Building planar polygon spaces from the projective braid arrangement
For a fixed vector \(\alpha=(\alpha_1, \ldots, \alpha_m)\) of positive real numbers, the planar polygon space \(M_\alpha\) is the quotient of the space \( \left\{v \in (S^1)^m \mid \sum_{i=1}^m \alpha_iv_i=0\right\} \) by the diagonal \(\operatorname{SO}(2)\) action. Its points represent closed polygonal paths in \(\mathbb{R}^2\) with side lengths \(\alpha_1, \ldots, \alpha_m\), up to orientation-preserving isometry. Say \(\alpha\) is generic if \(\sum_{i=1}^m \pm \alpha_i \neq 0\). For generic \(\alpha\), \(M_\alpha\) is a smooth manifold. In the paper under review the authors show how \(M_\alpha\), for generic \(\alpha\), and the unoriented version \(\overline{M}_\alpha\), can be obtained by a sequence of real blow-ups, or (equivariant) cellular surgeries as defined here, starting from the cell structure on \(S^{m-3}\) or \(\mathbb{R}P^{m-3}\) determined by the Coxeter arrangement of type \(A_{m-2}\).\N\NOne assumes without loss of generality that \(\alpha_1 \leq \cdots \leq \alpha_m\). The space of such \(\alpha\) is naturally subdivided by the hyperplanes \[H_J: \sum_{j \in J} \alpha_j = \sum_{j \not \in J} \alpha_j\] for \(J \subseteq \{1, \ldots, m\}\). A subset \(J\) is \(\alpha\)-short if \(\sum_{j \in J} \alpha_j< \sum_{j \not \in J} \alpha_j\). The chamber of the arrangement \(\{H_J \}\) containing a given \(\alpha\) is uniquely determined by the collection \(S_m(\alpha)\) of maximal \(\alpha\)-short subsets containing \(m\); this is called the genetic code of \(\alpha\). Polygon spaces corresponding to adjacent chambers are related by surgery, and their genetic codes differ by a single element. In case \(\alpha=(1,\ldots, 1, m-2)\), with genetic code \(S_m(\alpha)=\{\{m\}\}\), \(M_\alpha\) is the \((m-3)\)-sphere.\N\NFor \(1 \leq i<j\leq m\) one has a codimension-one submanifold \(N_{ij} =\{v \in M_\alpha \mid v_i=v_j\}\) of \(M_\alpha\), and \(N_{ij}\) is isomorphic to \(M_{\alpha'}\) where \(\alpha'\) is the \((m-1)\)-tuple \((\alpha_1, \ldots, \hat{\alpha}_i, \ldots, \hat{\alpha}_j, \ldots, \alpha_m,\alpha_i+\alpha_j)\). The submanifold arrangement \(\{N_{ij} \mid \{i,j\} \ \text{is} \ \alpha\text{-short}\}\) determines a regular cell decomposition of \(M_\alpha\). For \(S_m(\alpha)=\{\{m\}\}\) all pairs \(\{i,j\}\) are \(\alpha\)-short and one sees the Coxeter complex of type \(A_{m-2}\) on the \((m-3)\)-sphere. A maximal chain of chambers connecting \(\alpha\) to \((1,\ldots, 1,m-2)\) corresponds to a chain of irreducible elements in the partition lattice. Using such a chain the cell decomposition of \(M_\alpha\) is obtained from the Coxeter complex of type \(A_{m-2}\) on the \((m-3)\)-sphere by a performing a sequence of cellular surgeries -- these are operations on regular cell complexes that accomplish surgery along embedded spheres. The construction respects the natural \(\mathbb{Z}_2\)-action, providing a similar description of the space \(\overline{M}_\alpha\) of polygonal paths up to isometry via cellular surgery on the projectivization of the braid arrangement.
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