Minimum numbers and Wecken theorems in topological coincidence theory. I

DOI10.1007/S11784-011-0058-8MaRDI QIDQ644455zbMATH OpenOpenAlexFDO

Publication date 4 November 2011

Published in Journal of Fixed Point Theory and Applications (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/1305.1664

coincidence point Hopf invariant Kervaire invariant Nielsen number Wecken condition

Fixed-point and coincidence theorems (topological aspects) (54H25) Fixed points and coincidences in algebraic topology (55M20) Loop spaces (55P35) Hopf invariants (55Q25) Homotopy groups of spheres (55Q40)

Abstract: Minimum numbers measure the obstruction to removing coincidences of two given maps (between smooth manifolds M and N of dimensions m and n, resp.). In this paper we compare them to four distinct types of Nielsen numbers. These agree with the classical Nielsen number when m = n (e.g. in the fixed point setting where M = N and one of the maps is the identity map). However, in higher codimensions m - n > 0 their definitions and computations involve distinct aspects of differential topology and homotopy theory. We develop tools which help us 1.) to decide when a minimum number is equal to a Nielsen number ("Wecken theorem"), and 2.) to determine Nielsen numbers. Here certain homotopy theoretical criteria play a central role. E.g. failures of the "Wecken condition" (cf. definition 1.18 below) can have very interesting geometric consequences. The selfcoincidence case where the two maps are homotopic turns out to be particularly illuminating. We give many concrete applications in special settings where M or N are spheres, spherical space forms, projective spaces, tori, Stiefel manifolds or Grassmannians. Already in the simplest examples an important role is played e.g. by Kervaire invariants, all versions of Hopf invariants (a la James, Hilton, Ganea,...) and the elements in the stable homotopy of spheres defined by invariantly framed Lie groups.

Review text

Given a self-map \(f: X\to X\) on a compact polyhedron \(X\), the Nielsen number \(N(f)\) is a lower bound for the number of fixed point of all self-maps homotopic to \(f\). In the 1940's, Wecken proved that \(N(f)\) is sharp (i.e., there is a self-map which is homotopic to \(f\) and has \(N(f)\) fixed points) if \(X\) is a smooth manifold of dimension greater than \(3\). This result is called Wecken theorem. This paper deals with a more general setting: coincidence points of two maps \(f_1, f_2: M\to N\) between two manifolds without boundaries. The author provides several invariants which can be used to estimate from below the number of coincidence points or the number of components of the coincidence point sets, and obtains Wecken type theorems: under some assumptions these lowers bound are sharp. Although some of the invariants already appeared in previous works by the author, this paper contains a systematic treatment. All these invariants come from the path space \(E(f_1, f_2)\). The computation of the invariants is in general difficult, however the author in this paper gives many concrete and interesting examples where one can see some new approach to access these invariants. Some further theoretical applications are also provided. For instance, if \(M\) and \(N\) are spheres of special dimensions, respectively, the relations between the Kervaire invariant and the coincidence invariants are illustrated. These show the theoretical interaction among coincidence point theory and other mathematical fields.

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