Polynomial Eulerian characteristic of nilmanifolds (Q6545153)

The author gives a comprehensive description of the geometry and algebraic topology of the nilmanifold \(M^n = L^n /\Gamma^n\) with \(L^n\) the Lie group of polynomials \(p(t) = t + x_1t^2 + \cdots + x_nt^{n+1}\) with \(x_i \in \mathbb{R}\) and \(\Gamma^n\) the integer lattice with all \(x_i \in \mathbb{Z}.\) Results include the identification of the tangent bundle, the bigraded de Rham complex, the ring structure of \(H^*(M^n; \mathbb{R})\) including the symplectic structure in even degrees, and the Gysin sequence for \(M^n\) arising from Poincaré duality. Explicit calculations are given in low-dimensional cases. The main result is the definition and calculation of the polynomial Euler characteristic \(\chi(s; M^n)\) defined by means of a bigraded exterior algebra model for \(H^*(M^n; \mathbb{R})\).