A geometric interpretation of the homotopy groups of the cobordism category

Abstract: The classifying space of the embedded cobordism category has been identified in by Galatius, Tillmann, Madsen, and Weiss as the infinite loop space of a certain Thom spectrum. This identifies the set of path components with the classical cobordism group. In this paper, we give a geometric interpretation of the higher homotopy groups as certain cobordism groups where all manifolds are now equipped with a set of orthonormal sections in the tangent bundle. We also give a description of the fundamental group as a free group with a set of geometrically intuitive relations.

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Let \(\mathcal{C}_d\) be the cobordism category introduced by Galatius, Tillmann, Madsen and Weiss in [\textit{S. Galatius} et al., Acta Math. 202, No. 2, 195--239 (2009; Zbl 1221.57039)], where it was proved that there exists a weak homotopy equivalence between the classifying space \(B\mathcal{C}_d\) of \(\mathcal{C}_d\) and the infinite loop space of a certain Thom spectrum \(\theta^*MTO(d)\). Here \(\theta\) is induced by a given fibration \(\theta: X \longrightarrow BO(d)\). The present paper focuses on a geometric interpretation of the higher homotopy groups \(\pi_r(B\mathcal{C}_d), \,\, r>0.\) First of all the authors define a vector field cobordism as follows: given two closed \((d-1)\)-manifolds \(M_0\) and \(M_1\) with \(r\) pointwise linearly independent sections in \(TM_0 \oplus \mathbb{R}\) and \(TM_1 \oplus \mathbb{R}\), respectively, a vector field cobordism from \(M_0\) to \(M_1\) is a usual cobordism with \(r\) independent sections in \(TW\) extending the ones given on the boundary, where \(TW\mid_{M_{i}}\) is identified with \(TM_i \oplus \mathbb{R}\), using the inward normal for \(i=0\) and the outward normal for \(i=1\). Although in the article more general versions are stated, the following are the main results of the work. {Theorem 1.1} Let \(\mathcal{C}_{d-r}\) be either the oriented or the unoriented cobordism category. If \(d\) is odd or \(r<d/2\), vector field cobordism is an equivalence relation and \(\pi_r(B\mathcal{C}_{d - r})\) is isomorphic to the group of equivalence classes. For all \(r\), the latter is true for the equivalence relation generated by vector field cobordism. For \(d\) even or \(r<d/2\), every equivalence class in \(\pi_r(B\mathcal{C}_{d - r})\) is represented by a closed \((d-1)\)-manifold \(M\) with \(r-1\) independent sections in \(TM\) together with the normal section. The following result gives a description of \(\pi_1(B\mathcal{C}_{d })\) in terms of generators and relations: {Theorem 1.2} \(\pi_1(B\mathcal{C}_{d})\) is an abelian group generated by the diffeomorphism classes \([W]\) of closed \(d\)-manifolds \(W\). The only relations are as follows: if \(W_1\) and \(W_2\) are cobordisms from \(\varnothing\) to \(M\) and \(W_3\) and \(W_4\) are cobordisms from \(M\) to \(\varnothing\), then \[ [W_1 \cup_M W_3] + [W_2 \cup_M W_4]= [W_1 \cup_M W_4] + [W_2 \cup_M W_3]. \] Under the isomorphism given above, \([W]\) corresponds to the equivalence class of \(W\) with the single section \(\varepsilon\).

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