On representations and K-theory of the braid groups.

DOI10.1007/S00208-003-0435-8MaRDI QIDQ1407671zbMATH OpenOpenAlexFDO

Authors Daniel C. Cohen, Alejandro Adem, F. R. Cohen

Publication date 16 September 2003

Published in Mathematische Annalen (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/math/0110138

zbMATH Keywords

\(K\)-theoryArtin groupsbraid groupscohomology ringshomologically toroidal groupsorthogonal representationsrepresentation theoryStiefel-Whitney classes

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Ordinary representations and characters (20C15) Braid groups; Artin groups (20F36) Relations with arrangements of hyperplanes (32S22) Planar arrangements of lines and pseudolines (aspects of discrete geometry) (52C30) Topological (K)-theory (55N15) Stable classes of vector space bundles in algebraic topology and relations to (K)-theory (55R50) Characteristic classes and numbers in differential topology (57R20)

Abstract: Let G be the fundamental group of the complement of a K(G,1) hyperplane arrangement (such as Artin's pure braid group) or more generally a homologically toroidal group (as defined in the paper). The subgroup of elements in the complex K-theory of BG which arises from complex unitary representations of G is shown to be trivial. In the case of real K-theory, this subgroup is an elementary abelian 2-group, which is characterized completely in terms of the first two Stiefel-Whitney classes of the representation. Furthermore, an orthogonal representation of G gives rise to a trivial bundle if and only if the representation factors through the spinor groups. In addition, quadratic relations in the cohomology algebra of the pure braid groups which correspond precisely to the Jacobi identity for certain choices of Poisson algebras are shown to give the existence of certain homomorphisms from the pure braid group to generalized Heisenberg groups. These cohomology relations correspond to non-trivial Spin representations of the pure braid groups which give rise to trivial bundles.

Review text

Let \(\Gamma\) denote the fundamental group of the complement of a \(K(\Gamma,1)\) hyperplane arrangement such as Artin's pure braid group (or, more generally, a homologically toroidal group). The authors characterize the triviality of bundles arising from orthogonal representations of \(\Gamma\) as follows: An orthogonal representation gives rise to a trivial bundle if and only if the representation factors through the spinor groups. Furthermore, the subgroup of elements in the complex \(K\)-theory of \(B\Gamma\) which arises from complex unitary representations of \(\Gamma\) is shown to be trivial. In the case of real \(K\)-theory, the subgroup of elements which arises from real orthogonal representations of \(\Gamma\) is shown to be an elementary Abelian \(2\)-group, which is characterized completely in terms of the first two Stiefel-Whitney classes of the representation. In addition, the authors use quadratic relations in the cohomology algebra of pure braid groups to give the existence of certain homomorphisms from pure braid groups to generalized Heisenberg groups.

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• \(K\)-homology and \(K\)-theory of pure braid groups
• Commuting elements and spaces of homomorphisms
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• The integral cohomology of the group of loops.
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• On the braid groups for \(\mathbb{R} P^2\).

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