groups of \(P(S,X)\). More precisely, they determine the \(\mathbb Z_2\)-cohomology algebra when \(X\) is (i) a torus manifold whose torus orbit space is a homology polytope, (ii) a complex flag manifold. As an application, they compute the equivariant cohomology ring \(H^*_{\mathbb Z_2}(X;\mathbb Z_2)\). \par The authors also extend the validity of a formula for Stiefel-Whitney classes, obtained by \textit{A. Nath} and \textit{P. Sankaran} [Osaka J. Math. 56, No. 1, 75--90 (2019; Zbl 1417.57023)], in the case of generalized Dold manifolds.