In classical fixed point and coincidence theory the notion of Nielsen numbers has proved to be extremely fruitful. Here we extend it to pairs (f_1, f_2) of maps between manifolds of arbitrary dimensions. This leads to estimates of the minimum numbers MCC(f_1, f_2) (and MC(f_1, f_2), resp.) of pathcomponents (and of points, resp.) in the coincidence sets of those pairs of maps which are homotopic to (f_1, f_2). Furthermore we deduce finiteness conditions for MC(f_1, f_2). As an application we compute both minimum numbers explicitly in four concrete geometric sample situations. The Nielsen decomposition of a coincidence set is induced by the decomposition of a certain path space E(f_1, f_2) into pathcomponents. Its higher dimensional topology captures further crucial geometric coincidence data. An analoguous approach can be used to define also Nielsen numbers of certain link maps.
Basic examples show that coincidence theory is intimately related to central subjects of differential topology and homotopy theory such as Kervaire invariants and divisibility properties of Whitehead products and of Hopf invariants. We recall some recent results and ask a few questions which seems to be important for a more comprehensive understanding.
As the title suggests, this paper gives a Nielsen theory of coincidences of iterates of two self maps f, g of a closed manifold. The ideas is, as much as possible, to generalize Nielsen type periodic point theory, but there are many obstacles. Many times we get similar results to the "classical ones" in Nielsen periodic point theory, but with stronger hypotheses.
Let $f_1,...,f_k:M\to N$ be maps between closed manifolds, $N(f_1,...,f_k)$ and $R(f_1,...,f_k)$ be the Nielsen and the Reideimeister coincidence numbers respectively. In this note, we relate $R(f_1,...,f_k)$ with $R(f_1,f_2),...,R(f_1,f_k)$. When $N$ is a torus or a nilmanifold, we compute $R(f_1,...,f_k)$ which, in these cases, is equal to $N(f_1,...,f_k)$.
Let M to B, N to B be fibrations and f1,f2 :M to N be a pair of fibre-preserving maps. Using normal bordism techniques we define an invariant which is an obstruction to deforming the pair f1,f2 over B to a coincidence free pair of maps.In the special case where the two fibrations are the same and one of the maps is the identity, a weak version of our ω-invariant turns out to equal Dold's fixed point index of fibre-preserving maps. The concepts of Reidemeister classes and Nielsen coincidence classes over B are developed. As an illustration we compute e.g. the minimal number of coincidence compo…
We discuss coincidences of pairs (f_1, f_2) of maps between manifolds. We recall briefly the definition of four types of Nielsen numbers which arise naturally from the geometry of generic coincidences. They are lower bounds for the minimum numbers MCC and MC which measure to some extend the 'essential' size of a coincidence phenomenon. In the setting of fixed point theory these Nielsen numbers all coincide with the classical notion but in general they are distinct invariants. We illustrate this by many examples involving maps from spheres to the real, complex or quaternionic projective space K…
Given two maps between smooth manifolds, the obstruction to removing their coincidences (via homotopies) is measured by minimum numbers. In order to determine them we introduce and study an infinite hierarchy of Nielsen numbers N_i, i = 0, 1, ..., \infty. They approximate the minimum numbers from below with decreasing accuracy, but they are (in principle) more easily computable as i grows. If the domain and the target manifold have the same dimension (e.g. in the fixed point setting) all these Nielsen numbers agree with the classical definition. However, in general they can be quite distinct. …
Given two maps f1 and f2 from the sphere Sm to an n-manifold N, when are they loose, i.e. when can they be deformed away from one another? We study the geometry of their (generic) coincidence locus and its Nielsen decomposition. On the one hand the resulting bordism class of coincidence data and the corresponding Nielsen numbers are strong looseness obstructions. On the other hand the values which these invariants may possibly assume turn out to satisfy severe restrictions, e.g. the Nielsen numbers can only take the values 0, 1 or the cardinality of the fundamental group of N. In order to show…
Let $ f_1, f_2 \colon X^m \longrightarrow Y^n $ be maps between smooth connected manifolds of the indicated dimensions $ \!m\! $ and $ \!n \!\!\!$. Can $ f_1, f_2 $ be deformed by homotopies until they are coincidence free (i.e. $ f_1(x) \neq f_2(x) $ for all $ x \in X $)? The main tool for addressing such a problem is tradionally the (primary) Nielsen number $ N(f_1, f_2) $. E.g. when $ m < 2n - 2 $ the question above has a positive answer precisely if $ N(f_1, f_2) = 0 $. However, when $ m = 2n - 2 $ this can be dramatically wrong, e.g. in the fixed point case when $ m = n = 2 $. Also, in a …
We extend the Nielsen theory of coincidence sets to equalizer sets, the points where a given set of (more than 2) mappings agree. On manifolds, this theory is interesting only for maps between spaces of different dimension, and our results hold for sets of k maps on compact manifolds from dimension (k-1)n to dimension n. We define the Nielsen equalizer number, which is a lower bound for the minimal number of equalizer points when the maps are changed by homotopies, and is in fact equal to this minimal number when the domain manifold is not a surface. As an application we give some results in N…
We study the asymptotic behavior of the sequence of the Nielsen numbers $\{N(f^k)\}$, the essential periodic orbits of $f$ and the homotopy minimal periods of $f$ by using the Nielsen theory of maps $f$ on infra-solvmanifolds of type $R$. We give a linear lower bound for the number of essential periodic orbits of such a map, which sharpens well-known results of Shub and Sullivan for periodic points and of Babenko and Bogatyi for periodic orbits. We also verify that a constant multiple of infinitely many prime numbers occur as homotopy minimal periods of such a map.
Minimum numbers measure the obstruction to removing coincidences of two given maps (between smooth manifolds M and N of dimensions m and n, resp.). In this paper we compare them to four distinct types of Nielsen numbers. These agree with the classical Nielsen number when m = n (e.g. in the fixed point setting where M = N and one of the maps is the identity map). However, in higher codimensions m - n > 0 their definitions and computations involve distinct aspects of differential topology and homotopy theory. We develop tools which help us 1.) to decide when a minimum number is equal to a Nielse…
Given two fiberwise maps f1, f2 between smooth fiber bundles over a base manifold B, we develop techniques for calculating their Nielsen coincidence number. In certain settings we can describe the Reidemeister set of (f1,f2) as the orbit set of a group operation of π1(B). The size and number of orbits captures crucial extra information. E.g. for torus bundles of arbitrary dimensions over the circle this determines the minimum coincidence numbers of the pair (f1,f2) completely. In particular we can decide when f1 and f2 can be deformed away from one another or when a fiberwise selfmap can be ma…
We give a homotopy invariant construction of the Reidemeister trace for the coincidence of two maps between closed manifolds of not necessarily the same dimensions. It is realized as a homology class of the homotopy equalizer, which coincides with the Hurewicz image of Koschorke's stabilized bordism invariant. To define it, we use a kind of shriek maps appearing string topology. As an application, we compute the coincidence Reidemeister trace for the self-coincidence of the projections of $S^1$-bundles on $\mathbb{C}P^n$. We also mention how to relate our construction to the string topology op…
We compute the Nielsen-Borsuk-Ulam number for any selfmap of $n-$torus, $\mathbb{T}^n$, as well as any free involution $τ$ in $\mathbb{T}^n$, with $n \leqslant 3$. Finally, we conclude that the tori, $\mathbb{T}^1$, $\mathbb{T}^2$ and $\mathbb{T}^3$, are Wecken spaces in Nielsen-Borsuk-Ulam theory. Such a number is a lower bound for the minimal number of pair of points such that $f(x)=f(τ(x))$ in a given homotopy class of maps.
Minimum numbers of fixed points or of coincidence components (realized by maps in given homotopy classes) are the principal objects of study in topological fixed point and coincidence theory. In this paper we investigate fiberwise analoga and represent a general approach e.g. to the question when two maps can be deformed until they are coincidence free. Our method involves normal bordism theory, a certain pathspace EB and a natural generalization of Nielsen numbers. As an illustration we determine the minimum numbers for all maps between torus bundles of arbitrary (possibly different) dimensio…
The aim of this paper is to generalize some of the properties and results regarding both the coincidence point set and the common fixed point set of any two digitally continuous maps to the case of several (more than two) digitally continuous mappings. Moreover, we study how rigidity may affect these coincidence and homotopy coincidence point sets. Also, we investigate whether an established result by Staecker in Nielsen classical topology regarding the coincidence set for many maps still remains valid in the digital topological setting.
Let $f,g:X\to Y$ be maps from a compact infra-nilmanifold $X$ to a compact nilmanifold $Y$ with $\dim X\ge \dim Y$. In this note, we show that a certain Wecken type property holds, i.e., if the Nielsen number $N(f,g)$ vanishes then $f$ and $g$ are deformable to be coincidence free. We also show that if $X$ is a connected finite complex $X$ and the Reidemeister coincidence number $R(f,g)=\infty$ then $f\sim f'$ so that $C(f',g)=\{x\in X \mid f'(x)=g(x)\}$ is empty.
In the setting of continuous maps between compact orientable manifolds of the same dimension, there is a well known averaging formula for the coincidence Lefschetz number in terms of the Lefschetz numbers of lifts to some finite covering space. We state and prove an analogous averaging formula for the coincidence Reidemeister trace. This generalizes a recent formula in fixed point theory by Liu and Zhao. We give two separate and independent proofs of our main result: one using methods developed by Kim and the first author for averaging Nielsen numbers, and one using an axiomatic approach for t…
We prove the rationality, the functional equations and calculate the radii of convergence of the Nielsen and the Reidemeister zeta functions of continuous maps on infra-solvmanifolds of type $\R$. We find a connection between the Reidemeister and Nielsen zeta functions and the Reidemeister torsions of the corresponding mapping tori. We show that if the Reidemeister zeta function is defined for a homeomorphism on an infra-solvmanifold of type $\R$, then this manifold is an infra-nilmanifold. We also prove that a map on an infra-solvmanifold of type $\R$ induced by an affine map minimizes the to…
The Lefschetz number and fixed point index can be thought of as two different descriptions of the same invariant. The Lefschetz number is algebraic and defined using homology. The index is defined more directly from the topology and is a stable homotopy class. Both the Lefschetz number and index admit generalizations to coincidences and the comparison of these invariants retains its central role. In this paper we show that the identification of the Lefschetz number and index using formal properties of the symmetric monoidal trace extends to coincidence invariants. This perspective on the coinc…
We use Wagner's algorithm to estimate the number of periodic points of certain selfmaps on compact surfaces with boundary. When counting according to homotopy classes, we can use the asymptotic density to measure the size of sets of selfmaps. In this sense, we show that "almost all" such selfmaps have periodic points of every period, and that in fact the number of periodic points of period n grows exponentially in n. We further discuss this exponential growth rate and the topological and fundamental-group entropies of these maps. Since our approach is via the Nielsen number, which is homotopy …
We consider the category of all locally Lipschitz contractible metric spaces and all locally Lipschitz maps, which is a wide class of metric spaces, including all finite dimensional Alexandrov spaces and all CAT spaces. We also consider the chain complex of normal currents with compact support in a metric space in the sense of Ambrosio and Kirchheim. In the present paper, its homology is proved to be a homotopy invariant on the category. To prove this result, we define a new topology on a space of Lipschitz maps between arbitrary metric spaces. This topology is proved to coincide with the usua…
A selfmap is Wecken when the minimal number of fixed points among all maps in its homotopy class is equal to the Nielsen number, a homotopy invariant lower bound on the number of fixed points. All selfmaps are Wecken for manifolds of dimension not equal to 2, but some non-Wecken maps exist on surfaces. We attempt to measure how common the Wecken property is on surfaces with boundary by estimating the proportion of maps which are Wecken, measured by asymptotic density. Intuitively, this is the probability that a randomly chosen homotopy class of maps consists of Wecken maps. We show that this d…
Minimum numbers decide e.g. whether a given map f: S^m --> S^n/G from a sphere into a spherical space form can be deformed to a map f' such that f(x) not equal f'(x) for all x in S^m. In this paper we compare minimum numbers to (geometrically defined) Nielsen numbers (which are more computable). In the stable dimension range these numbers coincide. But already in the first nonstable range (when m=2n-2) the Kervaire invariant appears as a decisive additional obstruction which detects interesting geometric coincidence phenomena. Similar results (involving e.g. Hopf invariants, taken mod 4) are o…
