scientific article; zbMATH DE number 1206651
The author presents an interesting abstract approach to fixed and coincidence point theory. Let \(X\), \(Y\) be topological spaces with maps \(f,g:X\to Y\), define \(\varepsilon:Y^I\to Y\times Y\) by \(\varepsilon(\lambda):=(\lambda(0),\lambda(1))\) and define \(E_{f,g}\) to be the pullback in Top of \[ \begin{tikzcd} E_{f,g}\ar[r,"{\overline{(f,g)}}"] \ar[d,"\overline\varepsilon" '] & Y^I \ar[d,"\varepsilon"]\\X\ar[r,"{(f,g)}" '] & Y\times Y\end{tikzcd} \] The homotopy type of \(E_{f,g}\) will then depend only on the homotopy classes \([f]\) and \([g]\), and \(E_{f,g}@>{\overline{\varepsilon}}>>X\) is a weak equalizer in \textit{h}Top of \([f],[g]:X\to Y\). The author constructs a category \(\text{Top}^\rightrightarrows\) where objects are pairs of maps \(f,g:X\to Y\) and arrows \((\alpha,\beta):(f,g)\to(f',g')\) are diagrams with horizontal arrows \(X\overset {f}{\underset {g} \rightrightarrows}Y\), \(X'\overset {f'}{\underset {g'}\rightrightarrows}Y'\) and vertical arrows \(\alpha:X\to X'\), \(\beta:Y\to Y'\) such that \(\beta f=f'\alpha\) and \(\beta g=g'\alpha\). If one defines \((\alpha\sqcap\beta^I)(x,\lambda)=(\alpha(x),\beta\lambda)\) then one obtains a functor \(E:\text{Top}^\rightrightarrows\to\text{Top}\) as the weak equalizer which assigns \(E_{f,g}\) to the object \((f,g)\) and \(\alpha\sqcap\beta^I\) to the morphism \((\alpha,\beta)\). Since \(E\) has a left adjoint it preserves limits. Moreover, this approach leads to a nice interpretation of the Reidemeister number for the coincidences of \(f\) and \(g\) if one defines \(R_{f,g}\) to be the number of path-components of \(E_{f,g}\). The main achievement of the article consists in constructing a category in which \(E\) can be described as a homotopy equalizer.
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