A central extension of the form $E: 0 \to V \to G \to W \to 0$, where $V$ and $W$ are elementary abelian 2-groups, is called Bockstein closed if the components $q_i \in H^*(W, \FF_2)$ of the extension class of $E$ generate an ideal which is closed under the Bockstein operator. In this paper, we study the cohomology ring of $G$ when $E$ is a Bockstein closed 2-power exact extension. The mod-2 cohomology ring of $G$ has a simple form and it is easy to calculate. The main result of the paper is the calculation of the Bocksteins of the generators of the mod-2 cohomology ring using an Eilenberg-Moore spectral sequence. We also find an interpretation of the second page of the Bockstein spectral sequence in terms of a new cohomology theory that we define for Bockstein closed quadratic maps $Q : W \to V$ associated to the extensions $E$ of the above form.
N Kuhn has given several conjectures on the special features satisfied by the singular cohomology of topological spaces with coefficients in a finite prime field, as modules over the Steenrod algebra. The so-called realization conjecture was solved in special cases in [Ann. of Math. 141 (1995) 321-347] and in complete generality by L Schwartz [Invent. Math. 134 (1998) 211-227]. The more general strong realization conjecture has been settled at the prime 2, as a consequence of the work of L Schwartz [Algebr. Geom. Topol. 1 (2001) 519-548] and the subsequent work of F-X Dehon and the author [Alg…
We study central extensions E of elementary abelian 2-groups by elementary abelian 2-groups. Associated to such an extension is a quadratic map which determines the extension uniquely. The components of the map determine a quadratic ideal in a polynomial algebra and we say that the extension is Bockstein closed if this ideal is invariant under the Bockstein operator. We find a direct condition on the quadratic map that characterizes when the extension is Bockstein closed. Using this we show for example that quadratic maps induced from the fundamental quadratic map on gl_n, Q(A)=A+A^2 yield Boc…
We calculate the integral cohomology ring structure for various members of the Bianchi group family. The main tools we use are the Bockstein spectral sequence and a long exact sequence derived from Bass-Serre theory.
We consider a simple and natural coboundary operator, on the Lie algebra valued differential forms on a manifold, which in the abelian case reduces to usual exterior derivative of such forms. Using the corresponding de Rham cohomology Lie superalgebra H*(M,G) we obtain numerical smooth invariants--as opposed to homotopy invariants--for manifolds. The corresponding Hodge theory yields finiteness of nonabelian Betti numbers. A genralized Poincaré lemma, along with a Poincaré duality, a Mayer-Vietoris, and a particularly empowered Bockstein makes our cohomology computable. Bockstein also allows u…
Using the Bockstein spectral sequence developed previously by the authors, we compute the ring ER(n)^*(BO(q)) explicitly. We then use this calculation to show that the ring spectrum MO[2^{n+1}] is ER(n)-orientable (but not ER(n+1)-orientable), where MO[2^{n+1}] is defined as the Thom spectrum for the self map of BO given by multiplication by 2^{n+1}.
We use topological methods to compute the mod p cohomology of certain p-groups. More precisely we look at central Frattini extensions of elementary abelian by elementary abelian groups such that their defining k-invariants span the entire image of the Bockstein. We show that if p is sufficiently large, then the mod p cohomology of the extension can be explicitly computed as an algebra.
For a simplicial complex $K$ with $m$ vertices, there is a canonical $\mathbb Z_2^m$-space known as a real moment angle complex $\mathbb R \mathcal Z_K$. In this paper, we consider the quotient spaces $Y=\mathbb R \mathcal Z_K / \mathbb Z_2^{k}$, where $K$ is a pure shellable complex and $\mathbb Z_2^k \subset \mathbb Z_2^m$ is a maximal free action on $\mathbb R \mathcal Z_K$. A typical example of such spaces is a small cover, where a small cover is known as a topological analog of a real toric manifold. We compute the integral cohomology group of $Y$ by using the PL cell decomposition obtain…
In this paper we consider classifying spaces of a family of $p$-groups and we prove that mod $p$ cohomology enriched with Bockstein spectral sequences determines their homotopy type among $p$-completed CW-complexes. We end with some applications to group theory.
A large variety of cohomology theories is derived from complex cobordism MU^*(-) by localizing with respect to certain elements or by killing regular sequences in MU_*. We study the relationship between certain pairs of such theories which differ by a regular sequence, by constructing topological analogues of algebraic I-adic towers. These give rise to Higher Bockstein spectral sequences, which turn out to be Adams spectral sequences in an appropriate sense. Particular attention is paid to the case of completed Johnson--Wilson theory E(n)-hat and Morava K-theory K(n) for a given prime p.
Cheeger-Simons differential characters, Deligne cohomology in the smooth category, the Hopkins-Singer construction of ordinary differential cohomology and the recent Harvey-Lawson constructions are each in two distinct ways Abelian group extensions of known functors. In one desciption these objects are extensions of integral cohomology by the quotient space of all differential forms by the subspace of closed forms with integral periods. In the other they are extensions of closed differential forms with integral periods by the cohomology with coefficients in the circle. These two series of shor…
The spaces BG_2 and BDI(4) have the property that their mod 2 cohomology is given by the rank 3 and 4 Dickson invariants respectively. Associated with these spaces one has for q odd the classifying spaces of the finite groups BG_2(q)and the exotic family of classifying spaces of 2-local finite groups BSol(q). In this article compute the mod 2 loop space homology of the 2-completed classifying space of G_2(q) and of BSol(q) for all odd primes q, as algebras over the Steenrod algebra, and the associated Bockstein spectral sequences.
We confirm a conjecture of Quillen in the case of the mod $2$ cohomology of arithmetic groups ${\rm SL}_2({\mathcal{O}}_{\mathbb{Q}(\sqrt{-m})}[\frac{1}{2}]\thinspace)$, where ${\mathcal{O}}_{\mathbb{Q}(\sqrt{-m}\thinspace)}$ is an imaginary quadratic ring of integers. To make explicit the free module structure on the cohomology ring conjectured by Quillen, we compute the mod $2$ cohomology of ${\rm SL}_2({\mathbb{Z}}[\sqrt{-2}\thinspace][\frac{1}{2}])$ via the amalgamated decomposition of the latter group.
We study homological invariants of smooth families of real quadratic forms as a step towards a "Lagrange multipliers rule in the large" that intends to describe topology of smooth maps in terms of scalar Lagrange functions.
The holomorph of a discrete group $G$ is the universal semi-direct product of $G$. In chapter 1 we describe why it is an interesting object and state main results. In chapter 2 we recall the classical definition of the holomorph as well as this universal property, and give some group theoretic properties and examples of holomorphs. In particular, we give a necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of a map of split extensions for holomorphs of two groups. In chapter 3 we construct a resolution for $Hol(Z_{p^r})$ for every prime $p$, where ${\mathbb Z}_m$ denotes a cyclic group of or…
Based on the computation of the third author we obtain an interpretation of the third Mac Lane cohomology of rings using certain kind of crossed extensions of rings in the quadratic world. Actually we obtain two such interpretations corresponding to the two monoidal structures on the category of square groups
We construct spectral sequences for computing the cohomology of automorphism groups of formal groups with complex multiplication by a $p$-adic number ring. We then compute the cohomology of the group of automorphisms of a height four formal group law which commute with complex multiplication by the ring of integers in the field $\mathbb{Q}_p(\sqrt{p})$, for primes $p>5$. This is a large subgroup of the height four strict Morava stabilizer group. The group cohomology of this group of automorphisms turns out to have cohomological dimension $8$ and total rank $80$. We then run the $K(4)$-local $E…
We advance the understanding of K-theory of quadratic forms by computing the slices of the motivic spectra representing hermitian K-groups and Witt-groups. By an explicit computation of the slice spectral sequence for higher Witt-theory, we prove Milnor's conjecture relating Galois cohomology to quadratic forms via the filtration of the Witt ring by its fundamental ideal. In a related computation we express hermitian K-groups in terms of motivic cohomology.
We study exceptional torsion in the integral cohomology of a family of p-groups associated to p-adic Lie algebras. A spectral sequence E_r^{*,*}[g] is defined for any Lie algebra g which models the Bockstein spectral sequence of the corresponding group in characteristic p. This spectral sequence is then studied for complex semisimple Lie algebras like sl_n(C), and the results there are transferred to the corresponding p-group via the intermediary arithmetic Lie algebra defined over Z. Over C, it is shown that E_1^{*,*}[g]=H^*(g,U(g)^*)=H^*(ΛBG) where U(g)^* is the dual of the universal envelop…
We compute the Poincare polynomial and the cohomology algebra with rational coefficeints of the manifold M_n of real points of the moduli space of algebraic curves of genus 0 with n labeled points. This cohomology is a quadratic algebra, and we conjecture that it is Koszul. We also compute the 2-local torsion in the cohomology of M_n. As was shown by E. Rains in arXiv:math/0610743 the cohomology of M_n does not have odd torsion, so that the above determines the additive structure of the integral homology and cohomology. Further, we prove that the rational homology operad of M_n is the operad o…
The main result of this note is an efficient presentation of the $S^1$-equivariant cohomology ring of Peterson varieties (in type $A$) as a quotient of a polynomial ring by an ideal $\mathcal{J}$, in the spirit of the well-known Borel presentation of the cohomology of the flag variety. Our result simplifies previous presentations given by Harada-Tymoczko and Bayegan-Harada. In particular, our result gives an affirmative answer to a conjecture of Bayegan and Harada that the defining ideal $\mathcal{J}$ is generated by quadratics.
We consider Gauss sums associated to functions $T\to \mathbb R/\mathbb Z$ which satisfy some sort of quadratic property and investigate their elementary properties. These properties and a Gauss sum formula from the nineteenth century due to Dirichlet give the Milgram Gauss sum formula computing the signature mod $8$ of a non-singular bilinear form over $\mathbb Q$. Brown derived some results on the signature mod 8 of non-singular integral forms. Kirby and Melvin gave a formula for a generalization of this invariant to possibly non-singular forms and we further generalize it here. The Milgram G…
We prove that two arithmetically significant extensions of a field F coincide if and only if the Witt ring WF is a group ring Z/n[G]. Furthermore, working modulo squares with Galois groups which are 2-groups, we establish a theorem analogous to Hilbert's Theorem 90 and show that an identity linking the cohomological dimension of the Galois group of the quadratic closure of F, the length of a filtration on a certain module over a Galois group, and the dimension over Z/2 of the square class group of the field holds for a number of interesting families of fields. Finally we discuss the cohomology…
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…
We prove that the Steinberg module of the special linear group of a quadratic imaginary number ring which is not Euclidean is not generated by integral apartments. Assuming the generalized Riemann hypothesis, this shows that the Steinberg module of a number ring is generated by integral apartments if and only if the ring is Euclidean. We also construct new cohomology classes in the top dimensional cohomology group of the special linear group of some quadratic imaginary number rings.
We develop methods for computing the restriction map from the cohomology of the automorphism group of a height $dn$ formal group law (i.e., the height $dn$ Morava stabilizer group) to the cohomology of the automorphism group of an $A$-height $n$ formal $A$-module, where $A$ is the ring of integers in a degree $d$ field extension of $\mathbb{Q}_p$. We then compute this map for the quadratic extensions of $\mathbb{Q}_p$ and the height $2$ Morava stabilizer group at primes $p>3$. We show that the these automorphism groups of formal modules are closed subgroups of the Morava stabilizer groups, and…
Let G be a complex semisimple linear algebraic group and let Pet be the associated Peterson variety in the flag variety G/B. The main theorem of this note gives an efficient presentation of the equivariant cohomology ring H^*_S(Pet) of the Peterson variety as a quotient of a polynomial ring by an ideal J generated by quadratic polynomials, in the spirit of the Borel presentation of the cohomology of the flag variety. Here the group S \cong \mathbb{C}^* is a certain subgroup of a maximal torus T of G. Our description of the ideal J uses the Cartan matrix and is uniform across Lie types. In our …
In this paper we begin the study of the (dual) Steenrod algebra of the motivic Witt cohomology spectrum $H_W\mathbb{Z}$ by determining the algebra structure of ${H_W\mathbb{Z}}_{**}H_W\mathbb{Z}$ over fields $k$ of characteristic not $2$ which are extensions of fields $F$ with $K^M_2(F)/2=0$. For example, this includes all fields of odd characteristic, as well as fields that are extensions of quadratically closed fields of characteristic $0$. After inverting $η$, this computes the $HW:=H_W\mathbb{Z}[η^{-1}]$-algebra ${HW}_{**}HW$. In particular, for the given base fields, this implies the $HW$…
Two standard invariants used to study the fundamental group G of the complement X of a hyperplane arrangement are the Malcev completion of G and the cohomology groups of X with coefficients in rank one local systems. In this paper, we develop a tool that unifies these two approaches. This tool is the Malcev completion S_p of G relative to a homomorphism p from G into (C^*)^N. This is a prosolvable group that is tightly controlled by the cohomology groups of X with coefficients in rank one local systems. The prounipotent radical U_p of the relative completion S_p corresponds to a pronilpotent L…
We employ methods from homotopy theory to define new obstructions to solutions of embedding problems. By using these novel obstructions we study embedding problems with non-solvable kernel. We apply these obstructions to study the unramified inverse Galois problem. That is, we show that our methods can be used to determine that certain groups cannot be realized as the Galois groups of unramified extensions of certain number fields. To demonstrate the power of our methods, we give an infinite family of totally imaginary quadratic number fields such that $\text{Aut}(\text{PSL}(2,q^2))$ for $q$ a…
