Minimax problems related to cup powers and Steenrod squares (Q841091)

Let \(Z(k,n)\) denote the space of mod-2 (flat, relative, Lipschitz) the \(k\)-cycles in the unit \(n\)-ball. By a family of \(k\)-cycles parametrized by a simplicial complex \(X\), we mean a continuous map \(F: X \to Z(k,n)\). We say that a cohomological class \(\alpha\in H^*(Z(k,n);\mathbb Z/2)\) is detected by \(F\) if \(F^*(\alpha)\neq 0\), and define \(\mathbb F(a)\) to be the set of all families of cycles that detect \(\alpha\). Given \(C\in Z(k,n)\), we say that \(C\in F\) if \(C=F(x)\) for some \(x\in X\) We define a minimax volume for the cohomology class \(\alpha\) by the formula \[ {\mathbb V}(\alpha) = \inf_{F \in {\mathbb F}(\alpha)} \sup_{C \in F} \text{Volume}(C). \] In order to investigate the behaviour of \({\mathbb V}(\alpha)\) when \(\alpha\) varies, the author constructs the ``fundamental'' class \(a(k,n)\in H^{n-k}(Z(k,n), \mathbb Z/2)\). The main property of \(a(k,n)\) is that \(\langle a(k,n), z\rangle\neq 0\) iff \(z\in Z(k,n)\) sweeps out the unit ball. Gromov proved existence of some estimates for \(V(a(k,n))\): these estimates do not depend on the metric. Informally, these results are similar to those for systoles via Lusternik-Schnirelmann theory. The author uses Steenrod operations and proves the universal upper and lower bounds for \[ {\mathbb V}(Sq_0^{Q_0}\cdots Sq_{n-k-1}^{Q_{n-k-1}}a(k,n)) \] (Theorem 2), where \(Sq_a^B\) denotes the \(B\)-th iteration of the lower Steenrod operation \(Sq_a\).