Higher topological complexity and its symmetrization

DOI10.2140/AGT.2014.14.223MaRDI QIDQ740534zbMATH OpenOpenAlexFDO

Authors Ibai Basabe, Jesús González, Dai Tamaki, Yuli Rudyak

Publication date 3 September 2014

Published in Algebraic \& Geometric Topology (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/1009.1851

configuration spaces Lusternik-Schnirelmann category motion planning topological complexity Švarc genus

Lyusternik-Shnirel'man category of a space, topological complexity à la Farber, topological robotics (topological aspects) (55M30) Discriminantal varieties and configuration spaces in algebraic topology (55R80)

Abstract: We develop the properties of the

n

-th sequential topological complexity

T C_{n}

, a homotopy invariant introduced by the third author as an extension of Farber's topological model for studying the complexity of motion planning algorithms in robotics. We exhibit close connections of

T C_{n} (X)

to the Lusternik-Schnirelmann category of cartesian powers of

X

, to the cup-length of the diagonal embedding

X h o o k r i g h t a r r o w X^{n}

, and to the ratio between homotopy dimension and connectivity of

X

. We fully compute the numerical value of

T C_{n}

for products of spheres, closed 1-connected symplectic manifolds, and quaternionic projective spaces. Our study includes two symmetrized versions of

T C_{n} (X)

. The first one, unlike Farber-Grant's symmetric topological complexity, turns out to be a homotopy invariant of

X

; the second one is closely tied to the homotopical properties of the configuration space of cardinality-

n

subsets of

X

. Special attention is given to the case of spheres.

Review text

The `topological complexity' \(\mathrm{TC}(X)\) of a space \(X\) defined by Farber is essentially the Švarc genus of the fibration equivalent to the diagonal \(\Delta: X \to X\times X\). Rudyak extended this to the iterated diagonal \(\Delta_n : X \to X^n\), leading to the notion of `higher topological complexity' \(\mathrm{TC}_n(X)\). In this paper, the authors compute \(\mathrm{TC}_n(X)\) for important examples (\S 3). Next they introduce two versions of `symmetric topological complexity': \(\mathrm{TC}_n^S(X)\) and \(\mathrm{TC}_n^\Sigma(X)\), the first one extending a notion of Farber and Grant, the second one being a homotopy invariant (\S 4). Finally they discuss some considerations about the case of spheres (\S 5). The authors prove that \(\mathrm{TC}_n(S^{k_1} \times S^{k_2} \times \dots \times S^{k_m}) = m(n-1)+l\) where \(l\) is the number of even dimensional spheres, extending the well-known fact that \(\mathrm{TC}(S^k) =\) 1 if \(k\) is odd and 2 if \(k\) is even. They also prove that for every closed simply connected symplectic manifold \(M^{2m}\) we have \(\mathrm{TC}_n(M) = nm\). They define \(\mathrm{TC}_n^\Sigma(X)\) as the least integer \(k\) which satisfies \(X^n = A_0 \cup \dots \cup A_k\), where each \(A_i\) is open, symmmetric and admits a continuous equivariant section \(s_i: A_i \to X^{J_n}\) for the map \(e_n: X^{J_n} \to X^n\) which is the fibration equivalent to the iterated diagonal \(\Delta_n : X \to X^n\). The fibration \(e_n\) induces a fibration at the level of orbit spaces of the action of the symmetric group \(\Sigma_n\) on the configuration spaces: \(\epsilon_n: Y_n(X) = e_n^{-1} (\mathrm{Conf}_n (X))/\Sigma_n \to \mathrm{Braid}_n(X) = \mathrm{Conf}_n(X) / \Sigma_n\). The authors prove that if \(X\) is a Euclidean neighborhood retract, then \(\mathrm{genus}(\epsilon_n) \leq \mathrm{TC}_n^\Sigma(X) \leq \mathrm{genus}(\epsilon_n) + \dots + \mathrm{genus}(\epsilon_2) + n-1\). This suggests the definition (for \(n \geq 2\)): \(\mathrm{TC}_n^S(X) = \mathrm{genus}(\epsilon_n) + \dots + \mathrm{genus}(\epsilon_2) + n-1\). It is shown that if \(k\) is a positive odd integer, for \(X = S^k\) and \(i \geq 2\), \(\mathrm{genus}(\epsilon_i) \geq 1\); further, \(\mathrm{genus}(\epsilon_i) = 1\) provided \(k = 1\). Finally the authors show that \(\mathrm{TC}_n^S(S^1) = 2(n-1)\), extending the known equality \(\mathrm{TC}_2^S(S^k) = 2\) (valid for any \(k > 0\)).

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