Let M be a closed, oriented, n -manifold, and LM its free loop space.
Chas and Sullivan defined a commutative algebra structure in the homology of LM, and a Lie algebra structure in its equivariant homology. These structures are known as the string topology loop product and string bracket, respectively.
In this paper we prove that these structures are homotopy invariants in the following sense.
Let f : M_1 \to M_2 be a homotopy equivalence of closed, oriented n -manifolds. Then the induced equivalence, Lf : LM_1 \to LM_2 induces a ring isomorphism in homology, and an isomorphism of Lie algebras in equivariant homology. The analogous statement also holds true for any generalized homology theory h_* that supports an orientation of the M_i 's.
We show, up to h-cobordism, that the existence and uniqueness of connected sum decompositions of oriented 4-dimensional manifolds is an invariant of homotopy equivalence, assuming that the fundamental group of each summand is "good" in the sense of Freedman and Quinn. On a separate note, we observe that the Borel Conjecture is true in dimension 4 up to s-cobordism, assuming that the fundamental group satisfies the Farrell--Jones Conjecture.
We show that a homotopy equivalence between compact, connected, oriented surfaces with non-empty boundary is homotopic to a homeomorphism if and only if it commutes with the Goldman bracket.
For a closed PL manifold M, we consider the configuration space F(M,k) of ordered k-tuples of distinct points in M. We show that a suitable iterated suspension of F(M,k) is a homotopy invariant of M. The number of suspensions we require depends on three parameters: the number of points k, the dimension of M and the connectivity of M. Our proof uses a mixture of Poincare embedding theory and fiberwise algebraic topology.
We study the geometric properties of the terms of the Goldman bracket between two free homotopy classes of oriented closed curves in a hyperbolic surface. We provide an obstruction for the equality of two terms in the Goldman bracket, namely if two terms in the Goldman bracket are equal to each other then for every hyperbolic metric, the angles corresponding to the intersection points are equal to each other. As a consequence, we obtain an alternative proof of a theorem of Chas, i.e. if one of the free homotopy classes contains a simple representative then the geometric intersection number and…
We use K-area homology to summarize some results about the Novikov conjecture and the Hirzebruch L-class. In fact, we provide necessary and sufficient conditions for closed manifolds to have a homotopy invariant L-class. In order to obtain additional properties we also introduce the cohomology of infinite K--area which preserves the cup product of singular cohomology.
We construct non-trivial elements of order 2 in the homotopy groups $π_{8j+1+*} Diff(D^6,\partial)$, for * congruent 1 or 2 modulo 8, which are detected by the "assembling homomorphism" (giving rise to the Gromoll filtration), followed by the alpha-invariant in $KO_*=Z/2$. These elements are constructed by means of Morlet's homotopy equivalence between $Diff(D^6,\partial)$ and $Ω^7(PL_6/O_6)$, and Toda brackets in $PL_6/O_6$. We also construct non-trivial elements of order 2 in $π_* PL_m$ for every m greater or equal to 6 and * congruent to 1 or 2 modulo 8, which are detected by the alpha-inva…
Assume $Γ$ is a negative-definite forest with exactly one unframed vertex, and $M(Γ)$ is the resulting plumbed 3-manifold with a knot embedded. We show that the filtered lattice chain homotopy type of $Γ$ is an invariant of the diffeomorphism type of $M(Γ)$.
The free $\mathbb{Z}$-module generated from the set of non-trivial homotopy classes of closed curves on an oriented surface has the structure of Lie bialgebra by two operations, the Goldman bracket and Turaev cobracket. M. Chas gave a combinatorial redefinition of these two operations through a natural identification of the homotopy classes of closed curves on the surface with the cyclic words in the generators and their inverses of the fundamental group of the surface. We present a new approach to give a combinatorial definition of the bracket and cobracket, focusing on the information given …
A flat virtual link is a finite collection of oriented closed curves $\mathfrak L$ on an oriented surface $M$ considered up to virtual homotopy, i.e., a composition of elementary stabilizations, destabilizations, and homotopies. Specializing to a pair of curves $(L_1,L_2)$, we show that the minimal number of intersection points of curves in the virtual homotopy class of $(L_1, L_2)$ equals to the number of terms of a generalization of the Anderson--Mattes--Reshetikhin Poisson bracket. Furthermore, considering a single curve, we show that the minimal number of self-intersections of a curve in i…
In this paper we show that, after completion in the I-adic topology, the Goldman bracket on the space spanned by homotopy classes of loops on a smooth, complex algebraic curve is a morphism of mixed Hodge structure. We prove similar statements for the natural action (defined by Kawazumi and Kuno) of the loops in X on paths from one "boundary component" to another. These results are used to construct torsors of isomorphisms of the the completed Goldman Lie algebra with the completion of its associated graded Lie algebra. Such splittings give torsors of partial solutions to the Kashiwara--Vergne…
We discuss a new approach to computing the standard algebraic operations on homotopy classes of loops in surfaces: the homological intersection number, Goldman's Lie bracket, and the author's Lie cobracket. Our approach uses fillings of the surfaces by certain graphs.
A Lie bracket defined on the linear span of the free homotopy classes of undirected closed curves was discovered in stages passing through Thurston's earthquake deformations, Wolpert's corresponding calculations with Hamiltonian vector fields and Goldman's algebraic treatment of the latter leading to a Lie bracket on the span of directed closed curves. The purpose of this work is to deepen the understanding of the former Lie bracket which will be referred to as the Thurston-Wolpert-Goldman Lie bracket or, briefly, the TWG bracket. We give a local direct geometric definition of the TWG bracket …
We give chain homotopy maps of Khovanov-type link homology of a universal differential. The universal differential, discussed by Mikhail Khovanov, Marco Mackaay, Paul Turner and Pedro Vaz, contains the original Khovanov's differential and Lee's differential. We also consider the conditions of any differential ensuring the Reidemeister invariance for the chain homotopy maps.
For a closed, oriented, odd dimensional manifold $X$, we define the rho invariant $ρ(X,E,H)$ for the twisted odd signature operator valued in a flat hermitian vector bundle $E$, where $H = \sum i^{j+1} H_{2j+1}$ is an odd-degree closed differential form on $X$ and $H_{2j+1}$ is a real-valued differential form of degree ${2j+1}$. We show that the twisted rho invariant $ρ(X,E,H)$ is independent of the choice of metrics on $X$ and $E$ and of the representative $H$ in the cohomology class $[H]$. We establish some basic functorial properties of the twisted rho invariant. We express the twisted eta …
