The Cohomology Algebra of Unordered Configuration Spaces

Publication date 14 November 2005

Abstract: Given an

N

-dimensional compact manifold

M

and a field

, F. Cohen and L. Taylor have constructed a spectral sequence,

, converging to the cohomology of the space of ordered configurations of

n

points in

M

. The symmetric group

S i g m a_{n}

acts on this spectral sequence giving a spectral sequence of

S i g m a_{n}

differential graded commutative algebras. Here, we provide an explicit description of the invariants algebra

(E_{1}, d_{1})^{S i g m a_{n}}

of the first term of

c E (M, n, Q)

. We apply this determination in two directions: -- in the case of a complex projective manifold or of an odd dimensional manifold

M

, we obtain the cohomology algebra

H^{*} (C_{n} (M); Q)

of the space of unordered configurations of

n

points in

M

(the concrete example of

P^{2} (C)

is detailed), -- we prove the degeneration of the spectral sequence formed of the

S i g m a_{n}

-invariants

c E (M, n, Q)^{S i g m a_{n}}

at level 2, for any manifold

M

. These results use a transfer map and are also true with coefficients in a finite field

F_{p}

with

p > n

.

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