Rational Pontryagin classes and functor calculus
type: Item
instance of: scholarly article
title: Rational Pontryagin classes and functor calculus
zbMATH Open document ID: 1353.57026
DOI: 10.4171/JEMS/629
published in: Journal of the European Mathematical Society (JEMS)
publication date: 2016-08-16T00:00:00Z
full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/1102.0233
review text: If \(n\) is even, then \(e^2= p_{n/2}\) in \(H^{2n}(BSO(n); \mathbb{Q})\), where \(e\) is the Euler class and \(p_{n/2}\) the Pontryagin class. This paper studies this relation in the rational cohomology of \(BSTOP(n)\). The authors offer three hypotheses. Hypothesis A states that if \(n\) is even, then \(e^2= p_{n/2}\) in \(H^{2n}(BSTOP(n); \mathbb{Q})\). Hypothesis B involves the space \(R(n,2)\) of smooth maps from \(D^n\times D^2\) to \(D^2\) which agree with the projection onto \(D^2\) near the boundary. For \(f\in R(n,2)\), \(df\) can be viewed as a point in \(\Omega^{n+2}Y\), where \(Y\) is the space of surjective maps from \(\mathbb{R}^{n+2}\) to \(\mathbb{R}^2\) taking the boundary of \(D^n\times D^2\) to the base point. The result is a map \(\nabla:R(n,2)\to \Omega^{n+2}Y\), where \(\nabla(f):= df\). The map \(\nabla\) is an \(S^1\)-map and if \(Y\) is replaced by its path connected rationalization, the target of \(\nabla\) is a path connected \(K(\mathbb{Q},n-3)\). Hypothesis B states that the cohomology class \(|\nabla|\in H^{n-3}_{S^1}(R(n,2),*;\mathbb{Q})\) is zero for even \(n\geq 4\). Hypothesis C involves two functors on the category of finite-dimensional inner product spaces with morphisms injective linear maps respecting inner products. If \(Bo\) is the functor \(V\mapsto BO(V)\) and \(Bt\) is the functor \(V\mapsto BTOP(V)\), then the Hypothesis C states that the inclusion \(Bo\to Bt\) admits a rational left inverse up to weak equivalence. The paper offers the results that C implies A for all even \(n\geq 4\) and A for a specific \(n\) implies B for the same \(n\).
reviewed by: Robert D. Little
Mathematics Subject Classification ID: 57R20
Mathematics Subject Classification ID: 55R40
Mathematics Subject Classification ID: 57R10
zbMATH DE Number: 6617141
zbMATH Keywords: Pontryagin classes
zbMATH Keywords: smoothing theory
zbMATH Keywords: functor calculus
author: Rui Reis
author: Michael S. Weiss
MaRDI profile type: MaRDI publication profile
arXiv ID: 1102.0233
cites work: The Weiss derivatives of BO(-) and BU(-)
cites work: Model categories for orthogonal calculus
cites work: Stable real cohomology of arithmetic groups
cites work: Q5676841
cites work: Deformations of spaces of imbeddings
cites work: Q4176157
cites work: Q5428631
cites work: Differentiable embeddings of \(S^ n\) in \(S^{n+q}\) for \(q > 2\)
cites work: Q4086427
cites work: Smoothings of Piecewise Linear Manifolds. (AM-80)
cites work: Q4790109
cites work: Q4220599
cites work: The stability theorem for smooth pseudoisotopies
cites work: Le théorème de Barden-Mazur-Stallings
cites work: Foundational Essays on Topological Manifolds, Smoothings, and Triangulations. (AM-88)
cites work: Model categories of diagram spectra
cites work: Q5543303
cites work: Q5595075
cites work: 1-loop graphs and configuration space integral for embedding spaces
cites work: On the Structure of Manifolds
cites work: Q5185723
cites work: Q3727006
cites work: Q4256667
cites work: On Kontsevich's characteristic classes for higher dimensional sphere bundles. I: The simplest class
cites work: On Kontsevich's characteristic classes for higher-dimensional sphere bundles II: Higher classes
cites work: Orthogonal Calculus
description: scientific article