A note on the homotopy type of the Alexander dual (Q742818)

Let \(K\) be a finite simplicial complex and \(K^*\) its Alexander dual with respect to some ground set \(V\) containing all the vertices of \(K\). Alexander duality asserts that \(\widetilde{H}_i(K)\cong \widetilde{H}^{n-i-3}(K^*)\) where \(n\) is the size of \(V\). It is well known that while the homology of \(K\) determines the homology of \(K^*\), the homotopy type of \(K\) does not determine the homotopy type of \(K^*\). In the paper under review, the authors are easily able to show that for every finitely presented group \(G\), there exists a simply-connected complex \(K\) such that \(K^*\) with respect to some ground set \(V\) satisfies \(\pi_1(K^*)\cong G\). They go on to give an example of a simplicial complex with the homotopy type of a sphere whose dual is not homotopy equivalent to a sphere. However, if \(K\) simplicially collapses to the boundary of a simplex, then the authors are able to show that \(K^*\) is homotopy equivalent to a sphere. The paper concludes with applications of their Alexander duality theory to certain constructions on reduced lattices.