On the Betti numbers of the free loop space of a coformal space (Q5939614)

For \(X\) a simply connected finite CW-complex, coformal with \(\dim \pi_*(X)\times Q =\infty\), the author proves that the sequence of rational Betti numbers of its free loop space, \[ \max_{n\leq k}(\dim H_n(X^{S^1}, Q))_{n\geq 1} \] has an exponential growth. In terms of closed geodesics, since the Betti numbers of the free loop space on a simply connected closed Riemannian manifold bound below the number of closed geodesics, the author deduces that on hyperbolic coformal manifolds, the number of closed geodesics of length \(\leq t\) grows exponentially with \(t\). Even if the space is not coformal there is a spectral sequence which can give some information on the Betti numbers of its free loop space. The methods used in this paper permit the author to prove a dichotomy theorem for the growth of Hochschild homology of graded Lie algebras of finite-dimensional cohomology.