The cohomology ring of a finite group, with coefficients in a finite field, can be computed by a machine, as Carlson has showed. Here "compute" means to find a presentation in terms of generators and relations, and involves only the underlying (graded) ring. We propose a method to determine some of the extra structure: namely, Stiefel-Whitney classes and Steenrod operations. The calculations are explicitly carried out for about one hundred groups (the results can be consulted on the Internet).
Next, we give an application: thanks to the new information gathered, we can in many cases determine which cohomology classes are supported by algebraic varieties.
In this article we show that there are at most two integers up to $2(n-k)$, which can occur as the degrees of nonzero Stiefel-Whitney classes of vector bundles over the Stiefel manifold $V_k(\mathbb{R}^n)$. In the case when $n> k(k+4)/4$, we show that if $w_{2^q}(ξ)$ is the first nonzero Stiefel-Whitney class of a vector bundle $ξ$ over $V_k(\mathbb{R}^n)$ then $w_t(ξ)$ is zero if $t$ is not a multiple of $2^q.$ In addition, we give relations among Stiefel-Whitney classes whose degrees are multiples of $2^q$.
We determine the Stiefel-Whitney classes of the second exterior representation and the spin representation of Spin(15), which are useful to calculate the mod 2 cohomology of the classifying space of the exceptional Lie group E_8.
A space $X$ is called $W$-trivial if for every vector bundle $ξ$ over $X$, the total Stiefel-Whitney class $W(ξ)= 1$. In this article we shall investigate whether the suspensions of Dold manifolds, $\s^k D(m,n)$, is $W$-trivial or not.
We determine a nice simple formula for the largest Euclidean space for which there is an orientable n-manifold with a nonimmersion detected by Stiefel-Whitney classes. For Spin manifolds, we prove the analogue of the upper bound and establish the complete answer for n<24 and n=33,34. Results similar to many of these were obtained some 50 years ago, but in a much less tractable form. The sharp results for Spin manifolds require detailed calculations of ko-homology groups of mod-2 Eilenberg-MacLane spaces.
We prove that the Stiefel-Whitney classes of a moment-angle manifold, not necessarily smooth, are trivial. We also consider Stiefel-Whitney classes of the partial quotient of a moment-angle manifold.
This paper determines which Stiefel-Whitney numbers can be defined for singular varieties compatibly with small resolutions. First an upper bound is found by identifying the F_2-vector space of Stiefel-Whitney numbers invariant under classical flops, equivalently by computing the quotient of the unoriented bordism ring by the total spaces of RP^3 bundles. These Stiefel-Whitney numbers are then defined for any real projective normal Gorenstein variety and shown to be compatible with small resolutions whenever they exist. In light of Totaro's result [Tot00] equating the complex elliptic genus wi…
We describe the Stiefel-Whitney classes (SWCs) of orthogonal representations $π$ of the finite special linear groups $G=\text{SL}(2,\mathbb F_q)$, in terms of character values of $π$. From this calculation, we can answer interesting questions about SWCs of $π$. For instance, we determine the subalgebra of $H^*(G,\mathbb Z/2\mathbb Z)$ generated by the SWCs of orthogonal $π$, and we also determine which $π$ have nontrivial mod $2$ Euler class.
We propose a definition of persistent Stiefel-Whitney classes of vector bundle filtrations. It relies on seeing vector bundles as subsets of some Euclidean spaces. The usual Čech filtration of such a subset can be endowed with a vector bundle structure, that we call a Čech bundle filtration. We show that this construction is stable and consistent. When the dataset is a finite sample of a line bundle, we implement an effective algorithm to compute its persistent Stiefel-Whitney classes. In order to use simplicial approximation techniques in practice, we develop a notion of weak simplicial appro…
Let $(X,c_X)$ be a convex projective surface equipped with a real structure. The space of stable maps $\bar{\mathcal{M}}_{0,k}(X,d)$ carries different real structures induced by $c_X$ and any order two element $τ$ of permutation group $S_k$ acting on marked points. Each corresponding real part $\R_τ\bar{\mathcal{M}}_{0,k}(X,d)$ is a real normal projective variety. As the singular locus is of codimension bigger than two, these spaces thus carry a first Stiefel-Whitney class for which we determine a representative in the case $k=c_1(X)d-1$ where $c_1(X)$ is the first Chern class of $X$. Namely, …
We consider quotients of complex Stiefel manifolds by finite cyclic groups whose action is induced by the scalar multiplication on the corresponding complex vector space. We obtain a description of their tangent bundles, compute their mod p cohomology and obtain estimates for their span (with respect to their standard differentiable structure). We compute the Pontrjagin and Stiefel-Whitney classes of these manifolds and give applications to their stable parallelizability.
Combinatorics, in particular graph theory, has a rich history of being a domain of successful applications of tools from other areas of mathematics, including topological methods. Here, we survey the study of the Hom-complexes, and the ways these can be used to obtain lower bounds for the chromatic numbers of graphs, presented in a recent series of papers \cite{BK03a,BK03b,BK03c,CK1,CK2,K4,K5}. The structural theory is developed and put in the historical context, culminating in the proof of the Lovász Conjecture, which can be stated as follows: For a graph G, such that the complex Hom(C_{2r+1}…
Extending [14], we obtain a complete description of the motivic cohomology with ${\mathbb Z}/2$-coefficients of the Nisnevich classifying space of the spin group $Spin_n$ associated to the standard split quadratic form. This provides us with very simple relations among subtle Stiefel-Whitney classes in the motivic cohomology of Čech simplicial schemes associated to quadratic forms from $I^3$, which are closely related to $Spin_n$-torsors over the point. These relations come from the action of the motivic Steenrod algebra on the second subtle Stiefel-Whitney class. Moreover, exploiting the rela…
Using a combinatorial description of Stiefel-Whitney classes of closed flat manifolds with diagonal holonomy representation, we show that no Hantzsche-Wendt manifold of dimension greater than three does not admit a spin$^c$ structure.
The complex Lie group GO(2n,C) by definition consists of all complex matrices A of size 2n, such that A times transpose(A) is a non-zero scalar. In this paper we determine explicitly the singular cohomology ring of the classifying space BGO(2n,C) with mod 2 coefficients, in terms of generators and relations. The method consists of analysing a certain derivation on the cohomology ring of BO(2n) (which is a polynomial ring in the Stiefel-Whitney classes) via a Koszul complex, and using this to `solve' the Gysin sequence for the bundle BO(2n) over BGO(2n,C).
The main aim of this article is to study the topology of real Bott towers as special and interesting examples of real toric varieties. We first give a presentation of the fundamental group of a real Bott tower and show that the fundamental group is abelian if and only if the real Bott tower is a product of circles. We further prove that the fundamental group of a real Bott tower is always solvable and it is nilpotent if and only if it is abelian. We then describe the cohomology ring of a real Bott tower and also give recursive formulae for the Steifel Whitney classes. We derive combinatorial c…
Let F be a field, let G be its absolute Galois group, and let R(G, k) be the representation ring of G over a suitable field k. In this preprint we construct a ring homomorphism from the mod 2 Milnor K-theory k_*(F) to the graded ring gr R(G, k) associated to Grothendieck's γ-filtration. We study this map in particular cases, as well as a related map involving the W-group of F rather than G. The latter is an isomorphism in all cases considered. Naturally this echoes the Milnor conjecture (now a theorem), which states that k_*(F) is isomorphic to the mod 2 cohomology of the absolute Galois group…
Following [14], we compute the motivic cohomology ring of the Nisnevich classifying space of the unitary group associated to the standard split hermitian form of a quadratic extension. This provides us with subtle characteristic classes which take value in the motivic cohomology of the Čech simplicial scheme associated to a hermitian form. Comparing these new classes with subtle Stiefel-Whitney classes arising in the orthogonal case, we obtain relations among the latter ones holding in the motivic cohomology of the Čech simplicial scheme associated to a quadratic form divisible by a 1-fold Pfi…
Matroid bundles, introduced by MacPherson, are combinatorial analogues of real vector bundles. This paper sets up the foundations of matroid bundles, and defines a natural transformation from isomorphism classes of real vector bundles to isomorphism classes of matroid bundles, as well as a transformation from matroid bundles to spherical quasifibrations. The poset of oriented matroids of a fixed rank classifies matroid bundles, and the above transformations give a splitting from topology to combinatorics back to topology. This shows the mod 2 cohomology of the poset of rank k oriented matroids…
We compute the mod-2 cohomology of the collection of all symmetric groups as a Hopf ring, where the second product is the transfer product of Strickland and Turner. We first give examples of related Hopf rings from invariant theory and representation theory. In addition to a Hopf ring presentation, we give geometric cocycle representatives and explicitly determine the structure as an algebra over the Steenrod algebra. All calculations are explicit, with an additive basis which has a clean graphical representation. We also briefly develop related Hopf ring structures on rings of symmetric invar…
