A counterexample to questions on the integrality property of virtual signature

DOI10.1016/S0166-8641(98)00087-XMaRDI QIDQ1962099zbMATH OpenOpenAlexWikidataFDO

Authors Ranja Roy

Publication date 20 February 2003

Published in Topology and its Applications (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://doi.org/10.1016/s0166-8641(98)00087-x

zbMATH Keywords

asphericalizationsPoincaré duality groupssubgroups of finite indexvirtual Euler characteristicvirtual signatures

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Hyperbolic groups and nonpositively curved groups (20F67) Homological methods in group theory (20J05) Groups acting on specific manifolds (57S25)

Review text

Let \(\Gamma\) be a group of finite homological type. The virtual Euler characteristic of \(\Gamma\) is defined as \(\chi(\Gamma)=\chi(\Gamma')/[\Gamma:\Gamma']\), where \(\Gamma'\subseteq\Gamma\) is any torsion free subgroup of finite index in \(\Gamma\). Under suitable finiteness conditions, K. Brown proved the following two results: Theorem 1. [\textit{K. S. Brown}, Invent. Math. 27, 229-264 (1974; Zbl 0294.20047)]. Let \(m\) be the least common multiple of the orders of finite subgroups of \(\Gamma\). Then \(m\cdot\chi(\Gamma)\) is an integer; and Theorem 2. [\textit{K. S. Brown}, op. cit.]. Let \(S\) denote the poset of nontrivial finite subgroups of \(\Gamma\) with \(\Gamma\) acting on \(S\) by conjugation, and \(|S|\) the associated simplicial complex, then \(\chi(\Gamma)\) is congruent to \(\chi_\Gamma(|S|)\bmod\mathbb{Z}\), where the latter is the equivariant Euler characteristic of \(|S|\). Let now \(\Gamma\) be a virtual Poincaré duality group (VPD), then the virtual signature of \(\Gamma\) (\(\text{Sgn}(\Gamma)\)) is defined and it is natural to ask whether results such as Theorems 1 and 2 are valid in this context. The author provides an example showing that this is false in general. More concretely, the author gives an example of a VPD group \(\Gamma\) such that (a) \(m\cdot\text{Sgn}(\Gamma)\) is not an integer and (b) \(\text{Sgn}(\Gamma)\not=0\), and \(\text{Sgn}(\Gamma)\) is not congruent to \(\text{Sgn}_\Gamma(|S|)\bmod\mathbb{Z}\).

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