The Birman-Craggs-Johnson homomorphism and abelian cycles in the Torelli group

DOI10.1007/S00208-006-0066-YMaRDI QIDQ884692zbMATH OpenOpenAlexFDO

Authors Tara E. Brendle, Benson Farb

Publication date 7 June 2007

Published in Mathematische Annalen (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/math/0601163

zbMATH Keywords

Casson-Morita algebraHeegard splitting

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Group actions on manifolds and cell complexes in low dimensions (57M60)

Abstract: In the 1970s, Birman-Craggs-Johnson used Rochlin's invariant for homology 3-spheres to construct a remarkable surjective homomorphism sigma:I_{g,1}->B_3, where I_{g,1} is the Torelli group and B_3 is a certain F_2-vector space of Boolean (square-free) polynomials. By pulling back cohomology classes and evaluating them on abelian cycles, we construct 16g^4 + O(g^3) dimensions worth of nontrivial elements of H^2(I_{g,1}, F_2) which cannot be detected rationally. These classes in fact restrict to nontrivial classes in the cohomology of the subgroup K_{g,1} < I_{g,1} generated by Dehn twists about separating curves. We also use the ``Casson-Morita algebra and Morita's integral lift of the Birman-Craggs-Johnson map restricted to K_{g,1} to give the same lower bound on H^2(K_{g,1},Z).

Review text

This well-written but highly technical paper is best summarized by the authors' abstract: In the 1970s, Birman, Craggs and Johnson (BCJ) [\textit{J. S. Birman} and \textit{R. Craggs}, Trans. Am. Math. Soc. 237, 283--309 (1978; Zbl 0383.57006) and \textit{D. Johnson}, ibid. 261, 235--254 (1980; Zbl 0457.57006)] used Rochlin's invariant for homology 3-spheres to construct a remarkable surjective homomorphism \({\sigma:\mathcal{I}_{g,1}\to B_3}\), where \({\mathcal{I}_{g,1}}\) is the Torelli group and \(B_{3}\) is a certain \(\mathbb F_2\)-vector space of Boolean (square-free) polynomials. By pulling back cohomology classes and evaluating them on abelian cycles, we construct \({2g^4 + O(g^3)}\) dimensions worth of nontrivial elements of \({H^2(\mathcal{I}_{g,1}, \mathbb F_2)}\) which cannot be detected rationally. These classes in fact restrict to nontrivial classes in the cohomology of the subgroup \({\mathcal{K}_{g,1} < \mathcal{I}_{g,1}}\) generated by Dehn twists about separating curves. We also use the ``Casson-Morita algebra and Morita's integral lift of the BCJ map restricted to \(\mathcal{K}_{g,1}\) to give the same lower bound on \(H^2(\mathcal{K}_{g,1}, \mathbb Z)\).

Recommendations

• Parameterized Abel-Jacobi maps and Abelian cycles in the Torelli group
• The structure of the Torelli group. III: The abelianization of \({\mathcal S}\)
• Torelli group, Johnson kernel, and invariants of homology spheres
• The Johnson homomorphism and the third rational cohomology group of the Torelli group
• The dimension of the Torelli group

Cites work

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Cited in

(9)

• On finiteness properties of the Johnson filtrations
• The Johnson homomorphism and the third rational cohomology group of the Torelli group
• Equivariant group presentations and the second homology group of the Torelli group
• Central stability for the homology of congruence subgroups and the second homology of Torelli groups
• Parameterized Abel-Jacobi maps and Abelian cycles in the Torelli group
• EXTENSIONS OF JOHNSON'S AND MORITA'S HOMOMORPHISMS THAT MAP TO FINITELY GENERATED ABELIAN GROUPS
• On a spectral sequence for the action of the Torelli group of genus 3 on the complex of cycles
• On the top homology group of the Johnson kernel
• The second Johnson homomorphism and the second rational cohomology of the Johnson kernel

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