We prove an h-principle with boundary condition for a certain class of topological spaces valued sheaves. The techniques used in the proof come from the study of the homotopy type of the cobordism categories, and they are of simplicial and categorical nature. Applying the main result of this paper to a certain sheaf we find another proof of the Madsen-Weiss theorem, that describes the homotopy type of the classifying space of the cobordism category as the loop space of the Thom space of the complement of the tautological bundle over the Grassmannians.
In this paper we study cobordism categories consisting of manifolds which are endowed with geometric structure. Examples of such geometric structures include symplectic structures, flat connections on principal bundles, and complex structures along with a holomorphic map to a target complex manifold. A general notion of "geometric structure" is defined using sheaf theoretic constructions. Our main theorem is the identification of the homotopy type of such cobordism categories in terms of certain Thom spectra. This extends work of Galatius-Madsen-Tillmann-Weiss who identify the homotopy type of…
The sequence 2,5,15,51,187,... with the form $(2^n+1)(2^{n-1}+1)/3$ has two interpretations in terms of the density of a language with four letters and the cardinality of the quotient of $\ZZ_2^n\times \ZZ_2^n$ under the action of the special linear group $\op{SL}(2,\ZZ)$. The last interpretation follows the rank of the fundamental group of the $\ZZ_2^n$-cobordism category in dimension 1+1. This article presents how to pass from one side to another between these two approaches.
In this paper we study the topology of cobordism categories of manifolds with corners. Specifically, if {Cob}_{d,<k>} is the category whose objets are a fixed dimension d, with corners of codimension less than or equal to k, then we identify the homotopy type of the classifying space B{Cob}_{d,<k>} as the zero space of a homotopy colimit of certain diagram of Thom spectra. We also identify the homotopy type of the corresponding cobordism category when extra tangential structure is assumed on the manifolds. These results generalize the results of Galatius, Madsen, Tillmann and Weiss, and the pr…
Recently Galatius, Madsen, Tillmann and Weiss identified the homotopy type of the classifying space of the cobordism category of embedded d-dimensional manifolds [7] for each positive integer d. Their result lead to a new proof of the generalized standard Mumford conjecture. We extend the main theorem of [7] to the case of cobordism categories of embedded d-dimensional manifolds with prescribed singularities, and explain the relation of singular cobordism categories to the bordism version of the Gromov h-principle.
Let $\mathcal{A}_{g,d}$ be the (topological) cobordism category of orientable surfaces whose connected components are homeomorphic to either $S^1 \times I$ with one incoming and one outgoing boundary component or the surface $Σ_{g,d}$ of genus $g$ and $d$ boundary components that are all incoming. In this paper, we study the homotopy type of the classifying space of the cobordism categories $\mathcal{A}_{g,d}$ and the associated (ordinary) cobordism categories of their connected components $\mathbb{A}_d$. $\mathcal{A}_{0,2}$ is the cobordism category of complex annuli that was considered by Co…
We prove that the stable moduli space of $(n-1)$-connected, $n$-parallelizable, $(2n+1)$-dimensional manifolds is homology equivalent to an infinite loopspace for $n \geq 4, n \neq 7$. The main novel ingredient is a version of the cobordism category incorporating surgery data in the form of Lagrangian subspaces.
We define parametrized cobordism categories and study their formal properties as bivariant theories. Bivariant transformations to a strongly excisive bivariant theory give rise to characteristic classes of smooth bundles with strong additivity properties. In the case of cobordisms between manifolds with boundary, we prove that such a bivariant transformation is uniquely determined by its value at the universal disk bundle. This description of bivariant transformations yields a short proof of the Dwyer-Weiss-Williams family index theorem for the parametrized A-theory Euler characteristic of a s…
Cobordism categories have played an important role in classical geometry and more recently in mathematical treatments of quantum field theory. Here we will compute localisations of two-dimensional discrete cobordism categories. This allows us, up to equivalence, to determine the category of invertible two-dimensional topological field theories in the sense of Atiyah. We are able to treat the orientable, non-orientable, closed and open cases.
In this paper we introduce the models for $(\infty, n)$-categories which have been developed to date, as well as the comparisons between them that are known and conjectured. We review the role of $(\infty, n)$-categories in the proof of the Cobordism Hypothesis.
The Madsen-Tillmann spectra defined by categories of three- and four-dimensional Spin manifolds have a very rich algebraic structure, whose surface is scratched here.
The circle transfer $QΣ(LX_{hS^1})_+ \to QLX_+$ has appeared in several contexts in topology. In this note we observe that this map admits a geometric re-interpretation as a morphism of cobordism categories of 0-manifolds and 1-cobordisms. Let $C_1(X)$ denote the 1-dimensional cobordism category and let $Circ(X) \subset C_1(X)$ denote the subcategory whose objects are disjoint unions of unparametrised circles in $\mathbb{R}^\infty$. Multiplication in $S^1$ induces a functor $Circ(X) \to Circ(LX)$, and the composition of this functor with the inclusion of $Circ(LX)$ into $C_1(LX)$ is homotopic …
For a given list of closed manifolds $Σ_k=(P_1,...,P_k)$, we construct a cobordism category $\mathbf{Cob}_{d}^{Σ_{k}}$ of embedded manifolds with Baas-Sullivan singularities of type $Σ_k$. Our main results identify the homotopy type of the classifying spaces $B\mathbf{Cob}_{d}^{Σ_{k}}$ of these cobordism categories with that of the infinite loop-space of a certain spectrum, $\mathsf{MT}_{Σ_{k}}(d)$. Our results generalize of the work of Galatius, Madsen, Tillmann, and Weiss from arXiv:math/0605249. It also generalizes the work of Genauer on the cobordism categories of manifolds with corners fr…
Galatius, Madsen, Tillmann and Weiss have identified the homotopy type of the classifying space of the cobordism category with objects (d-1)-dimensional manifolds embedded in R^\infty. In this paper we apply the techniques of spaces of manifolds, as developed by the author and Galatius, to identify the homotopy type of the cobordism category with objects (d-1)-dimensional submanifolds of a fixed background manifold M. There is a description in terms of a space of sections of a bundle over M associated to its tangent bundle. This can be interpreted as a form of Poincare duality, relating a spac…
In 2009 Lurie published an expository article outlining a proof for a higher version of the cobordism hypothesis conjectured by Baez and Dolan in 1995. In this note we give a proof for the 1-dimensional case of this conjecture. The proof follows most of the outline given in Lurie's paper, but differs in a few crucial details. In particular, the proof makes use of the theory of quasi-unital $\infty$-categories as developed by the author in a previous note.
We prove that a pairing between the Fukaya category and the oo-category of Lagrangian cobordisms respects mapping cones. This is another step toward constructing a lift of Fukaya categories to the level of spectra (in the sense of stable homotopy theory). As corollaries, we show that the map in our previous work from cobordism groups to Floer cohomology lifts to the level of spectra, and one also recovers some results of Biran and Cornea for what we call "vertically collared" cobordisms.
Fix a tangential structure $θ: B \longrightarrow BO(d+1)$ and an integer $k < d/2$. In this paper we determine the homotopy type of a cobordism category $\mathbf{Cob}^{\text{mf}, k}_θ$, where morphisms are given by $θ$-cobordisms $W: P \rightsquigarrow Q$ equipped with a choice of proper Morse function $h_{W}: W \longrightarrow [0, 1]$, with the property that all critical points $c \in W$ of $h_{W}$ satisfy the condition: $k < \text{index}(c) < d-k+1$. In particular, we prove that there is a weak homotopy equivalence $B\mathbf{Cob}^{\text{mf}, k}_θ \simeqΩ^{\infty}\mathbf{hW}^{k}_θ$, where $\m…
Framed flow categories were introduced by Cohen-Jones-Segal as a way of encoding the flow data associated to a Floer functional. A framed flow category gives rise to a CW-complex with one cell for each object of the category. The idea is that the Floer invariant should take the form of the stable homotopy type of the resulting complex, recovering the Floer cohomology as its singular cohomology. Such a framed flow category was produced, for example, by Lipshitz-Sarkar from the input of a knot diagram, resulting in a stable homotopy type generalizing Khovanov cohomology. In this paper we give mo…
After two papers on weak cubical categories and {\it collarable} cospans, respectively, we put things together and construct a {\it weak} cubical category of cubical {\it collared} cospans of topological spaces. We also build a second structure, called a {\it quasi} cubical category, formed of arbitrary cubical cospans concatenated by homotopy pushouts. This structure, simpler but weaker, has {\it lax} identities. It contains a similar framework for cobordisms of manifolds with corners and could therefore be the basis to extend the study of TQFT's of Part II to higher cubical degree.
For a fixed closed manifold $P$, we construct a cobordism category of embedded manifolds with a single Baas-Sullivan singularity of type $P$. Our main theorem identifies the homotopy type of the classifying space of this cobordism category with that of the infinite loop-space of a certain spectrum related to the spectrum $\text{MT}(d)$ introduced in [arXiv:math/0605249]. We obtain an analogue of the Bockstein-Sullivan exact couple that arises between the classical bordism theories $MO$ and $MO_{P}$ on the level of cobordism categories.
We prove a relative statement about the slices of the algebraic cobordism spectrum. If the map from MGL to a certain quotient of MGL introduced by Hopkins and Morel is the map to the zero-slice then a relative version of Voevodsky's conjecture on the slices of MGL holds true. We outline the picture for K-theory and rational slices.
Inspired by Lurie's theory of quasi-unital algebras we prove an analogous result for $\infty$-categories. In particular, we show that the unital structure of an $\infty$-category can be uniquely recovered from the underlying non-unital structure once suitable candidates for units have been identified. The main result of this paper can be used to produce a proof for the 1-dimensional cobordism hypothesis, as described in a forthcoming paper.
Four lectures on invertible field theories at the Park City Mathematics Institute 2019. Cobordism categories are introduced both as plain categories and topologically enriched. We then discuss localization of categories and its relationship to classifying spaces, and state the main theorem of classification of invertible field theories in these terms. We also discuss symmetric monoidal structures and their relationship to actions of the little disk operads. In the final lecture we discuss an application of cobordism categories to characteristic classes of surface bundles. Emphasis will be on s…
The homotopy category of the bordism category $hBord_d$ has as objects closed oriented $(d-1)$-manifolds and as morphisms diffeomorphism classes of $d$-dimensional bordisms. Using a new fiber sequence for bordism categories, we compute the classifying space of $hBord_d$ for $d = 1$, exhibiting it as a circle bundle over $\mathbb{CP}^\infty_{-1}$. As part of our proof we construct a quotient $Bord_1^{red}$ of the cobordism category where circles are deleted. We show that this category has classifying space $Ω^{\infty-2}\mathbb{CP}^\infty_{-1}$ and moreover that, if one equips these bordisms wit…
Godin introduced the categories of open closed fat graphs $Fat^{oc}$ and admissible fat graphs $Fat^{ad}$ as models of the mapping class group of open closed cobordism. We use the contractibility of the arc complex to give a new proof of Godin's result that $Fat^{ad}$ is a model of the mapping class group of open-closed cobordisms. Similarly, Costello introduced a chain complex of black and white graphs $BW$-Graphs, as a rational homological model of mapping class groups. We use the result on admissible fat graphs to give a new integral proof of Costellos's result that $BW$-Graphs is a homolog…
We introduce relative noncommutative Calabi-Yau structures defined on functors of differential graded categories. Examples arise in various contexts such as topology, algebraic geometry, and representation theory. Our main result is a composition law for Calabi-Yau cospans generalizing the classical composition of cobordisms of oriented manifolds. As an application, we construct Calabi-Yau structures on topological Fukaya categories of framed punctured Riemann surfaces.
We study categories of d-dimensional cobordisms from the perspective of Tillmann and Galatius-Madsen-Tillmann-Weiss. There is a category $C_θ$ of closed smooth (d-1)-manifolds and smooth d-dimensional cobordisms, equipped with generalised orientations specified by a fibration $θ: X \to BO(d)$. The main result of GMTW is a determination of the homotopy type of the classifying space $BC_θ$. The goal of the present paper is a systematic investigation of subcategories $D$ of $C_θ$ having classifying space homotopy equivalent to that of $C_θ$, the smaller such $D$ the better. We prove that in most …
We answer the question to what extent homotopy (co)limits in categories with weak equivalences allow for a Fubini-type interchange law. The main obstacle is that we do not assume our categories with weak equivalences to come equipped with a calculus for homotopy (co)limits, such as a derivator.
We give a characterization of relative category in the sense of Doeraene-El Haouari by using open covers. We also prove that relative category and sectional category can be defined by taking arbitrary covers (not necessarily open) when dealing with ANR spaces.
We describe a Quillen equivalence between quasi-categories and relative categories which is surprisingly similar to Thomason's Quillen equivalences between simplicial sets and categories.
A relative category is a category with a chosen class of weak equivalences. Barwick and Kan produced a model structure on the category of all relative categories, which is Quillen equivalent to the Joyal model structure on simplicial sets and the Rezk model structure on simplicial spaces. We will prove that the underlying relative category of a model category or even a fibration category is fibrant in the Barwick--Kan model structure.
We show that the conditions in Steimle's 'additivity theorem for cobordism categories' can be weakened to only require \emph{locally} (co)Cartesian fibrations, making it applicable to a larger class of functors. As an application we compute the difference in classifying spaces between the infinity category of cospans of finite sets and its homotopy category.
We introduce, for every positive integer n, the notion of an n-relative category and show that the category of the small n-relative categories is a model for the homotopy theory of n-fold homotopy theories, i.e. homotopy theories of ... of homotopy theories.
We lift Charles Rezk's complete Segal space model structure on the category of simplicial spaces to a Quillen equivalent one on the category of relative categories.
In this paper we study the Witt groups of symmetric and anti-symmetric forms on perverse sheaves on a finite-dimensional topologically stratified space with even dimensional strata. We show that the Witt group has a canonical decomposition as a direct sum of the Witt groups of shifted local systems on strata. We compare this with another `splitting decomposition' for Witt classes of perverse sheaves obtained inductively from our main new tool, a `splitting relation' which is a generalisation of isotropic reduction. The Witt groups we study are identified with the (non-trivial) Balmer-Witt grou…
In a previous paper we lifted Charles Rezk's complete Segal model structure on the category of simplicial spaces to a Quillen equivalent one on the category of "relative categories," and our aim in this successor paper is to obtain a more explicit description of the weak equivalences in this model structure by showing that these weak equivalences are exactly the DK-equivalences, i.e. those maps between relative categories which induce a weak equivalence between their simplicial localizations.
We study the *homotopy theory* of $\infty$-categories enriched in the $\infty$-category $sS$ of simplicial spaces. That is, we consider $sS$-enriched $\infty$-categories as presentations of ordinary $\infty$-categories by means of a "local" geometric realization functor $Cat_{sS} \to Cat_\infty$, and we prove that their homotopy theory presents the $\infty$-category of $\infty$-categories, i.e. that this functor induces an equivalence $Cat_{sS} [[ W_{DK}^{-1} ]] \xrightarrow{\sim} Cat_\infty$ from a localization of the $\infty$-category of $sS$-enriched $\infty$-categories. Following Dwyer--Ka…
We introduce a delooping model of relative exact categories. It gives us a condition that the negative K-group of a relative exact category becomes trivial.
The main objective of this paper is to propose a definition of non-connective K-theory for a wide class of relative exact categories which, in general, do not satisfy the factorization axiom and confirm that it agrees with the non-connective K-theory for exact categories and complicial exact categories with weak equivalences. The main application is to study the topological filtrations of non-connective K-theory of a noetherian commutative ring with unit in terms of Koszul cubes.
