Chromatic numbers, morphism complexes, and Stiefel-Whitney characteristic classes
Dmitry N. Kozlov
备注：
Survey article for the Proceedings volume of the Institute for Advanced Study (Princeton). Complete proofs are included for all results appearing here for the first time
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},G) is k-connected for some integers r>0 and k>-2, we have χ(G)>k+3.
Beyond the, more customary in this area, cohomology groups, the algebro-topological concepts involved are spectral sequences and Stiefel-Whitney characteristic classes. Complete proofs are included for all the new results appearing in this survey for the first time.
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 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.
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.
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 …
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, …
The characteristic rank of a vector bundle $ξ$ over a finite connected $CW$-complex $X$ is by definition the largest integer $k$, $0\leq k\leq \mathrm{dim}(X)$, such that every cohomology class $x\in H^j(X;\mathbb Z_2)$, $0\leq j\leq k$, is a polynomial in the Stiefel-Whitney classes $w_i(ξ)$. In this note we compute the characteristic rank of vector bundles over the Stiefel manifold $V_k(\mathbb F^n)$, $\mathbb F=\mathbb R,\mathbb C,\mathbb H$.
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…
We give a simple proof for the fact that algebra generators of the mod 2 cohomology of classifying spaces of exceptional Lie groups are given by Chern classes and Stiefel-Whitney classes of certain representations.
We prove that a graph whose chromatic number is 2 is a homotopy test graph. We also prove that there is a graph $K$ with two involutions $γ_1$ and $γ_2$ such that $(K,γ_1)$ is a Stiefel-Whitney test graph, but $(K,γ_2)$ is not. These are answers to some of the problems suggested by Kozlov.
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.
We show that the n-th power of the first Stiefel-Whitney class of the Z_2-operation on the graph complex Hom(C_{2r+1},K_{n+2})$ is zero, confirming a conjecture by Babson and Kozlov. This proves the strong form of their graph colouring theorem, which they had only proven for odd n. Our proof is also considerably simpler than their proof of the weak form of the theorem, which is also known as the Lovász conjecture.
For any two graphs $G$ and $H$ Lovász has defined a cell complex $Hom(G,H)$ having in mind the general program that the algebraic invariants of these complexes should provide obstructions to graph colorings. Here we announce the proof of a conjecture of Lovász concerning these complexes with $G$ a cycle of odd length. More specifically, we show that: if $Hom(C_{2r+1},G)$ is $k$-connected, then $χ(G)\geq k+4$. Our actual statement is somewhat sharper, as we find obstructions already in the non-vanishing of powers of certain Stiefel-Whitney classes.
We construct new subtle Stiefel--Whitney classes of quadratic forms. These classes are much more informative than the ones introduced by Milnor. In particular, they see all the powers of the fundamental ideal of the Witt ring, contain the Arason invariant and it's higher analogues. Moreover, the new classes allow to treat the J-invariant of quadrics. This invariant, introduced in 2005, has been so far completely isolated from characteristic classes. In addition, our classes allow to describe explicitly the structure of some motives associated with quadratic forms.
To any two graphs G and H one can associate a cell complex Hom(G,H) by taking all graph multihomorphisms from G to H as cells. In this paper we prove the Lovasz Conjecture which states that if Hom(C_{2r+1},G) is k-connected, then χ(G)\geq k+4, where r,k\in Z, r\geq 1, k\geq -1, and C_{2r+1} denotes the cycle with 2r+1 vertices. The proof requires analysis of the complexes Hom(C_{2r+1},K_n). For even n, the obstructions to graph colorings are provided by the presence of torsion in H^*(Hom(C_{2r+1},K_n);Z). For odd n, the obstructions are expressed as vanishing of certain powers of Stiefel-Whitn…
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).
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…
Studying the topological aspects of M-branes in M-theory leads to various structures related to Wu classes. First we interpret Wu classes themselves as twisted classes and then define twisted notions of Wu structures. These generalize many known structures, including Pin^- structures, twisted Spin structures in the sense of Distler-Freed-Moore, Wu-twisted differential cocycles appearing in the work of Belov-Moore, as well as ones introduced by the author, such as twisted Membrane and twisted String^c structures. In addition, we introduce Wu^c structures, which generalize Pin^c structures, as w…
