The definable content of homological invariants II: \v{C}ech cohomology and homotopy classification

arXiv2210.11098MaRDI QIDQ6414524FDOQ6414524

Martino Lupini, Jeffrey Bergfalk, Aristotelis Panagiotopoulos

Publication date: 20 October 2022

Abstract: This is the second installment in a series of papers applying descriptive set theoretic techniques to both analyze and enrich classical functors from homological algebra and algebraic topology. In it, we show that the v{C}ech cohomology functors $check{mathrmH}^n$ on the category of locally compact separable metric spaces each factor into (i) what we term their definable version, a functor $check{mathrmH}_{mathrmdef}^n$ taking values in the category $mathsfGPC$ of groups with a Polish cover (a category first introduced in this work's predecessor), followed by (ii) a forgetful functor from $mathsfGPC$ to the category of groups. These definable cohomology functors powerfully refine their classical counterparts: we show that they are complete invariants, for example, of the homotopy types of mapping telescopes of $d$-spheres or $d$-tori for any $dgeq1$, and, in contrast, that there exist uncountable families of pairwise homotopy inequivalent mapping telescopes of either sort on which the classical cohomology functors are constant. We then apply the functors $check{mathrmH}_{mathrmdef}^n$ to provide strong solutions to higher-dimensional and equivariant generalizations of a seminal problem in the development of algebraic topology, namely Borsuk and Eilenberg's 1936 problem of classifying, up to homotopy, the maps from a solenoid complement $$ to the $2$-sphere. In the course of this work, we record Borel definable versions of a number of classical results bearing on both the combinatorial and homotopical formulations of v{C}ech cohomology; in aggregate, this work may be regarded as laying foundations for the descriptive set theoretic study of the homotopy relation on the space of maps from a locally compact Polish space to a polyhedron, a relation which embodies a substantial variety of classification problems arising throughout mathematics.

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Descriptive set theory (03E15) Homology and cohomology theories in algebraic topology (55N99) Classification of homotopy type (55P15) Homological algebra in category theory, derived categories and functors (18G99) Local compactness, (sigma)-compactness (54D45) Homotopy theory (55P99)

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