We consider the moduli spaces $\mathcal{M}_d(\ell)$ of a closed linkage with n links and prescribed lengths in d-dimensional Euclidean space. For d>3 these spaces are no longer manifolds generically, but they have the structure of a pseudomanifold. We use intersection homology to assign a ring to these spaces that can be used to distinguish the homeomorphism type of the moduli spaces for a large class of length vectors in the case of d even. This result is a high-dimensional analogue of the Walker conjecture which was proven by Farber, Hausmann and the author.
We study the topology of moduli spaces of closed linkages in \R^d depending on a length vector \ell\in \R^n. In particular, we use equivariant Morse theory to obtain information on the homology groups of these spaces, which works best for odd d. In the case d=5 we calculate the Poincare polynomial in terms of combinatorial information encoded in the length vector.
We study topology of configuration spaces of planar linkages having one leg of variable length. Such telescopic legs are common in modern robotics where they are used for shock absorbtion and serve a variety of other purposes. Using a Morse theoretic technique, we compute explicitly, in terms of the metric data, the Betti numbers of configuration spaces of these mechanisms.
We consider the moduli spaces $\mathcal{M}_d(\ell)$ of a closed linkage with $n$ links and prescribed lengths $\ell\in \mathbb{R}^n$ in $d$-dimensional Euclidean space. For $d>3$ these spaces are no longer manifolds generically, but they have the structure of a pseudomanifold. We use intersection homology to assign a ring to these spaces that can be used to distinguish the homeomorphism types of $\mathcal{M}_d(\ell)$ for a large class of length vectors. These rings behave rather differently depending on whether $d$ is even or odd, with the even case having been treated in an earlier paper. The…
We construct cup and cap products in intersection (co)homology with field coefficients. The existence of the cap product allows us to give a new proof of Poincare duality in intersection (co)homology which is similar in spirit to the usual proof for ordinary (co)homology of manifolds.
We derive spectral sequences for the intersection homology of stratified fibrations and approximate tubular neighborhoods in manifold stratified spaces. These neighborhoods include regular neighborhoods in PL stratified spaces.
Let G be a finite group acting freely on a compact oriented surface S by homeomorphisms preserving the orientation. Then, there exists a G-invariant Lagrangian subspace in the first homology group of S.
In this paper, we develop Leray-Serre-type spectral sequences to compute the intersection homology of the regular neighborhood and deleted regular neighborhood of the bottom stratum of a stratified PL-pseudomanifold. The E^2 terms of the spectral sequences are given by the homology of the bottom stratum with a local coefficient system whose stalks consist of the intersection homology modules of the link of this stratum (or the cone on this link). In the course of this program, we establish the properties of stratified fibrations over unfiltered base spaces and of their mapping cylinders. We al…
We show that intersection homology extends Poincare duality to manifold homotopically stratified spaces (satisfying mild restrictions). This includes showing that, on such spaces, the sheaf of singular intersection chains is quasi-isomorphic to the Deligne sheaf.
We compare the sheaf-theoretic and singular chain versions of Poincare duality for intersection homology, showing that they are isomorphic via naturally defined maps. Similarly, we demonstrate the existence of canonical isomorphisms between the singular intersection cohomology cup product, the hypercohomology product induced by the Goresky-MacPherson sheaf pairing, and, for PL pseudomanifolds, the Goresky-MacPherson PL intersection product. We also show that the de Rham isomorphism of Brasselet, Hector, and Saralegi preserves product structures.
We indicate two short proofs of the Goresky-MacPherson topological invariance of intersection homology. One proof is very short but requires the Goresky-MacPherson support and cosupport axioms; the other is slightly longer but does not require these axioms and so is adaptable to more general perversities.
We construct geometric examples of pseudomanifolds that satisfy the Witt condition for intersection homology Poincare duality with respect to certain fields but not others. We also compute the bordism theory of $K$-Witt spaces for an arbitrary field $K$, extending results of Siegel for $K=Q$.
We introduce a singular chain intersection homology theory which generalizes that of King and which agrees with the Deligne sheaf intersection homology of Goresky and MacPherson on any topological stratified pseudomanifold, compact or not, with constant or local coefficients, and with traditional perversities or superperversities (those satisfying p(2)>0). For the case p(2)=1, these latter perversitie were introduced by Cappell and Shaneson and play a key role in their superduality theorem for embeddings. We further describe the sheafification of this singular chain complex and its adaptabilit…
Cohen, Goresky and Ji showed that there is a Kunneth theorem relating the intersection homology groups $I^{\bar p}H_*(X\times Y)$ to $I^{\bar p}H_*(X)$ and $I^{\bar p}H_*(Y)$, provided that the perversity $\bar p$ satisfies rather strict conditions. We consider biperversities and prove that there is a Künneth theorem relating $I^{\bar p,\bar q}H_*(X\times Y)$ to $I^{\bar p}H_*(X)$ and $I^{\bar q}H_*(Y)$ for all choices of $\bar p$ and $\bar q$. Furthermore, we prove that the Kunneth theorem still holds when the biperversity $p,q$ is "loosened" a little, and using this we recover the Kunneth th…
We prove the Lefschetz duality for intersection (co)homology in the framework of $\partial$-pesudomanifolds. We work with general perversities and without restriction on the coefficient ring.
Using a cap product, we construct an explicit Poincaré duality isomorphism between the blown-up intersection cohomology and the Borel-Moore intersection homology, for any commutative ring of coefficients and second-countable, oriented pseudomanifolds.
We prove a Lefschetz duality result for intersection homology. Usually, this result applies to pseudomanifolds with boundary which are assumed to have a "collared neighborhood of their boundary". Our duality does not need this assumption and is a generalization of the classical one.
In this paper, we introduce a category of graded commutative rings with certain algebraic morphisms, to investigate the cobordism category of plumbed 3-manifolds. In particular, we define a non-associative distributive algebra that gives necessary conditions for an abstract morphism between the homologies of two plumbed 3-manifolds to be realized geometrically by a cobordism. Here we also consider the homology cobordism monoid, and give a necessary condition using w-invariants for the homology 3-spheres to belong to the inertia group associated to some homology 3-spheres.
Intersection homology is a topological invariant which detects finer information in a space than ordinary homology. Using ideas from classical simple homotopy theory, we construct local combinatorial transformations on simplicial complexes under which intersection homology remains invariant. In particular, we obtain the notions of stratified formal deformations and stratified spines of a complex, leading to reductions of complexes prior to computation of intersection homology. We implemented the algorithmic execution of such transformations, as well as the calculation of intersection homology,…
Topological invariance of the intersection homology of a pseudomanifold without codimension one strata, proven by Goresky and MacPherson, is one of the main features of this homology. This property is true for codimension-dependent perversities with some growth conditions, verifying $\overline p(1)=\overline p(2)=0$. King reproves this invariance by associating an intrinsic pseudomanifold $X^*$ to any pseudomanifold $X$. His proof consists of an isomorphism between the associated intersection homologies $H^{\overline{p}}_{*}(X) \cong H^{\overline{p}}_{*}( X^*)$ for any perversity $\overline{p}…
For having a Poincaré duality via a cap product between the intersection homology of a paracompact oriented pseudomanifold and the cohomology given by the dual complex, G. Friedman and J. E. McClure need a coefficient field or an additional hypothesis on the torsion. In this work, by using the classical geometric process of blowing-up, adapted to a simplicial setting, we build a cochain complex which gives a Poincaré duality via a cap product with intersection homology, for any commutative ring of coefficients. We prove also the topological invariance of the blown-up intersection cohomology wi…
Intersection homology with coefficients in a field restores Poincaré duality for some spaces with singularities, as pseudomanifolds. But, with coefficients in a ring, the behaviours of manifolds and pseudomanifolds are different. This work is an overview, with proofs and explicit examples, of various possible situations with their properties. We first set up a duality, defined from a cap product, between two intersection cohomologies: the first one arises from a linear dual and the second one from a simplicial blow up. Moreover, from this property, Poincaré duality in intersection homology loo…
We refine the intersection product in homology to an equivariant setting, which unifies several known constructions. As an application, we give a common generalisation of the Chas-Sullivan string product on a manifold and the Chataur-Menichi string product on the classifying space by defining a string product on the Borel construction of a manifold. We prove a vanishing result which enables us to define a secondary product. The secondary product is then used to construct secondary versions of the Chataur-Menichi string product, and the equivariant intersection product in the Borel equivariant …
Given a perversity function in the sense of intersection homology theory, the method of intersection spaces assigns to certain oriented stratified spaces cell complexes whose ordinary reduced homology with real coefficients satisfies Poincaré duality across complementary perversities. The resulting homology theory is well-known not to be isomorphic to intersection homology. For a two-strata pseudomanifold with product link bundle, we give a description of the cohomology of intersection spaces as a space of weighted $L^2$ harmonic forms on the regular part, equipped with a fibred scattering met…
This work forms a foundational study of factorization homology, or topological chiral homology, at the generality of stratified spaces with tangential structures. Examples of such factorization homology theories include intersection homology, compactly supported stratified mapping spaces, and Hochschild homology with coefficients. Our main theorem characterizes factorization homology theories by a generalization of the Eilenberg--Steenrod axioms; it can also be viewed as an analogue of the Baez--Dolan cobordism hypothesis formulated for the observables, rather than state spaces, of a topologic…
Intersection homology is obtained from ordinary homology by imposing conditions on how the embedded simplices meet the strata of a space $X$. In this way, for the middle perversity, properties such as strong Lefschetz are preserved. This paper defines local-global intersection homology groups, that record global information about the singularities of $X$. They differ from intersection homology in that stratified rather than ordinary simplices are used. An example of such is $σ_j\times Cσ_i$, where $σ_i$ and $σ_j$ are ordinary simplices, and $C$ is the coning operator. The paper concludes with …
The theory of intersection spaces assigns cell complexes to certain stratified topological pseudomanifolds depending on a perversity function in the sense of intersection homology. The main property of the intersection spaces is Poincaré duality over complementary perversities for the reduced singular (co)homology groups with rational coefficients. This (co)homology theory is not isomorphic to intersection homology, instead they are related by mirror symmetry. Using differential forms, Banagl extended the intersection space cohomology theory to 2-strata pseudomanifolds with a geometrically fla…
While intersection cohomology is stable under small resolutions, both ordinary and intersection cohomology are unstable under smooth deformation of singularities. For complex projective algebraic hypersurfaces with an isolated singularity, we show that the first author's cohomology of intersection spaces is stable under smooth deformations in all degrees except possibly the middle, and in the middle degree precisely when the monodromy action on the cohomology of the Milnor fiber is trivial. In many situations, the isomorphism is shown to be a ring homomorphism induced by a continuous map. This…
Topological data analysis is becoming increasingly relevant to support the analysis of unstructured data sets. A common assumption in data analysis is that the data set is a sample---not necessarily a uniform one---of some high-dimensional manifold. In such cases, persistent homology can be successfully employed to extract features, remove noise, and compare data sets. The underlying problems in some application domains, however, turn out to represent multiple manifolds with different dimensions. Algebraic topology typically analyzes such problems using intersection homology, an extension of h…
Although intersection homology lacks a ring structure, certain expressions (called uniform) in the intersection homology of an irreducible projective variety $X$ always give the same value, when computed via the decomposition theorem on any resolution $X_r\to X$. This paper uses uniform (and non-uniform) expressions to define what is believed to be the usual intersection homology (and its local-global variant) of a convex polytope (or a projective toric variety). Such expressions are generated by the facets, and so may lead to necessary numerical conditions on the flag vector. Most of the conc…
This paper describes a paving by affines for regular nilpotent Hessenberg varieties in all Lie types, namely a kind of cell decomposition that can be used to compute homology despite its weak closure conditions. Precup recently proved a stronger result; we include ours because we use different methods. We then use this paving to prove that the homology of the Peterson variety injects into the homology of the full flag variety. The proof uses intersection theory and expands the class of the Peterson variety in the homology of the flag variety in terms of the basis of Schubert classes. We explic…
Let $M_n$ be the configuration space of equilateral polygonal linkages with $n$ vertices in the Euclidean plane ${\mathbb R}^2$. We consider the case that $n$ is odd and set $n=2m+1$. In spite of the long history of research, the homology classes in $H_{m-1}(M_n;{\mathbb Z})$ are mysterious and not well-understood. Let $τ\colon M_n \to M_n$ be the involution induced by complex conjugation. In this paper, we determine the representation matrix of the homomorphism $τ_\ast\colon H_{m-1}(M_n;{\mathbb Z}) \to H_{m-1}(M_n;{\mathbb Z})$ with respect to a basis of $H_{m-1}(M_n;{\mathbb Z})$.
In this survey article, we describe imploded cross-sections, which were developed in order to solve the problem that the cross-section of a Hamiltonian $K$-space is usually not symplectic. In some specific examples we contrast the intersection homology of some imploded cross-sections with their homology intersection spaces. Moreover, we compute the homology of intersection spaces associated to the open cone of a simply connected, smooth, oriented manifold and the suspension of such a manifold.
We provide a framework for the study of structured manifolds with singularities and their locally determined invariants. This generalizes factorization homology, or topological chiral homology, to the setting of singular manifolds equipped with various tangential structures. Examples of such factorization homology theories include intersection homology, compactly supported stratified mapping spaces, and Hochschild homology with coefficients. Factorization homology theories for singular manifolds are characterized by a generalization of the Eilenberg-Steenrod axioms. Using these axioms, we exte…
In the case of a compact orientable pseudomanifold, a well-known theorem of M. Goresky and R. MacPherson says that the cap product with a fundamental class factorizes through the intersection homology groups. In this work, we show that this classical cap product is compatible with a cap product in intersection (co)-homology, that we have previously introduced. If the pseudomanifold is also normal, for any commutative ring of coefficients, the existence of a classical Poincaré duality isomorphism is equivalent to the existence of an isomorphism between the intersection homology groups correspon…
Let $V$ be a degree $d$, reduced hypersurface in $\mathbb{CP}^{n+1}$, $n \geq 1$, and fix a generic hyperplane, $H$. Denote by $\mathcal{U}$ the (affine) hypersurface complement, $\mathbb{CP}^{n+1}- V \cup H$, and let $\mathcal{U}^c$ be the infinite cyclic covering of $\mathcal{U}$ corresponding to the kernel of the linking number homomorphism. Using intersection homology theory, we give a new construction of the Alexander modules $H_i(\mathcal{U}^c;\mathbb{Q})$ of the hypersurface complement and show that, if $i \leq n$, these are torsion over the ring of rational Laurent polynomials. We also…
The purpose of this paper is to introduce a version of singular homology based on smooth mappings of manifolds with corners. Although variants of such a theory exists in the literature, we felt that certain points were not adequately addressed. In particular, our goal is to construct a chain level theory based on smooth mappings of manifolds with corners. In addition, we will avoid using the fact that smooth manifolds with can be triangulated. As we shall see, transversality and intersections play a major role in setting up this theory. From a pedagogical viewpoint, having intersection theory …
We study the relation between a complex projective set C in CP^n and the set R in RP^(2n+1) defined by viewing each equation of C as a pair of real equations. Once C is presented by quadratic equations, we can apply a spectral sequence to efficiently compute the homology of R; using the fact that the (Z_2)-cohomology of R is a free H*(C)-module with two generators we can in principle reconstruct the homology of C. Explicit computations for the intersection of two complex quadrics are presented.
We construct an explicit de Rham isomorphism relating the cohomology rings of Banagl's de Rham and spatial approach to intersection space cohomology for stratified pseudomanifolds with isolated singularities. Intersection space (co-)homology is a modified (co-)homology theory extending Poincaré Duality to stratified pseudomanifolds. The novelty of our result compared to the de Rham isomorphism given previously by Banagl is, that we indeed have an isomorphism of rings and not just of graded vector spaces. We also provide a proof of the de Rham Theorem for cohomology rings of pairs of smooth man…
We study mathematical expectations of Betti numbers of configuration spaces of planar linkages, viewing the lengths of the bars of the linkage as random variables. Our main result gives an explicit asymptotic formulae for these mathematical expectations for two distinct probability measures describing the statistics of the length vectors when the number of links tends to infinity. In the proof we use a combination of geometric and analytic tools. The average Betti numbers are expressed in terms of volumes of intersections of a simplex with certain half-spaces.
An IP-space is a pseudomanifold whose defining local properties imply that its middle perversity global intersection homology groups satisfy Poincaré duality integrally. We show that the symmetric signature induces a map of Quinn spectra from IP bordism to the symmetric $L$-spectrum of $\Z$, which is, up to weak equivalence, an $E_\infty$ ring map. Using this map, we construct a fundamental $L$-homology class for IP-spaces, and as a consequence we prove the stratified Novikov conjecture for IP-spaces.
Let $X$ be a $2n$-manifold with a locally standard action of a compact torus $T^n$. If the free part of action is trivial and proper faces of the orbit space $Q$ are acyclic, then there are three types of homology classes in $X$: (1) classes of face submanifolds; (2) $k$-dimensional classes of $Q$ swept by actions of subtori of dimensions $<k$; (3) relative $k$-classes of $Q$ modulo $\partial Q$ swept by actions of subtori of dimensions $\geqslant k$. The submodule of $H_*(X)$ spanned by face classes is an ideal in $H_*(X)$ with respect to the intersection product. It is isomorphic to $(\mathb…
In previous works, we have introduced the blown-up intersection cohomology and used it to extend Sullivan's minimal models theory to the framework of pseudomanifolds, and to give a positive answer to a conjecture of M. Goresky and W. Pardon on Steenrod squares in intersection homology. In this paper, we establish the main properties of this cohomology. One of its major feature is the existence of cap and cup products for any filtered space and any commutative ring of coefficients, at the cochain level. Moreover, we show that each stratified map induces an homomorphism between the blown-up inte…
We consider a braid $β$ which acts on a punctured plane. Then we construct a local system on this plane and find a homology cicle $D$ in its symmetric power such that $D\cdot β(D)$ coincides with the Alexander polynomial of the plate closure of $β$.
We prove an extension of the Cheeger-Müller theorem to spaces with isolated conical singularities: the $L^2$-analytic torsion coincides with the Ray-Singer intersection torsion on an even dimensional space, and they are trivial, while the ratio is non trivial on an odd dimensional space, and the anomaly depends only on the link of the singularities. For this aim, we develop on one side a combinatorial cellular theory whose homology coincides with the intersection homology of Gregory and Macpherson, and where the Ray-Singer intersection torsion is well defined. On the other side, we elaborate t…
