No label defined (Q4953600)

A Poincaré \(n\)-complex is a connected cell complex \(X\) with a local system \(^w\mathbb{Z}\) (determined by a homomorphism \(w:\pi_1(X)\to\{\pm 1\}\)) and an orientation class \([X]\in H_n(X;^w\mathbb{Z})\) such that cap product with \([X]\) induces isomorphisms of cohomology and homology in complementary dimensions, for any local coefficient module. Such complexes reflect the homotopy properties of manifolds, and play a central role in the reduction of questions of geometric topology to homotopy theory. The author has been one of the leading proponents of the view that Poincaré complexes should be studied consistently in the homotopy category (rather than by representing them by manifold thickenings and using manifold topology), and this paper surveys some of the major results on Poincaré complexes from this perspective. The first two sections give the basic definitions and some variants (pairs, finite, simple), and some examples of basic constructions. Two proofs of the existence of Spivak normal fibrations are given in Section 3, the original proof of Spivak and one based on equivariant \(S\)-duality. Approaches to classifying Poincaré complexes of very low dimensions (\(\leq 3\)), 1-connected Poincaré 4- and 5-complexes and highly connected high dimensional complexes are outlined in Section 4. Some ideas towards a classification in the metastable range are also sketched. Section 5 describes some results on Poincaré embeddings in codimension 3, including recent results of the author. The final section is on Poincaré surgery, a technique which does not yet seem to have fulfilled initial expectations. There is also an appendix reviewing the status of the finite \(H\)-space question (whether every such space is homotopy equivalent to a closed smooth manifold). Reviewer's remark: The study of Poincaré 3-complexes has largely been reduced to the aspherical and finite fundamental group cases, by work of \textit{V. G. Turaev} [Math. USSR, Sb. 67, No. 1, 261-282 (1990); translation from Mat. Sb. 180, No. 6, 809-830 (1989; Zbl 0693.57013)] and \textit{J. S. Crisp} [Comment. Math. Helv., to appear]. For the entire collection see [Zbl 0933.00057].