Euler homology (Q883106)

This paper gives a geometric construction of a homology theory \(Eh_*(\enskip)\) whose coefficient ring is \({\mathbb Z}/2 [t]\), with \(t\) of dimension \(1\). There is a natural transformation from the unoriented bordism theory, \({\mathcal{N}}_*(\enskip)\), to \(Eh_*(\enskip)\) under which the image of the class of a smooth manifold in \({\mathcal{N}}_* (pt)\) is its Euler characteristic mod \(2\). More generally a formula is given for the image of a class \([M,f]\in {\mathcal{N}}_*(X)\) in terms of the Stiefel-Whitney classes of \(M\). For \(X\) a \(CW\) complex, \(Eh_*(X) \simeq H_*(X; {\mathbb Z}/2) \otimes_{{\mathbb Z}/2} {\mathbb Z}/2 [t]\) as graded \({\mathcal{N}}_*\) modules. A \(G\)-equivariant version of \(Eh_*(\enskip)\) is also developed for \(G\) a discrete group. The construction of \(Eh_*(\enskip)\) is by means of a cobordism theory of stratifolds, which are stratified spaces in which each stratum is a collared manifold.