Algebraic Topology

Allen Hatcher

Copyright c 2002 by Cambridge University Press Single paper or electronic copies for noncommercial use may be made freely without explicit permission from the author or publisher. All other rights reserved.

Preface

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix

Standard Notations xii.

Chapter 0. Some Underlying Geometric Notions

. . . . . 1

Homotopy and Homotopy Type 1. Cell Complexes 5. Operations on Spaces 8. Two Criteria for Homotopy Equivalence 10. The Homotopy Extension Property 14.

Chapter 1. The Fundamental Group 1.1. Basic Constructions

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

21

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

25

Paths and Homotopy 25. The Fundamental Group of the Circle 29. Induced Homomorphisms 34.

1.2. Van Kampen’s Theorem

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

40

Free Products of Groups 41. The van Kampen Theorem 43. Applications to Cell Complexes 50.

1.3. Covering Spaces

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Lifting Properties 60. The Classification of Covering Spaces 63. Deck Transformations and Group Actions 70.

Additional Topics 1.A. Graphs and Free Groups 83. 1.B. K(G,1) Spaces and Graphs of Groups 87.

56

Chapter 2. Homology

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

2.1. Simplicial and Singular Homology

97

. . . . . . . . . . . . . 102

∆ Complexes 102. Simplicial Homology 104. Singular Homology 108. Homotopy Invariance 110. Exact Sequences and Excision 113. The Equivalence of Simplicial and Singular Homology 128.

2.2. Computations and Applications

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 134

Degree 134. Cellular Homology 137. Mayer-Vietoris Sequences 149. Homology with Coefficients 153.

2.3. The Formal Viewpoint

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160

Axioms for Homology 160. Categories and Functors 162.

Additional Topics 2.A. Homology and Fundamental Group 166. 2.B. Classical Applications 169. 2.C. Simplicial Approximation 177.

Chapter 3. Cohomology

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 185

3.1. Cohomology Groups

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190

The Universal Coefficient Theorem 190. Cohomology of Spaces 197.

3.2. Cup Product

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 206

The Cohomology Ring 211. A K¨ unneth Formula 218. Spaces with Polynomial Cohomology 224.

3.3. Poincar´ e Duality

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230

Orientations and Homology 233. The Duality Theorem 239. Connection with Cup Product 249. Other Forms of Duality 252.

Additional Topics 3.A. Universal Coefficients for Homology 261. 3.B. The General K¨ unneth Formula 268. 3.C. H–Spaces and Hopf Algebras 281. 3.D. The Cohomology of SO(n) 292. 3.E. Bockstein Homomorphisms 303. 3.F. Limits and Ext 311. 3.G. Transfer Homomorphisms 321. 3.H. Local Coefficients 327.

Chapter 4. Homotopy Theory 4.1. Homotopy Groups

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339

Definitions and Basic Constructions 340. Whitehead’s Theorem 346. Cellular Approximation 348. CW Approximation 352.

4.2. Elementary Methods of Calculation

. . . . . . . . . . . . 360

Excision for Homotopy Groups 360. The Hurewicz Theorem 366. Fiber Bundles 375. Stable Homotopy Groups 384.

4.3. Connections with Cohomology

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393

The Homotopy Construction of Cohomology 393. Fibrations 405. Postnikov Towers 410. Obstruction Theory 415.

Additional Topics 4.A. Basepoints and Homotopy 421. 4.B. The Hopf Invariant 427. 4.C. Minimal Cell Structures 429. 4.D. Cohomology of Fiber Bundles 431. 4.E. The Brown Representability Theorem 448. 4.F. Spectra and Homology Theories 452. 4.G. Gluing Constructions 456. 4.H. Eckmann-Hilton Duality 460. 4.I.

Stable Splittings of Spaces 466.

4.J. The Loopspace of a Suspension 470. 4.K. The Dold-Thom Theorem 475. 4.L. Steenrod Squares and Powers 487.

Appendix

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 519

Topology of Cell Complexes 519. The Compact-Open Topology 529.

Bibliography Index

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 533

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 539

This book was written to be a readable introduction to algebraic topology with rather broad coverage of the subject. The viewpoint is quite classical in spirit, and stays well within the confines of pure algebraic topology. In a sense, the book could have been written thirty or forty years ago since virtually everything in it is at least that old. However, the passage of the intervening years has helped clarify what are the most important results and techniques. For example, CW complexes have proved over time to be the most natural class of spaces for algebraic topology, so they are emphasized here much more than in the books of an earlier generation. This emphasis also illustrates the book’s general slant towards geometric, rather than algebraic, aspects of the subject. The geometry of algebraic topology is so pretty, it would seem a pity to slight it and to miss all the intuition it provides. At the elementary level, algebraic topology separates naturally into the two broad channels of homology and homotopy. This material is here divided into four chapters, roughly according to increasing sophistication, with homotopy split between Chapters 1 and 4, and homology and its mirror variant cohomology in Chapters 2 and 3. These four chapters do not have to be read in this order, however. One could begin with homology and perhaps continue with cohomology before turning to homotopy. In the other direction, one could postpone homology and cohomology until after parts of Chapter 4. If this latter strategy is pushed to its natural limit, homology and cohomology can be developed just as branches of homotopy theory. Appealing as this approach is from a strictly logical point of view, it places more demands on the reader, and since readability is one of the first priorities of the book, this homotopic interpretation of homology and cohomology is described only after the latter theories have been developed independently of homotopy theory. Preceding the four main chapters there is a preliminary Chapter 0 introducing some of the basic geometric concepts and constructions that play a central role in both the homological and homotopical sides of the subject. This can either be read before the other chapters or skipped and referred back to later for specific topics as they become needed in the subsequent chapters. Each of the four main chapters concludes with a selection of additional topics that the reader can sample at will, independent of the basic core of the book contained in the earlier parts of the chapters. Many of these extra topics are in fact rather important in the overall scheme of algebraic topology, though they might not fit into the time

x

Preface

constraints of a first course. Altogether, these additional topics amount to nearly half the book, and they are included here both to make the book more comprehensive and to give the reader who takes the time to delve into them a more substantial sample of the true richness and beauty of the subject. Not included in this book is the important but somewhat more sophisticated topic of spectral sequences. It was very tempting to include something about this marvelous tool here, but spectral sequences are such a big topic that it seemed best to start with them afresh in a new volume. This is tentatively titled ‘Spectral Sequences in Algebraic Topology’ and is referred to herein as [SSAT]. There is also a third book in progress, on vector bundles, characteristic classes, and K–theory, which will be largely independent of [SSAT] and also of much of the present book. This is referred to as [VBKT], its provisional title being ‘Vector Bundles and K–Theory.’ In terms of prerequisites, the present book assumes the reader has some familiarity with the content of the standard undergraduate courses in algebra and point-set topology. In particular, the reader should know about quotient spaces, or identification spaces as they are sometimes called, which are quite important for algebraic topology. Good sources for this concept are the textbooks [Armstrong 1983] and [J¨ anich 1984] listed in the Bibliography. A book such as this one, whose aim is to present classical material from a rather classical viewpoint, is not the place to indulge in wild innovation. There is, however, one small novelty in the exposition that may be worth commenting upon, even though in the book as a whole it plays a relatively minor role. This is the use of what we call ∆ complexes, which are a mild generalization of the classical notion of a simplicial complex. The idea is to decompose a space into simplices allowing different faces of a simplex to coincide and dropping the requirement that simplices are uniquely determined by their vertices. For example, if one takes the standard picture of the torus as a square with opposite edges identified and divides the square into two triangles by cutting along a diagonal, then the result is a ∆ complex structure on the torus having 2 triangles, 3 edges, and 1 vertex. By contrast, a simplicial complex structure on the torus must have at least 14 triangles, 21 edges, and 7 vertices. So ∆ complexes provide a significant improvement in efficiency, which is nice from a pedagogical viewpoint since it cuts down on tedious calculations in examples. A more fundamental reason for considering ∆ complexes is that they seem to be very natural objects from the viewpoint of algebraic topology. They are the natural domain of definition for simplicial homology, and a number of standard constructions produce ∆ complexes rather than simplicial complexes, for instance the singular complex of a space, or the classifying space of a discrete group or category. Historically, ∆ complexes were first introduced by Eilenberg and Zilber in 1950 under the name of semisimplicial complexes. This term later came to mean something different, however, and the original notion seems to have been largely ignored since.

Preface

xi

This book will remain available online in electronic form after it has been printed in the traditional fashion. The web address is http://www.math.cornell.edu/˜hatcher One can also find here the parts of the other two books in the sequence that are currently available. Although the present book has gone through countless revisions, including the correction of many small errors both typographical and mathematical found by careful readers of earlier versions, it is inevitable that some errors remain, so the web page will include a list of corrections to the printed version. With the electronic version of the book it will be possible not only to incorporate corrections but also to make more substantial revisions and additions. Readers are encouraged to send comments and suggestions as well as corrections to the email address posted on the web page.

xii

Standard Notations Z , Q , R , C , H , O — the integers, rationals, reals, complexes, quaternions, and octonions. Zn — the integers mod n . Rn — n dimensional Euclidean space. Cn — complex n space. In particular, R0 = {0} = C0 , zero-dimensional vector spaces. I = [0, 1] — the unit interval. S n — the unit sphere in Rn+1 , all points of distance 1 from the origin. D n — the unit disk or ball in Rn , all points of distance ≤ 1 from the origin. ∂D n = S n−1 — the boundary of the n disk. en — an n cell, homeomorphic to the open n disk D n − ∂D n . In particular, D 0 and e0 consist of a single point since R0 = {0} . But S 0 consists of two points since it is ∂D 1 . 11 — the identity function from a set to itself.

q — disjoint union of sets or spaces. Q ×, — product of sets, groups, or spaces. ≈ — isomorphism. A ⊂ B or B ⊃ A — set-theoretic containment, not necessarily proper. A − B — set-theoretic difference, all points in A that are not in B . iff — if and only if.

The aim of this short preliminary chapter is to introduce a few of the most common geometric concepts and constructions in algebraic topology. The exposition is somewhat informal, with no theorems or proofs until the last couple pages, and it should be read in this informal spirit, skipping bits here and there. In fact, this whole chapter could be skipped now, to be referred back to later for basic definitions. To avoid overusing the word ‘continuous’ we adopt the convention that maps between spaces are always assumed to be continuous unless otherwise stated.

Homotopy and Homotopy Type One of the main ideas of algebraic topology is to consider two spaces to be equivalent if they have ‘the same shape’ in a sense that is much broader than homeomorphism. To take an everyday example, the letters of the alphabet can be written either as unions of finitely many straight and curved line segments, or in thickened forms that are compact subsurfaces of the plane bounded by simple closed curves. In each case the thin letter is a subspace of the thick letter, and we can continuously shrink the thick letter to the thin one. A nice way to do this is to decompose a thick letter, call it X , into line segments connecting each point on the outer boundary of X to a unique point of the thin subletter X , as indicated in the figure. Then we can shrink X to X by sliding each point of X − X into X along the line segment that contains it. Points that are already in X do not move. We can think of this shrinking process as taking place during a time interval 0 ≤ t ≤ 1 , and then it defines a family of functions ft : X→X parametrized by t ∈ I = [0, 1] , where ft (x) is the point to which a given point x ∈ X has moved at time t .

2

Chapter 0

Some Underlying Geometric Notions

Naturally we would like ft (x) to depend continuously on both t and x , and this will be true if we have each x ∈ X − X move along its line segment at constant speed so as to reach its image point in X at time t = 1 , while points x ∈ X are stationary, as remarked earlier. Examples of this sort lead to the following general definition. A deformation

retraction of a space X onto a subspace A is a family of maps ft : X →X , t ∈ I , such that f0 = 11 (the identity map), f1 (X) = A , and ft || A = 11 for all t . The family ft should be continuous in the sense that the associated map X × I →X , (x, t) , ft (x) ,

is continuous. It is easy to produce many more examples similar to the letter examples, with the deformation retraction ft obtained by sliding along line segments. The figure on the left below shows such a deformation retraction of a M¨ obius band onto its core circle.

The three figures on the right show deformation retractions in which a disk with two smaller open subdisks removed shrinks to three different subspaces. In all these examples the structure that gives rise to the deformation retraction can be described by means of the following definition. For a map f : X →Y , the mapping cylinder Mf is the quotient space of the disjoint union (X × I) q Y obtained by identifying each (x, 1) ∈ X × I with f (x) ∈ Y . In the letter examples, the space X

X×I

is the outer boundary of the thick letter, Y is the thin

Y

X f (X )

Mf Y

letter, and f : X →Y sends

the outer endpoint of each line segment to its inner endpoint. A similar description applies to the other examples. Then it is a general fact that a mapping cylinder Mf deformation retracts to the subspace Y by sliding each point (x, t) along the segment {x}× I ⊂ Mf to the endpoint f (x) ∈ Y . Not all deformation retractions arise in this way from mapping cylinders, however. For example, the thick X deformation retracts to the thin X , which in turn deformation retracts to the point of intersection of its two crossbars. The net result is a deformation retraction of X onto a point, during which certain pairs of points follow paths that merge before reaching their final destination. Later in this section we will describe a considerably more complicated example, the so-called ‘house with two rooms,’ where a deformation retraction to a point can be constructed abstractly, but seeing the deformation with the naked eye is a real challenge.

Homotopy and Homotopy Type

Chapter 0

3

A deformation retraction ft : X →X is a special case of the general notion of a

homotopy, which is simply any family of maps ft : X →Y , t ∈ I , such that the asso-

ciated map F : X × I →Y given by F (x, t) = ft (x) is continuous. One says that two maps f0 , f1 : X →Y are homotopic if there exists a homotopy ft connecting them,

and one writes f0 ' f1 . In these terms, a deformation retraction of X onto a subspace A is a homotopy

from the identity map of X to a retraction of X onto A , a map r : X →X such that r (X) = A and r || A = 11 . One could equally well regard a retraction as a map X →A restricting to the identity on the subspace A ⊂ X . From a more formal viewpoint a

retraction is a map r : X →X with r 2 = r , since this equation says exactly that r is the identity on its image. Retractions are the topological analogs of projection operators in other parts of mathematics. Not all retractions come from deformation retractions. For example, a space X always retracts onto any point x0 ∈ X via the constant map sending all of X to x0 , but a space that deformation retracts onto a point must be path-connected since a deformation retraction of X to x0 gives a path joining each x ∈ X to x0 . It is less trivial to show that there are path-connected spaces that do not deformation retract onto a point. One would expect this to be the case for the letters ‘with holes,’ A , B , D , O , P , Q , R . In Chapter 1 we will develop techniques to prove this. A homotopy ft : X →X that gives a deformation retraction of X onto a subspace A has the property that ft || A = 11 for all t . In general, a homotopy ft : X →Y whose restriction to a subspace A ⊂ X is independent of t is called a homotopy relative to A , or more concisely, a homotopy rel A . Thus, a deformation retraction of X onto A is a homotopy rel A from the identity map of X to a retraction of X onto A . If a space X deformation retracts onto a subspace A via ft : X →X , then if

r : X →A denotes the resulting retraction and i : A→X the inclusion, we have r i = 11

and ir ' 11 , the latter homotopy being given by ft . Generalizing this situation, a map f : X →Y is called a homotopy equivalence if there is a map g : Y →X such that

f g ' 11 and gf ' 11 . The spaces X and Y are said to be homotopy equivalent or to have the same homotopy type. The notation is X ' Y . It is an easy exercise to check that this is an equivalence relation, in contrast with the nonsymmetric notion of deformation retraction. For example, the three graphs

are all homotopy

equivalent since they are deformation retracts of the same space, as we saw earlier, but none of the three is a deformation retract of any other. It is true in general that two spaces X and Y are homotopy equivalent if and only if there exists a third space Z containing both X and Y as deformation retracts. For the less trivial implication one can in fact take Z to be the mapping cylinder Mf of

any homotopy equivalence f : X →Y . We observed previously that Mf deformation retracts to Y , so what needs to be proved is that Mf also deformation retracts to its other end X if f is a homotopy equivalence. This is shown in Corollary 0.21.

4

Chapter 0

Some Underlying Geometric Notions

A space having the homotopy type of a point is called contractible. This amounts to requiring that the identity map of the space be nullhomotopic, that is, homotopic to a constant map. In general, this is slightly weaker than saying the space deformation retracts to a point; see the exercises at the end of the chapter for an example distinguishing these two notions. Let us describe now an example of a 2 dimensional subspace of R3 , known as the house with two rooms, which is contractible but not in any obvious way. To build this

=

∪

∪

space, start with a box divided into two chambers by a horizontal rectangle, where by a ‘rectangle’ we mean not just the four edges of a rectangle but also its interior. Access to the two chambers from outside the box is provided by two vertical tunnels. The upper tunnel is made by punching out a square from the top of the box and another square directly below it from the middle horizontal rectangle, then inserting four vertical rectangles, the walls of the tunnel. This tunnel allows entry to the lower chamber from outside the box. The lower tunnel is formed in similar fashion, providing entry to the upper chamber. Finally, two vertical rectangles are inserted to form ‘support walls’ for the two tunnels. The resulting space X thus consists of three horizontal pieces homeomorphic to annuli plus all the vertical rectangles that form the walls of the two chambers. To see that X is contractible, consider a closed ε neighborhood N(X) of X . This clearly deformation retracts onto X if ε is sufficiently small. In fact, N(X) is the mapping cylinder of a map from the boundary surface of N(X) to X . Less obvious is the fact that N(X) is homeomorphic to D 3 , the unit ball in R3 . To see this, imagine forming N(X) from a ball of clay by pushing a finger into the ball to create the upper tunnel, then gradually hollowing out the lower chamber, and similarly pushing a finger in to create the lower tunnel and hollowing out the upper chamber. Mathematically, this process gives a family of embeddings ht : D 3 →R3 starting with the usual inclusion D 3 > R3 and ending with a homeomorphism onto N(X) .

Thus we have X ' N(X) = D 3 ' point , so X is contractible since homotopy

equivalence is an equivalence relation. In fact, X deformation retracts to a point. For

if ft is a deformation retraction of the ball N(X) to a point x0 ∈ X and if r : N(X)→X

is a retraction, for example the end result of a deformation retraction of N(X) to X , then the restriction of the composition r ft to X is a deformation retraction of X to x0 . However, it is quite a challenging exercise to see exactly what this deformation retraction looks like.

Cell Complexes

Chapter 0

5

Cell Complexes A familiar way of constructing the torus S 1 × S 1 is by identifying opposite sides of a square. More generally, an orientable surface Mg of genus g can be constructed from a polygon with 4g sides a

by identifying pairs of edges, as shown in the figure in the first three cases g = 1, 2, 3 .

b

b a

a c

The 4g edges of the polygon become a union of 2g circles

d

in the surface, all intersect-

b

c

b

a

c

ing in a single point. The interior of the polygon can be

a

d

d

thought of as an open disk, or a 2 cell, attached to the

d

union of the 2g circles. One can also regard the union of

b

c b

e

c b

f e

from their common point of intersection, by attaching 2g

d

e

d

the circles as being obtained

b a c

a

f

a f

open arcs, or 1 cells. Thus

a

b

the surface can be built up in stages: Start with a point, attach 1 cells to this point, then attach a 2 cell. A natural generalization of this is to construct a space by the following procedure: (1) Start with a discrete set X 0 , whose points are regarded as 0 cells. n via maps (2) Inductively, form the n skeleton X n from X n−1 by attaching n cells eα

ϕα : S n−1 →X n−1 . This means that X n is the quotient space of the disjoint union ` n n of X n−1 with a collection of n disks Dα under the identifications X n−1 α Dα ` n n n n−1 n x ∼ ϕα (x) for x ∈ ∂Dα . Thus as a set, X = X α eα where each eα is an

open n disk. (3) One can either stop this inductive process at a finite stage, setting X = X n for S some n < ∞ , or one can continue indefinitely, setting X = n X n . In the latter case X is given the weak topology: A set A ⊂ X is open (or closed) iff A ∩ X n is open (or closed) in X n for each n . A space X constructed in this way is called a cell complex or CW complex. The explanation of the letters ‘CW’ is given in the Appendix, where a number of basic topological properties of cell complexes are proved. The reader who wonders about various point-set topological questions lurking in the background of the following discussion should consult the Appendix for details.

6

Chapter 0

Some Underlying Geometric Notions

If X = X n for some n , then X is said to be finite-dimensional, and the smallest such n is the dimension of X , the maximum dimension of cells of X .

Example

0.1. A 1 dimensional cell complex X = X 1 is what is called a graph in

algebraic topology. It consists of vertices (the 0 cells) to which edges (the 1 cells) are attached. The two ends of an edge can be attached to the same vertex.

Example

0.2. The house with two rooms, pictured earlier, has a visually obvious

2 dimensional cell complex structure. The 0 cells are the vertices where three or more of the depicted edges meet, and the 1 cells are the interiors of the edges connecting these vertices. This gives the 1 skeleton X 1 , and the 2 cells are the components of the remainder of the space, X − X 1 . If one counts up, one finds there are 29 0 cells, 51 1 cells, and 23 2 cells, with the alternating sum 29 − 51 + 23 equal to 1 . This is the Euler characteristic, which for a cell complex with finitely many cells is defined to be the number of even-dimensional cells minus the number of odd-dimensional cells. As we shall show in Theorem 2.44, the Euler characteristic of a cell complex depends only on its homotopy type, so the fact that the house with two rooms has the homotopy type of a point implies that its Euler characteristic must be 1, no matter how it is represented as a cell complex.

Example 0.3.

The sphere S n has the structure of a cell complex with just two cells, e0

and en , the n cell being attached by the constant map S n−1 →e0 . This is equivalent

to regarding S n as the quotient space D n /∂D n .

Example

0.4. Real projective n space RPn is defined to be the space of all lines

through the origin in Rn+1 . Each such line is determined by a nonzero vector in Rn+1 , unique up to scalar multiplication, and RPn is topologized as the quotient space of Rn+1 − {0} under the equivalence relation v ∼ λv for scalars λ ≠ 0 . We can restrict to vectors of length 1, so RPn is also the quotient space S n /(v ∼ −v) , the sphere with antipodal points identified. This is equivalent to saying that RPn is the quotient space of a hemisphere D n with antipodal points of ∂D n identified. Since ∂D n with antipodal points identified is just RPn−1 , we see that RPn is obtained from RPn−1 by

attaching an n cell, with the quotient projection S n−1 →RPn−1 as the attaching map. It follows by induction on n that RPn has a cell complex structure e0 ∪ e1 ∪ ··· ∪ en with one cell ei in each dimension i ≤ n .

Since RPn is obtained from RPn−1 by attaching an n cell, the infinite S union RP∞ = n RPn becomes a cell complex with one cell in each dimension. We S can view RP∞ as the space of lines through the origin in R∞ = n Rn .

Example 0.5.

Example 0.6.

Complex projective n space CPn is the space of complex lines through

the origin in Cn+1 , that is, 1 dimensional vector subspaces of Cn+1 . As in the case of RPn , each line is determined by a nonzero vector in Cn+1 , unique up to scalar multiplication, and CPn is topologized as the quotient space of Cn+1 − {0} under the

Cell Complexes

Chapter 0

7

equivalence relation v ∼ λv for λ ≠ 0 . Equivalently, this is the quotient of the unit sphere S 2n+1 ⊂ Cn+1 with v ∼ λv for |λ| = 1 . It is also possible to obtain CPn as a quotient space of the disk D 2n under the identifications v ∼ λv for v ∈ ∂D 2n , in the following way. The vectors in S 2n+1 ⊂ Cn+1 with last coordinate real and nonnegative p are precisely the vectors of the form (w, 1 − |w|2 ) ∈ Cn × C with |w| ≤ 1 . Such p 2n bounded vectors form the graph of the function w , 1 − |w|2 . This is a disk D+

by the sphere S 2n−1 ⊂ S 2n+1 consisting of vectors (w, 0) ∈ Cn × C with |w| = 1 . Each 2n , and vector in S 2n+1 is equivalent under the identifications v ∼ λv to a vector in D+

the latter vector is unique if its last coordinate is nonzero. If the last coordinate is zero, we have just the identifications v ∼ λv for v ∈ S 2n−1 . 2n under the identifications From this description of CPn as the quotient of D+

v ∼ λv for v ∈ S 2n−1 it follows that CPn is obtained from CPn−1 by attaching a

cell e2n via the quotient map S 2n−1 →CPn−1 . So by induction on n we obtain a cell structure CPn = e0 ∪ e2 ∪ ··· ∪ e2n with cells only in even dimensions. Similarly, CP∞ has a cell structure with one cell in each even dimension. n After these examples we return now to general theory. Each cell eα in a cell

n complex X has a characteristic map Φα : Dα →X which extends the attaching map

n n onto eα . Namely, we can take ϕα and is a homeomorphism from the interior of Dα ` n n−1 n n Φα to be the composition Dα > X α Dα →X > X where the middle map is

the quotient map defining X n . For example, in the canonical cell structure on S n

described in Example 0.3, a characteristic map for the n cell is the quotient map

D n →S n collapsing ∂D n to a point. For RPn a characteristic map for the cell ei is

the quotient map D i →RPi ⊂ RPn identifying antipodal points of ∂D i , and similarly

for CPn .

A subcomplex of a cell complex X is a closed subspace A ⊂ X that is a union of cells of X . Since A is closed, the characteristic map of each cell in A has image contained in A , and in particular the image of the attaching map of each cell in A is contained in A , so A is a cell complex in its own right. A pair (X, A) consisting of a cell complex X and a subcomplex A will be called a CW pair. For example, each skeleton X n of a cell complex X is a subcomplex. Particular cases of this are the subcomplexes RPk ⊂ RPn and CPk ⊂ CPn for k ≤ n . These are in fact the only subcomplexes of RPn and CPn . There are natural inclusions S 0 ⊂ S 1 ⊂ ··· ⊂ S n , but these subspheres are not subcomplexes of S n in its usual cell structure with just two cells. However, we can give S n a different cell structure in which each of the subspheres S k is a subcomplex, by regarding each S k as being obtained inductively from the equatorial S k−1 by attaching S two k cells, the components of S k −S k−1 . The infinite-dimensional sphere S ∞ = n S n then becomes a cell complex as well. Note that the two-to-one quotient map S ∞ →RP∞

that identifies antipodal points of S ∞ identifies the two n cells of S ∞ to the single n cell of RP∞ .

8

Chapter 0

Some Underlying Geometric Notions

In the examples of cell complexes given so far, the closure of each cell is a subcomplex, and more generally the closure of any collection of cells is a subcomplex. Most naturally arising cell structures have this property, but it need not hold in general. For example, if we start with S 1 with its minimal cell structure and attach to this

a 2 cell by a map S 1 →S 1 whose image is a nontrivial subarc of S 1 , then the closure of the 2 cell is not a subcomplex since it contains only a part of the 1 cell.

Operations on Spaces Cell complexes have a very nice mixture of rigidity and flexibility, with enough rigidity to allow many arguments to proceed in a combinatorial cell-by-cell fashion and enough flexibility to allow many natural constructions to be performed on them. Here are some of those constructions. Products. If X and Y are cell complexes, then X × Y has the structure of a cell m m × eβn where eα ranges over the cells of X and complex with cells the products eα

eβn ranges over the cells of Y . For example, the cell structure on the torus S 1 × S 1 described at the beginning of this section is obtained in this way from the standard cell structure on S 1 . For completely general CW complexes X and Y there is one small complication: The topology on X × Y as a cell complex is sometimes finer than the product topology, with more open sets than the product topology has, though the two topologies coincide if either X or Y has only finitely many cells, or if both X and Y have countably many cells. This is explained in the Appendix. In practice this subtle issue of point-set topology rarely causes problems, however. Quotients. If (X, A) is a CW pair consisting of a cell complex X and a subcomplex A , then the quotient space X/A inherits a natural cell complex structure from X . The cells of X/A are the cells of X − A plus one new 0 cell, the image of A in X/A . For a

n of X − A attached by ϕα : S n−1 →X n−1 , the attaching map for the correspondcell eα

ing cell in X/A is the composition S n−1 →X n−1 →X n−1 /An−1 .

For example, if we give S n−1 any cell structure and build D n from S n−1 by attach-

ing an n cell, then the quotient D n /S n−1 is S n with its usual cell structure. As another example, take X to be a closed orientable surface with the cell structure described at the beginning of this section, with a single 2 cell, and let A be the complement of this 2 cell, the 1 skeleton of X . Then X/A has a cell structure consisting of a 0 cell with a 2 cell attached, and there is only one way to attach a cell to a 0 cell, by the constant map, so X/A is S 2 . Suspension. For a space X , the suspension SX is the quotient of X × I obtained by collapsing X × {0} to one point and X × {1} to another point. The motivating example is X = S n , when SX = S n+1 with the two ‘suspension points’ at the north and south poles of S n+1 , the points (0, ··· , 0, ±1) . One can regard SX as a double cone

Operations on Spaces

Chapter 0

9

on X , the union of two copies of the cone CX = (X × I)/(X × {0}) . If X is a CW complex, so are SX and CX as quotients of X × I with its product cell structure, I being given the standard cell structure of two 0 cells joined by a 1 cell. Suspension becomes increasingly important the farther one goes into algebraic topology, though why this should be so is certainly not evident in advance. One especially useful property of suspension is that not only spaces but also maps can be suspended. Namely, a map f : X →Y suspends to Sf : SX →SY , the quotient map of

f × 11 : X × I →Y × I .

Join. The cone CX is the union of all line segments joining points of X to an external vertex, and similarly the suspension SX is the union of all line segments joining points of X to two external vertices. More generally, given X and a second space Y , one can define the space of all lines segments joining points in X to points in Y . This is the join X ∗ Y , the quotient space of X × Y × I under the identifications (x, y1 , 0) ∼ (x, y2 , 0) and (x1 , y, 1) ∼ (x2 , y, 1) . Thus we are collapsing the subspace X × Y × {0} to X and X × Y × {1} to Y . For example, if X and Y are both closed intervals, then we are collapsing two opposite faces of a cube

Y

onto line segments so that the cube becomes a tetrahedron. In the general case, X ∗ Y contains copies of X and Y at its two ‘ends,’

X

I

and every other point (x, y, t) in X ∗ Y is on a unique line segment joining the point x ∈ X ⊂ X ∗ Y to the point y ∈ Y ⊂ X ∗ Y , the segment obtained by fixing x and y and letting the coordinate t in (x, y, t) vary. A nice way to write points of X ∗ Y is as formal linear combinations t1 x + t2 y with 0 ≤ ti ≤ 1 and t1 +t2 = 1 , subject to the rules 0x +1y = y and 1x +0y = x that correspond exactly to the identifications defining X ∗ Y . In much the same way, an iterated join X1 ∗ ··· ∗ Xn can be regarded as the space of formal linear combinations t1 x1 + ··· + tn xn with 0 ≤ ti ≤ 1 and t1 + ··· + tn = 1 , with the convention that terms 0ti can be omitted. This viewpoint makes it easy to see that the join operation is associative. A very special case that plays a central role in algebraic topology is when each Xi is just a point. For example, the join of two points is a line segment, the join of three points is a triangle, and the join of four points is a tetrahedron. The join of n points is a convex polyhedron of dimension n − 1 called a simplex. Concretely, if the n points are the n standard basis vectors for Rn , then their join is the space ∆n−1 = { (t1 , ··· , tn ) ∈ Rn || t1 + ··· + tn = 1 and ti ≥ 0 } . Another interesting example is when each Xi is S 0 , two points. If we take the two points of Xi to be the two unit vectors along the i th coordinate axis in Rn , then the join X1 ∗ ··· ∗ Xn is the union of 2n copies of the simplex ∆n−1 , and radial projection from the origin gives a homeomorphism between X1 ∗ ··· ∗ Xn and S n−1 .

Chapter 0

10

Some Underlying Geometric Notions

If X and Y are CW complexes, then there is a natural CW structure on X ∗ Y having the subspaces X and Y as subcomplexes, with the remaining cells being the product cells of X × Y × (0, 1) . As usual with products, the CW topology on X ∗ Y may be weaker than the quotient of the product topology on X × Y × I . Wedge Sum. This is a rather trivial but still quite useful operation. Given spaces X and Y with chosen points x0 ∈ X and y0 ∈ Y , then the wedge sum X ∨ Y is the quotient of the disjoint union X q Y obtained by identifying x0 and y0 to a single point. For example, S 1 ∨ S 1 is homeomorphic to the figure ‘8,’ two circles touching at a point. W More generally one could form the wedge sum α Xα of an arbitrary collection of ` spaces Xα by starting with the disjoint union α Xα and identifying points xα ∈ Xα to a single point. In case the spaces Xα are cell complexes and the points xα are ` W 0 cells, then α Xα is a cell complex since it is obtained from the cell complex α Xα by collapsing a subcomplex to a point. For any cell complex X , the quotient X n/X n−1 is a wedge sum of n spheres

W

n α Sα ,

with one sphere for each n cell of X . Smash Product. Like suspension, this is another construction whose importance becomes evident only later. Inside a product space X × Y there are copies of X and Y , namely X × {y0 } and {x0 }× Y for points x0 ∈ X and y0 ∈ Y . These two copies of X and Y in X × Y intersect only at the point (x0 , y0 ) , so their union can be identified with the wedge sum X ∨ Y . The smash product X ∧ Y is then defined to be the quotient X × Y /X ∨ Y . One can think of X ∧ Y as a reduced version of X × Y obtained by collapsing away the parts that are not genuinely a product, the separate factors X and Y . The smash product X ∧ Y is a cell complex if X and Y are cell complexes with x0 and y0 0 cells, assuming that we give X × Y the cell-complex topology rather than the product topology in cases when these two topologies differ. For example, S m ∧S n has a cell structure with just two cells, of dimensions 0 and m+n , hence S m ∧S n = S m+n . In particular, when m = n = 1 we see that collapsing longitude and meridian circles of a torus to a point produces a 2 sphere.

Two Criteria for Homotopy Equivalence Earlier in this chapter the main tool we used for constructing homotopy equivalences was the fact that a mapping cylinder deformation retracts onto its ‘target’ end. By repeated application of this fact one can often produce homotopy equivalences between rather different-looking spaces. However, this process can be a bit cumbersome in practice, so it is useful to have other techniques available as well. We will describe two commonly used methods here. The first involves collapsing certain subspaces to points, and the second involves varying the way in which the parts of a space are put together.

Two Criteria for Homotopy Equivalence

Chapter 0

11

Collapsing Subspaces The operation of collapsing a subspace to a point usually has a drastic effect on homotopy type, but one might hope that if the subspace being collapsed already has the homotopy type of a point, then collapsing it to a point might not change the homotopy type of the whole space. Here is a positive result in this direction: If (X, A) is a CW pair consisting of a CW complex X and a contractible subcomplex A , then the quotient map X →X/A is a homotopy equivalence.

A proof will be given later in Proposition 0.17, but for now let us look at some examples showing how this result can be applied.

Example 0.7: Graphs.

The three graphs

are homotopy equivalent since

each is a deformation retract of a disk with two holes, but we can also deduce this from the collapsing criterion above since collapsing the middle edge of the first and third graphs produces the second graph. More generally, suppose X is any graph with finitely many vertices and edges. If the two endpoints of any edge of X are distinct, we can collapse this edge to a point, producing a homotopy equivalent graph with one fewer edge. This simplification can be repeated until all edges of X are loops, and then each component of X is either an isolated vertex or a wedge sum of circles. This raises the question of whether two such graphs, having only one vertex in each component, can be homotopy equivalent if they are not in fact just isomorphic graphs. Exercise 12 at the end of the chapter reduces the question to the case of W connected graphs. Then the task is to prove that a wedge sum m S 1 of m circles is not W 1 homotopy equivalent to n S if m ≠ n . This sort of thing is hard to do directly. What one would like is some sort of algebraic object associated to spaces, depending only W W on their homotopy type, and taking different values for m S 1 and n S 1 if m ≠ n . In W 1 fact the Euler characteristic does this since m S has Euler characteristic 1−m . But it is a rather nontrivial theorem that the Euler characteristic of a space depends only on its homotopy type. A different algebraic invariant that works equally well for graphs, and whose rigorous development requires less effort than the Euler characteristic, is the fundamental group of a space, the subject of Chapter 1.

Example from S

2

0.8. Consider the space X obtained by attaching the two ends of an arc

A to two distinct points on the sphere, say the north and south poles. Let B be an arc in S 2

A

joining the two points where A attaches. Then

B

X can be given a CW complex structure with the two endpoints of A and B as 0 cells, the interiors of A and B as 1 cells, and the rest of S 2 as a 2 cell. Since A and B are contractible,

X/A

X X/B

12

Chapter 0

Some Underlying Geometric Notions

X/A and X/B are homotopy equivalent to X . The space X/A is the quotient S 2 /S 0 , the sphere with two points identified, and X/B is S 1 ∨ S 2 . Hence S 2 /S 0 and S 1 ∨ S 2 are homotopy equivalent, a fact which may not be entirely obvious at first glance.

Example

0.9. Let X be the union of a torus with n meridional disks. To obtain

a CW structure on X , choose a longitudinal circle in the torus, intersecting each of the meridional disks in one point. These intersection points are then the 0 cells, the 1 cells are the rest of the longitudinal circle and the boundary circles of the meridional disks, and the 2 cells are the remaining regions of the torus and the interiors of the meridional disks. Collapsing each meridional disk to a point yields a homotopy

Y

X

Z

W

equivalent space Y consisting of n 2 spheres, each tangent to its two neighbors, a ‘necklace with n beads.’ The third space Z in the figure, a strand of n beads with a string joining its two ends, collapses to Y by collapsing the string to a point, so this collapse is a homotopy equivalence. Finally, by collapsing the arc in Z formed by the front halves of the equators of the n beads, we obtain the fourth space W , a wedge sum of S 1 with n 2 spheres. (One can see why a wedge sum is sometimes called a ‘bouquet’ in the older literature.)

Example 0.10:

Reduced Suspension. Let X be a CW complex and x0 ∈ X a 0 cell.

Inside the suspension SX we have the line segment {x0 }× I , and collapsing this to a point yields a space ΣX homotopy equivalent to SX , called the reduced suspension of X . For example, if we take X to be S 1 ∨ S 1 with x0 the intersection point of the two circles, then the ordinary suspension SX is the union of two spheres intersecting along the arc {x0 }× I , so the reduced suspension ΣX is S 2 ∨ S 2 , a slightly simpler space. More generally we have Σ(X ∨ Y ) = ΣX ∨ ΣY for arbitrary CW complexes X and Y . Another way in which the reduced suspension ΣX is slightly simpler than SX is in its CW structure. In SX there are two 0 cells (the two suspension points) and an (n + 1) cell en × (0, 1) for each n cell en of X , whereas in ΣX there is a single 0 cell and an (n + 1) cell for each n cell of X other than the 0 cell x0 . The reduced suspension ΣX is actually the same as the smash product X ∧ S 1 since both spaces are the quotient of X × I with X × ∂I ∪ {x0 }× I collapsed to a point.

Attaching Spaces Another common way to change a space without changing its homotopy type involves the idea of continuously varying how its parts are attached together. A general definition of ‘attaching one space to another’ that includes the case of attaching cells

Two Criteria for Homotopy Equivalence

Chapter 0

13

is the following. We start with a space X0 and another space X1 that we wish to attach to X0 by identifying the points in a subspace A ⊂ X1 with points of X0 . The

data needed to do this is a map f : A→X0 , for then we can form a quotient space

of X0 q X1 by identifying each point a ∈ A with its image f (a) ∈ X0 . Let us denote this quotient space by X0 tf X1 , the space X0 with X1 attached along A via f . When (X1 , A) = (D n , S n−1 ) we have the case of attaching an n cell to X0 via a map

f : S n−1 →X0 .

Mapping cylinders are examples of this construction, since the mapping cylinder Mf of a map f : X →Y is the space obtained from Y by attaching X × I along X × {1} via f . Closely related to the mapping cylinder Mf is the mapping cone Cf = Y tf CX where CX is the cone (X × I)/(X × {0}) and we attach this to Y along X × {1} via the identifications (x, 1) ∼ f (x) . For exam-

CX

ple, when X is a sphere S n−1 the mapping cone Cf is the space

obtained from Y by attaching an n cell via f : S n−1 →Y . A

Y

mapping cone Cf can also be viewed as the quotient Mf /X of the mapping cylinder Mf with the subspace X = X × {0} collapsed to a point. If one varies an attaching map f by a homotopy ft , one gets a family of spaces whose shape is undergoing a continuous change, it would seem, and one might expect these spaces all to have the same homotopy type. This is often the case: If (X1 , A) is a CW pair and the two attaching maps f , g : A→X0 are homotopic, then X0 tf X1 ' X0 tg X1 . Again let us defer the proof and look at some examples.

Example 0.11.

Let us rederive the result in Example 0.8 that a sphere with two points

identified is homotopy equivalent to S 1 ∨ S 2 . The sphere with two points identified can be obtained by attaching S 2 to S 1 by a map that wraps a closed arc A in S 2 around S 1 ,

S2 A

S1

as shown in the figure. Since A is contractible, this attaching map is homotopic to a constant map, and attaching S 2 to S 1 via a constant map of A yields S 1 ∨ S 2 . The result then follows since (S 2 , A) is a CW pair, S 2 being obtained from A by attaching a 2 cell.

Example

0.12. In similar fashion we can see that the necklace in Example 0.9 is

homotopy equivalent to the wedge sum of a circle with n 2 spheres. The necklace can be obtained from a circle by attaching n 2 spheres along arcs, so the necklace is homotopy equivalent to the space obtained by attaching n 2 spheres to a circle at points. Then we can slide these attaching points around the circle until they all coincide, producing the wedge sum.

Example 0.13.

Here is an application of the earlier fact that collapsing a contractible

subcomplex is a homotopy equivalence: If (X, A) is a CW pair, consisting of a cell

14

Chapter 0

Some Underlying Geometric Notions

complex X and a subcomplex A , then X/A ' X ∪ CA , the mapping cone of the inclusion A>X . For we have X/A = (X∪CA)/CA ' X∪CA since CA is a contractible

subcomplex of X ∪ CA .

Example 0.14.

If (X, A) is a CW pair and A is contractible in X , that is, the inclusion

A > X is homotopic to a constant map, then X/A ' X ∨ SA . Namely, by the previous

example we have X/A ' X ∪ CA , and then since A is contractible in X , the mapping cone X ∪ CA of the inclusion A > X is homotopy equivalent to the mapping cone of

a constant map, which is X ∨ SA . For example, S n /S i ' S n ∨ S i+1 for i < n , since

S i is contractible in S n if i < n . In particular this gives S 2 /S 0 ' S 2 ∨ S 1 , which is Example 0.8 again.

The Homotopy Extension Property In this final section of the chapter we will actually prove a few things. In particular we prove the two criteria for homotopy equivalence described above, along with the fact that any two homotopy equivalent spaces can be embedded as deformation retracts of the same space. The proofs depend upon a technical property that arises in many other contexts as well. Consider the following problem. Suppose one is given a map f0 : X →Y , and on a subspace A ⊂ X one is also given a homotopy ft : A→Y of f0 || A that one would

like to extend to a homotopy ft : X →Y of the given f0 . If the pair (X, A) is such that

this extension problem can always be solved, one says that (X, A) has the homotopy extension property. Thus (X, A) has the homotopy extension property if every map X × {0} ∪ A× I →Y can be extended to a map X × I →Y .

In particular, the homotopy extension property for (X, A) implies that the iden-

tity map X × {0} ∪ A× I →X × {0} ∪ A× I extends to a map X × I →X × {0} ∪ A× I , so X × {0} ∪ A× I is a retract of X × I . The converse is also true: If there is a retraction

X × I →X × {0} ∪ A× I , then by composing with this retraction we can extend every map X × {0} ∪ A× I →Y to a map X × I →Y . Thus the homotopy extension property

for (X, A) is equivalent to X × {0} ∪ A× I being a retract of X × I . This implies for example that if (X, A) has the homotopy extension property, then so does (X × Z, A× Z) for any space Z , a fact that would not be so easy to prove directly from the definition. If (X, A) has the homotopy extension property, then A must be a closed subspace

of X , at least when X is Hausdorff. For if r : X × I →X × I is a retraction onto the

subspace X × {0} ∪ A× I , then the image of r is the set of points z ∈ X × I with r (z) = z , a closed set if X is Hausdorff, so X × {0} ∪ A× I is closed in X × I and hence A is closed in X . A simple example of a pair (X, A) with A closed for which the homotopy extension property fails is the pair (I, A) where A = {0, 1,1/2 ,1/3 ,1/4 , ···}. It is not hard to

show that there is no continuous retraction I × I →I × {0} ∪ A× I . The breakdown of homotopy extension here can be attributed to the bad structure of (X, A) near 0 .

The Homotopy Extension Property

Chapter 0

15

With nicer local structure the homotopy extension property does hold, as the next example shows.

Example 0.15.

A pair (X, A) has the homotopy extension property if A has a map-

ping cylinder neighborhood in X , by which we mean a closed

A

neighborhood N containing a subspace B , thought of as the

B

boundary of N , with N − B an open neighborhood of A ,

such that there exists a map f : B →A and a homeomorphism h : Mf →N with h || A ∪ B = 11 . Mapping cylinder neighbor-

hoods like this occur fairly often. For example, the thick let-

N X

ters discussed at the beginning of the chapter provide such neighborhoods of the thin letters, regarded as subspaces of the plane. To verify the homotopy extension property, notice first that I × I retracts onto I × {0}∪∂I × I , hence B × I × I retracts onto B × I × {0} ∪ B × ∂I × I , and this retraction induces a retraction of Mf × I onto Mf × {0} ∪ (A ∪ B)× I . Thus (Mf , A ∪ B) has the homotopy extension property. Hence so does the homeomorphic pair (N, A ∪ B) . Now given a map X →Y and a homotopy of its restriction to A , we can take the constant homotopy on

X − (N − B) and then extend over N by applying the homotopy extension property for (N, A ∪ B) to the given homotopy on A and the constant homotopy on B .

Proposition 0.16.

If (X, A) is a CW pair, then X × {0}∪A× I is a deformation retract

of X × I , hence (X, A) has the homotopy extension property.

Proof:

There is a retraction r : D n × I →D n × {0} ∪ ∂D n × I , for ex-

ample the radial projection from the point (0, 2) ∈ D n × R . Then setting rt = tr + (1 − t)11 gives a deformation retraction of D n × I onto D n × {0} ∪ ∂D n × I . This deformation retraction gives rise to a deformation retraction of X n × I onto X n × {0} ∪ (X n−1 ∪ An )× I since X n × I is obtained from X n × {0} ∪ (X n−1 ∪ An )× I by attaching copies of D n × I along D n × {0} ∪ ∂D n × I . If we perform the deformation retraction of X n × I onto X n × {0} ∪ (X n−1 ∪ An )× I during the t interval [1/2n+1 , 1/2n ] , this infinite concatenation of homotopies is a deformation retraction of X × I onto X × {0} ∪ A× I . There is no problem with continuity of this deformation retraction at t = 0 since it is continuous on X n × I , being stationary there during the t interval [0, 1/2n+1 ] , and CW complexes have the weak topology with respect to their skeleta so a map is continuous iff its restriction to each skeleton is continuous.

u t

Now we can prove a generalization of the earlier assertion that collapsing a contractible subcomplex is a homotopy equivalence.

Proposition 0.17.

If the pair (X, A) satisfies the homotopy extension property and

A is contractible, then the quotient map q : X →X/A is a homotopy equivalence.

16

Chapter 0

Some Underlying Geometric Notions

Proof:

Let ft : X →X be a homotopy extending a contraction of A , with f0 = 11 . Since

ft (A) ⊂ A for all t , the composition qft : X →X/A sends A to a point and hence fac-

--→ X/A→X/A . Denoting the latter map by f t : X/A→X/A , q

contracts, so f1 induces a map g : X/A→X

with gq = f1 , as in the second diagram. It

q

q

X/A − − − − − − − − →X/A − ft

f1

X− − − − − − − − − − − − →X

→ g − −−− q − − − −−− −− X/A − − − − − − − − →X/A − f

→ − − − − − −

f1 (A) equal to a point, the point to which A

ft

X− − − − − − − − − − − − →X

→ − − − − − −

diagrams at the right. When t = 1 we have

→ − − − − − −

we have qft = f t q in the first of the two

→ − − − − − −

tors as a composition X

q

1

follows that qg = f 1 since qg(x) = qgq(x) = qf1 (x) = f 1 q(x) = f 1 (x) . The maps g and q are inverse homotopy equivalences since gq = f1 ' f0 = 11 via ft and qg = f 1 ' f 0 = 11 via f t .

u t

Another application of the homotopy extension property, giving a slightly more refined version of one of our earlier criteria for homotopy equivalence, is the following:

Proposition 0.18.

If (X1 , A) is a CW pair and we have attaching maps f , g : A→X0

that are homotopic, then X0 tf X1 ' X0 tg X1 rel X0 . Here the definition of W ' Z rel Y for pairs (W , Y ) and (Z, Y ) is that there are

maps ϕ : W →Z and ψ : Z →W restricting to the identity on Y , such that ψϕ ' 11 and ϕψ ' 11 via homotopies that restrict to the identity on Y at all times.

Proof:

If F : A× I →X0 is a homotopy from f to g , consider the space X0 tF (X1 × I) .

This contains both X0 tf X1 and X0 tg X1 as subspaces. A deformation retraction of X1 × I onto X1 × {0} ∪ A× I as in Proposition 0.16 induces a deformation retraction of X0 tF (X1 × I) onto X0 tf X1 . Similarly X0 tF (X1 × I) deformation retracts onto X0 tg X1 . Both these deformation retractions restrict to the identity on X0 , so together they give a homotopy equivalence X0 tf X1 ' X0 tg X1 rel X0 .

u t

We finish this chapter with a technical result whose proof will involve several applications of the homotopy extension property:

Proposition 0.19. Suppose (X, A) and (Y , A) satisfy the homotopy extension property, and f : X →Y is a homotopy equivalence with f || A = 11 . Then f is a homotopy equivalence rel A .

Corollary 0.20. If (X, A) satisfies the homotopy extension property and the inclusion A > X is a homotopy equivalence, then A is a deformation retract of X . Proof: Apply the proposition to the inclusion A > X . u t Corollary 0.21.

A map f : X →Y is a homotopy equivalence iff X is a deformation

retract of the mapping cylinder Mf . Hence, two spaces X and Y are homotopy equivalent iff there is a third space containing both X and Y as deformation retracts.

Proof:

In the diagram at the right the maps i and j are the inclu-

j and r are homotopy equivalences, it follows that f is a homotopy equivalence iff i is a homotopy equivalence, since the composition

17

f −−→j − − − X− −−−−→ i

Y

− − − − − →

sions and r is the canonical retraction, so f = r i and i ' jf . Since

Chapter 0

− − − − − →

The Homotopy Extension Property

r

Mf

of two homotopy equivalences is a homotopy equivalence and a map homotopic to a homotopy equivalence is a homotopy equivalence. Now apply the preceding corollary to the pair (Mf , X) , which satisfies the homotopy extension property by Example 0.15 u t

using the neighborhood X × [0, 1/2 ] of X in Mf .

Proof of 0.19:

Let g : Y →X be a homotopy inverse for f . There will be three steps

to the proof: (1) Construct a homotopy from g to a map g1 with g1 || A = 11 . (2) Show g1 f ' 11 rel A . (3) Show f g1 ' 11 rel A . (1) Let ht : X →X be a homotopy from gf = h0 to 11 = h1 . Since f || A = 11 , we can view ht || A as a homotopy from g || A to 11 . Then since we assume (Y , A) has the homotopy extension property, we can extend this homotopy to a homotopy gt : Y →X from g = g0 to a map g1 with g1 || A = 11 . (2) A homotopy from g1 f to 11 is given by the formulas ( 0 ≤ t ≤ 1/2 g1−2t f , kt = 1 h2t−1 , /2 ≤ t ≤ 1 Note that the two definitions agree when t = 1/2 . Since f || A = 11 and gt = ht on A , the homotopy kt || A starts and ends with the identity, and its second half simply retraces its first half, that is, kt = k1−t on A . We will define a ‘homotopy of homotopies’

ktu : A→X by means of the figure at the right showing the parameter domain I × I for the pairs (t, u) , with the t axis horizontal

and the u axis vertical. On the bottom edge of the square we define kt0 = kt || A . Below the ‘V’ we define ktu to be independent of u , and above the ‘V’ we define ktu to be independent of t . This is unambiguous since kt = k1−t on A . Since k0 = 11 on A ,

g1f

gf

11

we have ktu = 11 for (t, u) in the left, right, and top edges of the square. Next we extend ktu over X , as follows. Since (X, A) has the homotopy extension property, so does (X × I, A× I) by a remark in the paragraph following the definition of the homotopy extension property. Viewing ktu as a homotopy of kt || A , we can therefore

extend ktu : A→X to ktu : X →X with kt0 = kt . If we restrict this ktu to the left, top, and right edges of the (t, u) square, we get a homotopy g1 f ' 11 rel A . (3) Since g1 ' g , we have f g1 ' f g ' 11 , so f g1 ' 11 and steps (1) and (2) can be

repeated with the pair f , g replaced by g1 , f . The result is a map f1 : X →Y with f1 || A = 11 and f1 g1 ' 11 rel A . Hence f1 ' f1 (g1 f ) = (f1 g1 )f ' f rel A . From this

we deduce that f g1 ' f1 g1 ' 11 rel A .

u t

18

Chapter 0

Some Underlying Geometric Notions

Exercises 1. Construct an explicit deformation retraction of the torus with one point deleted onto a graph consisting of two circles intersecting in a point, namely, longitude and meridian circles of the torus. 2. Construct an explicit deformation retraction of Rn − {0} onto S n−1 . 3. (a) Show that the composition of homotopy equivalences X →Y and Y →Z is a

homotopy equivalence X →Z . Deduce that homotopy equivalence is an equivalence relation. (b) Show that the relation of homotopy among maps X →Y is an equivalence relation. (c) Show that a map homotopic to a homotopy equivalence is a homotopy equivalence. 4. A deformation retraction in the weak sense of a space X to a subspace A is a homotopy ft : X →X such that f0 = 11 , f1 (X) ⊂ A , and ft (A) ⊂ A for all t . Show

that if X deformation retracts to A in this weak sense, then the inclusion A > X is a homotopy equivalence. 5. Show that if a space X deformation retracts to a point x ∈ X , then for each

neighborhood U of x in X there exists a neighborhood V ⊂ U of x such that the inclusion map V

>U

is nullhomotopic.

6. (a) Let X be the subspace of R2 consisting of the horizontal segment [0, 1]× {0} together with all the vertical segments {r }× [0, 1 − r ] for r a rational number in [0, 1] . Show that X deformation retracts to any point in the segment [0, 1]× {0} , but not to any other point. [See the preceding problem.] (b) Let Y be the subspace of R2 that is the union of an infinite number of copies of X arranged as in the figure below. Show that Y is contractible but does not deformation retract onto any point.

(c) Let Z be the zigzag subspace of Y homeomorphic to R indicated by the heavier line. Show there is a deformation retraction in the weak sense (see Exercise 4) of Y onto Z , but no true deformation retraction. 7. Fill in the details in the following construction from [Edwards 1999] of a compact space Y ⊂ R3 with the same properties as the space Y in Exercise 6, that is, Y is contractible but does not deformation retract to any point. To begin, let X be the union of an infinite sequence of cones on the Cantor set arranged end-to-end, as in the figure. Next, form the one-point compactifica3

X

Y

tion of X × R . This embeds in R as a closed disk with curved ‘fins’ attached along

Exercises

Chapter 0

19

circular arcs, and with the one-point compactification of X as a cross-sectional slice. The desired space Y is then obtained from this subspace of R3 by wrapping one more cone on the Cantor set around the boundary of the disk. 8. For n > 2 , construct an n room analog of the house with two rooms. 9. Show that a retract of a contractible space is contractible. 10. Show that a space X is contractible iff every map f : X →Y , for arbitrary Y , is

nullhomotopic. Similarly, show X is contractible iff every map f : Y →X is nullhomotopic. 11. Show that f : X →Y is a homotopy equivalence if there exist maps g, h : Y →X such that f g ' 11 and hf ' 11 . More generally, show that f is a homotopy equivalence if f g and hf are homotopy equivalences. 12. Show that a homotopy equivalence f : X →Y induces a bijection between the set of path-components of X and the set of path-components of Y , and that f restricts to a homotopy equivalence from each path-component of X to the corresponding pathcomponent of Y . Prove also the corresponding statements with components instead of path-components. Deduce that if the components of a space X coincide with its path-components, then the same holds for any space Y homotopy equivalent to X . 13. Show that any two deformation retractions rt0 and rt1 of a space X onto a subspace A can be joined by a continuous family of deformation retractions rts ,

0 ≤ s ≤ 1 , of X onto A , where continuity means that the map X × I × I →X sending (x, s, t) to rts (x) is continuous.

14. Given positive integers v , e , and f satisfying v − e + f = 2 , construct a cell structure on S 2 having v 0 cells, e 1 cells, and f 2 cells. 15. Enumerate all the subcomplexes of S ∞ , with the cell structure on S ∞ that has S n as its n skeleton. 16. Show that S ∞ is contractible. 17. (a) Show that the mapping cylinder of every map f : S 1 →S 1 is a CW complex.

(b) Construct a 2 dimensional CW complex that contains both an annulus S 1 × I and a M¨ obius band as deformation retracts. 18. Show that S 1 ∗ S 1 = S 3 , and more generally S m ∗ S n = S m+n+1 . 19. Show that the space obtained from S 2 by attaching n 2 cells along any collection of n circles in S 2 is homotopy equivalent to the wedge sum of n + 1 2 spheres. 20. Show that the subspace X ⊂ R3 formed by a Klein bottle intersecting itself in a circle, as shown in the figure, is homotopy equivalent to S 1 ∨ S 1 ∨ S 2 . 21. If X is a connected space that is a union of a finite number of 2 spheres, any two of which intersect in at most one point, show that X is homotopy equivalent to a wedge sum of S 1 ’s and S 2 ’s.

20

Chapter 0

Some Underlying Geometric Notions

22. Let X be a finite graph lying in a half-plane P ⊂ R3 and intersecting the edge of P in a subset of the vertices of X . Describe the homotopy type of the ‘surface of revolution’ obtained by rotating X about the edge line of P . 23. Show that a CW complex is contractible if it is the union of two contractible subcomplexes whose intersection is also contractible. 24. Let X and Y be CW complexes with 0 cells x0 and y0 . Show that the quotient spaces X ∗ Y /(X ∗ {y0 } ∪ {x0 } ∗ Y ) and S(X ∧ Y )/S({x0 } ∧ {y0 }) are homeomorphic, and deduce that X ∗ Y ' S(X ∧ Y ) . 25. If X is a CW complex with components Xα , show that the suspension SX is W homotopy equivalent to Y α SXα for some graph Y . In the case that X is a finite graph, show that SX is homotopy equivalent to a wedge sum of circles and 2 spheres. 26. Use Corollary 0.20 to show that if (X, A) has the homotopy extension property, then X × I deformation retracts to X × {0} ∪ A× I . Deduce from this that Proposition 0.18 holds more generally for any pair (X1 , A) satisfying the homotopy extension property. 27. Given a pair (X, A) and a homotopy equivalence f : A→B , show that the natural

map X →B tf X is a homotopy equivalence if (X, A) satisfies the homotopy extension property. [Hint: Consider X ∪ Mf and use the preceding problem.] An interesting

case is when f is a quotient map, hence the map X →B tf X is the quotient map

identifying each set f −1 (b) to a point. When B is a point this gives another proof of Proposition 0.17. 28. Show that if (X1 , A) satisfies the homotopy extension property, then so does every

pair (X0 tf X1 , X0 ) obtained by attaching X1 to a space X0 via a map f : A→X0 .

29. In case the CW complex X is obtained from a subcomplex A by attaching a single

cell en , describe exactly what the extension of a homotopy ft : A→Y to X given by the proof of Proposition 0.16 looks like. That is, for a point x ∈ en , describe the path

ft (x) for the extended ft .

Algebraic topology can be roughly defined as the study of techniques for forming algebraic images of topological spaces. Most often these algebraic images are groups, but more elaborate structures such as rings, modules, and algebras also arise. The mechanisms that create these images — the ‘lanterns’ of algebraic topology, one might say — are known formally as functors and have the characteristic feature that they form images not only of spaces but also of maps. Thus, continuous maps between spaces are projected onto homomorphisms between their algebraic images, so topologically related spaces have algebraically related images. With suitably constructed lanterns one might hope to be able to form images with enough detail to reconstruct accurately the shapes of all spaces, or at least of large and interesting classes of spaces. This is one of the main goals of algebraic topology, and to a surprising extent this goal is achieved. Of course, the lanterns necessary to do this are somewhat complicated pieces of machinery. But this machinery also has a certain intrinsic beauty. This first chapter introduces one of the simplest and most important functors of algebraic topology, the fundamental group, which creates an algebraic image of a space from the loops in the space, the paths in the space starting and ending at the same point.

The Idea of the Fundamental Group To get a feeling for what the fundamental group is about, let us look at a few preliminary examples before giving the formal definitions.

22

Chapter 1

The Fundamental Group

Consider two linked circles A and B in R3 , as shown in the figure. Our experience with actual links and chains tells us that since the two circles are linked, it is impossible to separate B from A by any continuous motion of B ,

A

such as pushing, pulling, or twisting. We could even take

B

B to be made of rubber or stretchable string and allow completely general continuous deformations of B , staying in the complement of A at all times, and it would still be impossible to pull B off A . At least that is what intuition suggests, and the fundamental group will give a way of making this intuition mathematically rigorous. Instead of having B link with A just once, we could make it link with A two or more times, as in the figures to the right. As a further variation, by assigning an orientation to B we can speak of B linking A a positive or a negative number

A

B2

A

B −3

of times, say positive when B comes forward through A and negative for the reverse direction. Thus for each nonzero integer n we have an oriented circle Bn linking A n times, where by ‘circle’ we mean a curve homeomorphic to a circle. To complete the scheme, we could let B0 be a circle not linked to A at all.

Now, integers not only measure quantity, but they form a group under addition. Can the group operation be mimicked geometrically with some sort of addition operation on the oriented circles B linking A ? An oriented circle B can be thought of as a path traversed in time, starting and ending at the same point x0 , which we can choose to be any point on the circle. Such a path starting and ending at the same point is called a loop. Two different loops B and B 0 both starting and ending at the same point x0 can be ‘added’ to form a new loop B + B 0 that travels first

around B , then around B 0 . For example, if B1 and B10 are loops each linking A once in the positive direction, then their sum B1 + B10

B1

is deformable to B2 ,

x0

linking A twice. Similarly, B1 + B−1 can be

x0

0

A

deformed to the loop

B1

A

B1

B0 , unlinked from A .

x0

More generally, we see that Bm + Bn can be

B2

A

B−1

x0 A

B0

deformed to Bm+n for arbitrary integers m and n . Note that in forming sums of loops we produce loops that pass through the basepoint more than once. This is one reason why loops are defined merely as continuous

The Idea of the Fundamental Group

23

paths, which are allowed to pass through the same point many times. So if one is thinking of a loop as something made of stretchable string, one has to give the string the magical power of being able to pass through itself unharmed. However, we must be sure not to allow our loops to intersect the fixed circle A at any time, otherwise we could always unlink them from A . Next we consider a slightly more complicated sort of linking, involving three circles forming a configuration known as the Borromean rings, shown at the left in the figure below. The interesting feature here is that if any one of the three circles is removed, the other two are not linked. In the same

A

B

A

spirit as before, let us

B

regard one of the circles, say C , as a loop in the complement of the other two, A and

C

C

B , and we ask whether C can be continuously deformed to unlink it completely from A and B , always staying in the complement of A and B during the deformation. We can redraw the picture by pulling A and B apart, dragging C along, and then we see C winding back and forth between A and B as shown in the second figure above. In this new position, if we start at the point of C indicated by the dot and proceed in the direction given by the arrow, then we pass in sequence: (1) forward through A , (2) forward through B , (3) backward through A , and (4) backward through B . If we measure the linking of C with A and B by two integers, then the ‘forwards’ and ‘backwards’ cancel and both integers are zero. This reflects the fact that C is not linked with A or B individually. To get a more accurate measure of how C links with A and B together, we regard the four parts (1)–(4) of C as an ordered sequence. Taking into account the directions in which these segments of C pass through A and B , we may deform C to the sum

A

a + b − a − b of four loops as in the figure. We write the third and fourth loops as the nega-

B

a −a

b

−b

tives of the first two since they can be deformed to the first two, but with the opposite orientations, and as we saw in the preceding example, the sum of two oppositely oriented loops is deformable to a trivial loop, not linked with

A

B

a −a

b

−b

anything. We would like to view the expression a + b − a − b as lying in a nonabelian group, so that it is not automatically zero. Changing to the more usual multiplicative notation for nonabelian groups, it would be written aba−1 b−1 , the commutator of a and b .

24

Chapter 1

The Fundamental Group

To shed further light on this example, suppose we modify it slightly so that the circles A and B are now linked, as in the next figure. The circle C can then be deformed into the position shown at the right, where it again rep-

A

B

A

B

resents the composite loop aba−1 b−1 , where a and b are loops linking A and B . But from the picture on the

C

C

left it is apparent that C can actually be unlinked completely from A and B . So in this case the product aba−1 b−1 should be trivial. The fundamental group of a space X will be defined so that its elements are loops in X starting and ending at a fixed basepoint x0 ∈ X , but two such loops are regarded as determining the same element of the fundamental group if one loop can be continuously deformed to the other within the space X . (All loops that occur during deformations must also start and end at x0 .) In the first example above, X is the complement of the circle A , while in the other two examples X is the complement of the two circles A and B . In the second section in this chapter we will show: The fundamental group of the complement of the circle A in the first example is infinite cyclic with the loop B as a generator. This amounts to saying that every loop in the complement of A can be deformed to one of the loops Bn , and that Bn cannot be deformed to Bm if n ≠ m . The fundamental group of the complement of the two unlinked circles A and B in the second example is the nonabelian free group on two generators, represented by the loops a and b linking A and B . In particular, the commutator aba−1 b−1 is a nontrivial element of this group. The fundamental group of the complement of the two linked circles A and B in the third example is the free abelian group on two generators, represented by the loops a and b linking A and B . As a result of these calculations, we have two ways to tell when a pair of circles A and B is linked. The direct approach is given by the first example, where one circle is regarded as an element of the fundamental group of the complement of the other circle. An alternative and somewhat more subtle method is given by the second and third examples, where one distinguishes a pair of linked circles from a pair of unlinked circles by the fundamental group of their complement, which is abelian in one case and nonabelian in the other. This method is much more general: One can often show that two spaces are not homeomorphic by showing that their fundamental groups are not isomorphic, since it will be an easy consequence of the definition of the fundamental group that homeomorphic spaces have isomorphic fundamental groups.

Basic Constructions

Section 1.1

25

This first section begins with the basic definitions and constructions, and then proceeds quickly to an important calculation, the fundamental group of the circle, using notions developed more fully in §1.3. More systematic methods of calculation are given in §1.2. These are sufficient to show for example that every group is realized as the fundamental group of some space. This idea is exploited in the Additional Topics at the end of the chapter, which give some illustrations of how algebraic facts about groups can be derived topologically, such as the fact that every subgroup of a free group is free.

Paths and Homotopy The fundamental group will be defined in terms of loops and deformations of loops. Sometimes it will be useful to consider more generally paths and their deformations, so we begin with this slight extra generality. By a path in a space X we mean a continuous map f : I →X where I is the unit interval [0, 1] . The idea of continuously deforming a path, keeping its endpoints fixed, is made precise by the following definition. A homotopy of paths in X is a family ft : I →X , 0 ≤ t ≤ 1 , such that

(1) The endpoints ft (0) = x0 and ft (1) = x1

f0

are independent of t . (2) The associated map F : I × I →X defined by F (s, t) = ft (s) is continuous.

x0

x1 f1

When two paths f0 and f1 are connected in this way by a homotopy ft , they are said to be homotopic. The notation for this is f0 ' f1 .

Example 1.1:

Linear Homotopies. Any two paths f0 and f1 in Rn having the same

endpoints x0 and x1 are homotopic via the homotopy ft (s) = (1 − t)f0 (s) + tf1 (s) . During this homotopy each point f0 (s) travels along the line segment to f1 (s) at constant speed. This is because the line through f0 (s) and f1 (s) is linearly parametrized as f0 (s) + t[f1 (s) − f0 (s)] = (1 − t)f0 (s) + tf1 (s) , with the segment from f0 (s) to f1 (s) covered by t values in the interval from 0 to 1 . If f1 (s) happens to equal f0 (s) then this segment degenerates to a point and ft (s) = f0 (s) for all t . This occurs in particular for s = 0 and s = 1 , so each ft is a path from x0 to x1 . Continuity of the homotopy ft as a map I × I →Rn follows from continuity of f0 and f1 since the algebraic operations of vector addition and scalar multiplication in the formula for ft are continuous. This construction shows more generally that for a convex subspace X ⊂ Rn , all paths in X with given endpoints x0 and x1 are homotopic, since if f0 and f1 lie in X then so does the homotopy ft .

26

Chapter 1

The Fundamental Group

Before proceeding further we need to verify a technical property:

Proposition 1.2.

The relation of homotopy on paths with fixed endpoints in any space

is an equivalence relation. The equivalence class of a path f under the equivalence relation of homotopy will be denoted [f ] and called the homotopy class of f .

Proof: Reflexivity is evident since f

' f by the constant homotopy ft = f . Symmetry

is also easy since if f0 ' f1 via ft , then f1 ' f0 via the inverse homotopy f1−t . For transitivity, if f0 ' f1 via ft and if f1 = g0 with g0 ' g1

f0

via gt , then f0 ' g1 via the homotopy ht that equals f2t for 0 ≤ t ≤ 1/2 and g2t−1 for 1/2 ≤ t ≤ 1. These two definitions agree for t = 1/2 since we assume f1 = g0 . Continuity of the

f1 g0 g1

associated map H(s, t) = ht (s) comes from the elementary

fact, which will be used frequently without explicit mention, that a function defined on the union of two closed sets is continuous if it is continuous when restricted to each of the closed sets separately. In the case at hand we have H(s, t) = F (s, 2t) for 0 ≤ t ≤ 1/2 and H(s, t) = G(s, 2t − 1) for 1/2 ≤ t ≤ 1 where F and G are the maps

I × I →X associated to the homotopies ft and gt . Since H is continuous on I × [0, 1/2 ] and on I × [1/2 , 1], it is continuous on I × I .

u t

Given two paths f , g : I →X such that f (1) = g(0) , there is a composition or product path f g that traverses first f and then g , defined by the formula ( f (2s), 0 ≤ s ≤ 1/2 f g(s) = g(2s − 1), 1/2 ≤ s ≤ 1 Thus f and g are traversed twice as fast in order for f g to be traversed in unit time. This product operation respects homotopy classes since if f0 ' f1 and g0 ' g1 via homotopies ft and gt , and if f0 (1) = g0 (0) so that f0 g0 is defined, then ft gt is defined and provides a homotopy f0 g0 ' f1 g1 .

f0

g0

f1

g1

In particular, suppose we restrict attention to paths f : I →X with the same start-

ing and ending point f (0) = f (1) = x0 ∈ X . Such paths are called loops, and the common starting and ending point x0 is referred to as the basepoint. The set of all homotopy classes [f ] of loops f : I →X at the basepoint x0 is denoted π1 (X, x0 ) .

Proposition 1.3.

π1 (X, x0 ) is a group with respect to the product [f ][g] = [f g] .

This group is called the fundamental group of X at the basepoint x0 .

We

will see in Chapter 4 that π1 (X, x0 ) is the first in a sequence of groups πn (X, x0 ) , called homotopy groups, which are defined in an entirely analogous fashion using the n dimensional cube I n in place of I .

Basic Constructions

Proof:

Section 1.1

27

By restricting attention to loops with a fixed basepoint x0 ∈ X we guarantee

that the product f g of any two such loops is defined. We have already observed that the homotopy class of f g depends only on the homotopy classes of f and g , so the product [f ][g] = [f g] is well-defined. It remains to verify the three axioms for a group. As a preliminary step, define a reparametrization of a path f to be a composi-

tion f ϕ where ϕ : I →I is any continuous map such that ϕ(0) = 0 and ϕ(1) = 1 . Reparametrizing a path preserves its homotopy class since f ϕ ' f via the homotopy f ϕt where ϕt (s) = (1 − t)ϕ(s) + ts so that ϕ0 = ϕ and ϕ1 (s) = s . Note that (1 − t)ϕ(s) + ts lies between ϕ(s) and s , hence is in I , so the composition f ϕt is defined. If we are given paths f , g, h with f (1) = g(0) and g(1) = h(0) , then both products (f g) h and f (g h) are defined, and f (g h) is a reparametrization of (f g) h by the piecewise linear function ϕ whose graph is shown in the figure at the right. Hence (f g) h ' f (g h) . Restricting attention to loops at the basepoint x0 , this says the product in π1 (X, x0 ) is associative. Given a path f : I →X , let c be the constant path at f (1) , defined by c(s) = f (1) for all s ∈ I . Then f c is a reparametrization of f via the function ϕ whose graph is shown in the first figure at the right, so f c ' f . Similarly, c f ' f where c is now the constant path at f (0) , using the reparametrization function in the second figure. Taking f to be a loop, we deduce that the homotopy class of the constant path at x0 is a two-sided identity in π1 (X, x0 ) . For a path f from x0 to x1 , the inverse path f from x1 back to x0 is defined by f (s) = f (1 − s) . To see that f f is homotopic to a constant path we use the homotopy ht = ft gt where ft is the path that equals f on the interval [0, 1 − t] and that is stationary at f (1 − t) on the interval [1 − t, 1] , and gt is the inverse path of ft . We could also describe ht in terms of the associated function H : I × I →X using the decomposition of I × I shown in the figure. On

the bottom edge of the square H is given by f f and below the ‘V’ we let H(s, t) be independent of t , while above the ‘V’ we let H(s, t) be independent of s . Going back to the first description of ht , we see that since f0 = f and f1 is the constant path c at x0 , ht is a homotopy from f f to c c = c . Replacing f by f gives f f ' c for c the constant path at x1 . Taking f to be a loop at the basepoint x0 , we deduce that [ f ] is a two-sided inverse for [f ] in π1 (X, x0 ) .

Example 1.4.

u t

For a convex set X in Rn with basepoint x0 ∈ X we have π1 (X, x0 ) = 0 ,

the trivial group, since any two loops f0 and f1 based at x0 are homotopic via the linear homotopy ft (s) = (1 − t)f0 (s) + tf1 (s) , as described in Example 1.1.

Chapter 1

28

The Fundamental Group

It is not so easy to show that a space has a nontrivial fundamental group since one must somehow demonstrate the nonexistence of homotopies between certain loops. We will tackle the simplest example shortly, computing the fundamental group of the circle. It is natural to ask about the dependence of π1 (X, x0 ) on the choice of the basepoint x0 . Since π1 (X, x0 ) involves only the path-component of X containing x0 , it is clear that we can hope to find a relation between π1 (X, x0 ) and π1 (X, x1 ) for two basepoints x0 and x1 only if x0 and x1 lie in the same path-component of X . So let h : I →X be a path from x0 to x1 , with the inverse path h(s) = h(1 − s) from x1 back to x0 . We can then associate to each loop f based at x1 the loop h f h based at x0 .

h x0

x1

f

Strictly speaking, we should choose an order of forming the product h f h , either (h f ) h or h (f h) , but the two choices are homotopic and we are only interested in homotopy classes here. Alternatively, to avoid any ambiguity we could define a general n fold product f1 ··· fn in which the path fi is traversed in the time interval  i−1 i  n , n .

Proposition 1.5.

The map βh : π1 (X, x1 )→π1 (X, x0 ) defined by βh [f ] = [h f h]

is an isomorphism.

Proof:

If ft is a homotopy of loops based at x1 then h ft h is a homotopy of

loops based at x0 , so βh is well-defined. Further, βh is a homomorphism since βh [f g] = [h f g h] = [h f h h g h] = βh [f ]βh [g] . Finally, βh is an isomorphism with inverse βh since βh βh [f ] = βh [h f h] = [h h f h h] = [f ] , and similarly βh βh [f ] = [f ] .

u t

Thus if X is path-connected, the group π1 (X, x0 ) is, up to isomorphism, independent of the choice of basepoint x0 . In this case the notation π1 (X, x0 ) is often abbreviated to π1 (X) , or one could go further and write just π1 X . In general, a space is called simply-connected if it is path-connected and has trivial fundamental group. The following result explains the name.

Proposition 1.6.

A space X is simply-connected iff there is a unique homotopy class

of paths connecting any two points in X .

Proof:

Path-connectedness is the existence of paths connecting every pair of points,

so we need be concerned only with the uniqueness of connecting paths. Suppose π1 (X) = 0 . If f and g are two paths from x0 to x1 , then f ' f g g ' g since the loops g g and f g are each homotopic to constant loops, using the assumption π1 (X, x0 ) = 0 in the latter case. Conversely, if there is only one homotopy class of paths connecting a basepoint x0 to itself, then all loops at x0 are homotopic to the constant loop and π1 (X, x0 ) = 0 .

u t

Basic Constructions

Section 1.1

29

The Fundamental Group of the Circle Our first real theorem will be the calculation π1 (S 1 ) ≈ Z . Besides its intrinsic interest, this basic result will have several immediate applications of some substance, and it will be the starting point for many more calculations in the next section. It should be no surprise then that the proof will involve some genuine work. To maximize the payoff for this work, the proof is written so that its main technical steps apply in the more general setting of covering spaces, the main topic of §1.3.

Theorem 1.7.

The map Φ : Z→π1 (S 1 ) sending an integer n to the homotopy class

of the loop ωn (s) = (cos 2π ns, sin 2π ns) based at (1, 0) is an isomorphism.

Proof: The idea is to compare paths in S 1 with paths in R via the map

p : R→S 1 given by p(s) = (cos 2π s, sin 2π s) . This map can be visualized geometrically by embedding R in R3 as the helix parametrized

by s , (cos 2π s, sin 2π s, s) , and then p is the restriction to the helix of the projection of R3 onto R2 , (x, y, z)

, (x, y) ,

as in the

ωn where figure. Observe that the loop ωn is the composition pf

fn : I →R is the path ω fn (s) = ns , starting at 0 and ending at n , ω

p

winding around the helix |n| times, upward if n > 0 and downward fn is ωn is expressed by saying that ω if n < 0 . The relation ωn = pf a lift of ωn . The definition of Φ can be reformulated by setting Φ(n) equal to the homotopy class of the loop p fe for fe any path in R from 0 to n . Such an fe is homotopic to f via the linear homotopy (1 − t)fe + tf ω , hence p fe is homotopic to pf ω =ω ω n

n

n

n

and the new definition of Φ(n) agrees with the old one. To verify that Φ is a homomorphism, let τm : R→R be the translation τm (x) =

fn ) is a path in R from 0 to m + n , so Φ(m + n) is the fm (τm ω x + m . Then ω

homotopy class of the loop in S 1 that is the image of this path under p . This image is just ωm ωn , so Φ(m + n) = Φ(m) Φ(n) . To show that Φ is an isomorphism we shall use two facts: e 0 ∈ p −1 (x0 ) there (a) For each path f : I →S 1 starting at a point x0 ∈ S 1 and each x e0 . is a unique lift fe : I →R starting at x

e 0 ∈ p −1 (x0 ) (b) For each homotopy ft : I →S 1 of paths starting at x0 and each x e0 . there is a unique lifted homotopy fet : I →R of paths starting at x Before proving these facts, let us see how they imply the theorem. To show that Φ is

surjective, let f : I →S 1 be a loop at the basepoint (1, 0) , representing a given element of π (S 1 ) . By (a) there is a lift fe starting at 0 . This path fe ends at some integer n 1

since p fe(1) = f (1) = (1, 0) and p −1 (1, 0) = Z ⊂ R . By the extended definition of Φ we then have Φ(n) = [p fe] = [f ] . Hence Φ is surjective.

Chapter 1

30

The Fundamental Group

To show that Φ is injective, suppose Φ(m) = Φ(n) , which means ωm ' ωn . Let ft be a homotopy from ωm = f0 to ωn = f1 . By (b) this homotopy lifts to a fm homotopy fet of paths starting at 0 . The uniqueness part of (a) implies that fe0 = ω e e e f . Since f is a homotopy of paths, the endpoint f (1) is independent and f = ω n

1

t

t

of t . For t = 0 this endpoint is m and for t = 1 it is n , so m = n . It remains to prove (a) and (b). Both statements can be deduced from a more general assertion: (c) Given a map F : Y × I →S 1 and a map Fe : Y × {0}→R lifting F |Y × {0} , then there is a unique map Fe : Y × I →R lifting F and restricting to the given Fe on Y × {0} . Statement (a) is the special case that Y is a point, and (b) is obtained by applying (c)

with Y = I in the following way. The homotopy ft in (b) gives a map F : I × I →S 1 by setting F (s, t) = ft (s) as usual. A unique lift Fe : I × {0}→R is obtained by an

application of (a). Then (c) gives a unique lift Fe : I × I →R . The restrictions Fe|{0}× I and Fe|{1}× I are paths lifting constant paths, hence they must also be constant by the uniqueness part of (a). So fe (s) = Fe(s, t) is a homotopy of paths, and fe lifts f since p Fe = F .

t

t

t

We shall prove (c) using just one special property of the projection p : R→S 1 ,

namely: There is an open cover {Uα } of S 1 such that for each α , p −1 (Uα ) can be (∗)

decomposed as a disjoint union of open sets each of which is mapped homeomorphically onto Uα by p .

For example, we could take the cover {Uα } to consist of any two open arcs in S 1 whose union is S 1 . To prove (c) we will first construct a lift Fe : N × I →R for N some neighborhood in Y of a given point y0 ∈ Y . Since F is continuous, every point (y0 , t) ∈ Y × I has
a product neighborhood Nt × (at , bt ) such that F Nt × (at , bt ) ⊂ Uα for some α . By compactness of {y0 }× I , finitely many such products Nt × (at , bt ) cover {y0 }× I . This implies that we can choose a single neighborhood N of y0 and a partition 0 = t0 < t1 < ··· < tm = 1 of I so that for each i , F (N × [ti , ti+1 ]) is contained in some Uα , which we denote Ui . Assume inductively that Fe has been constructed ei ⊂ R on N × [0, ti ] . We have F (N × [ti , ti+1 ]) ⊂ Ui , so by (∗) there is an open set U e projecting homeomorphically onto Ui by p and containing the point F (y0 , ti ) . After

replacing N by a smaller neighborhood of y0 we may assume that Fe(N × {ti }) is conei ) . Now ei , namely, replace N × {ti } by its intersection with (Fe || N × {ti })−1 (U tained in U e we can define F on N × [ti , ti+1 ] to be the composition of F with the homeomorphism

ei . After finitely many repetitions of this induction step we eventually get p −1 : Ui →U a lift Fe : N × I →R for some neighborhood N of y0 .

Next we show the uniqueness part of (c) in the special case that Y is a point. In this 0 case we can omit Y from the notation. So suppose Fe and Fe are two lifts of F : I →S 1

Basic Constructions

Section 1.1

31

0 such that Fe(0) = Fe (0) . As before, choose a partition 0 = t0 < t1 < ··· < tm = 1 of

I so that for each i , F ([ti , ti+1 ]) is contained in some Ui . Assume inductively that 0 Fe = Fe on [0, ti ] . Since [ti , ti+1 ] is connected, so is Fe([ti , ti+1 ]) , which must therefore ei projecting homeomorphically to Ui as lie in a single one of the disjoint open sets U 0 ei , in fact in the same one that in (∗) . By the same token, Fe ([ti , ti+1 ]) lies in a single U 0 ei and p Fe = p Fe 0, contains Fe([ti , ti+1 ]) since Fe (ti ) = Fe(ti ) . Because p is injective on U

0 it follows that Fe = Fe on [ti , ti+1 ] , and the induction step is finished. The last step in the proof of (c) is to observe that since the Fe ’s constructed above

on sets of the form N × I are unique when restricted to each segment {y}× I , they must agree whenever two such sets N × I overlap. So we obtain a well-defined lift Fe on all of Y × I . This Fe is continuous since it is continuous on each N × I , and it is unique since it is unique on each segment {y}× I .

u t

Now we turn to some applications of this theorem. Although algebraic topology is usually ‘algebra serving topology,’ the roles are reversed in the following proof of the Fundamental Theorem of Algebra.

Theorem 1.8. Proof:

Every nonconstant polynomial with coefficients in C has a root in C .

We may assume the polynomial is of the form p(z) = zn + a1 zn−1 + ··· + an .

If p(z) has no roots in C , then for each real number r ≥ 0 the formula fr (s) =

p(r e2π is )/p(r ) |p(r e2π is )/p(r )|

defines a loop in the unit circle S 1 ⊂ C based at 1 . As r varies, fr is a homotopy of loops based at 1 . Since f0 is the trivial loop, we deduce that the class [fr ] ∈ π1 (S 1 ) is zero for all r . Now fix a large value of r , bigger than |a1 | + ··· + |an | and bigger than 1 . Then for |z| = r we have |zn | = r n = r · r n−1 > (|a1 | + ··· + |an |)|zn−1 | ≥ |a1 zn−1 + ··· + an | From the inequality |zn | > |a1 zn−1 + ··· + an | it follows that the polynomial pt (z) = zn +t(a1 zn−1 +···+an ) has no roots on the circle |z| = r when 0 ≤ t ≤ 1 . Replacing p by pt in the formula for fr above and letting t go from 1 to 0 , we obtain a homotopy from the loop fr to the loop ωn (s) = e2π ins . By Theorem 1.7, ωn represents n times a generator of the infinite cyclic group π1 (S 1 ) . Since we have shown that [ωn ] = [fr ] = 0 , we conclude that n = 0 . Thus the only polynomials without roots in C are constants.

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Our next application is the Brouwer fixed point theorem in dimension 2 .

Theorem 1.9.

Every continuous map h : D 2 →D 2 has a fixed point, that is, a point

x with h(x) = x . Here we are using the standard notation D n for the closed unit disk in Rn , all vectors x of length |x| ≤ 1 . Thus the boundary of D n is the unit sphere S n−1 .

32

Chapter 1

The Fundamental Group

Proof:

Suppose on the contrary that h(x) ≠ x for all x ∈ D 2 .

Then we can define a map r : D 2 →S 1 by letting r (x) be the point of S 1 where the ray in R2 starting at h(x) and passing

h(x)

through x leaves D 2 . Continuity of r is clear since small perturbations of x produce small perturbations of h(x) , hence

x r(x)

also small perturbations of the ray through these two points. The crucial property of r , besides continuity, is that r (x) = x if x ∈ S 1 . Thus r is a retraction of D 2 onto S 1 . We will show that no such retraction can exist. Let f0 be any loop in S 1 . In D 2 there is a homotopy of f0 to a constant loop, for example the linear homotopy ft (s) = (1 − t)f0 (s) + tx0 where x0 is the basepoint of f0 . Since the retraction r is the identity on S 1 , the composition r ft is then a homotopy in S 1 from r f0 = f0 to the constant loop at x0 . But this contradicts the fact that π1 (S 1 ) is nonzero.

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This theorem was first proved by Brouwer around 1910, one of the early triumphs of algebraic topology. Brouwer in fact proved the corresponding result for D n , and we shall obtain this generalization in Corollary 2.11 using homology groups in place of π1 . One could also use the higher homotopy group πn . Brouwer’s original proof used neither homology nor homotopy groups, which had not been invented at the time. Instead it used the notion of degree for maps S n →S n , which we shall define in §2.2 using homology but which Brouwer defined directly in more geometric terms. These proofs are all arguments by contradiction, and so they show just the existence of fixed points without giving any clue as to how to find one in explicit cases. Our proof of the Fundamental Theorem of Algebra was similar in this regard. There exist other proofs of the Brouwer fixed point theorem that are somewhat more constructive, for example the elegant and quite elementary proof by Sperner in 1928, which is explained very nicely in [Aigner-Ziegler 1999]. The techniques used to calculate π1 (S 1 ) can be applied to prove the Borsuk–Ulam theorem in dimension two:

Theorem 1.10.

For every continuous map f : S 2 →R2 there exists a pair of antipodal

points x and −x in S 2 with f (x) = f (−x) .

It may be that there is only one such pair of antipodal points x , −x , for example if f is simply orthogonal projection of the standard sphere S 2 ⊂ R3 onto a plane. The Borsuk–Ulam theorem holds also for maps S n →Rn , as we show in Proposition 2B.6. The proof for n = 1 is easy since the difference f (x) − f (−x) changes sign as x goes halfway around the circle, hence this difference must be zero for some x . For n ≥ 2 the theorem is certainly less obvious. Is it apparent, for example, that at every instant there must be a pair of antipodal points on the surface of the earth having the same temperature and the same barometric pressure?

Basic Constructions

Section 1.1

33

The theorem says in particular that there is no one-to-one continuous map from 2

S to R2 , so S 2 is not homeomorphic to a subspace of R2 , an intuitively obvious fact that is not easy to prove directly. If the conclusion is false for f : S 2 →R2 , we can define a map g : S 2 →S 1 by
g(x) = f (x) − f (−x) /|f (x) − f (−x)| . Define a loop η circling the equator of

Proof:

S 2 ⊂ R3 by η(s) = (cos 2π s, sin 2π s, 0) , and let h : I →S 1 be the composed loop gη . Since g(−x) = −g(x) , we have the relation h(s + 1/2 ) = −h(s) for all s in the interval [0, 1/2 ]. As we showed in the calculation of π1 (S 1 ) , the loop h can be lifted to a path e + 1/ ) = h(s) e e : I →R . The equation h(s + 1/ ) = −h(s) implies that h(s + q/2 for h 2 2 some odd integer q that might conceivably depend on s ∈ [0, 1/2 ]. But in fact q is q e e + 1/ ) = h(s)+ / for q we see that independent of s since by solving the equation h(s 2

2

q depends continuously on s ∈ [0, 1/2 ], so q must be a constant since it is constrained e e e 1/ ) + q/ = h(0) + q. This means to integer values. In particular, we have h(1) = h( 2 2 that h represents q times a generator of π1 (S 1 ) . Since q is odd, we conclude that h

is not nullhomotopic. But h was the composition gη : I →S 2 →S 1 , and η is obviously nullhomotopic in S 2 , so gη is nullhomotopic in S 1 by composing a nullhomotopy of η with g . Thus we have arrived at a contradiction.

Corollary 1.11.

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Whenever S 2 is expressed as the union of three closed sets A1 , A2 ,

and A3 , then at least one of these sets must contain a pair of antipodal points {x, −x} .

Proof:

Let di : S 2 →R measure distance to Ai , that is, di (x) = inf y∈Ai |x − y| . This

is a continuous function, so we may apply the Borsuk–Ulam theorem to the map
S 2 →R2 , x , d1 (x), d2 (x) , obtaining a pair of antipodal points x and −x with d1 (x) = d1 (−x) and d2 (x) = d2 (−x) . If either of these two distances is zero, then

x and −x both lie in the same set A1 or A2 since these are closed sets. On the other hand, if the distances from x and −x to A1 and A2 are both strictly positive, then x and −x lie in neither A1 nor A2 so they must lie in A3 .

u t

To see that the number ‘three’ in this result is best possible, consider a sphere inscribed in a tetrahedron. Projecting the four faces of the tetrahedron radially onto the sphere, we obtain a cover of S 2 by four closed sets, none of which contains a pair of antipodal points. Assuming the higher-dimensional version of the Borsuk–Ulam theorem, the same arguments show that S n cannot be covered by n + 1 closed sets without antipodal pairs of points, though it can be covered by n+2 such sets, as the higher-dimensional analog of a tetrahedron shows. Even the case n = 1 is somewhat interesting: If the circle is covered by two closed sets, one of them must contain a pair of antipodal points. This is of course false for nonclosed sets since the circle is the union of two disjoint half-open semicircles.

Chapter 1

34

The Fundamental Group

The relation between the fundamental group of a product space and the fundamental groups of its factors is as simple as one could wish:

Proposition 1.12.

π1 (X × Y ) is isomorphic to π1 (X)× π1 (Y ) if X and Y are path-

connected.

Proof:

A basic property of the product topology is that a map f : Z →X × Y is con-

tinuous iff the maps g : Z →X and h : Z →Y defined by f (z) = (g(z), h(z)) are both continuous. Hence a loop f in X × Y based at (x0 , y0 ) is equivalent to a pair of loops g in X and h in Y based at x0 and y0 respectively. Similarly, a homotopy ft of a loop in X × Y is equivalent to a pair of homotopies gt and ht of the corresponding loops
in X and Y . Thus we obtain a bijection π1 X × Y , (x0 , y0 ) ≈ π1 (X, x0 )× π1 (Y , y0 ) , [f ] , ([g], [h]) . This is obviously a group homomorphism, and hence an isomoru t

phism.

Example 1.13:

The Torus. By the proposition we have an isomorphism π1 (S 1 × S 1 ) ≈

Z× Z . Under this isomorphism a pair (p, q) ∈ Z× Z corresponds to a loop that winds p times around one S 1 factor of the torus and q times around the other S 1 factor, for example the loop ωpq (s) = (ωp (s), ωq (s)) . Interestingly, this loop can be knotted, as the figure shows for the case p = 3 , q = 2 . The knots that arise in this fashion, the so-called torus knots, are studied in Example 1.24. More generally, the n dimensional torus, which is the product of n circles, has fundamental group isomorphic to the product of n copies of Z . This follows by induction on n .

Induced Homomorphisms Suppose ϕ : X →Y is a map taking the basepoint x0 ∈ X to the basepoint y0 ∈ Y .

For brevity we write ϕ : (X, x0 )→(Y , y0 ) in this situation. Then ϕ induces a homo-

morphism ϕ∗ : π1 (X, x0 )→π1 (Y , y0 ) , defined by composing loops f : I →X based at x0 with ϕ , that is, ϕ∗ [f ] = [ϕf ] . This induced map ϕ∗ is well-defined since a

homotopy ft of loops based at x0 yields a composed homotopy ϕft of loops based at y0 , so ϕ∗ [f0 ] = [ϕf0 ] = [ϕf1 ] = ϕ∗ [f1 ] . Furthermore, ϕ∗ is a homomorphism since ϕ(f g) = (ϕf ) (ϕg) , both functions having the value ϕf (2s) for 0 ≤ s ≤ 1/2 and the value ϕg(2s − 1) for 1/2 ≤ s ≤ 1. Two basic properties of induced homomorphisms are: (ϕψ)∗ = ϕ∗ ψ∗ for a composition (X, x0 )

--→ (Y , y0 ) --→ (Z, z0 ) . ψ

ϕ

11∗ = 11 , which is a concise way of saying that the identity map 11 : X →X induces

the identity map 11 : π1 (X, x0 )→π1 (X, x0 ) .

The first of these follows from the fact that composition of maps is associative, so (ϕψ)f = ϕ(ψf ) , and the second is obvious. These two properties of induced homomorphisms are what makes the fundamental group a functor. The formal definition

Basic Constructions

Section 1.1

35

of a functor requires the introduction of certain other preliminary concepts, however, so we postpone this until it is needed in §2.3. If ϕ is a homeomorphism with inverse ψ then ϕ∗ is an isomorphism with inverse ψ∗ since ϕ∗ ψ∗ = (ϕψ)∗ = 11∗ = 11 and similarly ψ∗ ϕ∗ = 11 . We will use this fact in the following calculation of the fundamental groups of higher-dimensional spheres:

Proposition 1.14. Proof:

π1 (S n ) = 0 if n ≥ 2 .

Let f be a loop in S n at a chosen basepoint x0 . If the image of f is disjoint

from some other point x ∈ S n then f is nullhomotopic since S n − {x} is homeomorphic to Rn , which is simply-connected. So it will suffice to homotope f to be nonsurjective. To do this we will look at a small open ball B in S n about any point x ≠ x0 and see that the number of times that f enters B , passes through x , and leaves B is finite, and each of these portions of f can be pushed off x without changing the rest of f . At first glance this might appear to be a difficult task to achieve since the parts of f in B could be quite complicated geometrically, for example space-filling curves. But in fact it turns out to be rather easy. The set f −1 (B) is open in (0, 1) , hence is the union of a possibly infinite collection of disjoint open intervals (ai , bi ) . The compact set f −1 (x) is contained in the union of these intervals, so it must be contained in the union of finitely many of them. Consider one of the intervals (ai , bi ) meeting f −1 (x) . The path fi obtained by restricting f to the closed interval [ai , bi ] lies in the closure of B , and its endpoints f (ai ) and f (bi ) lie in the boundary of B . If n ≥ 2 , we can choose a path gi from f (ai ) to f (bi ) in the closure of B but disjoint from x . For example, we could choose gi to lie in the boundary of B , which is a sphere of dimension n − 1 , hence path-connected if n ≥ 2 . Since the closure of B is homeomorphic to a convex set in Rn and hence simplyconnected, the path fi is homotopic to gi by Proposition 1.6, so we may homotope f by deforming fi to gi . After repeating this process for each of the intervals (ai , bi )

that meet f −1 (x) , we obtain a loop g homotopic to the original f and with g(I) u t

disjoint from x .

Example 1.15.

For a point x in Rn , the complement Rn − {x} is homeomorphic to

S n−1 × R , so by Proposition 1.12 π1 (Rn − {x}) is isomorphic to π1 (S n−1 )× π1 (R) . Hence π1 (Rn − {x}) is Z for n = 2 and trivial for n > 2 . Here is an application of this calculation:

Corollary 1.16. Proof:

R2 is not homeomorphic to Rn for n ≠ 2 .

Suppose f : R2 →Rn is a homeomorphism. The case n = 1 is easily disposed

of since R2 − {0} is path-connected but the homeomorphic space Rn − {f (0)} is not path-connected when n = 1 . When n > 2 we cannot distinguish R2 − {0} from

Chapter 1

36

The Fundamental Group

Rn − {f (0)} by the number of path-components, but by the preceding calculation of π1 (Rn − {x}) we can distinguish them by their fundamental groups.

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The more general statement that Rm is not homeomorphic to Rn if m ≠ n can be proved in the same way using either the higher homotopy groups or homology groups. In fact, nonempty open sets in Rm and Rn can be homeomorphic only if m = n , as we will show in Theorem 2.19 using homology. Induced homomorphisms allow relations between spaces to be transformed into relations between their fundamental groups. Here is an illustration of this principle:

Proposition 1.17. If a space X retracts onto a subspace A , then the homomorphism i∗ : π1 (A, x0 )→π1 (X, x0 ) induced by the inclusion i : A > X is injective. If A is a deformation retract of X , then i∗ is an isomorphism.

Proof:

If r : X →A is a retraction, then r i = 11 , hence r∗ i∗ = 11 , which implies that i∗

is injective. If rt : X →X is a deformation retraction of X onto A , so r0 = 11 , rt |A = 11 ,

and r1 (X) ⊂ A , then for any loop f : I →X based at x0 ∈ A the composition rt f gives a homotopy of f to a loop in A , so i∗ is also surjective.

u t

This gives another way of seeing that S 1 is not a retract of D 2 , a fact we showed earlier in the proof of the Brouwer fixed point theorem, since the inclusion-induced map π1 (S 1 )→π1 (D 2 ) is a homomorphism Z→0 that cannot be injective. The exact group-theoretic analog of a retraction is a homomorphism ρ of a group G onto a subgroup H such that ρ restricts to the identity on H . In the notation above, if we identify π1 (A) with its image under i∗ , then r∗ is such a homomorphism from π1 (X) onto the subgroup π1 (A) . The existence of a retracting homomorphism

ρ : G→H is quite a strong condition on H . If H is a normal subgroup, it implies that G is the direct product of H and the kernel of ρ . If H is not normal, then G is what is called in group theory the semi-direct product of H and the kernel of ρ . Recall from Chapter 0 the general definition of a homotopy as a family ϕt : X →Y ,

t ∈ I , such that the associated map Φ : X × I →Y , Φ(x, t) = ϕt (x) , is continuous. If ϕt

takes a subspace A ⊂ X to a subspace B ⊂ Y for all t , then we speak of a homotopy of

maps of pairs, ϕt : (X, A)→(Y , B) . In particular, a basepoint-preserving homotopy

ϕt : (X, x0 )→(Y , y0 ) is the case that ϕt (x0 ) = y0 for all t . Another basic property of induced homomorphisms is their invariance under such homotopies: If ϕt : (X, x0 )→(Y , y0 ) is a basepoint-preserving homotopy, then ϕ0∗ = ϕ1∗ .

This holds since ϕ0∗ [f ] = [ϕ0 f ] = [ϕ1 f ] = ϕ1∗ [f ] , the middle equality coming from the homotopy ϕt f . There is a notion of homotopy equivalence for spaces with basepoints. One says (X, x0 ) ' (Y , y0 ) if there are maps ϕ : (X, x0 )→(Y , y0 ) and ψ : (Y , y0 )→(X, x0 )

Basic Constructions

Section 1.1

37

with homotopies ϕψ ' 11 and ψϕ ' 11 through maps fixing the basepoints. In this case the induced maps on π1 satisfy ϕ∗ ψ∗ = (ϕψ)∗ = 11∗ = 11 and likewise ψ∗ ϕ∗ = 11 , so ϕ∗ and ψ∗ are inverse isomorphisms π1 (X, x0 ) ≈ π1 (Y , y0 ) . This somewhat formal argument gives another proof that a deformation retraction induces an isomorphism on fundamental groups, since if X deformation retracts onto A then (X, x0 ) ' (A, x0 ) for any choice of basepoint x0 ∈ A . Having to pay so much attention to basepoints when dealing with the fundamental group is something of a nuisance. For homotopy equivalences one does not have to be quite so careful, as the conditions on basepoints can actually be dropped: If ϕ : X →Y is a homotopy equivalence, then the induced homo
morphism ϕ∗ : π1 (X, x0 )→π1 Y , ϕ(x0 ) is an isomorphism for all x0 ∈ X .

Proposition 1.18.

The proof will use a simple fact about homotopies that do not fix the basepoint:

Lemma 1.19.

If ϕt : X →Y is a homotopy and

a basepoint x0 ∈ X , then the three maps in the diagram at the right satisfy ϕ0∗ = βh ϕ1∗ .

Proof: Let ht

ϕ

1

be the restriction of h to the interval [0, t] ,

[0, 1] . Explicitly, we can take ht (s) = h(ts) . Then if f is

ϕt (x 0 )

a loop in X at the basepoint x0 , the product ht (ϕt f ) ht gives a homotopy of loops at ϕ0 (x0 ) . Restricting this homotopy to t = 0 and t = 1 , we see that ϕ0∗ ([f ]) =
u t βh ϕ1∗ ([f ]) .

ϕ1 f

ϕ1 (x 0 )

with a reparametrization so that the domain of ht is still

Proof

( Y, ϕ ( x ) )

π1 0 1 1∗ → − − − − − − − − β x ( ) X, π1 h 0 − − − − −0− − ϕ− ∗→ π ( Y, ϕ ( x ) ) 0 0

− − − − − →

h is the path ϕt (x0 ) formed by the images of

ϕt f

ht ϕ0 (x 0 )

ϕ0 f

of 1.18: Let ψ : Y →X be a homotopy-inverse for ϕ , so that ϕψ ' 11 and

ψϕ ' 11 . Consider the maps π1 (X, x0 )

-----→ - π1 ϕ∗




Y , ϕ(x0 )

-----→ - π1 ψ∗




X, ψϕ(x0 )

-----→ - π1 ϕ∗




Y , ϕψϕ(x0 )

The composition of the first two maps is an isomorphism since ψϕ ' 11 implies that ψ∗ ϕ∗ = βh for some h , by the lemma. In particular, since ψ∗ ϕ∗ is an isomorphism, ϕ∗ is injective. The same reasoning with the second and third maps shows that ψ∗ is injective. Thus the first two of the three maps are injections and their composition is an isomorphism, so the first map ϕ∗ must be surjective as well as injective.

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38

Chapter 1

The Fundamental Group

Exercises 1. Show that composition of paths satisfies the following cancellation property: If f0 g0 ' f1 g1 and g0 ' g1 then f0 ' f1 . 2. Show that the change-of-basepoint homomorphism βh depends only on the homotopy class of h . 3. For a path-connected space X , show that π1 (X) is abelian iff all basepoint-change homomorphisms βh depend only on the endpoints of the path h . 4. A subspace X ⊂ Rn is said to be star-shaped if there is a point x0 ∈ X such that, for each x ∈ X , the line segment from x0 to x lies in X . Show that if a subspace X ⊂ Rn is locally star-shaped, in the sense that every point of X has a star-shaped neighborhood in X , then every path in X is homotopic in X to a piecewise linear path, that is, a path consisting of a finite number of straight line segments traversed at constant speed. Show this applies in particular when X is open or when X is a union of finitely many closed convex sets. 5. Show that for a space X , the following three conditions are equivalent: (a) Every map S 1 →X is homotopic to a constant map, with image a point.

(b) Every map S 1 →X extends to a map D 2 →X . (c) π1 (X, x0 ) = 0 for all x0 ∈ X .

Deduce that a space X is simply-connected iff all maps S 1 →X are homotopic. [In this problem, ‘homotopic’ means ‘homotopic without regard to basepoints.’] 6. We can regard π1 (X, x0 ) as the set of basepoint-preserving homotopy classes of maps (S 1 , s0 )→(X, x0 ) . Let [S 1 , X] be the set of homotopy classes of maps S 1 →X ,

with no conditions on basepoints. Thus there is a natural map Φ : π1 (X, x0 )→[S 1 , X] obtained by ignoring basepoints. Show that Φ is onto if X is path-connected, and that Φ([f ]) = Φ([g]) iff [f ] and [g] are conjugate in π1 (X, x0 ) . Hence Φ induces a oneto-one correspondence between [S 1 , X] and the set of conjugacy classes in π1 (X) , when X is path-connected. 7. Define f : S 1 × I →S 1 × I by f (θ, s) = (θ + 2π s, s) , so f restricts to the identity on the two boundary circles of S 1 × I . Show that f is homotopic to the identity by

a homotopy ft that is stationary on one of the boundary circles, but not by any homotopy ft that is stationary on both boundary circles. [Consider what f does to the path s , (θ0 , s) for fixed θ0 ∈ S 1 .]

8. Does the Borsuk–Ulam theorem hold for the torus? In other words, for every map f : S 1 × S 1 →R2 must there exist (x, y) ∈ S 1 × S 1 such that f (x, y) = f (−x, −y) ?

9. Let A1 , A2 , A3 be compact sets in R3 . Use the Borsuk–Ulam theorem to show that there is one plane P ⊂ R3 that simultaneously divides each Ai into two pieces of equal measure.

Basic Constructions

Section 1.1

39


10. From the isomorphism π1 X × Y , (x0 , y0 ) ≈ π1 (X, x0 )× π1 (Y , y0 ) it follows that
loops in X × {y0 } and {x0 }× Y represent commuting elements of π1 X × Y , (x0 , y0 ) . Construct an explicit homotopy demonstrating this. 11. If X0 is the path-component of a space X containing the basepoint x0 , show that

the inclusion X0 > X induces an isomorphism π1 (X0 , x0 )→π1 (X, x0 ) .

12. Show that every homomorphism π1 (S 1 )→π1 (S 1 ) can be realized as the induced homomorphism ϕ∗ of a map ϕ : S 1 →S 1 .

13. Given a space X and a path-connected subspace A containing the basepoint x0 ,

show that the map π1 (A, x0 )→π1 (X, x0 ) induced by the inclusion A>X is surjective iff every path in X with endpoints in A is homotopic to a path in A . 14. Show that the isomorphism π1 (X × Y ) ≈ π1 (X)× π1 (Y ) in Proposition 1.12 is given by [f ] , (p1∗ ([f ]), p2∗ ([f ])) where p1 and p2 are the projections of X × Y onto its two factors. from x0 to x1 , show that f∗ βh = βf h f∗ in the diagram at the right.

− − − − − →

π1( X, x 1 )

β

h − − − − − − − − − − − →

f∗

π1( X, x 0 )

− − − − − →

15. Given a map f : X →Y and a path h : I →X

f∗

βf h

π1( Y, f ( x 1 ) ) − − − − − − − − − − − → π1( Y, f ( x0 ) )

16. Show that there are no retractions r : X →A in the following cases: (a) X = R3 with A any subspace homeomorphic to S 1 . (b) X = S 1 × D 2 with A its boundary torus S 1 × S 1 . (c) X = S 1 × D 2 and A the circle shown in the figure. (d) X = D 2 ∨ D 2 with A its boundary S 1 ∨ S 1 .

A

(e) X a disk with two points on its boundary identified and A its boundary S 1 ∨ S 1 . (f) X the M¨ obius band and A its boundary circle. 17. Construct infinitely many nonhomotopic retractions S 1 ∨ S 1 →S 1 . 18. Using the technique in the proof of Proposition 1.14, show that if a space X is obtained from a path-connected subspace A by attaching a cell en with n ≥ 2 , then the inclusion A > X induces a surjection on π1 . Apply this to show: (a) The wedge sum S 1 ∨ S 2 has fundamental group Z .

(b) For a path-connected CW complex X the inclusion map X 1 > X of its 1 skeleton

induces a surjection π1 (X 1 )→π1 (X) . [For the case that X has infinitely many cells, see Proposition A.1 in the Appendix.]

19. Modify the proof of Proposition 1.14 to show that if X is a path-connected 1 dimensional CW complex with basepoint x0 a 0 cell, then every loop in X is homotopic to a loop consisting of a finite sequence of edges traversed monotonically. [This gives an elementary proof that π1 (S 1 ) is cyclic, generated by the standard loop winding once around the circle. The more difficult part of the calculation of π1 (S 1 ) is therefore the fact that no iterate of this loop is nullhomotopic.]

40

Chapter 1

The Fundamental Group

20. Suppose ft : X →X is a homotopy such that f0 and f1 are each the identity map. Use Lemma 1.19 to show that for any x0 ∈ X , the loop ft (x0 ) represents an element of the center of π1 (X, x0 ) . [One can interpret the result as saying that a loop represents an element of the center of π1 (X) if it extends to a loop of maps X →X .]

The van Kampen theorem gives a method for computing the fundamental groups of spaces that can be decomposed into simpler spaces whose fundamental groups are already known. By systematic use of this theorem one can compute the fundamental groups of a very large number of spaces. We shall see for example that for every group G there is a space XG whose fundamental group is isomorphic to G . To give some idea of how one might hope to compute fundamental groups by decomposing spaces into simpler pieces, let us look at an example. Consider the space X formed by two circles A and B intersecting in a single point, which we choose as the basepoint x0 . By our preceding calculations we know that π1 (A) is infinite cyclic, generated by a loop a that goes once around A . Similarly, π1 (B) is a copy of Z generated by a loop b going

b

a

once around B . Each product of powers of a and b then gives an element of π1 (X) . For example, the product a5 b2 a−3 ba2 is the loop that goes five times around A , then twice around B , then three times around A in the opposite direction, then once around B , then twice around A . The set of all words like this consisting of powers of a alternating with powers of b forms a group usually denoted Z ∗ Z . Multiplication in this group is defined just as one would expect, for example (b4 a5 b2 a−3 )(a4 b−1 ab3 ) = b4 a5 b2 ab−1 ab3 . The identity element is the empty word, and inverses are what they have to be, for example (ab2 a−3 b−4 )−1 = b4 a3 b−2 a−1 . It would be very nice if such words in a and b corresponded exactly to elements of π1 (X) , so that π1 (X) was isomorphic to the group Z ∗ Z . The van Kampen theorem will imply that this is indeed the case. Similarly, if X is the union of three circles touching at a single point, the van Kampen theorem will imply that π1 (X) is Z ∗ Z ∗ Z , the group consisting of words in powers of three letters a , b , c . The generalization to a union of any number of circles touching at one point will also follow. The group Z ∗ Z is an example of a general construction called the free product of groups. The statement of van Kampen’s theorem will be in terms of free products, so before stating the theorem we will make an algebraic digression to describe the construction of free products in some detail.

Van Kampen’s Theorem

Section 1.2

41

Free Products of Groups Suppose one is given a collection of groups Gα and one wishes to construct a single group containing all these groups as subgroups. One way to do this would be Q to take the product group α Gα , whose elements can be regarded as the functions

, gα

∈ Gα . Or one could restrict to functions taking on nonidentity values at L most finitely often, forming the direct sum α Gα . Both these constructions produce

α

groups containing all the Gα ’s as subgroups, but with the property that elements of different subgroups Gα commute with each other. In the realm of nonabelian groups Q this commutativity is unnatural, and so one would like a ‘nonabelian’ version of α Gα L L Q or α Gα . Since the sum α Gα is smaller and presumably simpler than α Gα , it L should be easier to construct a nonabelian version of α Gα , and this is what the free product ∗α Gα achieves. Here is the precise definition. As a set, the free product ∗α Gα consists of all words g1 g2 ··· gm of arbitrary finite length m ≥ 0 , where each letter gi belongs to a group Gαi and is not the identity element of Gαi , and adjacent letters gi and gi+1 belong to different groups Gα , that is, αi ≠ αi+1 . Words satisfying these conditions are called reduced, the idea being that unreduced words can always be simplified to reduced words by writing adjacent letters that lie in the same Gαi as a single letter and by canceling trivial letters. The empty word is allowed, and will be the identity element of ∗α Gα . The group operation in ∗α Gα is juxtaposition, (g1 ··· gm )(h1 ··· hn ) = g1 ··· gm h1 ··· hn . This product may not be reduced, however: If gm and h1 belong to the same Gα , they should be combined into a single letter (gm h1 ) according to the multiplication in Gα , and if this new letter gm h1 happens to be the identity of Gα , it should be canceled from the product. This may allow gm−1 and h2 to be combined, and possibly canceled too. Repetition of this process eventually produces a reduced −1 ··· g1−1 ) everything cancels and word. For example, in the product (g1 ··· gm )(gm

we get the identity element of ∗α Gα , the empty word. Verifying directly that this multiplication is associative would be rather tedious, but there is an indirect approach that avoids most of the work. Let W be the set of reduced words g1 ··· gm as above, including the empty word. To each g ∈ Gα we

associate the function Lg : W →W given by multiplication on the left, Lg (g1 ··· gm ) = gg1 ··· gm where we combine g with g1 if g1 ∈ Gα to make gg1 ··· gm a reduced word. A key property of the association g 0

0

0

, Lg

is the formula Lgg 0 = Lg Lg 0 for

g, g ∈ Gα , that is, g(g (g1 ··· gm )) = (gg )(g1 ··· gm ) . This special case of associativity follows rather trivially from associativity in Gα . The formula Lgg 0 = Lg Lg 0

implies that Lg is invertible with inverse Lg −1 . Therefore the association g , Lg de-

fines a homomorphism from Gα to the group P (W ) of all permutations of W . More generally, we can define L : W →P (W ) by L(g1 ··· gm ) = Lg1 ··· Lgm for each reduced

word g1 ··· gm . This function L is injective since the permutation L(g1 ··· gm ) sends the empty word to g1 ··· gm . The product operation in W corresponds under L to

42

Chapter 1

The Fundamental Group

composition in P (W ) , because of the relation Lgg 0 = Lg Lg 0 . Since composition in P (W ) is associative, we conclude that the product in W is associative. In particular, we have the free product Z ∗ Z as described earlier. This is an example of a free group, the free product of any number of copies of Z , finite or infinite. The elements of a free group are uniquely representable as reduced words in powers of generators for the various copies of Z , with one generator for each Z , just as in the case of Z ∗ Z . These generators are called a basis for the free group, and the number of basis elements is the rank of the free group. The abelianization of a free group is a free abelian group with basis the same set of generators, so since the rank of a free abelian group is well-defined, independent of the choice of basis, the same is true for the rank of a free group. An interesting example of a free product that is not a free group is Z2 ∗ Z2 . This is like Z ∗ Z but simpler since a2 = e = b2 , so powers of a and b are not needed, and Z2 ∗ Z2 consists of just the alternating words in a and b : a , b , ab , ba , aba , bab , abab , baba , ababa, ··· , together with the empty word. The structure of Z2 ∗ Z2

can be elucidated by looking at the homomorphism ϕ : Z2 ∗ Z2 →Z2 associating to

each word its length mod 2 . Obviously ϕ is surjective, and its kernel consists of the words of even length. These form an infinite cyclic subgroup generated by ab since ba = (ab)−1 in Z2 ∗ Z2 . In fact, Z2 ∗ Z2 is the semi-direct product of the subgroups Z and Z2 generated by ab and a , with the conjugation relation a(ab)a−1 = (ab)−1 .

This group is sometimes called the infinite dihedral group. For a general free product ∗α Gα , each group Gα is naturally identified with a subgroup of ∗α Gα , the subgroup consisting of the empty word and the nonidentity one-letter words g ∈ Gα . From this viewpoint the empty word is the common identity element of all the subgroups Gα , which are otherwise disjoint. A consequence of associativity is that any product g1 ··· gm of elements gi in the groups Gα has a unique reduced form, the element of ∗α Gα obtained by performing the multiplications in any order. Any sequence of reduction operations on an unreduced product g1 ··· gm , combining adjacent letters gi and gi+1 that lie in the same Gα or canceling a gi that is the identity, can be viewed as a way of inserting parentheses into g1 ··· gm and performing the resulting sequence of multiplications. Thus associativity implies that any two sequences of reduction operations performed on the same unreduced word always yield the same reduced word. A basic property of the free product ∗α Gα is that any collection of homomor-

phisms ϕα : Gα →H extends uniquely to a homomorphism ϕ : ∗α Gα →H . Namely, the value of ϕ on a word g1 ··· gn with gi ∈ Gαi must be ϕα1 (g1 ) ··· ϕαn (gn ) , and

using this formula to define ϕ gives a well-defined homomorphism since the process of reducing an unreduced product in ∗α Gα does not affect its image under ϕ . For example, for a free product G ∗ H the inclusions G > G× H and H > G× H induce

a surjective homomorphism G ∗ H →G× H .

Van Kampen’s Theorem

Section 1.2

43

The van Kampen Theorem Suppose a space X is decomposed as the union of a collection of path-connected open subsets Aα , each of which contains the basepoint x0 ∈ X . By the remarks in the

preceding paragraph, the homomorphisms jα : π1 (Aα )→π1 (X) induced by the inclu-

sions Aα > X extend to a homomorphism Φ : ∗α π1 (Aα )→π1 (X) . The van Kampen

theorem will say that Φ is very often surjective, but we can expect Φ to have a nontriv-

ial kernel in general. For if iαβ : π1 (Aα ∩ Aβ )→π1 (Aα ) is the homomorphism induced by the inclusion Aα ∩ Aβ

> Aα

then jα iαβ = jβ iβα , both these compositions being

induced by the inclusion Aα ∩ Aβ > X , so the kernel of Φ contains all the elements

of the form iαβ (ω)iβα (ω)−1 for ω ∈ π1 (Aα ∩ Aβ ) . Van Kampen’s theorem asserts that under fairly broad hypotheses this gives a full description of Φ :

Theorem 1.20.

If X is the union of path-connected open sets Aα each containing

the basepoint x0 ∈ X and if each intersection Aα ∩ Aβ is path-connected, then the

homomorphism Φ : ∗α π1 (Aα )→π1 (X) is surjective. If in addition each intersection Aα ∩Aβ ∩Aγ is path-connected, then the kernel of Φ is the normal subgroup N generated by all elements of the form iαβ (ω)iβα (ω)−1 , and so Φ induces an isomorphism

π1 (X) ≈ ∗α π1 (Aα )/N .

Example

1.21: Wedge Sums. In Chapter 0 we defined the wedge sum

W

α Xα

of a

collection of spaces Xα with basepoints xα ∈ Xα to be the quotient space of the ` disjoint union α Xα in which all the basepoints xα are identified to a single point. If each xα is a deformation retract of an open neighborhood Uα in Xα , then Xα is W a deformation retract of its open neighborhood Aα = Xα β≠α Uβ . The intersection W of two or more distinct Aα ’s is α Uα , which deformation retracts to a point. Van W Kampen’s theorem then implies that Φ : ∗α π1 (Xα )→π1 ( α Xα ) is an isomorphism. W W Thus for a wedge sum α Sα1 of circles, π1 ( α Sα1 ) is a free group, the free product of copies of Z , one for each circle Sα1 . In particular, π1 (S 1 ∨S 1 ) is the free group Z∗Z , as in the example at the beginning of this section. It is true more generally that the fundamental group of any connected graph is free, as we show in §1.A. Here is an example illustrating the general technique.

Example

1.22. Let X be the graph shown in the figure, consist-

ing of the twelve edges of a cube. The seven heavily shaded edges form a maximal tree T ⊂ X , a contractible subgraph containing all the vertices of X . We claim that π1 (X) is the free product of five copies of Z , one for each edge not in T . To deduce this from van Kampen’s theorem, choose for each edge eα of X − T an open neighborhood Aα of T ∪ eα in X that deformation retracts onto T ∪ eα . The intersection of two or more Aα ’s deformation retracts onto T , hence is contractible. The Aα ’s form a cover of X satisfying the hypotheses of van Kampen’s theorem, and since the intersection of

44

Chapter 1

The Fundamental Group

any two of them is simply-connected we obtain an isomorphism π1 (X) ≈ ∗α π1 (Aα ) . Each Aα deformation retracts onto a circle, so π1 (X) is free on five generators, as claimed. As explicit generators we can choose for each edge eα of X − T a loop fα that starts at a basepoint in T , travels in T to one end of eα , then across eα , then back to the basepoint along a path in T . Van Kampen’s theorem is often applied when there are just two sets Aα and Aβ in the cover of X , so the condition on triple intersections Aα ∩Aβ ∩Aγ is superfluous and
one obtains an isomorphism π1 (X) ≈ π1 (Aα ) ∗ π1 (Aβ ) /N , under the assumption that Aα ∩ Aβ is path-connected. The proof in this special case is virtually identical with the proof in the general case, however. One can see that the intersections Aα ∩ Aβ need to be path-connected by considering the example of S 1 decomposed as the union of two open arcs. In this case Φ is not surjective. For an example showing that triple intersections Aα ∩ Aβ ∩ Aγ need to be path-connected, let X be the suspension of three points a , b , c , and let Aα , Aβ , and Aγ be the complements of these three points. The theorem does apply to the covering {Aα , Aβ } , so there are isomorphisms

a

π1 (X) ≈ π1 (Aα ) ∗ π1 (Aβ ) ≈ Z ∗ Z since Aα ∩ Aβ is contractible.

b

c

If we tried to use the covering {Aα , Aβ , Aγ } , which has each of the twofold intersections path-connected but not the triple intersection, then we would get π1 (X) ≈ Z ∗ Z ∗ Z , but this is not isomorphic to Z ∗ Z since it has a different abelianization.

Proof of van Kampen’s theorem:

First we consider surjectivity of Φ . Given a loop

f : I →X at the basepoint x0 , we claim there is a partition 0 = s0 < s1 < ··· < sm = 1

of I such that each subinterval [si−1 , si ] is mapped by f to a single Aα . Namely, since f is continuous, each s ∈ I has an open neighborhood Vs in I mapped by f to some Aα . We may in fact take Vs to be an interval whose closure is mapped to a single Aα . Compactness of I implies that a finite number of these intervals cover I . The endpoints of this finite set of intervals then define the desired partition of I . Denote the Aα containing f ([si−1 , si ]) by Ai , and let fi be the path obtained by restricting f to [si−1 , si ] . Then f is the composition f1 ··· fm with fi a path in Ai . Since we assume Ai ∩ Ai+1 is path-connected, we may choose a path gi in Ai ∩ Ai+1 from x0 to the point f (si ) ∈ Ai ∩ Ai+1 . Consider the loop f2

(f1 g 1 ) (g1 f2 g 2 ) (g2 f3 g 3 ) ··· (gm−1 fm ) which is homotopic to f . This loop is a composition of loops each lying in a single Ai , the loops indicated

f1

g1 x0 g2

Aα

f3

Aβ

by the parentheses. Hence [f ] is in the image of Φ , and Φ is surjective. The harder part of the proof is to show that the kernel of Φ is N . It may clarify

Van Kampen’s Theorem

Section 1.2

45

matters to introduce some terminology. By a factorization of an element [f ] ∈ π1 (X) we shall mean a formal product [f1 ] ··· [fk ] where: Each fi is a loop in some Aα at the basepoint x0 , and [fi ] ∈ π1 (Aα ) is the homotopy class of fi . The loop f is homotopic to f1 ··· fk in X . A factorization of [f ] is thus a word in ∗α π1 (Aα ) , possibly unreduced, that is mapped to [f ] by Φ . The proof of surjectivity of Φ showed that every [f ] ∈ π1 (X) has a factorization. We will be concerned now with the uniqueness of factorizations. Call two factorizations of [f ] equivalent if they are related by a sequence of the following two sorts of moves or their inverses: Combine adjacent terms [fi ][fi+1 ] into a single term [fi fi+1 ] if [fi ] and [fi+1 ] lie in the same group π1 (Aα ) . Regard the term [fi ] ∈ π1 (Aα ) as lying in the group π1 (Aβ ) rather than π1 (Aα ) if fi is a loop in Aα ∩ Aβ . The first move does not change the element of ∗α π1 (Aα ) defined by the factorization. The second move does not change the image of this element in the quotient group Q = ∗α π1 (Aα )/N , by the definition of N . So equivalent factorizations give the same element of Q . If we can show that any two factorizations of [f ] are equivalent, this will say that

the map Q→π1 (X) induced by Φ is injective, hence the kernel of Φ is exactly N , and the proof will be complete. Let [f1 ] ··· [fk ] and [f10 ] ··· [f`0 ] be two factorizations of [f ] . The composed

paths f1 ··· fk and f10 ··· f`0 are then homotopic, so let F : I × I →X be a homo-

topy from f1 ··· fk to f10 ··· f`0 . There exist partitions 0 = s0 < s1 < ··· < sm = 1 and 0 = t0 < t1 < ··· < tn = 1 such that each rectangle Rij = [si−1 , si ]× [tj−1 , tj ]

is mapped by F into a single Aα , which we label Aij . These partitions may be obtained by covering I × I by finitely many rectangles [a, b]× [c, d] each mapping to a single Aα , using a compactness argument, then partitioning I × I by the union of all the horizontal and vertical lines containing edges of these rectangles. We may assume the s partition subdivides the partitions giving the products f1 ··· fk and f10 ··· f`0 . Since F maps a neighborhood

9

10

11

12

angles Rij so that each point of I × I lies in at most three

5

6

7

8

Rij ’s. We may assume there are at least three rows of rect-

1

2

of Rij to Aij , we may perturb the vertical sides of the rect-

3

4

angles, so we can do this perturbation just on the rectangles in the intermediate rows, leaving the top and bottom rows unchanged. Let us relabel the new rectangles R1 , R2 , ··· , Rmn , ordering them as in the figure.

46

Chapter 1

The Fundamental Group

If γ is a path in I × I from the left edge to the right edge, then the restriction F || γ is a loop at the basepoint x0 since F maps both the left and right edges of I × I to x0 . Let γr be the path separating the first r rectangles R1 , ··· , Rr from the remaining rectangles. Thus γ0 is the bottom edge of I × I and γmn is the top edge. We pass from γr to γr +1 by pushing across the rectangle Rr +1 . Let us call the corners of the Rr ’s vertices. For each vertex v with F (v) ≠ x0 , let gv be a path from x0 to F (v) . We can choose gv to lie in the intersection of the two or three Aij ’s corresponding to the Rr ’s containing v since we assume the intersection of any two or three Aij ’s is path-connected. If we insert into F || γr the appropriate paths g v gv at successive vertices, as in the proof of surjectivity of Φ , then we obtain a factorization of [F || γr ] by regarding the loop corresponding to a horizontal or vertical segment between adjacent vertices as lying in the Aij for either of the Rs ’s containing the segment. Different choices of these containing Rs ’s change the factorization of [F || γr ] to an equivalent factorization. Furthermore, the factorizations associated to successive paths γr and γr +1 are equivalent since pushing γr across Rr +1 to γr +1 changes F || γr to F || γr +1 by a homotopy within the Aij corresponding to Rr +1 , and we can choose this Aij for all the segments of γr and γr +1 in Rr +1 . We can arrange that the factorization associated to γ0 is equivalent to the factorization [f1 ] ··· [fk ] by choosing the path gv for each vertex v along the lower edge of I × I to lie not just in the two Aij ’s corresponding to the Rs ’s containing v , but also to lie in the Aα for the fi containing v in its domain. In case v is the common endpoint of the domains of two consecutive fi ’s we have F (v) = x0 , so there is no need to choose a gv . In similar fashion we may assume that the factorization associated to the final γmn is equivalent to [f10 ] ··· [f`0 ] . Since the factorizations associated

to all the γr ’s are equivalent, we conclude that the factorizations [f1 ] ··· [fk ] and

[f10 ] ··· [f`0 ] are equivalent.

Example 1.23:

u t

Linking of Circles. We can apply van Kampen’s theorem to calculate

the fundamental groups of three spaces discussed in the introduction to this chapter, the complements in R3 of a single circle, two unlinked circles, and two linked circles. The complement R3 −A of a single circle A deformation retracts onto a wedge sum S 1 ∨ S 2 embedded in R3 −A as shown in the first of the two figures at the right. It may be easier to see

A

A

that R3 −A deformation retracts onto the union of S 2 with a diameter, as in the second figure, where points outside S 2 deformation retract onto S 2 , and points inside S 2 and not in A can be pushed away from A toward S 2 or the diameter. Having this deformation retraction in mind, one can then see how it must be modified if the two endpoints of the diameter are gradually moved toward each other along the equator until they coincide, forming the S 1 summand of S 1 ∨S 2 . Another way of seeing the deformation

Van Kampen’s Theorem

Section 1.2

47

retraction of R3 − A onto S 1 ∨ S 2 is to note first that an open ε neighborhood of S 1 ∨ S 2 obviously deformation retracts onto S 1 ∨ S 2 if ε is sufficiently small. Then observe that this neighborhood is homeomorphic to R3 − A by a homeomorphism that is the identity on S 1 ∨ S 2 . In fact, the neighborhood can be gradually enlarged by homeomorphisms until it becomes all of R3 − A . In any event, once we see that R3 − A deformation retracts to S 1 ∨ S 2 , then we immediately obtain isomorphisms π1 (R3 − A) ≈ π1 (S 1 ∨ S 2 ) ≈ Z since π1 (S 2 ) = 0 . In similar fashion, the complement R3 − (A ∪ B) of two unlinked circles A and B deformation retracts onto S 1 ∨S 1 ∨S 2 ∨S 2 , as in the figure to the right. From
this we get π1 R3 − (A ∪ B) ≈

A

B

Z ∗ Z . On the other hand, if A and B are linked, then R3 − (A ∪ B) deformation retracts onto the wedge sum of S 2 and a torus S 1 × S 1 separating A and B ,
as shown in the figure to the left, hence π1 R3 − (A ∪ B) ≈ π1 (S 1 × S 1 ) ≈ Z× Z .

Example

1.24: Torus Knots. For relatively prime positive integers m and n , the

torus knot K = Km,n ⊂ R3 is the image of the embedding f : S 1 →S 1 × S 1 ⊂ R3 ,

f (z) = (zm , zn ) , where the torus S 1 × S 1 is embedded in R3 in the standard way. The knot K winds around the torus a total of m times in the longitudinal direction and n times in the meridional direction, as shown in the figure for the cases (m, n) = (2, 3) and (3, 4) . One needs to assume that m and n are relatively prime in order for the map f to be injective. Without this assumption f would be d –to–1 where d is the greatest common divisor of m and n , and the image of f would be the knot Km/d,n/d . One could also allow negative values for m or n , but this would only change K to a mirror-image knot. Let us compute π1 (R3 − K) . It is slightly easier to do the calculation with R3 replaced by its one-point compactification S 3 . An application of van Kampen’s theorem shows that this does not affect π1 . Namely, write S 3 − K as the union of R3 − K and an open ball B formed by the compactification point together with the complement of a large closed ball in R3 containing K . Both B and B ∩ (R3 − K) are simply-connected, the latter space being homeomorphic to S 2 × R . Hence van Kampen’s theorem implies that the inclusion R3 − K > S 3 − K induces an isomorphism on π1 .

We compute π1 (S 3 − K) by showing that it deformation retracts onto a 2 dimen-

sional complex X = Xm,n homeomorphic to the quotient space of a cylinder S 1 × I under the identifications (z, 0) ∼ (e2π i/m z, 0) and (z, 1) ∼ (e2π i/n z, 1) . If we let Xm and Xn be the two halves of X formed by the quotients of S 1 × [0, 1/2 ] and S 1 × [1/2 , 1],

then Xm and Xn are the mapping cylinders of z , zm and z , zn . The intersection

48

Chapter 1

The Fundamental Group

Xm ∩ Xn is the circle S 1 × {1/2 }, the domain end of each mapping cylinder. To obtain an embedding of X in S 3 − K as a deformation retract we will use the standard decomposition of S 3 into two solid tori S 1 × D 2 and D 2 × S 1 , the result of regarding S 3 as ∂D 4 = ∂(D 2 × D 2 ) = ∂D 2 × D 2 ∪ D 2 × ∂D 2 . Geometrically, the first solid torus S 1 × D 2 can be identified with the compact region in R3 bounded by the standard torus S 1 × S 1 containing K , and the second solid torus D 2 × S 1 is then the closure of the complement of the first solid torus, together with the compactification point at infinity. Notice that meridional circles in S 1 × S 1 bound disks in the first solid torus, while it is longitudinal circles that bound disks in the second solid torus. In the first solid torus, K intersects each of the meridian

K

circles {x}× ∂D 2 in m equally spaced points, as indicated in the figure at the right, which shows a meridian disk {x}× D 2 . These m points can be separated by a union of m radial line segments. Letting x vary, these radial segments then trace out

K

K

a copy of the mapping cylinder Xm in the first solid torus. Symmetrically, there is a copy of the other mapping cylinder Xn in the second solid torus. The complement of K in the first solid torus deformation retracts onto Xm by flowing within each meridian disk as shown. In similar fashion the complement of K in the second solid torus deformation retracts onto Xn . These two deformation retractions do not agree on their common domain of definition S 1 × S 1 − K , but this is easy to correct by distorting the flows in the two solid tori so that in S 1 × S 1 − K both flows are orthogonal to K . After this modification we now have a well-defined deformation retraction of S 3 − K onto X . Another way of describing the situation would be to say that for an open ε neighborhood N of K bounded by a torus T , the complement

S 3 − N is the mapping cylinder of a map T →X .

To compute π1 (X) we apply van Kampen’s theorem to the decomposition of X as the union of Xm and Xn , or more properly, open neighborhoods of these two sets that deformation retract onto them. Both Xm and Xn are mapping cylinders that deformation retract onto circles, and Xm ∩ Xn is a circle, so all three of these spaces have fundamental group Z . A loop in Xm ∩ Xn representing a generator of π1 (Xm ∩ Xn ) is homotopic in Xm to a loop representing m times a generator, and in Xn to a loop representing n times a generator. Van Kampen’s theorem then says that π1 (X) is the quotient of the free group on generators a and b obtained by factoring out the normal subgroup generated by the element am b−n .

Let us denote by Gm,n this group π1 (Xm,n ) defined by two generators a and b and one relation am = bn . If m or n is 1 , then Gm,n is infinite cyclic since in these cases the relation just expresses one generator as a power of the other. To describe the structure of Gm,n when m, n > 1 let us first compute the center of Gm,n , the subgroup consisting of elements that commute with all elements of Gm,n . The element am = bn commutes with a and b , so the cyclic subgroup C generated

Van Kampen’s Theorem

Section 1.2

49

by this element lies in the center. In particular, C is a normal subgroup, so we can pass to the quotient group Gm,n /C , which is the free product Zm ∗ Zn . According to Exercise 1 at the end of this section, a free product of nontrivial groups has trivial center. From this it follows that C is exactly the center of Gm,n . As we will see in Example 1.44, the elements a and b have infinite order in Gm,n , so C is infinite cyclic, but we will not need this fact here. We will show now that the integers m and n are uniquely determined by the group Zm ∗ Zn , hence also by Gm,n . The abelianization of Zm ∗ Zn is Zm × Zn , of order mn , so the product mn is uniquely determined by Zm ∗ Zn . To determine m and n individually, we use another assertion from Exercise 1 at the end of the section, that all torsion elements of Zm ∗ Zn are conjugate to elements of the subgroups Zm and Zn , hence have order dividing m or n . Thus the maximum order of torsion elements of Zm ∗ Zn is the larger of m and n . The larger of these two numbers is therefore uniquely determined by the group Zm ∗ Zn , hence also the smaller since the product is uniquely determined. The preceding analysis of π1 (Xm,n ) did not need the assumption that m and n are relatively prime, which was used only to relate Xm,n to torus knots. An interesting fact is that Xm,n can be embedded in R3 only when m and n are relatively prime. This is shown in the remarks following Corollary 3.45. For example, X2,2 is the Klein bottle since it is the union of two copies of the M¨ obius band X2 with their boundary circles identified, so this nonembeddability statement generalizes the fact that the Klein bottle cannot be embedded in R3 . An algorithm for computing a presentation for π1 (R3 −K) for an arbitrary smooth or piecewise linear knot K is described in the exercises, but the problem of determining when two of these fundamental groups are isomorphic is generally much more difficult than in the special case of torus knots.

Example 1.25:

The Shrinking Wedge of Circles. Consider the sub-

2

space X ⊂ R that is the union of the circles Cn of radius 1/n and center (1/n , 0) for n = 1, 2, ··· . At first glance one might confuse X with the wedge sum of an infinite sequence of circles, but we will show that X has a much larger fundamental group than the wedge

sum. Consider the retractions rn : X →Cn collapsing all Ci ’s except Cn to the origin.

Each rn induces a surjection ρn : π1 (X)→π1 (Cn ) ≈ Z , where we take the origin as Q the basepoint. The product of the ρn ’s is a homomorphism ρ : π1 (X)→ ∞ Z to the direct product (not the direct sum) of infinitely many copies of Z , and ρ is surjective

since for every sequence of integers kn we can construct a loop f : I →X that wraps kn times around Cn in the time interval [1 − 1/n , 1 − 1/n+1 ]. This infinite composition of loops is certainly continuous at each time less than 1 , and it is continuous at time 1 since every neighborhood of the basepoint in X contains all but finitely many of the Q circles Cn . Since π1 (X) maps onto the uncountable group ∞ Z , it is uncountable.

Chapter 1

50

The Fundamental Group

On the other hand, the fundamental group of a wedge sum of countably many circles is countably generated, hence countable. The group π1 (X) is actually far more complicated than

Q

∞Z.

For one thing,

it is nonabelian, since the retraction X →C1 ∪ ··· ∪ Cn that collapses all the circles smaller than Cn to the basepoint induces a surjection from π1 (X) to a free group on n generators. For a complete description of π1 (X) see [Cannon & Conner 2000]. It is a theorem of [Shelah 1988] that for a path-connected, locally path-connected compact metric space X , π1 (X) is either finitely generated or uncountable.

Applications to Cell Complexes For the remainder of this section we shall be interested in 2 dimensional cell complexes, analyzing how the fundamental group is affected by attaching 2 cells. According to an exercise at the end of this section, attaching cells of higher dimension has no effect on π1 , so all the interest lies in how the 2 cells are attached. 2 Suppose we attach a collection of 2 cells eα to a path-connected space X via maps

ϕα : S 1 →X , producing a space Y . If s0 is a basepoint of S 1 then ϕα determines a loop

at ϕα (s0 ) that we shall call ϕα , even though technically loops are maps I →X rather

than S 1 →X . For different α ’s the basepoints ϕα (s0 ) of these loops ϕα may not all

coincide. To remedy this, choose a basepoint x0 ∈ X and a path γα in X from x0 to ϕα (s0 ) for each α . Then γα ϕα γ α is a loop at x0 . This loop may not be nullhomotopic 2 is attached. Thus the in X , but it will certainly be nullhomotopic after the cell eα

normal subgroup N ⊂ π1 (X, x0 ) generated by all the loops γα ϕα γ α for varying α lies in the kernel of the map π1 (X, x0 )→π1 (Y , x0 ) induced by the inclusion X > Y .

Proposition 1.26.

The inclusion X > Y induces a surjection π1 (X, x0 )→π1 (Y , x0 )

whose kernel is N . Thus π1 (Y ) ≈ π1 (X)/N .

It follows that N is independent of the choice of the paths γα , but this can also be seen directly: If we replace γα by another path ηα having the same endpoints, then γα ϕα γ α changes to ηα ϕα ηα = (ηα γ α )γα ϕα γ α (γα ηα ) , so γα ϕα γ α and ηα ϕα ηα define conjugate elements of π1 (X, x0 ) .

Proof:

Let us expand Y to a slightly larger space Z that deformation retracts onto Y

and is more convenient for applying van Kampen’s theorem. The space Z is obtained from Y by attaching rectangular strips Sα = I × I , with the lower edge I × {0} attached along γα , the right edge {1}× I attached 2 , and all the left edges along an arc in eα

{0}× I of the different strips identified together. The top edges of the strips are not attached to anything, and this allows us to deformation retract Z onto Y .

yα eα2

X

Sα x0

γα

Van Kampen’s Theorem

Section 1.2

51

2 In each cell eα choose a point yα not in the arc along which Sα is attached. Let S A = Z − α {yα } and let B = Z − X . Then A deformation retracts onto X , and B is

contractible. Since π1 (B) = 0 , van Kampen’s theorem applied to the cover {A, B} says that π1 (Z) is isomorphic to the quotient of π1 (A) by the normal subgroup generated

by the image of the map π1 (A ∩ B)→π1 (A) . So it remains only to see that π1 (A ∩ B) is generated by the loops γα ϕα γ α , or rather by loops in A ∩ B homotopic to these

loops. This can be shown by another application of van Kampen’s theorem, this time S to the cover of A ∩ B by the open sets Aα = A ∩ B − β≠α eβ2 . Since Aα deformation 2 −{yα } , we have π1 (Aα ) ≈ Z generated by a loop homotopic retracts onto a circle in eα

u t

to γα ϕα γ α , and the result follows.

As a first application we compute the fundamental group of the orientable surface Mg of genus g . This has a cell structure with one 0 cell, 2g 1 cells, and one 2 cell, as we saw in Chapter 0. The 1 skeleton is a wedge sum of 2g circles, with fundamental group free on 2g generators. The 2 cell is attached along the loop given by the product of the commutators of these generators, say [a1 , b1 ] ··· [ag , bg ] . Therefore π1 (Mg ) ≈



a1 , b1 , ··· , ag , bg || [a1 , b1 ] ··· [ag , bg ]



 gα || rβ denotes the group with generators gα and relators rβ , in other words, the free group on the generators gα modulo the normal subgroup generated where



by the words rβ in these generators.

Corollary 1.27.

The surface Mg is not homeomorphic, or even homotopy equivalent,

to Mh if g ≠ h .

Proof:

The abelianization of π1 (Mg ) is the direct sum of 2g copies of Z . So if

Mg ' Mh then π1 (Mg ) ≈ π1 (Mh ) , hence the abelianizations of these groups are isomorphic, which implies g = h .

u t

Nonorientable surfaces can be treated in the same way. If we attach a 2 cell to the wedge sum of g circles by the word a21 ··· a2g we obtain a nonorientable surface Ng . For example, N1 is the projective plane RP2 , the quotient of D 2 with antipodal points of ∂D 2 identified. And N2 is the Klein bottle, though the more usual representation

N1 :

a

−−−

a

N2 :

− − − − b a

c a

b

c

c b a

a

of the Klein bottle is as a square with opposite sides identified via the word aba−1 b . If one cuts the square along a diagonal and reassembles the resulting two triangles as shown in the figure, one obtains the other representation as a square with sides

Chapter 1

52

The Fundamental Group



identified via the word a2 c 2 . By the proposition, π1 (Ng ) ≈ a1 , ··· , ag || a21 ··· a2g . This abelianizes to the direct sum of Z2 with g − 1 copies of Z since in the abelianization we can rechoose the generators to be a1 , ··· , ag−1 and a1 + ··· + ag , with 2(a1 + ··· + ag ) = 0 . Hence Ng is not homotopy equivalent to Nh if g ≠ h , nor is Ng homotopy equivalent to any orientable surface Mh . Here is another application of the preceding proposition:

Corollary 1.28.

For every group G there is a 2 dimensional cell complex XG with

π1 (XG ) ≈ G .

 gα || rβ . This exists since every group is a quotient of a free group, so the gα ’s can be taken to be the generators of this free

Proof:

Choose a presentation G =

group with the rβ ’s generators of the kernel of the map from the free group to G . W Now construct XG from α Sα1 by attaching 2 cells eβ2 by the loops specified by the u t

words rβ .

 If G = a || an = Zn then XG is S 1 with a cell e2 attached by the map z , zn , thinking of S 1 as the unit circle in C . When n = 2 we get XG = RP2 , but for

Example 1.29.

n > 2 the space XG is not a surface since there are n ‘sheets’ of e2 attached at each

point of the circle S 1 ⊂ XG . For example, when n = 3 one can construct a neighborhood N of S 1 in XG by taking the product of the graph

with the interval I , and then identifying

the two ends of this product via a one-third twist as shown in the figure. The boundary of N consists of a single circle, formed by the three endpoints of each

cross section of N . To complete the construction of XG from N one attaches

a disk along the boundary circle of N . This cannot be done in R3 , though it can in R4 . For n = 4 one would use the graph

instead of

, with a one-quarter twist

instead of a one-third twist. For larger n one would use an n pointed ‘asterisk’ and a 1/n twist.

Exercises 1. Show that the free product G ∗ H of nontrivial groups G and H has trivial center, and that the only elements of G ∗ H of finite order are the conjugates of finite-order elements of G and H . 2. Let X ⊂ Rm be the union of convex open sets X1 , ··· , Xn such that Xi ∩Xj ∩Xk ≠ ∅ for all i, j, k . Show that X is simply-connected. 3. Show that the complement of a finite set of points in Rn is simply-connected if n ≥ 3.

Van Kampen’s Theorem

Section 1.2

53

4. Let X ⊂ R3 be the union of n lines through the origin. Compute π1 (R3 − X) . 5. Let X ⊂ R2 be a connected graph that is the union of a finite number of straight line segments. Show that π1 (X) is free with a basis consisting of loops formed by the boundaries of the bounded complementary regions of X , joined to a basepoint by suitably chosen paths in X . [Assume the Jordan curve theorem for polygonal simple closed curves, which is equivalent to the case that X is homeomorphic to S 1 .] 6. Suppose a space Y is obtained from a path-connected subspace X by attaching n cells for a fixed n ≥ 3 . Show that the inclusion X

>Y

induces an isomorphism

on π1 . [See the proof of Proposition 1.26.] Apply this to show that the complement of a discrete subspace of Rn is simply-connected if n ≥ 3 . 7. Let X be the quotient space of S 2 obtained by identifying the north and south poles to a single point. Put a cell complex structure on X and use this to compute π1 (X) . 8. Compute the fundamental group of the space obtained from two tori S 1 × S 1 by identifying a circle S 1 × {x0 } in one torus with the corresponding circle S 1 × {x0 } in the other torus. 9. In the surface Mg of genus g , let C be a circle that separates Mg into

C0

two compact subsurfaces Mh0 and Mk0 obtained from the closed surfaces Mh

and Mk by deleting an open disk from

0

Mh

C

0

Mk

each. Show that Mh0 does not retract onto its boundary circle C , and hence Mg does not retract onto C . [Hint: abelianize π1 .] But show that Mg does retract onto the nonseparating circle C 0 in the figure.

10. Consider two arcs α and β embedded in D 2 × I as shown in the figure. The loop γ is obviously nullhomotopic

β

α

2

in D × I , but show that there is no nullhomotopy of γ in the complement of α ∪ β .

γ

11. The mapping torus Tf of a map f : X →X is the quotient of X × I obtained by identifying each point (x, 0) with (f (x), 1) . In the case X = S 1 ∨ S 1 with f

basepoint-preserving, compute a presentation for π1 (Tf ) in terms of the induced

map f∗ : π1 (X)→π1 (X) . Do the same when X = S 1 × S 1 . [One way to do this is to

regard Tf as built from X ∨ S 1 by attaching cells.] 12. The Klein bottle is usually pictured as a subspace of R3 like the subspace X ⊂ R3 shown in the first figure at the right. If one wanted a model that could actually function as a bottle, one would delete the open disk bounded by the circle of self-

intersection of X , producing a subspace Y ⊂ X . Show that π1 (X) ≈ Z ∗ Z and that

54

Chapter 1

The Fundamental Group

 a, b, c || aba−1 b−1 cbε c −1 for ε = ±1 . (Changing the sign of ε gives an isomorphic group, as it happens.) Show also that π1 (Y ) is isomorπ1 (Y ) has the presentation



phic to π1 (R3 −Z) for Z the graph shown in the figure. The groups π1 (X) and π1 (Y ) are not isomorphic, but this is not easy to prove; see the discussion in Example 1B.13. 13. The space Y in the preceding exercise can be obtained from a disk with two holes by identifying its three boundary circles. There are only two essentially different ways of identifying the three boundary circles. Show that the other way yields a space Z with π1 (Z) not isomorphic to π1 (Y ) . [Abelianize the fundamental groups to show they are not isomorphic.] 14. Consider the quotient space of a cube I 3 obtained by identifying each square face with the opposite square face via the right-handed screw motion consisting of a translation by one unit in the direction perpendicular to the face combined with a one-quarter twist of the face about its center point. Show this quotient space X is a cell complex with two 0 cells, four 1 cells, three 2 cells, and one 3 cell. Using this structure, show that π1 (X) is the quaternion group {±1, ±i, ±j, ±k} , of order eight. 15. Given a space X with basepoint x0 ∈ X , we may construct a CW complex L(X) having a single 0 cell, a 1 cell eγ1 for each loop γ in X based at x0 , and a 2 cell eτ2 for each map τ of a standard triangle P QR into X taking the three vertices P , Q , and R of the triangle to x0 . The 2 cell eτ2 is attached to the three 1 cells that are the loops obtained by restricting τ to the three oriented edges P Q , P R , and QR . Show
that the natural map L(X)→X induces an isomorphism π1 L(X) ≈ π1 (X, x0 ) . 16. Show that the fundamental group of the surface of infinite genus shown below is free on an infinite number of generators.

17. Show that π1 (R2 − Q2 ) is uncountable. 18. In this problem we use the notions of suspension, reduced suspension, cone, and mapping cone defined in Chapter 0. Let X be the subspace of R consisting of the sequence 1, 1/2 , 1/3 , 1/4 , ··· together with its limit point 0 . (a) For the suspension SX , show that π1 (SX) is free on a countably infinite set of generators, and deduce that π1 (SX) is countable. In contrast to this, the reduced suspension ΣX , obtained from SX by collapsing the segment {0}× I to a point, is the shrinking wedge of circles in Example 1.25, with an uncountable fundamental group. (b) Let C be the mapping cone of the quotient map SX →ΣX . Show that π1 (C) is unQ L countable by constructing a homomorphism from π1 (C) onto ∞ Z/ ∞ Z . Note

Van Kampen’s Theorem

Section 1.2

55

that C is the reduced suspension of the cone CX . Thus the reduced suspension of a contractible space need not be contractible, unlike the unreduced suspension. 19. Show that the subspace of R3 that is the union of the spheres of radius 1/n and center (1/n , 0, 0) for n = 1, 2, ··· is simply-connected. 20. Let X be the subspace of R2 that is the union of the circles Cn of radius n and center (n, 0) for n = 1, 2, ··· . Show that π1 (X) is the free group ∗n π1 (Cn ) , the same W 1 W 1 ∞ S . Show that X and ∞ S are in fact homotopy

as for the infinite wedge sum

equivalent, but not homeomorphic. 21. Show that the join X ∗ Y of two nonempty spaces X and Y is simply-connected if X is path-connected. 22. In this exercise we describe an algorithm for computing a presentation of the fundamental group of the complement of a smooth or piecewise linear knot K in R3 , called the Wirtinger presentation. To begin, we position the knot to lie almost flat on a table, so that K consists of finitely many disjoint arcs αi where it intersects the table top together with finitely many disjoint arcs β` where K crosses over itself. The configuration at such a crossing is shown in the first figure below. We build a S`

β` αk αi

αj

Rk

Rj Ri

Rk

Rj Ri

T

2 dimensional complex X that is a deformation retract of R3 − K by the following three steps. First, start with the rectangle T formed by the table top. Next, just above each arc αi place a long, thin rectangular strip Ri , curved to run parallel to αi along the full length of αi and arched so that the two long edges of Ri are identified with points of T , as in the second figure. Any arcs β` that cross over αi are positioned to lie in Ri . Finally, over each arc β` put a square S` , bent downward along its four edges so that these edges are identified with points of three strips Ri , Rj , and Rk as in the third figure; namely, two opposite edges of S` are identified with short edges of Rj and Rk and the other two opposite edges of S` are identified with two arcs crossing the interior of Ri . The knot K is now a subspace of X , but after we lift K up slightly into the complement of X , it becomes evident that X is a deformation retract of R3 − K . (a) Assuming this bit of geometry, show that π1 (R3 − K) has a presentation with one generator xi for each strip Ri and one relation of the form xi xj xi−1 = xk for

each square S` , where the indices are as in the figures above. [To get the correct signs it is helpful to use an orientation of K .] (b) Use this presentation to show that the abelianization of π1 (R3 − K) is Z .

56

Chapter 1

The Fundamental Group

We come now to the second main topic of this chapter, covering spaces. We have in fact already encountered one example of a covering space in our calculation of π1 (S 1 ) . This was the map R→S 1 that we pictured as the projection of a helix onto a circle, with the helix lying above the circle, ‘covering’ it. A number of things we proved for this covering space are valid for all covering spaces, and this allows covering spaces to serve as a useful general tool for calculating fundamental groups. But the connection between the fundamental group and covering spaces runs much deeper than this, and in many ways they can be regarded as two viewpoints toward the same thing. This means that algebraic features of the fundamental group can often be translated into the geometric language of covering spaces. This is exemplified in one of the main results in this section, giving an exact correspondence between the various connected covering spaces of a given space X and subgroups of π1 (X) . This is strikingly reminiscent of Galois theory, with its correspondence between field extensions and subgroups of the Galois group. e Let us begin with the definition. A covering space of a space X is a space X e →X satisfying the following condition: There exists an together with a map p : X

open cover {Uα } of X such that for each α , p −1 (Uα ) is a disjoint union of open sets e , each of which is mapped by p homeomorphically onto Uα . We do not require in X

p −1 (Uα ) to be nonempty, so p need not be surjective.

In the helix example one has p : R→S 1 given by p(t) = (cos 2π t, sin 2π t) , and

the cover {Uα } can be taken to consist of any two open arcs whose union is S 1 .

A related example is the helicoid surface S ⊂ R3 consisting of points of the form (s cos 2π t, s sin 2π t, t) for (s, t) ∈ (0, ∞)× R . This projects onto R2 − {0} via the

map (x, y, z) , (x, y) , and this projection defines a covering space p : S →R2 − {0}

since for each open disk U in R2 − {0} , p −1 (U ) consists of countably many disjoint open disks in S , each mapped homeomorphically onto U by p . Another example is the map p : S 1 →S 1 , p(z) = zn where we view z as a complex number with |z| = 1 and n is any positive

integer. The closest one can come to realizing this covering space as a linear projection in 3 space analogous to the projection of the helix is to draw a circle wrapping around a cylinder n times and

p

intersecting itself in n − 1 points that one has to imagine are not really intersections. For an alternative picture without this defect, embed S 1 in the boundary torus of a solid torus S 1 × D 2 so that it winds n times monotonically around the S 1 factor without self-intersections, then restrict the pro-

jection S 1 × D 2 →S 1 × {0} to this embedded circle. The figure for Example 1.29 in the preceding section illustrates the case n = 3 .

Covering Spaces

Section 1.3

57

As our general theory will show, these examples for n ≥ 1 together with the helix example exhaust all the connected coverings spaces of S 1 . There are many other disconnected covering spaces of S 1 , such as n disjoint circles each mapped homeomorphically onto S 1 , but these disconnected covering spaces are just disjoint unions of connected ones. We will usually restrict our attention to connected covering spaces as these contain most of the interesting features of covering spaces. The covering spaces of S 1 ∨ S 1 form a remarkably rich family illustrating most of the general theory very concretely, so let us look at a few of these covering spaces to get an idea of what is going on. To abbreviate notation, set X = S 1 ∨ S 1 . We view this as a graph with one vertex and two edges. We label the edges

a a and b and we choose orientations for a and b . Now let b e be any other graph with four edges meeting at each vertex, X e have been assigned labels a and b and orientations in and suppose the edges of X such a way that the local picture near each vertex is the same as in X , so there is an a edge oriented toward the vertex, an a edge oriented away from the vertex, a b edge oriented toward the vertex, and a b edge oriented away from the vertex. To give a e a 2 oriented graph. name to this structure, let us call X The table on the next page shows just a small sample of the infinite variety of possible examples. e we can construct a map p : X e →X sending all vertices Given a 2 oriented graph X e to the vertex of X and sending each edge of X e to the edge of X with the same of X label by a map that is a homeomorphism on the interior of the edge and preserves orientation. It is clear that the covering space condition is satisfied for p . The converse is also true: Every covering space of X is a graph that inherits a 2 orientation from X . As the reader will discover by experimentation, it seems that every graph having four edges incident at each vertex can be 2 oriented. This can be proved for finite graphs as follows. A very classical and easily shown fact is that every finite connected graph with an even number of edges incident at each vertex has an Eulerian circuit, a loop traversing each edge exactly once. If there are four edges at each vertex, then labeling the edges of an Eulerian circuit alternately a and b produces a labeling with two a and two b edges at each vertex. The union of the a edges is then a collection of disjoint circles, as is the union of the b edges. Choosing orientations for all these circles gives a 2 orientation. It is a theorem in graph theory that infinite graphs with four edges incident at each vertex can also be 2 oriented; see Chapter 13 of [Koenig 1990] for a proof. There is also a generalization to n oriented graphs, which are covering spaces of the wedge sum of n circles.

Chapter 1

58

The Fundamental Group

Some Covering Spaces of S 1 ∨ S 1 (1)

(2)

b a

a

a

b

b

ha 2, b 2, ab i

b

a

ha, b 2 , bab - 1i

( 3)

b

(4)

a b

a

b

b

a

a

b

ha, b 2, ba2b - 1, baba - 1b - 1i

(6)

a b b b

a

(7)

a

a

( 10 )

a

b

a -1

-2

ha , b , ab, ba b , bab i a

4

2

a b

b

b a

b 2n + 1ab - 2n

| n∈ Z i

a b

b

b

a

h b 2nab - 2n - 1,

( 12 )

a

a

a b

b

a

b

a

2

b

ha 2, b 2, (ab) 2, (ba) 2, ab 2ai

b

b

( 11 )

b a b b a

ha 4, b 4, ab , ba , a2b 2 i

b b

a

a

a

a

ha 3, b 3, ab , ba i

(8)

b b b b

a

b b b a

a

a

(9)

a

ha 3, b 3, ab - 1, b - 1a i

a

a

b

ha 2, b 2, aba - 1, bab - 1i

(5)

a

hai

b

h b nab - n | n ∈ Z i

( 14 )

( 13 )

a

b habi a

b

a b

ha , bab - 1i

b

Covering Spaces

Section 1.3

59

A simply-connected covering space of X can be constructed in the following way. Start with the open intervals (−1, 1) in the coordinate axes of R2 . Next, for a fixed number λ , 0 < λ < 1/2 , for example λ = 1/3 , adjoin four open segments of length 2λ , at distance λ from the ends of the previous segments and perpendicular to them, the new shorter segments being bisected by the older ones. For the third stage, add perpendicular open segments of length 2λ2 at distance λ2 from the endpoints of all the previous segments and bisected by them. The process is now repeated indefinitely, at the n th stage adding open segments of length 2λn−1 at distance λn−1 from all the previous endpoints. The union of all these open segments is a graph, with vertices the intersection points of horizontal and vertical segments, and edges the subsegments between adjacent vertices. We label all the horizontal edges a , oriented to the right, and all the vertical edges b , oriented upward. This covering space is called the universal cover of X because, as our general theory will show, it is a covering space of every other connected covering space of X . The covering spaces (1)–(14) in the table are all nonsimply-connected. Their fundamental groups are free with bases represented by the loops specified by the listed e 0 indicated by the heavily shaded verwords in a and b , starting at the basepoint x tex. This can be proved in each case by applying van Kampen’s theorem. One can
e x e0) also interpret the list of words as generators of the image subgroup p∗ π1 (X,

 in π1 (X, x0 ) = a, b . A general fact we shall prove about covering spaces is that e x e 0 )→π1 (X, x0 ) is always injective. Thus we have the atthe induced map p∗ : π1 (X, first-glance paradoxical fact that the free group on two generators can contain as a subgroup a free group on any finite number of generators, or even on a countably infinite set of generators as in examples (10) and (11).


e x e 0 ) to a conjuChanging the basepoint vertex changes the subgroup p∗ π1 (X,

gate subgroup in π1 (X, x0 ) . The conjugating element of π1 (X, x0 ) is represented by e joining one basepoint to the other. For any loop that is the projection of a path in X example, the covering spaces (3) and (4) differ only in the choice of basepoints, and the corresponding subgroups of π1 (X, x0 ) differ by conjugation by b . The main classification theorem for covering spaces says that by associating the
e x e →X , we obtain a one-to-one e 0 ) to the covering space p : X subgroup p∗ π1 (X, correspondence between all the different connected covering spaces of X and the conjugacy classes of subgroups of π1 (X, x0 ) . If one keeps track of the basepoint e , then this is a one-to-one correspondence between covering spaces e0 ∈ X vertex x e x e 0 )→(X, x0 ) and actual subgroups of π1 (X, x0 ) , not just conjugacy classes. p : (X, Of course, for these statements to make sense one has to have a precise notion of when two covering spaces are the same, or ‘isomorphic.’ In the case at hand, an iso-

Chapter 1

60

The Fundamental Group

morphism between covering spaces of X is just a graph isomorphism that preserves the labeling and orientations of edges. Thus the covering spaces in (3) and (4) are isomorphic, but not by an isomorphism preserving basepoints, so the two subgroups of π1 (X, x0 ) corresponding to these covering spaces are distinct but conjugate. On the other hand, the two covering spaces in (5) and (6) are not isomorphic, though the graphs are homeomorphic, so the corresponding subgroups of π1 (X, x0 ) are isomorphic but not conjugate. Some of the covering spaces (1)–(14) are more symmetric than others, where by a ‘symmetry’ we mean an automorphism of the graph preserving the labeling and orientations. The most symmetric covering spaces are those having symmetries taking any one vertex onto any other. The examples (1), (2), (5)–(8), and (11) are the ones with this property. We shall see that a covering space of X has maximal symmetry exactly when the corresponding subgroup of π1 (X, x0 ) is a normal subgroup, and in this case the symmetries form a group isomorphic to the quotient group of π1 (X, x0 ) by the normal subgroup. Since every group generated by two elements is a quotient group of Z ∗ Z , this implies that every two-generator group is the symmetry group of some covering space of X .

Lifting Properties e →X that are Covering spaces are defined in fairly geometric terms, as maps p : X local homeomorphisms in a rather strong sense. But from the viewpoint of algebraic topology, the distinctive feature of covering spaces is their behavior with respect to lifting of maps. Recall the terminology from the proof of Theorem 1.7: A lift of a map e such that p fe = f . We will describe three special lifting f : Y →X is a map fe : Y →X properties of covering spaces, and derive a few applications of these. First we have the homotopy lifting property, or covering homotopy property, as it is sometimes called:

Proposition 1.30. Given a covering space p : Xe →X , a homotopy ft : Y →X , and a e lifting f0 , then there exists a unique homotopy fet : Y →X e of fe0 that map fe0 : Y →X lifts ft .

Proof:

For the covering space p : R→S 1 this is property (c) in the proof of Theou t

rem 1.7, and the proof there applies to any covering space.

Taking Y to be a point gives the path lifting property for a covering space e e 0 of the starting p : X →X , which says that for each path f : I →X and each lift x e lifting f starting at x e . In particular, point f (0) = x there is a unique path fe : I →X 0

0

the uniqueness of lifts implies that every lift of a constant path is constant, but this could be deduced more simply from the fact that p −1 (x0 ) has the discrete topology, by the definition of a covering space.

Covering Spaces

Section 1.3

61

Taking Y to be I , we see that every homotopy ft of a path f0 in X lifts to a homotopy fet of each lift fe0 of f0 . The lifted homotopy fet is a homotopy of paths, fixing the endpoints, since as t varies each endpoint of fe traces out a path lifting a t

constant path, which must therefore be constant. Here is a simple application: e x e 0 )→π1 (X, x0 ) induced by a covering space Proposition 1.31. The map p∗ : π1 (X,
e x e x e 0 ) in π1 (X, x0 ) e 0 )→(X, x0 ) is injective. The image subgroup p∗ π1 (X, p : (X,

e starting consists of the homotopy classes of loops in X based at x0 whose lifts to X e 0 are loops. at x

e with a An element of the kernel of p∗ is represented by a loop fe0 : I →X homotopy f : I →X of f = p fe to the trivial loop f . By the remarks preceding the

Proof:

t

0

0

1

proposition, there is a lifted homotopy of loops fet starting with fe0 and ending with e x e ) and p is injective. a constant loop. Hence [fe ] = 0 in π (X, 0

1

0

∗

e0 For the second statement of the proposition, loops at x0 lifting to loops at x e e 0 )→π1 (X, x0 ) . Conversely, certainly represent elements of the image of p∗ : π1 (X, x a loop representing an element of the image of p∗ is homotopic to a loop having such a lift, so by homotopy lifting, the loop itself must have such a lift.

u t

e →X is a covering space, then the cardinality of the set p −1 (x) is locally If p : X constant over X . Hence if X is connected, this cardinality is constant as x ranges over all of X . It is called the number of sheets of the covering. e x e 0 )→(X, x0 ) The number of sheets of a covering space p : (X,
e x e path-connected equals the index of p∗ π1 (X, e 0 ) in π1 (X, x0 ) . with X and X

Proposition 1.32.

e starting at x e be its lift to X e 0 . A product For a loop g in X based at x0 , let g
e g e x e 0 ) has the lift h e ending at the same point as g e h g with [h] ∈ H = p∗ π1 (X, −1 e since h is a loop. Thus we may define a function Φ from cosets H[g] to p (x )

Proof:

0

e implies that Φ is surjective e by sending H[g] to g(1) . The path-connectedness of X e projecting to a loop g at e 0 can be joined to any point in p −1 (x0 ) by a path g since x x0 . To see that Φ is injective, observe that Φ(H[g1 ]) = Φ(H[g2 ]) implies that g1 g 2 e based at x e 0 , so [g1 ][g2 ]−1 ∈ H and hence H[g1 ] = H[g2 ] . lifts to a loop in X t u It is important also to know about the existence and uniqueness of lifts of general maps, not just lifts of homotopies. For the existence question an answer is provided by the following lifting criterion: e x e 0 )→(X, x0 ) and a map Proposition 1.33. Suppose given a covering space p : (X, f : (Y , y0 )→(X, x0 ) with Y path-connected and locally path-connected. Then a lift

e x e x e 0 ) of f exists iff f∗ π1 (Y , y0 ) ⊂ p∗ π1 (X, e0) . fe : (Y , y0 )→(X,

Chapter 1

62

The Fundamental Group

When we say a space has a certain property locally, such as being locally pathconnected, we shall mean that each point has arbitrarily small open neighborhoods with this property. Thus for Y to be locally path-connected means that for each point y ∈ Y and each neighborhood U of y there is an open neighborhood V ⊂ U of y that is path-connected. Some authors weaken the requirement that V be pathconnected to the condition that any two points in V be joinable by a path in U . This broader definition would work just as well for our purposes, necessitating only small adjustments in the proofs, but for simplicity we shall use the more restrictive definition.

Proof:

The ‘only if’ statement is obvious since f∗ = p∗ fe∗ . For the converse, let

y ∈ Y and let γ be a path in Y from y0 to y . The path f γ in X starting at x0 g g e 0 . Define fe(y) = f has a unique lift f γ starting at x γ(1) . To show this is well-

defined, independent of the choice of γ , let γ 0 be another path from y0 to y . Then

e x e 0 ) . This (f γ 0 ) (f γ) is a loop h0 at x0 with [h0 ] ∈ f∗ π1 (Y , y0 ) ⊂ p∗ π1 (X, means there is a homotopy ht of h0 to a loop h1 that lifts to a e in X e based at x e 0 . Apply the covering homotopy loop h 1 e . Since h e is a loop at property to h to get a lifting h t

t

1

e . By the uniqueness of lifted paths, e 0 , so is h x 0 e is fg γ 0 and the second the first half of h 0 g half is f γ traversed backwards, with g the common midpoint f γ(1) = 0 g f γ (1) . This shows that fe is

0

f x 0

y γ

ff( y )

γ fg

ff

γ0

y

γ0 fg

p f γ0

f x0

f (y )

fγ

well-defined. To see that fe is continuous, let U ⊂ X be an open neighborhood of f (y) having e ⊂ X e containing fe(y) such that p : U e →U is a homeomorphism. Choose a a lift U path-connected open neighborhood V of y with f (V ) ⊂ U . For paths from y0 to

points y 0 ∈ V we can take a fixed path γ from y0 to y followed by paths η in g g γ) (f η) V from y to the points y 0 . Then the paths (f γ) (f η) in X have lifts (f −1 −1 g e and e is the inverse of p : U e →U . Thus fe(V ) ⊂ U where f η = p f η and p : U →U u t fe|V = p −1 f , hence fe is continuous at y . An example showing the necessity of the local path-connectedness assumption on Y is described in Exercise 7 at the end of this section. Next we have the unique lifting property:

Proposition 1.34. Given a covering space p : Xe →X and a map f : Y →X with two e that agree at one point of Y , then if Y is connected, these two lifts lifts fe1 , fe2 : Y →X must agree on all of Y . For a point y ∈ Y , let U be an open neighborhood of f (y) in X for which eα each mapped homeomorphically to U p −1 (U) is a disjoint union of open sets U

Proof:

Covering Spaces

Section 1.3

63

e1 and U e2 be the U eα ’s containing fe1 (y) and fe2 (y) , respectively. By by p , and let U e by fe and continuity of fe and fe there is a neighborhood N of y mapped into U 1

2

1

1

e1 ≠ U e2 , hence U e1 and U e2 are disjoint and e2 by fe2 . If fe1 (y) ≠ fe2 (y) then U into U e e e f1 ≠ f2 throughout the neighborhood N . On the other hand, if f1 (y) = fe2 (y) then e so fe = fe on N since p fe = p fe and p is injective on U e =U e . Thus the e =U U 1

2

1

2

1

2

set of points where fe1 and fe2 agree is both open and closed in Y .

1

2

u t

The Classification of Covering Spaces We consider next the problem of classifying all the different covering spaces of a fixed space X . Since the whole chapter is about paths, it should not be surprising that we will restrict attention to spaces X that are at least locally path-connected. Path-components of X are then the same as components, and for the purpose of classifying the covering spaces of X there is no loss in assuming that X is connected, or equivalently, path-connected. Local path-connectedness is inherited by covering spaces, so these too are connected iff they are path-connected. The main thrust of the classification will be the Galois correspondence between connected covering spaces of X and subgroups of π1 (X) , but when this is finished we will also describe a different method of classification that includes disconnected covering spaces as well. The Galois correspondence arises from the function that assigns to each covering
e x e x e 0 ) of π1 (X, x0 ) . First we cone 0 )→(X, x0 ) the subgroup p∗ π1 (X, space p : (X, sider whether this function is surjective. That is, we ask whether every subgroup of
e x e x e 0 ) for some covering space p : (X, e 0 )→(X, x0 ) . π1 (X, x0 ) is realized as p∗ π1 (X, In particular we can ask whether the trivial subgroup is realized. Since p∗ is always injective, this amounts to asking whether X has a simply-connnected covering space. Answering this will take some work. A necessary condition for X to have a simply-connected covering space is the following: Each point x ∈ X has a neighborhood U such that the inclusion-induced

map π1 (U, x)→π1 (X, x) is trivial; one says X is semilocally simply-connected if e →X is a covering this holds. To see the necessity of this condition, suppose p : X

e simply-connected. Every point x ∈ X has a neighborhood U having a space with X e e lift U ⊂ X projecting homeomorphically to U by p . Each loop in U lifts to a loop e = 0 . So, composing this e , and the lifted loop is nullhomotopic in X e since π1 (X) in U nullhomotopy with p , the original loop in U is nullhomotopic in X . A locally simply-connected space is certainly semilocally simply-connected. For

example, CW complexes have the much stronger property of being locally contractible, as we show in the Appendix. An example of a space that is not semilocally simplyconnected is the shrinking wedge of circles, the subspace X ⊂ R2 consisting of the circles of radius 1/n centered at the point (1/n , 0) for n = 1, 2, ··· , introduced in Example 1.25. On the other hand, the cone CX = (X × I)/(X × {0}) is semilocally simplyconnected since it is contractible, but it is not locally simply-connected.

64

Chapter 1

The Fundamental Group

We shall now show how to construct a simply-connected covering space of X if X is path-connected, locally path-connected, and semilocally simply-connected. To e x e 0 )→(X, x0 ) is a simply-connected covermotivate the construction, suppose p : (X,

e can then be joined to x e ∈X e 0 by a unique homotopy class of ing space. Each point x e as homotopy classes of paths paths, by Proposition 1.6, so we can view points of X

e 0 . The advantage of this is that, by the homotopy lifting property, homostarting at x e starting at x e 0 are the same as homotopy classes of paths topy classes of paths in X e purely in terms of X . in X starting at x0 . This gives a way of describing X

Given a path-connected, locally path-connected, semilocally simply-connected space X with a basepoint x0 ∈ X , we are therefore led to define  e = [γ] || γ is a path in X starting at x0 X where, as usual, [γ] denotes the homotopy class of γ with respect to homotopies e →X sending [γ] to γ(1) is that fix the endpoints γ(0) and γ(1) . The function p : X then well-defined. Since X is path-connected, the endpoint γ(1) can be any point of X , so p is surjective. e we make a few preliminary observations. Let Before we define a topology on X

U be the collection of path-connected open sets U ⊂ X such that π1 (U )→π1 (X) is

trivial. Note that if the map π1 (U )→π1 (X) is trivial for one choice of basepoint in U ,

it is trivial for all choices of basepoint since U is path-connected. A path-connected

open subset V ⊂ U ∈ U is also in U since the composition π1 (V )→π1 (U )→π1 (X)

will also be trivial. It follows that U is a basis for the topology on X if X is locally path-connected and semilocally simply-connected. Given a set U ∈ U and a path γ in X from x0 to a point in U , let  U[γ] = [γ η] || η is a path in U with η(0) = γ(1)

As the notation indicates, U[γ] depends only on the homotopy class [γ] . Observe

that p : U[γ] →U is surjective since U is path-connected and injective since different choices of η joining γ(1) to a fixed x ∈ U are all homotopic in X , the map π1 (U)→π1 (X) being trivial. Another property is

U[γ] = U[γ 0 ] if [γ 0 ] ∈ U[γ] . For if γ 0 = γ η then elements of U[γ 0 ] have the (∗)

form [γ η µ] and hence lie in U[γ] , while elements of U[γ] have the form

[γ µ] = [γ η η µ] = [γ 0 η µ] and hence lie in U[γ 0 ] .

e . For if This can be used to show that the sets U[γ] form a basis for a topology on X we are given two such sets U[γ] , V[γ 0 ] and an element [γ 00 ] ∈ U[γ] ∩ V[γ 0 ] , we have

U[γ] = U[γ 00 ] and V[γ 0 ] = V[γ 00 ] by (∗) . So if W ∈ U is contained in U ∩ V and contains γ 00 (1) then W[γ 00 ] ⊂ U[γ 00 ] ∩ V[γ 00 ] and [γ 00 ] ∈ W[γ 00 ] .

The bijection p : U[γ] →U is a homeomorphism since it gives a bijection between

the subsets V[γ 0 ] ⊂ U[γ] and the sets V ∈ U contained in U . Namely, in one direction

we have p(V[γ 0 ] ) = V and in the other direction we have p −1 (V ) ∩ U[γ] = V[γ 0 ] for

Covering Spaces

Section 1.3

65

any [γ 0 ] ∈ U[γ] with endpoint in V , since V[γ 0 ] ⊂ U[γ 0 ] = U[γ] and V[γ 0 ] maps onto V by the bijection p . e →X is continuous. We can also deThe preceding paragraph implies that p : X

duce that this is a covering space since for fixed U ∈ U , the sets U[γ] for varying [γ]

partition p −1 (U) because if [γ 00 ] ∈ U[γ] ∩ U[γ 0 ] then U[γ] = U[γ 00 ] = U[γ 0 ] by (∗) . e is simply-connected. For a point [γ] ∈ X e let γt It remains only to show that X

be the path in X obtained by restricting γ to the interval [0, t] . Then the function e lifting γ that starts at [x0 ] , the homotopy class of the constant t , [γt ] is a path in X

e , this shows that X e path at x0 , and ends at [γ] . Since [γ] was an arbitrary point in X e [x0 ]) = 0 it suffices to show that the image of is path-connected. To show that π1 (X, this group under p∗ is trivial since p∗ is injective. Elements in the image of p∗ are e at [x0 ] . We have observed that represented by loops γ at x0 that lift to loops in X the path t , [γt ] lifts γ starting at [x0 ] , and for this lifted path to be a loop means

that [γ1 ] = [x0 ] . Since γ1 = γ , this says that [γ] = [x0 ] , so γ is nullhomotopic and the image of p∗ is trivial.

e →X . This completes the construction of a simply-connected covering space X

In concrete cases one usually constructs a simply-connected covering space by more direct methods. For example, suppose X is the union of subspaces A and B for e→A and Be→B are already known. Then which simply-connected covering spaces A e →X by assembling one can attempt to build a simply-connected covering space X e and Be . For example, for X = S 1 ∨ S 1 , if we take A and B to be the two copies of A e and Be are each R , and we can build the simply-connected cover X e circles, then A e described earlier in this section by glueing together infinitely many copies of A and e . Here is another illustration of this method: Be , the horizontal and vertical lines in X

Example 1.35.

For integers m, n ≥ 2 , let Xm,n be the quotient space of a cylinder

S × I under the identifications (z, 0) ∼ (e2π i/m z, 0) and (z, 1) ∼ (e2π i/n z, 1) . Let 1

A ⊂ X and B ⊂ X be the quotients of S 1 × [0, 1/2 ] and S 1 × [1/2 , 1], so A and B are the mapping cylinders of z , zm and z , zn , with A ∩ B = S 1 . The simplest case

is m = n = 2 , when A and B are M¨ obius bands and X2,2 is the Klein bottle. We

encountered the complexes Xm,n previously in analyzing torus knot complements in Example 1.24. The figure for Example 1.29 at the end of the preceding section shows what A looks like in the typical case m = 3 . We have π1 (A) ≈ Z , e is homeomorphic to a product Cm × R where and the universal cover A Cm is the graph that is a cone on m points, as shown in the figure to the right. The situation for B is similar, and Be is homeomorphic to em,n from copies Cn × R . Now we attempt to build the universal cover X e and Be . Start with a copy of A e . Its boundary, the outer edges of of A

its fins, consists of m copies of R . Along each of these m boundary

Chapter 1

66

The Fundamental Group

lines we attach a copy of Be . Each of these copies of Be has one of its boundary lines e , leaving n − 1 boundary lines free, and we attach a attached to the initial copy of A e to each of these free boundary lines. Thus we now have m(n − 1) + 1 new copy of A e e has m − 1 free boundary lines, copies of A . Each of the newly attached copies of A and to each of these lines we attach a new copy of Be . The process is now repeated ad em,n be the resulting space. infinitim in the evident way. Let X e = Cm × R and Be = Cn × R The product structures A em,n the structure of a product Tm,n × R where Tm,n give X

is an infinite graph constructed by an inductive scheme em,n . Thus Tm,n is the union just like the construction of X of a sequence of finite subgraphs, each obtained from the preceding by attaching new copies of Cm or Cn . Each of these finite subgraphs deformation retracts onto the preceding one. The infinite concatenation of these deformation retractions, with the k th graph deformation retracting to the previous one during the time interval [1/2k , 1/2k−1 ] , gives a deformation retraction of Tm,n onto the initial stage Cm . Since Cm is contractible, this means Tm,n is contractible, hence em,n is simply-connected. em,n , which is the product Tm,n × R . In particular, X also X e in X em,n to A and The map that projects each copy of A each copy of Be to B is a covering space. To define this map precisely, choose a point x0 ∈ S 1 , and then the image of the line segment {x0 }× I in Xm,n meets A in a line segment whose e consists of an infinite number of line segments, preimage in A appearing in the earlier figure as the horizontal segments spiraling around the central vertical axis. The picture in Be is e and Be similar, and when we glue together all the copies of A em,n , we do so in such a way that these horizontal segments always line up to form X em,n into infinitely many rectangles, each formed from a exactly. This decomposes X e and a rectangle in a Be . The covering projection X em,n →Xm,n is the rectangle in an A

quotient map that identifies all these rectangles. Now we return to the general theory. The hypotheses for constructing a simplyconnected covering space of X in fact suffice for constructing covering spaces realizing arbitrary subgroups of π1 (X) :

Proposition 1.36.

Suppose X is path-connected, locally path-connected, and semilo-

cally simply-connected. Then for every subgroup H ⊂ π1 (X, x0 ) there is a covering
e 0 ) = H for a suitably chosen basepoint space p : XH →X such that p∗ π1 (XH , x

e 0 ∈ XH . x

Proof:

e constructed For points [γ] , [γ 0 ] in the simply-connected covering space X

above, define [γ] ∼ [γ 0 ] to mean γ(1) = γ 0 (1) and [γγ 0 ] ∈ H . It is easy to see

Covering Spaces

Section 1.3

67

that this is an equivalence relation since H is a subgroup; namely, it is reflexive since H contains the identity element, symmetric since H is closed under inverses, and e transitive since H is closed under multiplication. Let XH be the quotient space of X

obtained by identifying [γ] with [γ 0 ] if [γ] ∼ [γ 0 ] . Note that if γ(1) = γ 0 (1) , then

[γ] ∼ [γ 0 ] iff [γη] ∼ [γ 0 η] . This means that if any two points in basic neighborhoods U[γ] and U[γ 0 ] are identified in XH then the whole neighborhoods are identified. Hence

the natural projection XH →X induced by [γ] , γ(1) is a covering space.

e 0 ∈ XH the equivalence class of the constant path If we choose for the basepoint x

e 0 )→π1 (X, x0 ) is exactly H . This is because c at x0 , then the image of p∗ : π1 (XH , x e starting at [c] ends at [γ] , so the image for a loop γ in X based at x0 , its lift to X of this lifted path in XH is a loop iff [γ] ∼ [c] , or equivalently, [γ] ∈ H .

u t

Having taken care of the existence of covering spaces of X corresponding to all subgroups of π1 (X) , we turn now to the question of uniqueness. More specifically, we are interested in uniqueness up to isomorphism, where an isomorphism between e2 such e1 →X and p2 : X e2 →X is a homeomorphism f : X e1 →X covering spaces p1 : X that p1 = p2 f . This condition means exactly that f preserves the covering space structures, taking p1−1 (x) to p2−1 (x) for each x ∈ X . The inverse f −1 is then also an

isomorphism, and the composition of two isomorphisms is an isomorphism, so we have an equivalence relation.

Proposition 1.37.

If X is path-connected and locally path-connected, then two pathe1 →X and p2 : X e2 →X are isomorphic via an isomorconnected covering spaces p1 : X

e taking a basepoint x e1 →X e 1 ∈ p1−1 (x0 ) to a basepoint x e 2 ∈ p2−1 (x0 ) iff phism f : X
2
e1 , x e2 , x e 1 ) = p2∗ π1 (X e2) . p1∗ π1 (X

e1 , x e2 , x e 1 )→(X e 2 ) , then from the two relations If there is an isomorphism f : (X

−1 e1 , x e2 , x e 1 ) = p2∗ π1 (X e 2 ) . Conit follows that p1∗ π1 (X p1 = p2 f and p2 = p1 f

e1 , x e2 , x e 1 ) = p2∗ π1 (X e 2 ) . By the lifting criterion, versely, suppose that p1∗ π1 (X e1 , x e2 , x e1 = p1 . Symmetrically, we e1 : (X e 1 )→(X e 2 ) with p2 p we may lift p1 to a map p

Proof:

e2 , x e1 , x e2 = p2 . Then by the unique lifting property, e 2 )→(X e 1 ) with p1 p e2 : (X obtain p e2 = 11 and p e1 = 11 since these composed lifts fix the basepoints. Thus p e2 p e1 and e1 p p

e2 are inverse isomorphisms. p

u t

We have proved the first half of the following classification theorem:

Theorem 1.38.

Let X be path-connected, locally path-connected, and semilocally

simply-connected. Then there is a bijection between the set of basepoint-preserving e x e 0 )→(X, x0 ) and the isomorphism classes of path-connected covering spaces p : (X,
e x e0) set of subgroups of π1 (X, x0 ) , obtained by associating the subgroup p∗ π1 (X, e x e 0 ) . If basepoints are ignored, this correspondence gives a to the covering space (X, e →X bijection between isomorphism classes of path-connected covering spaces p : X

and conjugacy classes of subgroups of π1 (X, x0 ) .

Chapter 1

68

The Fundamental Group

Proof:

It remains only to prove the last statement. We show that for a covering space e e 0 within p −1 (x0 ) corresponds exactly e 0 )→(X, x0 ) , changing the basepoint x p : (X, x
e x e 0 ) to a conjugate subgroup of π1 (X, x0 ) . Suppose that x e1 to changing p∗ π1 (X,

e be a path from x e 0 to x e 1 . Then γ e projects is another basepoint in p −1 (x0 ) , and let γ
e x ei) to a loop γ in X representing some element g ∈ π1 (X, x0 ) . Set Hi = p∗ π1 (X, e , γ e feγ e is a for i = 0, 1 . We have an inclusion g −1 H g ⊂ H since for fe a loop at x 0

1

0

e 1 . Similarly we have gH1 g −1 ⊂ H0 . Conjugating the latter relation by g −1 loop at x e 0 to x e1 gives H1 ⊂ g −1 H0 g , so g −1 H0 g = H1 . Thus, changing the basepoint from x changes H0 to the conjugate subgroup H1 = g −1 H0 g .

Conversely, to change H0 to a conjugate subgroup H1 = g −1 H0 g , choose a loop

e 1 = γ(1) e e starting at x e 0 , and let x . The preceding γ representing g , lift this to a path γ

argument then shows that we have the desired relation H1 = g −1 H0 g .

u t

A consequence of the lifting criterion is that a simply-connected covering space of a path-connected, locally path-connected space X is a covering space of every other path-connected covering space of X . A simply-connected covering space of X is therefore called a universal cover. It is unique up to isomorphism, so one is justified in calling it the universal cover. More generally, there is a partial ordering on the various path-connected covering spaces of X , according to which ones cover which others. This corresponds to the partial ordering by inclusion of the corresponding subgroups of π1 (X) , or conjugacy classes of subgroups if basepoints are ignored.

Representing Covering Spaces by Permutations We wish to describe now another way of classifying the different covering spaces of a connected, locally path-connected, semilocally simply-connected space X , without restricting just to connected covering spaces. To give the idea, consider the 3 sheeted covering spaces of S 1 . There are three of these, e2 , and X e3 , with the subscript indicating the number of compoe1 , X X ei →S 1 the three different nents. For each of these covering spaces p : X

lifts of a loop in S 1 generating π1 (S 1 , x0 ) determine a permutation of

p −1 (x0 ) sending the starting point of the lift to the ending point of the e2 it is a transposition of e1 this is a cyclic permutation, for X lift. For X

e3 it is the identity permutwo points fixing the third point, and for X tation. These permutations obviously determine the covering spaces uniquely, up to isomorphism. The same would be true for n sheeted covering spaces of S 1 for arbitrary n , even for n infinite.

The covering spaces of S 1 ∨ S 1 can be encoded using the same idea. Referring back to the large table of examples near the beginning of this section, we see in the covering space (1) that the loop a lifts to the identity permutation of the two vertices and b lifts to the permutation that transposes the two vertices. In (2), both a and b

Covering Spaces

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69

lift to transpositions of the two vertices. In (3) and (4), a and b lift to transpositions of different pairs of the three vertices, while in (5) and (6) they lift to cyclic permutations of the vertices. In (11) the vertices can be labeled by Z , with a lifting to the identity permutation and b lifting to the shift n , n + 1 . Indeed, one can see from these

examples that a covering space of S 1 ∨ S 1 is nothing more than an efficient graphical representation of a pair of permutations of a given set.

This idea of lifting loops to permutations generalizes to arbitrary covering spaces. e →X , a path γ in X has a unique lift γ e starting at a given For a covering space p : X point of p −1 (γ(0)) , so we obtain a well-defined map Lγ : p −1 (γ(0))→p −1 (γ(1)) by

e e to its ending point γ(1) e sending the starting point γ(0) of each lift γ . It is evident

that Lγ is a bijection since Lγ is its inverse. For a composition of paths γη we have Lγη = Lη Lγ , rather than Lγ Lη , since composition of paths is written from left to right while composition of functions is written from right to left. To compensate for this, let us modify the definition by replacing Lγ by its inverse. Thus the new Lγ is

a bijection p −1 (γ(1))→p −1 (γ(0)) , and Lγη = Lγ Lη . Since Lγ depends only on the homotopy class of γ , this means that if we restrict attention to loops at a basepoint x0 ∈ X , then the association γ , Lγ gives a homomorphism from π1 (X, x0 ) to the

group of permutations of p −1 (x0 ) . This is called the action of π1 (X, x0 ) on the fiber p −1 (x0 ) .

e →X can be reconstructed from the assoLet us see how the covering space p : X

ciated action of π1 (X, x0 ) on the fiber F = p −1 (x0 ) , assuming that X is connected, e0 →X . path-connected, and semilocally simply-connected, so it has a universal cover X

e0 to be homotopy classes of paths in X starting at x0 , We can take the points of X e sende0 × F →X as in the general construction of a universal cover. Define a map h : X

e starting at x e e is the lift of γ to X e 0 . Then h is e 0 ) to γ(1) where γ ing a pair ([γ], x

e 0 ) in continuous, and in fact a local homeomorphism, since a neighborhood of ([γ], x e0 × F consists of the pairs ([γη], x e 0 ) with η a path in a suitable neighborhood of X γ(1) . It is obvious that h is surjective since X is path-connected. If h were injece is probably not tive as well, it would be a homeomorphism, which is unlikely since X e0 × F . Even if h is not injective, it will induce a homeomorphism homeomorphic to X e . To see what this quotient space is, e0 × F onto X from some quotient space of X e 00 ) . Then γ and γ 0 are both e 0 ) = h([γ 0 ], x suppose h([γ], x

paths from x0 to the same endpoint, and from the figure e 0 ) . Letting λ be the loop γ 0 γ , this e 00 = Lγ 0 γ (x we see that x

e 0 ) = h([λγ], Lλ (x e 0 )) . Conversely, for means that h([γ], x

f γ f x

0

f0 x 0

e 0 )) . Thus h e 0 ) = h([λγ], Lλ (x any loop λ we have h([γ], x

e from the quotient space of induces a well-defined map to X e0 × F obtained by identifying ([γ], x e 0 ) with ([λγ], Lλ (x e 0 )) X

f0 γ

γ

x0

γ0

eρ where ρ is the hofor each [λ] ∈ π1 (X, x0 ) . Let this quotient space be denoted X

momorphism from π1 (X, x0 ) to the permutation group of F specified by the action.

Chapter 1

70

The Fundamental Group

eρ makes sense whenever we are given an action Notice that the definition of X eρ →X sending ([γ], x e0) ρ of π1 (X, x0 ) on a set F . There is a natural projection X to γ(1) , and this is a covering space since if U ⊂ X is an open set over which the eρ e0 is a product U × π1 (X, x0 ) , then the identifications defining X universal cover X simply collapse U × π1 (X, x0 )× F to U × F .

e →X with associated action ρ , the map Returning to our given covering space X e e Xρ →X induced by h is a bijection and therefore a homeomorphism since h was a e takes each fiber of X eρ to eρ →X local homeomorphism. Since this homeomorphism X

e , it is an isomorphism of covering spaces. the corresponding fiber of X e1 →X and p2 : X e2 →X are isomorphic, one may ask If two covering spaces p1 : X

how the corresponding actions of π1 (X, x0 ) on the fibers F1 and F2 over x0 are e2 restricts to a bijection F1 →F2 , and evidently e1 →X related. An isomorphism h : X

e 0 )) = h(Lγ (x e 0 )) . Using the less cumbersome notation γ x e 0 for Lγ (x e 0 ) , this Lγ (h(x

e 0 ) . A bijection F1 →F2 with e 0 ) = h(γ x relation can be written more concisely as γh(x this property is what one would naturally call an isomorphism of sets with π1 (X, x0 ) action. Thus isomorphic covering spaces have isomorphic actions on fibers. The converse is also true, and easy to prove. One just observes that for isomorphic actions eρ →X eρ and h−1 induces a ρ1 and ρ2 , an isomorphism h : F1 →F2 induces a map X 1

2

similar map in the opposite direction, such that the compositions of these two maps, in either order, are the identity. This shows that n sheeted covering spaces of X are classified by equivalence

classes of homomorphisms π1 (X, x0 )→Σn , where Σn is the symmetric group on n

symbols and the equivalence relation identifies a homomorphism ρ with each of its conjugates h−1 ρh by elements h ∈ Σn . The study of the various homomorphisms from a given group to Σn is a very classical topic in group theory, so we see that this algebraic question has a nice geometric interpretation.

Deck Transformations and Group Actions e →X the isomorphisms X e →X e are called deck transforFor a covering space p : X e under composition. mations or covering transformations. These form a group G(X) For example, for the covering space p : R→S 1 projecting a vertical helix onto a circle,

the deck transformations are the vertical translations taking the helix onto itself, so e ≈ Z in this case. For the n sheeted covering space S 1 →S 1 , z , zn , the deck G(X)

transformations are the rotations of S 1 through angles that are multiples of 2π /n , e = Zn . so G(X)

By the unique lifting property, a deck transformation is completely determined e is path-connected. In particular, only by where it sends a single point, assuming X e. the identity deck transformation can fix a point of X e →X is called normal if for each x ∈ X and each pair of lifts A covering space p : X

0

e to x e 0. For example, the covering e x e of x there is a deck transformation taking x x,

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71

space R→S 1 and the n sheeted covering spaces S 1 →S 1 are normal. Intuitively, a normal covering space is one with maximal symmetry. This can be seen in the covering spaces of S 1 ∨ S 1 shown in the table earlier in this section, where the normal covering spaces are (1), (2), (5)–(8), and (11). Note that in (7) the group of deck transformations is Z4 while in (8) it is Z2 × Z2 . Sometimes normal covering spaces are called regular covering spaces. The term ‘normal’ is motivated by the following result.

Proposition 1.39.

e x e 0 )→(X, x0 ) be a path-connected covering space of Let p : (X,

the path-connected, locally path-connected space X , and let H be the subgroup
e x e 0 ) ⊂ π1 (X, x0 ) . Then : p∗ π1 (X, (a) This covering space is normal iff H is a normal subgroup of π1 (X, x0 ) .

e is isomorphic to the quotient N(H)/H where N(H) is the normalizer of (b) G(X) H in π1 (X, x0 ) . e is a normal covering. Hence e is isomorphic to π1 (X, x0 )/H if X In particular, G(X) e ≈ π1 (X) . e →X we have G(X) for the universal cover X

Proof:

We observed earlier in the proof of the classification theorem that changing

e 1 ∈ p −1 (x0 ) corresponds precisely to conjugating e 0 ∈ p −1 (x0 ) to x the basepoint x e from x e 0 to x e 1 . Thus [γ] H by an element [γ] ∈ π1 (X, x0 ) where γ lifts to a path γ

e x e x e 0 ) = p∗ π1 (X, e 1 ) , which by the lifting is in the normalizer N(H) iff p∗ π1 (X, e1 . e 0 to x criterion is equivalent to the existence of a deck transformation taking x Hence the covering space is normal iff N(H) = π1 (X, x0 ) , that is, iff H is a normal subgroup of π1 (X, x0 ) .

e sending [γ] to the deck transformation τ taking x e 0 to Define ϕ : N(H)→G(X)

e 1 , in the notation above. Then ϕ is a homomorphism, for if γ 0 is another loop correx

e 0 to x e 10 then γ γ 0 lifts to γ e (τ(γ e 0 )) , sponding to the deck transformation τ 0 taking x

e 10 ) = ττ 0 (x e 0 ) , so ττ 0 is the deck transformation corresponding e 0 to τ(x a path from x

to [γ][γ 0 ] . By the preceding paragraph ϕ is surjective. Its kernel consists of classes
e x e . These are exactly the elements of p∗ π1 (X, e0) = H . u t [γ] lifting to loops in X The group of deck transformations is a special case of the general notion of

‘groups acting on spaces.’ Given a group G and a space Y , then an action of G on Y is a homomorphism ρ from G to the group Homeo(Y ) of all homeomorphisms from Y to itself. Thus to each g ∈ G is associated a homeomorphism ρ(g) : Y →Y ,

which for notational simplicity we write simply as g : Y →Y . For ρ to be a homomorphism amounts to requiring that g1 (g2 (y)) = (g1 g2 )(y) for all g1 , g2 ∈ G and y ∈ Y . If ρ is injective then it identifies G with a subgroup of Homeo(Y ) , and in practice not much is lost in assuming ρ is an inclusion G > Homeo(Y ) since in any

case the subgroup ρ(G) ⊂ Homeo(Y ) contains all the topological information about the action.

Chapter 1

72

The Fundamental Group

We shall be interested in actions satisfying the following condition: Each y ∈ Y has a neighborhood U such that all the images g(U ) for varying

(∗)

g ∈ G are disjoint. In other words, g1 (U ) ∩ g2 (U ) ≠ ∅ implies g1 = g2 .

e on X e satisfies (∗) . To see this, The action of the deck transformation group G(X) e ⊂ X e project homeomorphically to U ⊂ X . If g1 (U e ) ∩ g2 (U e ) ≠ ∅ for some let U e e e 1 ) = g2 (x e 2 ) for some x e1, x e 2 ∈ U . Since x e 1 and x e 2 must lie g1 , g2 ∈ G(X) , then g1 (x e in only one point, we must have x e1 = x e2 . in the same set p −1 (x) , which intersects U Then g1−1 g2 fixes this point, so g1−1 g2 = 11 and g1 = g2 .

Note that in (∗) it suffices to take g1 to be the identity since g1 (U ) ∩ g2 (U ) ≠ ∅

is equivalent to U ∩ g1−1 g2 (U) ≠ ∅ . Thus we have the equivalent condition that U ∩ g(U) ≠ ∅ only when g is the identity. Given an action of a group G on a space Y , we can form a space Y /G , the quotient space of Y in which each point y is identified with all its images g(y) as g ranges over G . The points of Y /G are thus the orbits Gy = { g(y) | g ∈ G } in Y , and Y /G is called the orbit space of the action. For example, for a normal covering space e e is just X . e →X , the orbit space X/G( X) X

Proposition 1.40.

If an action of a group G on a space Y satisfies (∗) , then :

(a) The quotient map p : Y →Y /G , p(y) = Gy , is a normal covering space.

(b) G is the group of deck transformations of this covering space Y →Y /G if Y is path-connected.


(c) G is isomorphic to π1 (Y /G)/p∗ π1 (Y ) if Y is path-connected and locally pathconnected.

Proof:

Given an open set U ⊂ Y as in condition (∗) , the quotient map p simply

identifies all the disjoint homeomorphic sets { g(U ) | g ∈ G } to a single open set p(U ) in Y /G . By the definition of the quotient topology on Y /G , p restricts to a homeomorphism from g(U) onto p(U ) for each g ∈ G so we have a covering space. Each element of G acts as a deck transformation, and the covering space is normal since g2 g1−1 takes g1 (U ) to g2 (U ) . The deck transformation group contains G as a subgroup, and equals this subgroup if Y is path-connected, since if f is any deck transformation, then for an arbitrarily chosen point y ∈ Y , y and f (y) are in the same orbit and there is a g ∈ G with g(y) = f (y) , hence f = g since deck transformations of a path-connected covering space are uniquely determined by where they send a point. The final statement of the proposition is immediate from part (b) of Proposition 1.39.

u t

In view of the preceding proposition, we shall call an action satisfying (∗) a covering space action. This is not standard terminology, but there does not seem to be a universally accepted name for actions satisfying (∗) . Sometimes these are called ‘properly discontinuous’ actions, but more often this rather unattractive term means

Covering Spaces

Section 1.3

73

something weaker: Every point x ∈ X has a neighborhood U such that U ∩ g(U ) is nonempty for only finitely many g ∈ G . Many symmetry groups have this proper discontinuity property without satisfying (∗) , for example the group of symmetries of the familiar tiling of R2 by regular hexagons. The reason why the action of this group on R2 fails to satisfy (∗) is that there are fixed points: points y for which there is a nontrivial element g ∈ G with g(y) = y . For example, the vertices of the hexagons are fixed by the 120 degree rotations about these points, and the midpoints of edges are fixed by 180 degree rotations. An action without fixed points is called a free action. Thus for a free action of G on Y , only the identity element of G fixes any point of Y . This is equivalent to requiring that all the images g(y) of each y ∈ Y are distinct, or in other words g1 (y) = g2 (y) only when g1 = g2 , since g1 (y) = g2 (y)

is equivalent to g1−1 g2 (y) = y . Though condition (∗) implies freeness, the converse is not always true. An example is the action of Z on S 1 in which a generator of Z acts by rotation through an angle α that is an irrational multiple of 2π . In this case each orbit Zy is dense in S 1 , so condition (∗) cannot hold since it implies that orbits are discrete subspaces. An exercise at the end of the section is to show that for actions on Hausdorff spaces, freeness plus proper discontinuity implies condition (∗) . Note that proper discontinuity is automatic for actions by a finite group.

Example 1.41.

Let Y be the closed orientable surface of genus 11, an ‘11 hole torus’ as

shown in the figure. This has a 5 fold rotational symmetry, generated by a rotation of angle 2π /5 . Thus we have the cyclic group Z5 acting on Y , and the condition (∗) is

C3

C4

obviously satisfied. The quotient space Y /Z5 is a surface of genus 3, obtained from one of the five subsurfaces of Y cut off by the circles C1 , ··· , C5 by identifying its two boundary circles Ci and Ci+1 to form the circle C as shown. Thus we have a covering space M11 →M3 where

Mg denotes the closed orientable surface of genus g .

C5

C2 C1 p

In particular, we see that π1 (M3 ) contains the ‘larger’ group π1 (M11 ) as a normal subgroup of index 5 , with

C

quotient Z5 . This example obviously generalizes by replacing the two holes in each ‘arm’ of M11 by m holes and the 5 fold symmetry by

n fold symmetry. This gives a covering space Mmn+1 →Mm+1 . An exercise in §2.2 is

to show by an Euler characteristic argument that if there is a covering space Mg →Mh then g = mn + 1 and h = m + 1 for some m and n .

As a special case of the final statement of the preceding proposition we see that for a covering space action of a group G on a simply-connected locally path-connected space Y , the orbit space Y /G has fundamental group isomorphic to G . Under this isomorphism an element g ∈ G corresponds to a loop in Y /G that is the projection of

Chapter 1

74

The Fundamental Group

a path in Y from a chosen basepoint y0 to g(y0 ) . Any two such paths are homotopic since Y is simply-connected, so we get a well-defined element of π1 (Y /G) associated to g . This method for computing fundamental groups via group actions on simplyconnected spaces is essentially how we computed π1 (S 1 ) in §1.1, via the covering

space R→S 1 arising from the action of Z on R by translations. This is a useful gen-

eral technique for computing fundamental groups, in fact. Here are some examples illustrating this idea.

Example 1.42.

Consider the grid in R2 formed by the horizontal and vertical lines

through points in Z2 . Let us decorate this grid with arrows in either of the two ways shown in the figure, the difference between the two cases being that in the second case the horizontal arrows in adjacent lines point in opposition directions. The group G consisting of all symmetries of the first decorated grid is isomorphic to Z× Z

since it consists of all translations (x, y) , (x + m, y + n) for m, n ∈ Z . For the second grid the symmetry group G contains a subgroup of translations of the form (x, y) , (x + m, y + 2n) for m, n ∈ Z , but there are also glide-reflection symmetries consisting of vertical translation by an odd integer distance followed by reflection across a vertical line, either a vertical line of the grid or a vertical line halfway between two adjacent grid lines. For both decorated grids there are elements of G taking any square to any other, but only the identity element of G takes a square to itself. The minimum distance any point is moved by a nontrivial element of G is 1 , which easily implies the covering space condition (∗) . The orbit space R2 /G is the quotient space of a square in the grid with opposite edges identified according to the arrows. Thus we see that the fundamental groups of the torus and the Klein bottle are the symmetry groups G in the two cases. In the second case the subgroup of G formed by the translations has index two, and the orbit space for this subgroup is a torus forming a two-sheeted covering space of the Klein bottle.

Example 1.43: on S

n

RPn . The antipodal map of S n , x , −x , generates an action of Z2

with orbit space RPn , real projective n space, as defined in Example 0.4. The

action is a covering space action since each open hemisphere in S n is disjoint from its antipodal image. As we saw in Proposition 1.14, S n is simply-connected if n ≥ 2 ,

so from the covering space S n →RPn we deduce that π1 (RPn ) ≈ Z2 for n ≥ 2 . A

generator for π1 (RPn ) is any loop obtained by projecting a path in S n connecting two

antipodal points. One can see explicitly that such a loop γ has order two in π1 (RPn ) if n ≥ 2 since the composition γ γ lifts to a loop in S n , and this can be homotoped to the trivial loop since π1 (S n ) = 0 , so the projection of this homotopy into RPn gives a nullhomotopy of γ γ .

Covering Spaces

Section 1.3

75

One may ask whether there are other finite groups that act freely on S n , defining

covering spaces S n →S n /G . We will show in Proposition 2.29 that Z2 is the only possibility when n is even, but for odd n the question is much more difficult. It is easy to construct a free action of any cyclic group Zm on S 2k−1 , the action generated

by the rotation v , e2π i/m v of the unit sphere S 2k−1 in Ck = R2k . This action is free

since an equation v = e2π i`/m v with 0 < ` < m implies v = 0 , but 0 is not a point

of S 2k−1 . The orbit space S 2k−1 /Zm is one of a family of spaces called lens spaces defined in Example 2.43. There are also noncyclic finite groups that act freely as rotations of S n for odd n > 1 . These actions are classified quite explicitly in [Wolf 1984]. Examples in the simplest case n = 3 can be produced as follows. View R4 as the quaternion algebra H . Multiplication of quaternions satisfies |ab| = |a||b| where |a| denotes the usual Euclidean length of a vector a ∈ R4 . Thus if a and b are unit vectors, so is ab , and

hence quaternion multiplication defines a map S 3 × S 3 →S 3 . This in fact makes S 3

into a group, though associativity is all we need now since associativity implies that any subgroup G of S 3 acts on S 3 by left-multiplication, g(x) = gx . This action is free since an equation x = gx in the division algebra H implies g = 1 or x = 0 . As a concrete example, G could be the familiar quaternion group Q8 = {±1, ±i, ±j, ±k} from group theory. More generally, for a positive integer m , let Q4m be the subgroup of S 3 generated by the two quaternions a = eπ i/m and b = j . Thus a has order 2m and b has order 4 . The easily verified relations am = b2 = −1 and bab−1 = a−1 imply that the subgroup Z2m generated by a is normal and of index 2 in Q4m . Hence Q4m is a group of order 4m , called the generalized quaternion group. Another ∗ since its quotient by common name for this group is the binary dihedral group D4m

the subgroup {±1} is the ordinary dihedral group D2m of order 2m .

∗ Besides the groups Q4m = D4m there are just three other noncyclic finite sub-

∗ ∗ , O48 , groups of S 3 : the binary tetrahedral, octahedral, and icosahedral groups T24

∗ , of orders indicated by the subscripts. These project two-to-one onto the and I120

groups of rotational symmetries of a regular tetrahedron, octahedron (or cube), and icosahedron (or dodecahedron). In fact, it is not hard to see that the homomorphism S 3 →SO(3) sending u ∈ S 3 ⊂ H to the isometry v →u−1 vu of R3 , viewing R3 as the ‘pure imaginary’ quaternions v = ai + bj + ck , is surjective with kernel {±1} . Then ∗ ∗ ∗ ∗ , T24 , O48 , I120 are the preimages in S 3 of the groups of rotational the groups D4m

symmetries of a regular polygon or polyhedron in R3 . There are two conditions that a finite group G acting freely on S n must satisfy: (a) Every abelian subgroup of G is cyclic. This is equivalent to saying that G contains no subgroup Zp × Zp with p prime. (b) G contains at most one element of order 2 . A proof of (a) is sketched in an exercise for §4.2. For a proof of (b) the original source [Milnor 1957] is recommended reading. The groups satisfying (a) have been

76

Chapter 1

The Fundamental Group

completely classified; see [Brown 1982], section VI.9, for details. An example of a group satisfying (a) but not (b) is the dihedral group D2m for odd m > 1 . There is also a much more difficult converse: A finite group satisfying (a) and (b) acts freely on S n for some n . References for this are [Madsen, Thomas, & Wall 1976] and [Davis & Milgram 1985]. There is also almost complete information about which n ’s are possible for a given group.

Example

em,n = 1.44. In Example 1.35 we constructed a contractible 2 complex X

Tm,n × R as the universal cover of a finite 2 complex Xm,n that was the union of

the mapping cylinders of the two maps S 1 →S 1 , z , zm and z , zn . The group

of deck transformations of this covering space is therefore the fundamental group π1 (Xm,n ) . From van Kampen’s theorem applied to the decomposition of Xm,n into 

the two mapping cylinders we have the presentation a, b || am b−n for this group em,n more closely. Gm,n = π1 (Xm,n ) . It is interesting to look at the action of Gm,n on X

em,n into rectangles, with Xm,n the quotient of We described a decomposition of X em,n lifting a cell one rectangle. These rectangles in fact define a cell structure on X

structure on Xm,n with two vertices, three edges, and one 2 cell. The group Gm,n is em,n . If we orient the three edges thus a group of symmetries of this cell structure on X

em,n , then Gm,n is the group of all of Xm,n and lift these orientations to the edges of X e symmetries of Xm,n preserving the orientations of edges. For example, the element a acts as a ‘screw motion’ about an axis that is a vertical line {va }× R with va a vertex

of Tm,n , and b acts similarly for a vertex vb . em,n preserves the cell structure, it also preserves Since the action of Gm,n on X the product structure Tm,n × R . This means that there are actions of Gm,n on Tm,n and R such that the action on the product Xm,n = Tm,n × R is the diagonal action
g(x, y) = g(x), g(y) for g ∈ Gm,n . If we make the rectangles of unit height in the R coordinate, then the element am = bn acts on R as unit translation, while a acts by 1/m translation and b by 1/n translation. The translation actions of a and b on R generate a group of translations of R that is infinite cyclic, generated by translation by the reciprocal of the least common multiple of m and n . The action of Gm,n on Tm,n has kernel consisting of the powers of the element am = bn . This infinite cyclic subgroup is precisely the center of Gm,n , as we saw in Example 1.24. There is an induced action of the quotient group Zm ∗ Zn on Tm,n , but this is not a free action since the elements a and b and all their conjugates fix vertices of Tm,n . On the other hand, if we restrict the action of Gm,n on Tm,n to

the kernel K of the map Gm,n →Z given by the action of Gm,n on the R factor of

Xm,n , then we do obtain a free action of K on Tm,n . Since this action takes vertices to vertices and edges to edges, it is a covering space action, so K is a free group, the fundamental group of the graph Tm,n /K . An exercise at the end of the section is to determine Tm,n /K explicitly and compute the number of generators of K .

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Section 1.3

77

Cayley Complexes Covering spaces can be used to describe a very classical method for viewing groups geometrically as graphs. Recall from Corollary 1.28 how we associated to each 

group presentation G = gα || rβ a 2 dimensional cell complex XG with π1 (XG ) ≈ G by taking a wedge-sum of circles, one for each generator gα , and then attaching a eG with a covering space 2 cell for each relator rβ . We can construct a cell complex X eG be eG /G = XG in the following way. Let the vertices of X action of G such that X

the elements of G themselves. Then, at each vertex g ∈ G , insert an edge joining g to ggα for each of the chosen generators gα . The resulting graph is known as the Cayley graph of G with respect to the generators gα . This graph is connected since every element of G is a product of gα ’s, so there is a path in the graph joining each vertex to the identity vertex e . Each relation rβ determines a loop in the graph, starting at any vertex g , and we attach a 2 cell for each such loop. The resulting cell eG by multiplication eG is the Cayley complex of G . The group G acts on X complex X

on the left. Thus, an element g ∈ G sends a vertex g 0 ∈ G to the vertex gg 0 , and the edge from g 0 to g 0 gα is sent to the edge from gg 0 to gg 0 gα . The action extends to 2 cells in the obvious way. This is clearly a covering space action, and the orbit space is just XG .

eG is the universal cover of XG since it is simply-connected. This can be In fact X

seen by considering the homomorphism ϕ : π1 (XG )→G defined in the proof of Propo-

sition 1.39. For an edge eα in XG corresponding to a generator gα of G , it is clear from the definition of ϕ that ϕ([eα ]) = gα , so ϕ is an isomorphism. In particular
eG ) , is zero, hence also π1 (X eG ) since p∗ is injective. the kernel of ϕ , p∗ π1 (X Let us look at some examples of Cayley complexes.

Example 1.45.

When G is the free group on 1

2

b

1

two generators a and b , XG is S ∨ S and eG is the Cayley graph of Z ∗ Z pictured at X the right. The action of a on this graph is a

a - 1b

rightward shift along the central horizontal

a

axis, while b acts by an upward shift along the central vertical axis. The composition ab of these two shifts then takes the vertex e to the vertex ab . Similarly, the action of any w ∈ Z ∗ Z takes e to the vertex w .

b

ba - 1

a

ba ab a

-1

e

-2

a2

-1 -1

ab - 1

a b

b - 1a - 1 b -2

b - 1a b -1

 The group G = Z× Z with presentation x, y || xyx −1 y −1 has XG eG is R2 with vertices the integer lattice Z2 ⊂ R2 and edges the torus S 1 × S 1 , and X

Example 1.46.

the horizontal and vertical segments between these lattice points. The action of G is by translations (x, y) , (x + m, y + n) .

78

Chapter 1

The Fundamental Group



eG = S 2 . More generally, for For G = Z2 = x || x 2 , XG is RP2 and X 

n 1 eG consists of Zn = x || x , XG is S with a disk attached by the map z , zn and X n disks D1 , ··· , Dn with their boundary circles identified. A generator of Zn acts on

Example 1.47.

this union of disks by sending Di to Di+1 via a 2π /n rotation, the subscript i being taken mod n . The common boundary circle of the disks is rotated by 2π /n .  a, b || a2 , b2 then the Cayley graph is a union of an infinite sequence of circles each tangent to its two neighbors.

Example 1.48.

If G = Z2 ∗ Z2 =

a

b bab

b



ba

a

b

a

b

b

e

a

b a

a

b

ab

a aba

eG from this graph by making each circle the equator of a 2 sphere, yieldWe obtain X ing an infinite sequence of tangent 2 spheres. Elements of the index-two normal eG as translations by an even number subgroup Z ⊂ Z2 ∗ Z2 generated by ab act on X of units, while each of the remaining elements of Z2 ∗ Z2 acts as the antipodal map on one of the spheres and flips the whole chain of spheres end-for-end about this sphere. The orbit space XG is RP2 ∨ RP2 . It is not hard to see the generalization of this example to Zm ∗ Zn with the pre

 eG consists of an infinite union of copies of the sentation a, b || am , bn , so that X Cayley complexes for Zm and Zn constructed in Example 1.47, arranged in a tree-like pattern. The case of Z2 ∗ Z3 is pictured below.

ba a

a b

a

b2 b a

b a

e

b a

a b

a

ab

2

ab b

a

a b a

Covering Spaces

Section 1.3

79

Exercises e = p −1 (A) . Show that e →X and a subspace A ⊂ X , let A 1. For a covering space p : X e→A is a covering space. the restriction p : A e1 →X1 and p2 : X e2 →X2 are covering spaces, so is their product 2. Show that if p1 : X e1 × X e2 →X1 × X2 . p 1 × p2 : X e →X be a covering space with p −1 (x) finite and nonempty for all x ∈ X . 3. Let p : X e is compact Hausdorff iff X is compact Hausdorff. Show that X 4. Construct a simply-connected covering space of the space X ⊂ R3 that is the union of a sphere and a diameter. Do the same when X is the union of a sphere and a circle intersecting it in two points. 5. Let X be the subspace of R2 consisting of the four sides of the square [0, 1]× [0, 1] together with the segments of the vertical lines x = 1/2 , 1/3 , 1/4 , ··· inside the square. e →X there is some neighborhood of the left Show that for every covering space X e . Deduce that X has no simply-connected edge of X that lifts homeomorphically to X covering space. e be its covering 6. Let X be the shrinking wedge of circles in Example 1.25, and let X space shown in the figure below.

e such that the composition Y →X e →X Construct a two-sheeted covering space Y →X of the two covering spaces is not a covering space. Note that a composition of two covering spaces does have the unique path lifting property, however. 7. Let Y be the quasi-circle shown in the figure, a closed subspace of R2 consisting of a portion of the graph of y = sin(1/x) , the segment [−1, 1] in the y axis, and an arc connecting these two pieces. Collapsing the segment of Y in the y axis to a point

gives a quotient map f : Y →S 1 . Show that f does not lift to

the covering space R→S 1 , even though π1 (Y ) = 0 . Thus local

path-connectedness of Y is a necessary hypothesis in the lifting criterion. e and Ye be simply-connected covering spaces of the path-connected, locally 8. Let X e ' Ye . [Exercise 10 in path-connected spaces X and Y . Show that if X ' Y then X Chapter 0 may be helpful.] 9. Show that if a path-connected, locally path-connected space X has π1 (X) finite, then every map X →S 1 is nullhomotopic. [Use the covering space R→S 1 .]

10. Find all the connected 2 sheeted and 3 sheeted covering spaces of S 1 ∨ S 1 , up to isomorphism of covering spaces without basepoints.

80

Chapter 1

The Fundamental Group

11. Construct finite graphs X1 and X2 having a common finite-sheeted covering space e2 , but such that there is no space having both X1 and X2 as covering spaces. e1 = X X 12. Let a and b be the generators of π1 (S 1 ∨ S 1 ) corresponding to the two S 1 summands. Draw a picture of the covering space of S 1 ∨ S 1 corresponding to the normal subgroup generated by a2 , b2 , and (ab)4 , and prove that this covering space is indeed the correct one. 13. Determine the covering space of S 1 ∨ S 1 corresponding to the subgroup of π1 (S 1 ∨ S 1 ) generated by the cubes of all elements. The covering space is 27 sheeted and can be drawn on a torus so that the complementary regions are nine triangles with edges labeled aaa , nine triangles with edges labeled bbb , and nine hexagons with edges labeled ababab . [For the analogous problem with sixth powers instead of cubes, the resulting covering space would have 228 325 sheets! And for k th powers with k sufficiently large, the covering space would have infinitely many sheets. The underlying group theory question here, whether the quotient of Z ∗ Z obtained by factoring out all k th powers is finite, is known as Burnside’s problem. It can also be asked for a free group on n generators.] 14. Find all the connected covering spaces of RP2 ∨ RP2 . e →X be a simply-connected covering space of X and let A ⊂ X be a 15. Let p : X e⊂X e a path-component of path-connected, locally path-connected subspace, with A −1 e→A is the covering space corresponding to the kernel of the p (A) . Show that p : A map π1 (A)→π1 (X) .

16. Given maps X →Y →Z such that both Y →Z and the composition X →Z are

covering spaces, show that X →Y is a covering space if Z is locally path-connected, and show that this covering space is normal if X →Z is a normal covering space.

17. Given a group G and a normal subgroup N , show that there exists a normal e ≈ N , and deck transformation group e →X with π1 (X) ≈ G , π1 (X) covering space X e ≈ G/N . G(X) 18. For a path-connected, locally path-connected, and semilocally simply-connected e →X abelian if it is normal and has space X , call a path-connected covering space X abelian deck transformation group. Show that X has an abelian covering space that is a covering space of every other abelian covering space of X , and that such a ‘universal’ abelian covering space is unique up to isomorphism. Describe this covering space explicitly for X = S 1 ∨ S 1 and X = S 1 ∨ S 1 ∨ S 1 . 19. Use the preceding problem to show that a closed orientable surface Mg of genus g has a connected normal covering space with deck transformation group isomorphic to Zn (the product of n copies of Z ) iff n ≤ 2g . For n = 3 and g ≥ 3 , describe such a covering space explicitly as a subspace of R3 with translations of R3 as deck transformations. Show that such a covering space in R3 exists iff there is an embedding

Covering Spaces

Section 1.3

81

of Mg in the 3 torus T 3 = S 1 × S 1 × S 1 such that the induced map π1 (Mg )→π1 (T 3 ) is surjective. 20. Construct nonnormal covering spaces of the Klein bottle by a Klein bottle and by a torus. obius band via a 21. Let X be the space obtained from a torus S 1 × S 1 by attaching a M¨ homeomorphism from the boundary circle of the M¨ obius band to the circle S 1 × {x0 } in the torus. Compute π1 (X) , describe the universal cover of X , and describe the action of π1 (X) on the universal cover. Do the same for the space Y obtained by attaching a M¨ obius band to RP2 via a homeomorphism from its boundary circle to the circle in RP2 formed by the 1 skeleton of the usual CW structure on RP2 . 22. Given covering space actions of groups G1 on X1 and G2 on X2 , show that the action of G1 × G2 on X1 × X2 defined by (g1 , g2 )(x1 , x2 ) = (g1 (x1 ), g2 (x2 )) is a covering space action, and that (X1 × X2 )/(G1 × G2 ) is homeomorphic to X1 /G1 × X2 /G2 . 23. Show that if a group G acts freely and properly discontinuously on a Hausdorff space X , then the action is a covering space action. (Here ‘properly discontinuously’ means that each x ∈ X has a neighborhood U such that { g ∈ G | U ∩ g(U ) ≠ ∅ } is finite.) In particular, a free action of a finite group on a Hausdorff space is a covering space action. 24. Given a covering space action of a group G on a path-connected, locally pathconnected space X , then each subgroup H ⊂ G determines a composition of covering spaces X →X/H →X/G . Show:

(a) Every path-connected covering space between X and X/G is isomorphic to X/H for some subgroup H ⊂ G . (b) Two such covering spaces X/H1 and X/H2 of X/G are isomorphic iff H1 and H2 are conjugate subgroups of G .

(c) The covering space X/H →X/G is normal iff H is a normal subgroup of G , in which case the group of deck transformations of this cover is G/H . 25. Let ϕ : R2 →R2 be the linear transformation ϕ(x, y) = (2x, y/2) . This generates

an action of Z on X = R2 − {0} . Show this action is a covering space action and

compute π1 (X/Z) . Show the orbit space X/Z is non-Hausdorff, and describe how it is a union of four subspaces homeomorphic to S 1 × R , coming from the complementary components of the x axis and the y axis. e →X with X connected, locally path-connected, and 26. For a covering space p : X semilocally simply-connected, show: e are in one-to-one correspondence with the orbits of the (a) The components of X action of π1 (X, x0 ) on the fiber p −1 (x0 ) . (b) Under the Galois correspondence between connected covering spaces of X and e subgroups of π1 (X, x0 ) , the subgroup corresponding to the component of X

82

Chapter 1

The Fundamental Group

e 0 of x0 is the stabilizer of x e 0 , the subgroup consisting containing a given lift x e 0 fixed. of elements whose action on the fiber leaves x e →X we have two actions of π1 (X, x0 ) on the fiber 27. For a universal cover p : X

p −1 (x0 ) , namely the action given by lifting loops at x0 and the action given by re-

stricting deck transformations to the fiber. Are these two actions the same when X = S 1 ∨ S 1 or X = S 1 × S 1 ? Do the actions always agree when π1 (X, x0 ) is abelian? 28. Generalize the proof of Theorem 1.7 to show that for a covering space action of a group G on a simply-connected space Y , π1 (Y /G) is isomorphic to G . [If Y is locally path-connected, this is a special case of part (b) of Proposition 1.40.] 29. Let Y be path-connected, locally path-connected, and simply-connected, and let G1 and G2 be subgroups of Homeo(Y ) defining covering space actions on Y . Show that the orbit spaces Y /G1 and Y /G2 are homeomorphic iff G1 and G2 are conjugate subgroups of Homeo(Y ) .



30. Draw the Cayley graph of the group Z ∗ Z2 = a, b || b2 . 31. Show that the normal covering spaces of S 1 ∨ S 1 are precisely the graphs that are Cayley graphs of groups with two generators. More generally, the normal covering spaces of the wedge sum of n circles are the Cayley graphs of groups with n generators. e and X connected CW complexes, e →X with X 32. Consider covering spaces p : X e projecting homeomorphically onto cells of X . Restricting p to the the cells of X e 1 →X 1 over the 1 skeleton of X . Show: 1 skeleton then gives a covering space X e2 →X are isomorphic iff the restrictions e1 →X and X (a) Two such covering spaces X 1 1 1 1 e2 →X are isomorphic. e1 →X and X X

e 1 →X 1 is normal. e →X is a normal covering space iff X (b) X e 1 →X 1 are e →X and X (c) The groups of deck transformations of the coverings X isomorphic, via the restriction map.

33. In Example 1.44 let d be the greatest common divisor of m and n , and let m0 = m/d and n0 = n/d . Show that the graph Tm,n /K consists of m0 vertices

labeled a , n0 vertices labeled b , together with d edges joining each a vertex to each b vertex. Deduce that the subgroup K ⊂ Gm,n is free on dm0 n0 − m0 − n0 + 1

generators.

Graphs and Free Groups

Section 1.A

83

Since all groups can be realized as fundamental groups of spaces, this opens the way for using topology to study algebraic properties of groups. The topics in this section and the next give some illustrations of this principle, mainly using covering space theory. We remind the reader that the Additional Topics which form the remainder of this chapter are not to be regarded as an essential part of the basic core of the book. Readers who are eager to move on to new topics should feel free to skip ahead. By definition, a graph is a 1 dimensional CW complex, in other words, a space X obtained from a discrete set X 0 by attaching a collection of 1 cells eα . Thus X is obtained from the disjoint union of X 0 with closed intervals Iα by identifying the two endpoints of each Iα with points of X 0 . The points of X 0 are the vertices and the 1 cells the edges of X . Note that with this definition an edge does not include its endpoints, so an edge is an open subset of X . The two endpoints of an edge can be the same vertex, so the closure eα of an edge eα is homeomorphic either to I or S 1 . ` Since X has the quotient topology from the disjoint union X 0 α Iα , a subset of X is open (or closed) iff it intersects the closure eα of each edge eα in an open (or closed) set in eα . One says that X has the weak topology with respect to the subspaces eα . In this topology a sequence of points in the interiors of distinct edges forms a closed subset, hence never converges. This is true in particular if the edges containing the sequence all have a common vertex and one tries to choose the sequence so that it gets ‘closer and closer’ to the vertex. Thus if there is a vertex that is the endpoint of infinitely many edges, then the weak topology cannot be a metric topology. An exercise at the end of this section is to show the converse, that the weak topology is a metric topology if each vertex is an endpoint of only finitely many edges. A basis for the topology of X consists of the open intervals in the edges together with the path-connected neighborhoods of the vertices. A neighborhood of the latter sort about a vertex v is the union of connected open neighborhoods Uα of v in eα for all eα containing v . In particular, we see that X is locally path-connected. Hence a graph is connected iff it is path-connected. If X has only finitely many vertices and edges, then X is compact, being the ` α Iα . The converse is also true, and more

continuous image of the compact space X 0

generally, a compact subset C of a graph X can meet only finitely many vertices and edges of X . To see this, let the subspace D ⊂ C consist of the vertices in C together with one point in each edge that C meets. Then D is a closed subset of X since it

Chapter 1

84

The Fundamental Group

meets each eα in a closed set. For the same reason, any subset of D is closed, so D has the discrete topology. But D is compact, being a closed subset of the compact space C , so D must be finite. By the definition of D this means that C can meet only finitely many vertices and edges. A subgraph of a graph X is a subspace Y ⊂ X that is a union of vertices and edges of X , such that eα ⊂ Y implies eα ⊂ Y . The latter condition just says that Y is a closed subspace of X . A tree is a contractible graph. By a tree in a graph X we mean a subgraph that is a tree. We call a tree in X maximal if it contains all the vertices of X . This is equivalent to the more obvious meaning of maximality, as we will see below.

Proposition 1A.1.

Every connected graph contains a maximal tree, and in fact any

tree in the graph is contained in a maximal tree.

Proof:

Let X be a connected graph. We will describe a construction that embeds

an arbitrary subgraph X0 ⊂ X as a deformation retract of a subgraph Y ⊂ X that contains all the vertices of X . By choosing X0 to be any subtree of X , for example a single vertex, this will prove the proposition. As a preliminary step, we construct a sequence of subgraphs X0 ⊂ X1 ⊂ X2 ⊂ ··· , letting Xi+1 be obtained from Xi by adjoining the closures eα of all edges eα ⊂ X −Xi S having at least one endpoint in Xi . The union i Xi is open in X since a neighborhood S of a point in Xi is contained in Xi+1 . Furthermore, i Xi is closed since it is a union S of closed edges and X has the weak topology. So X = i Xi since X is connected. Now to construct Y we begin by setting Y0 = X0 . Then inductively, assuming that Yi ⊂ Xi has been constructed so as to contain all the vertices of Xi , let Yi+1 be obtained from Yi by adjoining one edge connecting each vertex of Xi+1 −Xi to Yi , and S let Y = i Yi . It is evident that Yi+1 deformation retracts to Yi , and we may obtain a deformation retraction of Y to Y0 = X0 by performing the deformation retraction of Yi+1 to Yi during the time interval [1/2i+1 , 1/2i ] . Thus a point x ∈ Yi+1 − Yi is stationary until this interval, when it moves into Yi and thereafter continues moving until it reaches Y0 . The resulting homotopy ht : Y →Y is continuous since it is

continuous on the closure of each edge and Y has the weak topology.

u t

Given a maximal tree T ⊂ X and a base vertex x0 ∈ T , then each edge eα of X − T determines a loop fα in X that goes first from x0 to one endpoint of eα by a path in T , then across eα , then back to x0 by a path in T . Strictly speaking, we should first orient the edge eα in order to specify which direction to cross it. Note that the homotopy class of fα is independent of the choice of the paths in T since T is simply-connected.

Proposition 1A.2.

For a connected graph X with maximal tree T , π1 (X) is a free

group with basis the classes [fα ] corresponding to the edges eα of X − T .

Graphs and Free Groups

Section 1.A

85

In particular this implies that a maximal tree is maximal in the sense of not being contained in any larger tree, since adjoining any edge to a maximal tree produces a graph with nontrivial fundamental group. Another consequence is that a graph is a tree iff it is simply-connected.

Proof:

The quotient map X →X/T is a homotopy equivalence by Proposition 0.17.

The quotient X/T is a graph with only one vertex, hence is a wedge sum of circles, whose fundamental group we showed in Example 1.21 to be free with basis the loops given by the edges of X/T , which are the images of the loops fα in X .

u t

Here is a very useful fact about graphs:

Lemma 1A.3.

Every covering space of a graph is also a graph, with vertices and

edges the lifts of the vertices and edges in the base graph. e →X be the covering space. For the vertices of X e we take the discrete Let p : X ` −1 0 0 set X = p (X ) . Writing X as a quotient space of X α Iα as in the definition

Proof:

e0

of a graph and applying the path lifting property to the resulting maps Iα →X , we e passing through each point in p −1 (x) , for x ∈ eα . These get a unique lift Iα →X e . The resulting topology on X e is the lifts define the edges of a graph structure on X

same as its original topology since both topologies have the same basic open sets, the e →X being a local homeomorphism. u t covering projection X We can now apply what we have proved about graphs and their fundamental groups to prove a basic fact of group theory:

Theorem 1A.4. Proof:

Every subgroup of a free group is free.

Given a free group F , choose a graph X with π1 (X) ≈ F , for example a wedge

of circles corresponding to a basis for F . For each subgroup G of F there is by
e = G , hence π1 (X) e ≈G e →X with p∗ π1 (X) Proposition 1.36 a covering space p : X e since p∗ is injective by Proposition 1.31. Since X is a graph by the preceding lemma, e is free by Proposition 1A.2. the group G ≈ π1 (X)

u t

The structure of trees can be elucidated by looking more closely at the constructions in the proof of Proposition 1A.1. If X is a tree and v0 is any vertex of X , then the construction of a maximal tree Y ⊂ X starting with Y0 = {v0 } yields an increasing sequence of subtrees Yn ⊂ X whose union is all of X since a tree has only one maximal subtree, namely itself. We can think of the vertices in Yn − Yn−1 as being at ‘height’ n , with the edges of Yn − Yn−1 connecting these vertices to vertices

of height n − 1 . In this way we get a ‘height function’ h : X →R

assigning to each vertex its height, and monotone on edges.

Chapter 1

86

The Fundamental Group

For each vertex v of X there is exactly one edge leading downward from v , so by following these downward edges we obtain a path from v to the base vertex v0 . This is an example of an edgepath, which is a composition of finitely many paths each consisting of a single edge traversed monotonically. For any edgepath joining v to v0 other than the downward edgepath, the height function would not be monotone and hence would have local maxima, occurring when the edgepath backtracked, retracing some edge it had just crossed. Thus in a tree there is a unique nonbacktracking edgepath joining any two points. All the vertices and edges along this edgepath are distinct. A tree can contain no subgraph homeomorphic to a circle, since two vertices in such a subgraph could be joined by more than one nonbacktracking edgepath. Conversely, if a connected graph X contains no circle subgraph, then it must be a tree. For if T is a maximal tree in X that is not equal to X , then the union of an edge of X − T with the nonbacktracking edgepath in T joining the endpoints of this edge is a circle subgraph of X . So if there are no circle subgraphs of X , we must have X = T , a tree. For an arbitrary connected graph X and a pair of vertices v0 and v1 in X there is a unique nonbacktracking edgepath in each homotopy class of paths from v0 to v1 . e , which is a tree since it is simplyThis can be seen by lifting to the universal cover X e0 of v0 , a homotopy class of paths from v0 to v1 lifts to connected. Choosing a lift v e1 of v1 . Then e0 and ending at a unique lift v a homotopy class of paths starting at v e from v e1 projects to the desired e0 to v the unique nonbacktracking edgepath in X nonbacktracking edgepath in X .

Exercises 1. Let X be a graph in which each vertex is an endpoint of only finitely many edges. Show that the weak topology on X is a metric topology. 2. Show that a connected graph retracts onto any connected subgraph. 3. For a finite graph X define the Euler characteristic χ (X) to be the number of vertices minus the number of edges. Show that χ (X) = 1 if X is a tree, and that the rank (number of elements in a basis) of π1 (X) is 1 − χ (X) if X is connected. 4. If X is a finite graph and Y is a subgraph homeomorphic to S 1 and containing the basepoint x0 , show that π1 (X, x0 ) has a basis in which one element is represented by the loop Y . 5. Construct a connected graph X and maps f , g : X →X such that f g = 11 but f and g do not induce isomorphisms on π1 . [Note that f∗ g∗ = 11 implies that f∗ is surjective and g∗ is injective.] 6. Let F be the free group on two generators and let F 0 be its commutator subgroup. Find a set of free generators for F 0 by considering the covering space of the graph S 1 ∨ S 1 corresponding to F 0 .

K(G,1) Spaces and Graphs of Groups

Section 1.B

87

7. If F is a finitely generated free group and N is a nontrivial normal subgroup of infinite index, show, using covering spaces, that N is not finitely generated. 8. Show that a finitely generated group has only a finite number of subgroups of a given finite index. [First do the case of free groups, using covering spaces of graphs. The general case then follows since every group is a quotient group of a free group.] 9. Using covering spaces, show that an index n subgroup H of a group G has at most n conjugate subgroups gHg −1 in G . Apply this to show that there exists a normal subgroup K ⊂ G of finite index with K ⊂ H . [For the latter statement, consider the intersection of all the conjugate subgroups gHg −1 . This is the maximal normal subgroup of G contained in H .] 10. Let X be the wedge sum of n circles, with its natural graph structure, and let e a finite connected subgraph. Show there is e →X be a covering space with Y ⊂ X X a finite graph Z ⊃ Y having the same vertices as Y , such that the projection Y →X

extends to a covering space Z →X .

11. Apply the two preceding problems to show that if F is a finitely generated free group and x ∈ F is not the identity element, then there is a normal subgroup H ⊂ F of finite index such that x ∉ H . Hence x has nontrivial image in a finite quotient group of F . In this situation one says F is residually finite. 12. Let F be a finitely generated free group, H ⊂ F a finitely generated subgroup, and x ∈ F − H . Show there is a subgroup K of finite index in F such that K ⊃ H and x ∉ K . [Apply Exercise 10.] 13. Let x be a nontrivial element of a finitely generated free group F . Show there is a finite-index subgroup H ⊂ F in which x is one element of a basis. [Exercises 4 and 10 may be helpful.] 14. Show that the existence of maximal trees is equivalent to the Axiom of Choice.

In this section we introduce a class of spaces whose homotopy type depends only on their fundamental group. These spaces arise many places in topology, especially in its interactions with group theory. A path-connected space whose fundamental group is isomorphic to a given group G and which has a contractible universal covering space is called a K ( G , 1) space. The ‘1’ here refers to π1 . More general K(G, n) spaces are studied in §4.2. All these spaces are called Eilenberg–MacLane spaces, though in the case n = 1 they were studied by

88

Chapter 1

The Fundamental Group

Hurewicz before Eilenberg and MacLane took up the general case. Here are some examples:

Example 1B.1.

S 1 is a K(Z, 1) . More generally, a connected graph is a K(G, 1) with

G a free group, since by the results of §1.A its universal cover is a tree, hence contractible.

Example 1B.2. than S

2

Closed surfaces with infinite π1 , in other words, closed surfaces other

and RP2 , are K(G, 1) ’s. This will be shown in Example 1B.14 below. It also

follows from the theorem in surface theory that the only simply-connected surfaces without boundary are S 2 and R2 , so the universal cover of a closed surface with infinite fundamental group must be R2 since it is noncompact. Nonclosed surfaces deformation retract onto graphs, so such surfaces are K(G, 1) ’s with G free.

Example 1B.3.

The infinite-dimensional projective space RP∞ is a K(Z2 , 1) since its

universal cover is S ∞ , which is contractible. To show the latter fact, a homotopy from the identity map of S ∞ to a constant map can be constructed in two stages as follows.

First, define ft : R∞ →R∞ by ft (x1 , x2 , ···) = (1 − t)(x1 , x2 , ···) + t(0, x1 , x2 , ···) . This takes nonzero vectors to nonzero vectors for all t ∈ [0, 1] , so ft /|ft | gives a ho-

motopy from the identity map of S ∞ to the map (x1 , x2 , ···) , (0, x1 , x2 , ···) . Then a homotopy from this map to a constant map is given by gt /|gt | where gt (x1 , x2 , ···) = (1 − t)(0, x1 , x2 , ···) + t(1, 0, 0, ···) .

Example 1B.4.

Generalizing the preceding example, we can construct a K(Zm , 1) as

an infinite-dimensional lens space S ∞ /Zm , where Zm acts on S ∞ , regarded as the

unit sphere in C∞ , by scalar multiplication by m th roots of unity, a generator of this action being the map (z1 , z2 , ···) , e2π i/m (z1 , z2 , ···) . It is not hard to check that this is a covering space action.

Example 1B.5.

A product K(G, 1)× K(H, 1) is a K(G× H, 1) since its universal cover

is the product of the universal covers of K(G, 1) and K(H, 1) . By taking products of circles and infinite-dimensional lens spaces we therefore get K(G, 1) ’s for arbitrary finitely generated abelian groups G . For example the n dimensional torus T n , the product of n circles, is a K(Zn , 1) .

Example 1B.6.

For a closed connected subspace K of S 3 that is nonempty, the com-

3

plement S −K is a K(G, 1) . This is a theorem in 3 manifold theory, but in the special case that K is a torus knot the result follows from our study of torus knot complements in Examples 1.24 and 1.35. Namely, we showed that for K the torus knot Km,n there is a deformation retraction of S 3 − K onto a certain 2 dimensional complex Xm,n having contractible universal cover. The homotopy lifting property then implies that the universal cover of S 3 − K is homotopy equivalent to the universal cover of Xm,n , hence is also contractible.

K(G,1) Spaces and Graphs of Groups

Example

Section 1.B

89

1B.7. It is not hard to construct a K(G, 1) for an arbitrary group G , us-

ing the notion of a ∆ complex defined in §2.1. Let EG be the ∆ complex whose n simplices are the ordered (n + 1) tuples [g0 , ··· , gn ] of elements of G . Such an bi , ··· , gn ] in the obvious way, n simplex attaches to the (n − 1) simplices [g0 , ··· , g bi means that this just as a standard simplex attaches to its faces. (The notation g vertex is deleted.) The complex EG is contractible by the homotopy ht that slides each point x ∈ [g0 , ··· , gn ] along the line segment in [e, g0 , ··· , gn ] from x to the vertex [e] , where e is the identity element of G . This is well-defined in EG since bi , ··· , gn ] we have the linear deformation to [e] when we restrict to a face [g0 , ··· , g bi , ··· , gn ] . Note that ht carries [e] around the loop [e, e] , so ht is not in [e, g0 , ··· , g actually a deformation retraction of EG onto [e] . The group G acts on EG by left multiplication, an element g ∈ G taking the simplex [g0 , ··· , gn ] linearly onto the simplex [gg0 , ··· , ggn ] . Only the identity e takes any simplex to itself, so by an exercise at the end of this section, the action of G on EG is a covering space action. Hence the quotient map EG→EG/G is the universal cover of the orbit space BG = EG/G , and BG is a K(G, 1) . Since G acts on EG by freely permuting simplices, BG inherits a ∆ complex structure from EG . The action of G on EG identifies all the vertices of EG , so BG has just one vertex. To describe the ∆ complex structure on BG explicitly, note first that every n simplex of EG can be written uniquely in the form [g0 , g0 g1 , g0 g1 g2 , ··· , g0 g1 ··· gn ] = g0 [e, g1 , g1 g2 , ··· , g1 ··· gn ] The image of this simplex in BG may be denoted unambiguously by the symbol [g1 |g2 | ··· |gn ] . In this ‘bar’ notation the gi ’s and their ordered products can be used to label edges, viewing an

g0g1g2g 3

g0g1g 2

edge label as the ratio between g1g2

g1g 2g3

g2

as indicated in the figure. With this notation, the boundary of a simplex [g1 | ··· |gn ] of BG

g0g1g 2

g 2g 3

the two labels on the vertices at the endpoints of the edge,

g3

g2 g1g2

g0

g1

g0g1

g0

g1

g0g1

consists of the simplices [g2 | ··· |gn ] , [g1 | ··· |gn−1 ] , and [g1 | ··· |gi gi+1 | ··· |gn ] for i = 1, ··· , n − 1 . This construction of a K(G, 1) produces a rather large space, since BG is always infinite-dimensional, and if G is infinite, BG has an infinite number of cells in each positive dimension. For example, BZ is much bigger than S 1 , the most efficient K(Z, 1) . On the other hand, BG has the virtue of being functorial: A homomorphism

f : G→H induces a map Bf : BG→BH sending a simplex [g1 | ··· |gn ] to the simplex

[f (g1 )| ··· |f (gn )] . A different construction of a K(G, 1) is given in §4.2. Here one starts with any 2 dimensional complex having fundamental group G , for example

Chapter 1

90

The Fundamental Group

the complex XG associated to a presentation of G , and then one attaches cells of dimension 3 and higher to make the universal cover contractible without affecting π1 . In general, it is hard to get any control on the number of higher-dimensional cells needed in this construction, so it too can be rather inefficient. Indeed, finding an efficient K(G, 1) for a given group G is often a difficult problem. It is a curious and almost paradoxical fact that if G contains any elements of finite order, then every K(G, 1) CW complex must be infinite-dimensional. This is shown in Proposition 2.45. In particular the infinite-dimensional lens space K(Zm , 1) ’s in Example 1B.4 cannot be replaced by any finite-dimensional complex. In spite of the great latitude possible in the construction of K(G, 1) ’s, there is a very nice homotopical uniqueness property that accounts for much of the interest in K(G, 1) ’s:

Theorem 1B.8.

The homotopy type of a CW complex K(G, 1) is uniquely determined

by G . Having a unique homotopy type of K(G, 1) ’s associated to each group G means that algebraic invariants of spaces that depend only on homotopy type, such as homology and cohomology groups, become invariants of groups. This has proved to be a quite fruitful idea, and has been much studied both from the algebraic and topological viewpoints. The discussion following Proposition 2.45 gives a few references. The preceding theorem will follow easily from:

Proposition 1B.9.

Let X be a connected CW complex and let Y be a K(G, 1) . Then

every homomorphism π1 (X, x0 )→π1 (Y , y0 ) is induced by a map (X, x0 )→(Y , y0 )

that is unique up to homotopy fixing x0 . To deduce the theorem from this, let X and Y be CW complex K(G, 1) ’s with iso-

morphic fundamental groups. The proposition gives maps f : (X, x0 )→(Y , y0 ) and

g : (Y , y0 )→(X, x0 ) inducing inverse isomorphisms π1 (X, x0 ) ≈ π1 (Y , y0 ) . Then f g and gf induce the identity on π1 and hence are homotopic to the identity maps.

Proof

of 1B.9: Let us first consider the case that X has a single 0 cell, the base-

point x0 . Given a homomorphism ϕ : π1 (X, x0 )→π1 (Y , y0 ) , we begin the construction of a map f : (X, x0 )→(Y , y0 ) with f∗ = ϕ by setting f (x0 ) = y0 . Each 1 cell

1 of X has closure a circle determining an element eα 1 1 ] ∈ π1 (X, x0 ) , and we let f on the closure of eα [eα

1 be a map representing ϕ([eα ]) . If i : X 1 > X denotes 1

the inclusion, then ϕi∗ = f∗ since π1 (X , x0 ) is gen-

f

∗ π1( X , x 0 ) − −−−→ π1( Y, y0 ) 1

− − − − − − −− → i ∗−

→ −−−−ϕ

π1( X , x 0 )

1 ]. erated by the elements [eα

To extend f over a cell eβ2 with attaching map ψβ : S 1 →X 1 , all we need is for the

composition f ψβ to be nullhomotopic. Choosing a basepoint s0 ∈ S 1 and a path in X 1

from ψβ (s0 ) to x0 , ψβ determines an element [ψβ ] ∈ π1 (X 1 , x0 ) , and the existence

K(G,1) Spaces and Graphs of Groups

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91

of a nullhomotopy of f ψβ is equivalent to f∗ ([ψβ ]) being zero in π1 (Y , y0 ) . We have i∗ ([ψβ ]) = 0 since the cell eβ2 provides a nullhomotopy of ψβ in X . Hence f∗ ([ψβ ]) = ϕi∗ ([ψβ ]) = 0 , and so f can be extended over eβ2 . Extending f inductively over cells eγn with n > 2 is possible since the attaching

maps ψγ : S n−1 →X n−1 have nullhomotopic compositions f ψγ : S n−1 →Y . This is

because f ψγ lifts to the universal cover of Y if n > 2 , and this cover is contractible by hypothesis, so the lift of f ψγ is nullhomotopic, hence also f ψγ itself.

Turning to the uniqueness statement, if two maps f0 , f1 : (X, x0 )→(Y , y0 ) in-

duce the same homomorphism on π1 , then we see immediately that their restrictions to X 1 are homotopic, fixing x0 . To extend the resulting map X 1 × I ∪ X × ∂I →Y

over the remaining cells en × (0, 1) of X × I we can proceed just as in the preceding paragraph since these cells have dimension n + 1 > 2 . Thus we obtain a homotopy ft : (X, x0 )→(Y , y0 ) , finishing the proof in the case that X has a single 0 cell.

The case that X has more than one 0 cell can be treated by a small elaboration on this argument. Choose a maximal tree T ⊂ X . To construct a map f realizing a 1 in X − T determines an given ϕ , begin by setting f (T ) = y0 . Then each edge eα 1 1 ] ∈ π1 (X, x0 ) , and we let f on the closure of eα be a map representing element [eα 1 ]) . Extending f over higher-dimensional cells then proceeds just as before. ϕ([eα

Constructing a homotopy ft joining two given maps f0 and f1 with f0∗ = f1∗ also

has an extra step. Let ht : X 1 →X 1 be a homotopy starting with h0 = 11 and restricting to a deformation retraction of T onto x0 . (It is easy to extend such a deformation retraction to a homotopy defined on all of X 1 .) We can construct a homotopy from f0 |X 1 to f1 |X 1 by first deforming f0 |X 1 and f1 |X 1 to take T to y0 by composing with ht , then applying the earlier argument to obtain a homotopy between the modified f0 |X 1 and f1 |X 1 . Having a homotopy f0 |X 1 ' f1 |X 1 we extend this over all of X in the same way as before.

u t

The first part of the preceding proof also works for the 2 dimensional complexes XG associated to presentations of groups. Thus every homomorphism G→H is re-

alized as the induced homomorphism of some map XG →XH . However, there is no

uniqueness statement for this map, and it can easily happen that different presentations of a group G give XG ’s that are not homotopy equivalent.

Graphs of Groups As an illustration of how K(G, 1) spaces can be useful in group theory, we shall describe a procedure for assembling a collection of K(G, 1) ’s together into a K(G, 1) for a larger group G . Group-theoretically, this gives a method for assembling smaller groups together to form a larger group, generalizing the notion of free products. Let Γ be a graph that is connected and oriented, that is, its edges are viewed as arrows, each edge having a specified direction. Suppose that at each vertex v of Γ we

92

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The Fundamental Group

place a group Gv and along each edge e of Γ we put a homomorphism ϕe from the group at the tail of the edge to the group at the head of the edge. We call this data a graph of groups. Now build a space BΓ by putting the space BGv from Example 1B.7 at each vertex v of Γ and then filling in a mapping cylinder of the map Bϕe along each edge e of Γ , identifying the two ends of the mapping cylinder with the two BGv ’s at the ends of e . The resulting space BΓ is then a CW complex since the maps Bϕe take n cells homeomorphically onto n cells. In fact, the cell structure on BΓ can be canonically subdivided into a ∆ complex structure using the prism construction from the proof of Theorem 2.10, but we will not need to do this here. More generally, instead of BGv one could take any CW complex K(Gv , 1) at the vertex v , and then along edges put mapping cylinders of maps realizing the homomorphisms ϕe . We leave it for the reader to check that the resulting space K Γ is homotopy equivalent to the BΓ constructed above.

Example

1B.10. Suppose Γ consists of one central vertex with a number of edges

radiating out from it, and the group Gv at this central vertex is trivial, hence also all the edge homomorphisms. Then van Kampen’s theorem implies that π1 (K Γ ) is the free product of the groups at all the outer vertices. In view of this example, we shall call π1 (K Γ ) for a general graph of groups Γ the graph product of the vertex groups Gv with respect to the edge homomorphisms ϕe . The name for π1 (K Γ ) that is generally used in the literature is the rather awkward phrase, ‘the fundamental group of the graph of groups.’ Here is the main result we shall prove about graphs of groups:

Theorem

1B.11. If all the edge homomorphisms ϕe are injective, then K Γ is a

K(G, 1) and the inclusions K(Gv , 1) > K Γ induce injective maps on π1 . Before giving the proof, let us look at some interesting special cases:

Example 1B.12:

Free Products with Amalgamation. Suppose the graph of groups is

A ← C →B , with the two maps monomorphisms. One can regard this data as speci-

fying embeddings of C as subgroups of A and B . Applying van Kampen’s theorem to the decomposition of K Γ into its two mapping cylinders, we see that π1 (K Γ ) is the quotient of A ∗ B obtained by identifying the subgroup C ⊂ A with the subgroup C ⊂ B . The standard notation for this group is A ∗C B , the free product of A and B amalgamated along the subgroup C . According to the theorem, A ∗C B contains both A and B as subgroups. For example, a free product with amalgamation Z ∗Z Z can be realized by map-

ping cylinders of the maps S 1 ← S 1 →S 1 that are m sheeted and n sheeted covering spaces, respectively. We studied this case in Examples 1.24 and 1.35 where we showed that the complex K Γ is a deformation retract of the complement of a torus knot in S 3 if m and n are relatively prime. It is a basic result in 3 manifold theory that the

K(G,1) Spaces and Graphs of Groups

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93

complement of every smooth knot in S 3 can be built up by iterated graph of groups constructions with injective edge homomorphisms, starting with free groups, so the theorem implies that these knot complements are K(G, 1) ’s. Their universal covers are all R3 , in fact.

Example

1B.13: HNN Extensions. Consider a graph of groups C

ϕ ψ

A with ϕ

and ψ both monomorphisms. This is analogous to the previous case A ← C →B , but with the two groups A and B coalesced to a single group. The group π1 (K Γ ) , which was denoted A ∗C B in the previous case, is now denoted A∗C . To see what this group looks like, let us regard K Γ as being obtained from K(A, 1) by attaching K(C, 1)× I along the two ends K(C, 1)× ∂I via maps realizing the monomorphisms ϕ and ψ . Using a K(C, 1) with a single 0 cell, we see that K Γ can be obtained from K(A, 1) ∨ S 1 by attaching cells of dimension two and greater, so π1 (K Γ ) is a quotient of A ∗ Z , and it is not hard to figure out that the relations defining this quotient are of the form tϕ(c)t −1 = ψ(c) where t is a generator of the Z factor and c ranges over C , or a set of generators for C . We leave the verification of this for the Exercises. As a very special case, taking ϕ = ψ = 11 gives A∗A = A× Z since we can take K Γ = K(A, 1)× S 1 in this case. More generally, taking ϕ = 11 with ψ an arbitrary automorphism of A , we realize any semidirect product of A and Z as A∗A . For example, the Klein bottle occurs this way, with ϕ realized by the identity map of S 1 and ψ by a reflection. In these cases when ϕ = 11 we could realize the same group π1 (K Γ ) using a slightly simpler graph of groups, with a single vertex, labeled A , and a single edge, labeled ψ . Here is another special case. Suppose we take a torus, delete a small open disk, then identify the resulting boundary circle with a longitudinal circle of the torus. This produces a space X that happens to be homeomorphic to a subspace of the standard picture of a Klein bottle in R3 ; see Exercise 12 of §1.2. The fundamental group π1 (X) has the form (Z ∗ Z) ∗Z Z with the defining relation tb±1 t −1 = aba−1 b−1 where a is a meridional loop and b is a longitudinal loop on the torus. The sign of the exponent in the term b±1 is immaterial since the two ways of glueing the boundary circle to the longitude produce homeomorphic spaces. The group π1 (X) =

 a, b, t || tbt −1 aba−1 b−1 abelianizes to Z× Z , but to show that π1 (X) is not iso-

morphic to Z ∗ Z takes some work. There is a surjection π1 (X)→Z ∗ Z obtained by

setting b = 1 . This has nontrivial kernel since b is nontrivial in π1 (X) by the preceding theorem. If π1 (X) were isomorphic to Z ∗ Z we would then have a surjective homomorphism Z ∗ Z→Z ∗ Z that was not an isomorphism. However, it is a theorem

in group theory that a free group F is hopfian — every surjective homomorphism F →F must be injective. Hence π1 (X) is not free.

Example

1B.14: Closed Surfaces. A closed orientable surface M of genus two or

greater can be cut along a circle into two compact surfaces M1 and M2 such that the

94

Chapter 1

The Fundamental Group

closed surfaces obtained from M1 and M2 by filling in their boundary circle with a disk have smaller genus than M . Each of M1 and M2 is the mapping cylinder of a map from S 1 to a finite graph. Namely, view Mi as obtained from a closed surface by deleting an open disk in the interior of the 2 cell in the standard CW structure described in Chapter 0, so that Mi becomes the mapping cylinder of the attaching map of the 2 cell. This attaching map is not nullhomotopic, so it induces an injection on π1 since free groups are torsionfree. Thus we have realized the original surface M as K Γ for Γ a graph of groups of the form F1 ← --- Z

→ - F2

with F1 and F2 free and

the two maps injective. The theorem then says that M is a K(G, 1) . A similar argument works for closed nonorientable surfaces other than RP2 . For example, the Klein bottle is obtained from two M¨ obius bands by identifying their boundary circles, and a M¨ obius band is the mapping cylinder of the 2 sheeted covering space S 1 →S 1 .

Proof of 1B.11:

e →K Γ by gluing together copies We shall construct a covering space K

of the universal covering spaces of the various mapping cylinders in K Γ in such a way e will be contractible. Hence K e will be the universal cover of K Γ , which will that K therefore be a K(G, 1) . e →X and a First a preliminary observation: Given a universal covering space p : X

connected, locally path-connected subspace A ⊂ X such that the inclusion A > X ine of p −1 (A) is a universal cover of A . duces an injection on π1 , then each component A

e →π1 (A) e→A is a covering space, so the induced map π1 (A) To see this, note that p : A e e is injective, and this map factors through π1 (X) = 0 , hence π1 (A) = 0 . For exam-

ple, if X is the torus S 1 × S 1 and A is the circle S 1 × {x0 } , then p −1 (A) consists of

infinitely many parallel lines in R2 , each of which is a universal cover of A . ff →Mf be the For a map f : A→B between connected CW complexes, let p : M ff is itself the mapping cylinder universal cover of the mapping cylinder Mf . Then M −1 −1 e of a map f : p (A)→p (B) since the line segments in the mapping cylinder strucff defining a mapping cylinder structure. Since ture on Mf lift to line segments in M ff is a mapping cylinder, it deformation retracts onto p −1 (B) , so p −1 (B) is also M

simply-connected, hence is the universal cover of B . If f induces an injection on π1 ,

then the remarks in the preceding paragraph apply, and the components of p −1 (A) ff are universal covers of A . If we assume further that A and B are K(G, 1) ’s, then M

ff deformation and the components of p −1 (A) are contractible, and we claim that M e of A . Namely, the inclusion A e>M ff is a homoretracts onto each component A

topy equivalence since both spaces are contractible, and then Corollary 0.20 implies e since the pair (M e satisfies the homotopy ff , A) ff deformation retracts onto A that M extension property, as shown in Example 0.15. e of K Γ . It will be Now we can describe the construction of the covering space K e e the union of an increasing sequence of spaces K1 ⊂ K2 ⊂ ··· . For the first stage, e1 be the universal cover of one of the mapping cylinders Mf of K Γ . By the let K

K(G,1) Spaces and Graphs of Groups

Section 1.B

95

preceding remarks, this contains various disjoint copies of universal covers of the e2 from K e1 by attaching to each of these two K(Gv , 1) ’s at the ends of Mf . We build K universal covers of K(Gv , 1) ’s a copy of the universal cover of each mapping cylinder Mg of K Γ meeting Mf at the end of Mf in question. Now repeat the process to e3 by attaching universal covers of mapping cylinders at all the universal construct K en+1 covers of K(Gv , 1) ’s created in the previous step. In the same way, we construct K S e e e from Kn for all n , and then we set K = n Kn . en since it is formed by attaching en+1 deformation retracts onto K Note that K en that deformation retract onto the subspaces along which they attach, pieces to K e is contractible since we can deformation by our earlier remarks. It follows that K en during the time interval [1/2n+1 , 1/2n ] , and then finish with a en+1 onto K retract K e1 to a point during the time interval [1/2 , 1]. contraction of K

e →K Γ is clearly a covering space, so this finishes the The natural projection K

proof that K Γ is a K(G, 1) . The remaining statement that each inclusion K(Gv , 1) > K Γ induces an injection on π1 can easily be deduced from the preceding constructions. For suppose a loop γ : S 1 →K(Gv , 1) is nullhomotopic in K Γ . By the lifting criterion for covering spaces, e . This has image contained in one of the copies of the universal e : S 1 →K there is a lift γ

e is nullhomotopic in this universal cover, and hence γ is cover of K(Gv , 1) , so γ nullhomotopic in K(Gv , 1) .

u t

The various mapping cylinders that make up the universal cover of K Γ are arranged in a treelike pattern. The tree in question, call it T Γ , has one vertex for each e , and two vertices are joined by an edge copy of a universal cover of a K(Gv , 1) in K whenever the two universal covers of K(Gv , 1) ’s corresponding to these vertices are connected by a line segment lifting a line segment in the mapping cylinder structure of e is reflected in an inductive a mapping cylinder of K Γ . The inductive construction of K construction of T Γ as a union of an increasing sequence of subtrees T1 ⊂ T2 ⊂ ··· . e1 is a subtree T1 ⊂ T Γ consisting of a central vertex with a number Corresponding to K of edges radiating out from it, an ‘asterisk’ with possibly an infinite number of edges. e2 , T1 is correspondingly enlarged to a tree T2 by attaching e1 to K When we enlarge K a similar asterisk at the end of each outer vertex of T1 , and each subsequent enlargee as deck transformations ment is handled in the same way. The action of π1 (K Γ ) on K induces an action on T Γ , permuting its vertices and edges, and the orbit space of T Γ under this action is just the original graph Γ . The action on T Γ will not generally be a free action since the elements of a subgroup Gv ⊂ π1 (K Γ ) fix the vertex of T Γ corresponding to one of the universal covers of K(Gv , 1) . There is in fact an exact correspondence between graphs of groups and groups acting on trees. See [Scott & Wall 1979] for an exposition of this rather nice theory. From the viewpoint of groups acting on trees, the definition of a graph of groups is

96

Chapter 1

The Fundamental Group

usually taken to be slightly more restrictive than the one we have given here, namely, one considers only oriented graphs obtained from an unoriented graph by subdividing each edge by adding a vertex at its midpoint, then orienting the two resulting edges outward, away from the new vertex.

Exercises 1. Suppose a group G acts simplicially on a ∆ complex X , where ‘simplicially’ means that each element of G takes each simplex of X onto another simplex by a linear homeomorphism. If the action is free, show it is a covering space action. 2. Let X be a connected CW complex and G a group such that every homomorphism

π1 (X)→G is trivial. Show that every map X →K(G, 1) is nullhomotopic. 3. Show that every graph product of trivial groups is free.

4. Use van Kampen’s theorem to compute A∗C as a quotient of A ∗ Z , as stated in the text. 5. Consider the graph of groups Γ having one vertex, Z , and one edge, the map Z→Z

that is multiplication by 2, realized by the 2 sheeted covering space S 1 →S 1 . Show 

that π1 (K Γ ) has presentation a, b || bab−1 a−2 and describe the universal cover of K Γ explicitly as a product T × R with T a tree. [The group π1 (K Γ ) is the first in a family of groups called Baumslag-Solitar groups, having presentations of the form

 a, b || bam b−1 a−n . These are HNN extensions Z∗Z .] 6. Show that for a graph of groups all of whose edge homomorphisms are injective

maps Z→Z , we can choose K Γ to have universal cover a product T × R with T a tree. Work out in detail the case that the graph of groups is the infinite sequence Z

2 3 4 Z --→ Z --→ Z → --→ - ···

where the map Z

n Z --→

is multiplication by n . Show

that π1 (K Γ ) is isomorphic to Q in this case. How would one modify this example to get π1 (K Γ ) isomorphic to the subgroup of Q consisting of rational numbers with denominator a power of 2 ? 7. Show that every graph product of groups can be realized by a graph whose vertices are partitioned into two subsets, with every oriented edge going from a vertex in the first subset to a vertex in the second subset. 8. Show that a finite graph product of finitely generated groups is finitely generated, and similarly for finitely presented groups. 9. Show that a finite graph product of finite groups has a free subgroup of finite index, by constructing a finite-sheeted covering space of K Γ from universal covers of the mapping cylinders of K Γ . [The converse is also true for finitely generated groups; see [Scott & Wall 1979] for more on this.]

The fundamental group π1 (X) is especially useful when studying spaces of low dimension, as one would expect from its definition which involves only maps from low-dimensional spaces into X , namely loops I →X and homotopies of loops, maps

I × I →X . The definition in terms of objects that are at most 2 dimensional manifests itself for example in the fact that when X is a CW complex, π1 (X) depends only on

the 2 skeleton of X . In view of the low-dimensional nature of the fundamental group, we should not expect it to be a very refined tool for dealing with high-dimensional spaces. Thus it cannot distinguish between spheres S n with n ≥ 2 . This limitation to low dimensions can be removed by considering the natural higher-dimensional analogs of π1 (X) , the homotopy groups πn (X) , which are defined in terms of maps

of the n dimensional cube I n into X and homotopies I n × I →X of such maps. Not surprisingly, when X is a CW complex, πn (X) depends only on the (n + 1) skeleton

of X . And as one might hope, homotopy groups do indeed distinguish spheres of all dimensions since πi (S n ) is 0 for i < n and Z for i = n . However, the higher-dimensional homotopy groups have the serious drawback that they are extremely difficult to compute in general. Even for simple spaces like spheres, the calculation of πi (S n ) for i > n turns out to be a huge problem. Fortunately there is a more computable alternative to homotopy groups: the homology groups Hn (X) . Like πn (X) , the homology group Hn (X) for a CW complex X depends only on the (n + 1) skeleton. For spheres, the homology groups Hi (S n ) are isomorphic to the homotopy groups πi (S n ) in the range 1 ≤ i ≤ n , but homology groups have the advantage that Hi (S n ) = 0 for i > n . The computability of homology groups does not come for free, unfortunately. The definition of homology groups is decidedly less transparent than the definition of homotopy groups, and once one gets beyond the definition there is a certain amount of technical machinery to be set up before any real calculations and applications can be given. In the exposition below we approach the definition of Hn (X) by two preliminary stages, first giving a few motivating examples nonrigorously, then constructing

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Homology

a restricted model of homology theory called simplicial homology, before plunging into the general theory, known as singular homology. After the definition of singular homology has been assimilated, the real work of establishing its basic properties begins. This takes close to 20 pages, and there is no getting around the fact that it is a substantial effort. This takes up most of the first section of the chapter, with small digressions only for two applications to classical theorems of Brouwer: the fixed point theorem and ‘invariance of dimension.’ The second section of the chapter gives more applications, including the homology definition of Euler characteristic and Brouwer’s notion of degree for maps S n →S n . However, the main thrust of this section is toward developing techniques for calculating homology groups efficiently. The maximally efficient method is known as cellular homology, whose power comes perhaps from the fact that it is ‘homology squared’ — homology defined in terms of homology. Another quite useful tool is Mayer–Vietoris sequences, the analog for homology of van Kampen’s theorem for the fundamental group. An interesting feature of homology that begins to emerge after one has worked with it for a while is that it is the basic properties of homology that are used most often, and not the actual definition itself. This suggests that an axiomatic approach to homology might be possible. This is indeed the case, and in the third section of the chapter we list axioms which completely characterize homology groups for CW complexes. One could take the viewpoint that these rather algebraic axioms are all that really matters about homology groups, that the geometry involved in the definition of homology is secondary, needed only to show that the axiomatic theory is not vacuous. The extent to which one adopts this viewpoint is a matter of taste, and the route taken here of postponing the axioms until the theory is well-established is just one of several possible approaches. The chapter then concludes with three optional sections of Additional Topics. The first is rather brief, relating H1 (X) to π1 (X) , while the other two contain a selection of classical applications of homology. These include the n dimensional version of the Jordan curve theorem and the ‘invariance of domain’ theorem, both due to Brouwer, along with the Lefschetz fixed point theorem.

The Idea of Homology The difficulty with the higher homotopy groups πn is that they are not directly computable from a cell structure as π1 is. For example, the 2-sphere has no cells in dimensions greater than 2, yet its n dimensional homotopy group πn (S 2 ) is nonzero for infinitely many values of n . Homology groups, by contrast, are quite directly related to cell structures, and may indeed be regarded as simply an algebraization of the first layer of geometry in cell structures: how cells of dimension n attach to cells of dimension n − 1 .

The Idea of Homology

99

Let us look at some examples to see what the idea is. Consider the graph X1 shown in the figure, consisting of two vertices joined by four edges.

y

When studying the fundamental group of X1 we consider loops formed by sequences of edges, starting and ending at a fixed basepoint. For example, at the basepoint x , the loop ab

−1

a

b

c

d

travels forward along the edge a , then backward

along b , as indicated by the exponent −1 . A more complicated loop would be ac −1 bd−1 ca−1 . A salient feature of the

x

fundamental group is that it is generally nonabelian, which both enriches and complicates the theory. Suppose we simplify matters by abelianizing. Thus for example the two loops ab−1 and b−1 a are to be regarded as equal if we make a commute with b−1 . These two loops ab−1 and b−1 a are really the same circle, just with a different choice of starting and ending point: x for ab−1 and y for b−1 a . The same thing happens for all loops: Rechoosing the basepoint in a loop just permutes its letters cyclically, so a byproduct of abelianizing is that we no longer have to pin all our loops down to a fixed basepoint. Thus loops become cycles, without a chosen basepoint. Having abelianized, let us switch to additive notation, so cycles become linear combinations of edges with integer coefficients, such as a − b + c − d . Let us call these linear combinations chains of edges. Some chains can be decomposed into cycles in several different ways, for example (a − c) + (b − d) = (a − d) + (b − c) , and if we adopt an algebraic viewpoint then we do not want to distinguish between these different decompositions. Thus we broaden the meaning of the term ‘cycle’ to be simply any linear combination of edges for which at least one decomposition into cycles in the previous more geometric sense exists. What is the condition for a chain to be a cycle in this more algebraic sense? A geometric cycle, thought of as a path traversed in time, is distinguished by the property that it enters each vertex the same number of times that it leaves the vertex. For an arbitrary chain ka + `b + mc + nd , the net number of times this chain enters y is k + ` + m + n since each of a , b , c , and d enters y once. Similarly, each of the four edges leaves x once, so the net number of times the chain ka + `b + mc + nd enters x is −k − ` − m − n . Thus the condition for ka + `b + mc + nd to be a cycle is simply k + ` + m + n = 0 . To describe this result in a way that would generalize to all graphs, let C1 be the free abelian group with basis the edges a, b, c, d and let C0 be the free abelian group with basis the vertices x, y . Elements of C1 are chains of edges, or 1 dimensional chains, and elements of C0 are linear combinations of vertices, or 0 dimensional

chains. Define a homomorphism ∂ : C1 →C0 by sending each basis element a, b, c, d to y − x , the vertex at the head of the edge minus the vertex at the tail. Thus we have ∂(ka + `b + mc + nd) = (k + ` + m + n)y − (k + ` + m + n)x , and the cycles are precisely the kernel of ∂ . It is a simple calculation to verify that a−b , b −c , and c −d

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form a basis for this kernel. Thus every cycle in X1 is a unique linear combination of these three most obvious cycles. By means of these three basic cycles we convey the geometric information that the graph X1 has three visible ‘holes,’ the empty spaces between the four edges. Let us now enlarge the preceding graph X1 by attaching a 2 cell A along the cycle a − b , producing a 2 dimensional cell complex X2 . If

y

we think of the 2 cell A as being oriented clockwise, then we can regard its boundary as the cycle a − b . This cycle is now homotopically trivial since we can contract it to a point

a

b

A

c

d

by sliding over A . In other words, it no longer encloses a hole in X2 . This suggests that we form a quotient of the

x

group of cycles in the preceding example by factoring out

the subgroup generated by a − b . In this quotient the cycles a − c and b − c , for example, become equivalent, consistent with the fact that they are homotopic in X2 . Algebraically, we can define now a pair of homomorphisms C2

----∂-→ - C1 ----∂-→ - C0 2

1

where C2 is the infinite cyclic group generated by A and ∂2 (A) = a − b . The map ∂1 is the boundary homomorphism in the previous example. The quotient group we are interested in is Ker ∂1 / Im ∂2 , the 1 dimensional cycles modulo those that are boundaries, the multiples of a−b . This quotient group is the homology group H1 (X2 ) . The previous example can be fit into this scheme too by taking C2 to be zero since there are no 2 cells in X1 , so in this case H1 (X1 ) = Ker ∂1 / Im ∂2 = Ker ∂1 , which as we saw was free abelian on three generators. In the present example, H1 (X2 ) is free abelian on two generators, b − c and c − d , expressing the geometric fact that by filling in the 2 cell A we have reduced the number of ‘holes’ in our space from three to two. Suppose we enlarge X2 to a space X3 by attaching a second 2 cell B along the same cycle a − b . This gives a 2 dimensional chain group C2

y

consisting of linear combinations of A and B , and the bound-

ary homomorphism ∂2 : C2 →C1 sends both A and B to a−b . The homology group H1 (X3 ) = Ker ∂1 / Im ∂2 is the same as

a

b

c

d

for X2 , but now ∂2 has a nontrivial kernel, the infinite cyclic group generated by A − B . We view A − B as a 2 dimensional cycle, generating the homology group H2 (X3 ) = Ker ∂2 ≈ Z .

x

Topologically, the cycle A − B is the sphere formed by the cells A and B together with their common boundary circle. This spherical cycle detects the presence of a ‘hole’ in X3 , the missing interior of the sphere. However, since this hole is enclosed by a sphere rather than a circle, it is of a different sort from the holes detected by H1 (X3 ) ≈ Z× Z , which are detected by the cycles b − c and c − d . Let us continue one more step and construct a complex X4 from X3 by attaching a 3 cell C along the 2 sphere formed by A and B . This creates a chain group C3

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101

generated by this 3 cell C , and we define a boundary homomorphism ∂3 : C3 →C2 sending C to A − B since the cycle A − B should be viewed as the boundary of C in the same way that the 1 dimensional cycle a − b is the boundary of A . Now we have a sequence of three boundary homomorphisms C3

----∂-→ - C2 ----∂-→ - C1 ----∂-→ - C0 3

2

1

and

the quotient H2 (X4 ) = Ker ∂2 / Im ∂3 has become trivial. Also H3 (X4 ) = Ker ∂3 = 0 . The group H1 (X4 ) is the same as H1 (X3 ) , namely Z× Z , so this is the only nontrivial homology group of X4 . It is clear what the general pattern of the examples is. For a cell complex X one has chain groups Cn (X) which are free abelian groups with basis the n cells of X ,

and there are boundary homomorphisms ∂n : Cn (X)→Cn−1 (X) , in terms of which one defines the homology group Hn (X) = Ker ∂n / Im ∂n+1 . The major difficulty is how to define ∂n in general. For n = 1 this is easy: The boundary of an oriented edge is the vertex at its head minus the vertex at its tail. The next case n = 2 is also not hard, at least for cells attached along cycles that are simply loops of edges, for then the boundary of the cell is this cycle of edges, with the appropriate signs taking orientations into account. But for larger n , matters become more complicated. Even if one restricts attention to cell complexes formed from polyhedral cells with nice attaching maps, there is still the matter of orientations to sort out. The best solution to this problem seems to be to adopt an indirect approach. Arbitrary polyhedra can always be subdivided into special polyhedra called simplices (the triangle and the tetrahedron are the 2 dimensional and 3 dimensional instances) so there is no loss of generality, though initially there is some loss of efficiency, in restricting attention entirely to simplices. For simplices there is no difficulty in defining boundary maps or in handling orientations. So one obtains a homology theory, called simplicial homology, for cell complexes built from simplices. Still, this is a rather restricted class of spaces, and the theory itself has a certain rigidity that makes it awkward to work with. The way around these obstacles is to step back from the geometry of spaces decomposed into simplices and to consider instead something which at first glance seems wildly more complicated, the collection of all possible continuous maps of simplices into a given space X . These maps generate tremendously large chain groups Cn (X) , but the quotients Hn (X) = Ker ∂n / Im ∂n+1 , called singular homology groups, turn out to be much smaller, at least for reasonably nice spaces X . In particular, for spaces like those in the four examples above, the singular homology groups coincide with the homology groups we computed from the cellular chains. And as we shall see later in this chapter, singular homology allows one to define these nice cellular homology groups for all cell complexes, and in particular to solve the problem of defining the boundary maps for cellular chains.

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The most important homology theory in algebraic topology, and the one we shall be studying almost exclusively, is called singular homology. Since the technical apparatus of singular homology is somewhat complicated, we will first introduce a more primitive version called simplicial homology in order to see how some of the apparatus works in a simpler setting before beginning the general theory. The natural domain of definition for simplicial homology is a class of spaces we call ∆ complexes, which are a mild generalization of the more classical notion of a simplicial complex. Historically, the modern definition of singular homology was first given in [Eilenberg 1944], and ∆ complexes were introduced soon thereafter in [Eilenberg-Zilber 1950] where they were called semisimplicial complexes. Within a few years this term came to be applied to what Eilenberg and Zilber called complete semisimplicial complexes, and later there was yet another shift in terminology as the latter objects came to be called simplicial sets. In theory this frees up the term semisimplicial complex to have its original meaning, but to avoid potential confusion it seems best to introduce a new name, and the term ∆ complex has at least the virtue of brevity.

∆–Complexes The torus, the projective plane, and the Klein bottle can each be obtained from a square by identifying opposite edges in the way indicated by the arrows in the following figures:

T: − −

b

v

v

2

RP : − −−

a

c

a

c

b

K: − −

a

b

v

v

U a

v

v

b

a

c

L

L

L v

v

U

U a

b

w

w

v

b

v

Cutting a square along a diagonal produces two triangles, so each of these surfaces can also be built from two triangles by identifying their edges in pairs. In similar fashion a polygon with any number of sides can be cut along

c

diagonals into triangles, so in fact all closed surfaces can be

d

b

constructed from triangles by identifying edges. Thus we have a single building block, the triangle, from which all surfaces can

a

c

be constructed. Using only triangles we could also construct a large class of 2 dimensional spaces that are not surfaces in the strict sense, by allowing more than two edges to be identified together at a time.

b

d a

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The idea of a ∆ complex is to generalize constructions like these to any number of dimensions. The n dimensional analog of the triangle is the n simplex. This is the smallest convex set in a Euclidean space Rm containing n + 1 points v0 , ··· , vn

v0

that do not lie in a hyperplane of dimen-

v0

v1

sion less than n , where by a hyperplane

v0

we mean the set of solutions of a system of linear equations. An equivalent condition would be that the difference vectors

v3

v2

v0

v1

v2 v1

v1 − v0 , ··· , vn − v0 are linearly independent. The points vi are the vertices of the simplex, and the simplex itself is denoted [v0 , ··· , vn ] . For exam-

v2

ple, there is the standard n simplex  P ∆n = (t0 , ··· , tn ) ∈ Rn+1 || i ti = 1 and ti ≥ 0 for all i whose vertices are the unit vectors along the coordinate axes.

v1 v0

For purposes of homology it will be important to keep track of the order of the vertices of a simplex, so ‘ n simplex’ will really mean ‘ n simplex with an ordering of its vertices.’ A by-product of ordering the vertices of a simplex [v0 , ··· , vn ] is that this determines orientations of the edges [vi , vj ] according to increasing subscripts, as shown in the two preceding figures. Specifying the ordering of the vertices also determines a canonical linear homeomorphism from the standard n simplex ∆n onto any other n simplex [v0 , ··· , vn ] , preserving the order of vertices, namely, P (t0 , ··· , tn ) , i ti vi . The coefficients ti are the barycentric coordinates of the point P i ti vi in [v0 , ··· , vn ] . If we delete one of the n + 1 vertices of an n simplex [v0 , ··· , vn ] , then the remaining n vertices span an (n − 1) simplex, called a face of [v0 , ··· , vn ] . We adopt the following convention: The vertices of a face, or of any subsimplex spanned by a subset of the vertices, will always be ordered according to their order in the larger simplex. The union of all the faces of ∆n is the boundary of ∆n , written ∂∆n . The open ◦

simplex ∆n is ∆n − ∂∆n , the interior of ∆n . A ∆ complex structure on a space X is a collection of maps σα : ∆n →X , with n depending on the index α , such that: ◦

(i) The restriction σα || ∆n is injective, and each point of X is in the image of exactly ◦ one such restriction σα || ∆n .

(ii) Each restriction of σα to a face of ∆n is one of the maps σβ : ∆n−1 →X . Here we

are identifying the face of ∆n with ∆n−1 by the canonical linear homeomorphism between them that preserves the ordering of the vertices.

(iii) A set A ⊂ X is open iff σα−1 (A) is open in ∆n for each σα .

104

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Among other things, this last condition rules out trivialities like regarding all the points of X as individual vertices. The earlier decompositions of the torus, projective plane, and Klein bottle into two triangles, three edges, and one or two vertices define ∆ complex structures with a total of six σα ’s for the torus and Klein bottle and seven for the projective plane. The orientations on the edges in the pictures are compatible with a unique ordering of the vertices of each simplex, and these orderings determine the maps σα . A consequence of (iii) is that X can be built as a quotient space of a collection

n of disjoint simplices ∆n α , one for each σα : ∆ →X , the quotient space obtained by

n−1 corresponding to the restriction σβ of identifying each face of a ∆n α with the ∆β

σα to the face in question, as in condition (ii). One can think of building the quotient space inductively, starting with a discrete set of vertices, then attaching edges to these to produce a graph, then attaching 2 simplices to the graph, and so on. From this viewpoint we see that the data specifying a ∆ complex can be described purely combinatorially as collections of n simplices ∆n α for each n together with functions n−1 . associating to each face of each n simplex ∆n α an (n − 1) simplex ∆β

More generally, ∆ complexes can be built from collections of disjoint simplices by identifying various subsimplices spanned by subsets of the vertices, where the identifications are performed using the canonical linear homeomorphisms that preserve the orderings of the vertices. The earlier ∆ complex structures on a torus, projective plane, or Klein bottle can be obtained in this way, by identifying pairs of edges of two 2 simplices. If one starts with a single 2 simplex and identifies all three edges to a single edge, preserving the orientations given by the ordering of the vertices, this produces a ∆ complex known as the ‘dunce cap.’ By contrast, if the three edges of a 2 simplex are identified preserving a cyclic orientation of the three edges, as in the first figure at the right, this does not produce a ∆ complex structure, although if the 2 simplex is subdivided into three smaller 2 simplices about a central vertex, then one does obtain a ∆ complex structure on the quotient space. Thinking of a ∆ complex X as a quotient space of a collection of disjoint simplices, it is not hard to see that X must be a Hausdorff space. Condition (iii) then ◦ implies that each restriction σα || ∆n is a homeomorphism onto its image, which is thus an open simplex in X . It follows from Proposition A.2 in the Appendix that ◦

n of a CW complex structure on X with these open simplices σα (∆n ) are the cells eα

the σα ’s as characteristic maps. We will not need this fact at present, however.

Simplicial Homology Our goal now is to define the simplicial homology groups of a ∆ complex X . Let n of X . Elements ∆n (X) be the free abelian group with basis the open n simplices eα

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105

P n of ∆n (X) , called n chains, can be written as finite formal sums α nα eα with coP n efficients nα ∈ Z . Equivalently, we could write α nα σα where σα : ∆ →X is the

n n , with image the closure of eα as described above. Such a characteristic map of eα P sum α nα σα can be thought of as a finite collection, or ‘chain,’ of n simplices in X

with integer multiplicities, the coefficients nα . As one can see in the next figure, the boundary of the n simplex [v0 , ··· , vn ] conbi , ··· , vn ] , where the ‘hat’ sists of the various (n−1) dimensional simplices [v0 , ··· , v symbol b over vi indicates that this vertex is deleted from the sequence v0 , ··· , vn . In terms of chains, we might then wish to say that the boundary of [v0 , ··· , vn ] is the bi , ··· , vn ] . However, it turns (n − 1) chain formed by the sum of the faces [v0 , ··· , v out to be better to insert certain signs and instead let the boundary of [v0 , ··· , vn ] be P i bi , ··· , vn ] . Heuristically, the signs are inserted to take orientations i (−1) [v0 , ··· , v into account, so that all the faces of a simplex are coherently oriented, as indicated in the following figure: v0

-

+

∂[v0 , v1 ] = [v1 ] − [v0 ]

v1

v2

∂[v0 , v1 , v2 ] = [v1 , v2 ] − [v0 , v2 ] + [v0 , v1 ] v1

v0 v3

v2 v0

∂[v0 , v1 , v2 , v3 ] = [v1 , v2 , v3 ] − [v0 , v2 , v3 ] + [v0 , v1 , v3 ] − [v0 , v1 , v2 ]

v1

In the last case, the orientations of the two hidden faces are also counterclockwise when viewed from outside the 3 simplex. With this geometry in mind we define for a general ∆ complex X a boundary

homomorphism ∂n : ∆n (X)→∆n−1 (X) by specifying its values on basis elements: X bi , ··· , vn ] ∂n (σα ) = (−1)i σα || [v0 , ··· , v i

Note that the right side of this equation does indeed lie in ∆n−1 (X) since each restricbi , ··· , vn ] is the characteristic map of an (n − 1) simplex of X . tion σα || [v0 , ··· , v The composition ∆n (X) -----→ - ∆n−1 (X) --------→ - ∆n−2 (X) is zero. P Proof: We have ∂n (σ ) = i (−1)i σ || [v0 , ··· , vbi , ··· , vn ] , and hence X bj , ··· , v bi , ··· , vn ] ∂n−1 ∂n (σ ) = (−1)i (−1)j σ ||[v0 , ··· , v ∂n

Lemma 2.1.

j

+

X

∂n−1

bi , ··· , v bj , ··· , vn ] (−1)i (−1)j−1 σ ||[v0 , ··· , v

j>i

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Homology

The latter two summations cancel since after switching i and j in the second sum, it u t

becomes the negative of the first.

The algebraic situation we have now is a sequence of homomorphisms of abelian groups ···

→ - Cn+1 --∂------→ Cn ----∂-→ - Cn−1 → - ··· → - C1 ----∂-→ - C0 ----∂-→ - 0 n+1

n

1

0

with ∂n ∂n+1 = 0 for each n . Such a sequence is called a chain complex. Note that we have extended the sequence by a 0 at the right end, with ∂0 = 0 . From ∂n ∂n+1 = 0 it follows that Im ∂n+1 ⊂ Ker ∂n , where Im and Ker denote image and kernel. So we can define the n th homology group of the chain complex to be the quotient group Hn = Ker ∂n / Im ∂n+1 . Elements of Ker ∂n are called cycles and elements of Im ∂n+1 are boundaries. Elements of Hn are cosets of Im ∂n+1 , called homology classes. Two cycles representing the same homology class are said to be homologous. This means their difference is a boundary. Returning to the case that Cn = ∆n (X) , the homology group Ker ∂n / Im ∂n+1 will

be denoted Hn∆(X) and called the n th simplicial homology group of X .

Example 2.2.

X = S 1 , with one vertex v and one edge e . Then ∆0 (S 1 )

e

1

and ∆1 (S ) are both Z and the boundary map ∂1 is zero since ∂e = v −v . The groups ∆n (S 1 ) are 0 for n ≥ 2 since there are no simplices in these dimensions. Hence Hn∆(S 1 )

 ≈

v

Z 0

for n = 0, 1 for n ≥ 2

This is an illustration of the general fact that if the boundary maps in a chain complex are all zero, then the homology groups of the complex are isomorphic to the chain groups themselves.

Example 2.3.

X = T , the torus with the ∆ complex structure pictured earlier, having

one vertex, three edges a , b , and c , and two 2 simplices U and L . As in the previous example, ∂1 = 0 so H0∆(T ) ≈ Z . Since ∂2 U = a + b − c = ∂2 L and {a, b, a + b − c} is a basis for ∆1 (T ) , it follows that H1∆(T ) ≈ Z ⊕ Z with basis the homology classes [a]

and [b] . Since there are no 3 simplices, H2∆(T ) is equal to Ker ∂2 , which is infinite cyclic generated by U − L since ∂(pU + qL) = (p + q)(a + b − c) = 0 only if p = −q . Thus Hn∆(T )

Example 2.4.

 Z ⊕ Z ≈ Z  0

for n = 1 for n = 0, 2 for n ≥ 3

X = RP2 , as pictured earlier, with two vertices v and w , three edges

a , b , and c , and two 2 simplices U and L . Then Im ∂1 is generated by w − v , so

H0∆(X) ≈ Z with either vertex as a generator. Since ∂2 U = −a+b+c and ∂2 L = a−b+c ,

we see that ∂2 is injective, so H2∆(X) = 0 . Further, Ker ∂1 ≈ Z ⊕ Z with basis a − b and c , and Im ∂2 is an index-two subgroup of Ker ∂1 since we can choose c and a − b + c

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107

as a basis for Ker ∂1 and a − b + c and 2c = (a − b + c) + (−a + b + c) as a basis for Im ∂2 . Thus H1∆(X) ≈ Z2 .

Example 2.5.

We can obtain a ∆ complex structure on S n by taking two copies of ∆n

and identifying their boundaries via the identity map. Labeling these two n simplices U and L , then it is obvious that Ker ∂n is infinite cyclic generated by U − L . Thus

Hn∆(S n ) ≈ Z for this ∆ complex structure on S n . Computing the other homology groups would be more difficult. Many similar examples could be worked out without much trouble, such as the other closed orientable and nonorientable surfaces. However, the calculations do tend to increase in complexity before long, particularly for higher-dimensional complexes. Some obvious general questions arise: Are the groups Hn∆(X) independent of the choice of ∆ complex structure on X ? In other words, if two ∆ complexes are homeomorphic, do they have isomorphic homology groups? More generally, do they have isomorphic homology groups if they are merely homotopy equivalent? To answer such questions and to develop a general theory it is best to leave the rather rigid simplicial realm and introduce the singular homology groups. These have the added advantage that they are defined for all spaces, not just ∆ complexes. At the end of this section, after some theory has been developed, we will show that simplicial and singular homology groups coincide for ∆ complexes. Traditionally, simplicial homology is defined for simplicial complexes, which are the ∆ complexes whose simplices are uniquely determined by their vertices. This amounts to saying that each n simplex has n + 1 distinct vertices, and that no other n simplex has this same set of vertices. Thus a simplicial complex can be described combinatorially as a set X0 of vertices together with sets Xn of n simplices, which are (n + 1) element subsets of X0 . The only requirement is that each (k + 1) element subset of the vertices of an n simplex in Xn is a k simplex, in Xk . From this combinatorial data a ∆ complex X can be constructed, once we choose a partial ordering of the vertices X0 that restricts to a linear ordering on the vertices of each simplex in Xn . For example, we could just choose a linear ordering of all the vertices. This might perhaps involve invoking the Axiom of Choice for large vertex sets. An exercise at the end of this section is to show that every ∆ complex can be subdivided to be a simplicial complex. In particular, every ∆ complex is then homeomorphic to a simplicial complex. Compared with simplicial complexes, ∆ complexes have the advantage of simpler computations since fewer simplices are required. For example, to put a simplicial complex structure on the torus one needs at least 14 triangles, 21 edges, and 7 vertices, and for RP2 one needs at least 10 triangles, 15 edges, and 6 vertices. This would slow down calculations considerably!

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Singular Homology A singular n simplex in a space X is by definition just a map σ : ∆n →X . The word ‘singular’ is used here to express the idea that σ need not be a nice embedding but can have ‘singularities’ where its image does not look at all like a simplex. All that is required is that σ be continuous. Let Cn (X) be the free abelian group with basis the set of singular n simplices in X . Elements of Cn (X) , called n chains, or more P precisely singular n chains, are finite formal sums i ni σi for ni ∈ Z and σi : ∆n →X . A boundary map ∂n : Cn (X)→Cn−1 (X) is defined by the same formula as before: X bi , ··· , vn ] ∂n (σ ) = (−1)i σ || [v0 , ··· , v i

bi , ··· , vn ] with Implicit in this formula is the canonical identification of [v0 , ··· , v n−1 | bi , ··· , vn ] is regarded , preserving the ordering of vertices, so that σ | [v0 , ··· , v ∆ as a map ∆n−1 →X , that is, a singular (n − 1) simplex.

Often we write the boundary map ∂n from Cn (X) to Cn−1 (X) simply as ∂ when this does not lead to serious ambiguities. The proof of Lemma 2.1 applies equally well to singular simplices, showing that ∂n ∂n+1 = 0 or more concisely ∂ 2 = 0 , so we can define the singular homology group Hn (X) = Ker ∂n / Im ∂n+1 . It is evident from the definition that homeomorphic spaces have isomorphic singular homology groups Hn , in contrast with the situation for Hn∆ . On the other hand, since the groups Cn (X) are so large, the number of singular n simplices in X usually being uncountable, it is not at all clear that for a ∆ complex X with finitely many simplices, Hn (X) should be finitely generated for all n , or that Hn (X) should be zero

for n larger than the dimension of X — two properties that are trivial for Hn∆(X) .

Though singular homology looks so much more general than simplicial homology, it can actually be regarded as a special case of simplicial homology by means of the following construction. For an arbitrary space X , define the singular complex S(X) n to be the ∆ complex with one n simplex ∆n σ for each singular n simplex σ : ∆ →X ,

with ∆n σ attached in the obvious way to the (n − 1) simplices of S(X) that are the restrictions of σ to the various (n − 1) simplices in ∂∆n . It is clear from the defini
tions that Hn∆ S(X) is identical with Hn (X) for all n , and in this sense the singular homology group Hn (X) is a special case of a simplicial homology group. One can regard S(X) as a ∆ complex model for X , although it is usually an extremely large object compared to X . Cycles in singular homology are defined algebraically, but they can be given a somewhat more geometric interpretation in terms of maps from finite ∆ complexes. To see this, note first that a singular n chain ξ can always be written in the form P i εi σi with εi = ±1 , allowing repetitions of the singular n simplices σi . Given such P an n chain ξ = i εi σi , when we compute ∂ξ as a sum of singular (n − 1) simplices with signs ±1 , there may be some canceling pairs consisting of two identical singular (n − 1) simplices with opposite signs. Choosing a maximal collection of such

Simplicial and Singular Homology

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109

canceling pairs, construct an n dimensional ∆ complex Kξ from a disjoint union of n simplices ∆n i , one for each σi , by identifying the pairs of (n−1) dimensional faces

corresponding to the chosen canceling pairs. The σi ’s then induce a map Kξ →X . If

ξ is a cycle, all the (n − 1) simplices of Kξ come from canceling pairs, hence are faces of exactly two n simplices of Kξ . Thus Kξ is a manifold, locally homeomorphic to Rn , except at a subcomplex of dimension at most n − 2 . All the n simplices of Kξ can be coherently oriented by taking the signs of the σi ’s into account, so Kξ is actually an oriented manifold away from its nonmanifold points. A closer inspection shows that Kξ is also a manifold near points in the interiors of (n − 2) simplices, so the nonmanifold points of Kξ in fact have dimension at most n − 3 . However, near the interiors of (n − 3) simplices it can very well happen that Kξ is not a manifold. In particular, elements of H1 (X) are represented by collections of oriented loops in X , and elements of H2 (X) are represented by maps of closed oriented surfaces ` 1 α Sα →X is

into X . With a bit more work it can be shown that an oriented 1 cycle

zero in H1 (X) iff it extends to a map of an oriented surface into X , and there is an analogous statement for 2 cycles. In the early days of homology theory it may have been believed, or at least hoped, that this close connection with manifolds continued in all higher dimensions, but this has turned out not to be the case. There is a sort of homology theory built from manifolds, called bordism, but it is quite a bit more complicated than the homology theory we are studying here. After these preliminary remarks let us begin to see what can be proved about singular homology.

Proposition

2.6. Corresponding to the decomposition of a space X into its pathL α Hn (Xα ) .

components Xα there is an isomorphism of Hn (X) with the direct sum

Proof:

Since a singular simplex always has path-connected image, Cn (X) splits as the

direct sum of its subgroups Cn (Xα ) . The boundary maps ∂n preserve this direct sum decomposition, taking Cn (Xα ) to Cn−1 (Xα ) , so Ker ∂n and Im ∂n+1 split similarly as L u t direct sums, hence the homology groups also split, Hn (X) ≈ α Hn (Xα ) .

Proposition 2.7.

If X is nonempty and path-connected, then H0 (X) ≈ Z . Hence for

any space X , H0 (X) is a direct sum of Z ’s, one for each path-component of X . By definition, H0 (X) = C0 (X)/ Im ∂1 since ∂0 = 0 . Define a homomorphism
P P ε : C0 (X)→Z by ε i ni σi = i ni . This is obviously surjective if X is nonempty.

Proof:

The claim is that Ker ε = Im ∂1 if X is path-connected, and hence ε induces an isomorphism H0 (X) ≈ Z . To verify the claim, observe first that Im ∂1 ⊂ Ker ε since for a singular 1 simplex
σ : ∆1 →X we have ε∂1 (σ ) = ε σ || [v1 ] − σ || [v0 ] = 1 − 1 = 0 . For the reverse
P P inclusion Ker ε ⊂ Im ∂1 , suppose ε i ni σi = 0 , so i ni = 0 . The σi ’s are singular 0 simplices, which are simply points of X . Choose a path τi : I →X from a basepoint

Chapter 2

110

Homology

x0 to σi (v0 ) and let σ0 be the singular 0 simplex with image x0 . We can view τi

as a singular 1 simplex, a map τi : [v0 , v1 ]→X , and then we have ∂τi = σi − σ0 .
P P P P P P i ni τi = i ni σi − i ni σ0 = i ni σi since i ni = 0 . Thus i ni σi is a

Hence ∂

u t

boundary, which shows that Ker ε ⊂ Im ∂1 .

Proposition 2.8.

If X is a point, then Hn (X) = 0 for n > 0 and H0 (X) ≈ Z .

Proof: In this case there is a unique singular n simplex σn for each n , and ∂(σn ) = P i i (−1) σn−1 , a sum of n + 1 terms, which is therefore 0 for n odd and σn−1 for n even, n ≠ 0 . Thus we have the chain complex ···

→ - Z ----≈-→ - Z -----0→ - Z ----≈-→ - Z -----0→ - Z→ - 0

with boundary maps alternately isomorphisms and trivial maps, except at the last Z . The homology groups of this complex are trivial except for H0 ≈ Z .

u t

It is often very convenient to have a slightly modified version of homology for which a point has trivial homology groups in all dimensions, including zero. This is e n (X) to be the homology groups done by defining the reduced homology groups H of the augmented chain complex ··· where ε

P i

ni σi




=

→ - C2 (X) ----∂-→ - C1 (X) ----∂-→ - C0 (X) -----ε→ - Z→ - 0 2

P i

1

ni as in the proof of Proposition 2.7. Here we had better

require X to be nonempty, to avoid having a nontrivial homology group in dimension

−1 . Since ε∂1 = 0 , ε vanishes on Im ∂1 and hence induces a map H0 (X)→Z with e 0 (X) ⊕ Z . Obviously Hn (X) ≈ H e n (X) for n > 0 . e 0 (X) , so H0 (X) ≈ H kernel H

Formally, one can think of the extra Z in the augmented chain complex as gener-

ated by the unique map [∅]→X where [∅] is the empty simplex, with no vertices. b0 ] = [∅] . The augmentation map ε is then the usual boundary map since ∂[v0 ] = [v

Readers who know about the fundamental group π1 (X) may wish to make a detour here to look at §2.A where it is shown that H1 (X) is the abelianization of π1 (X) whenever X is path-connected. This result will not be needed elsewhere in the chapter, however.

Homotopy Invariance The first substantial result we will prove about singular homology is that homotopy equivalent spaces have isomorphic homology groups. This will be done by showing that a map f : X →Y induces a homomorphism f∗ : Hn (X)→Hn (Y ) for each n , and that f∗ is an isomorphism if f is a homotopy equivalence.

For a map f : X →Y , an induced homomorphism f] : Cn (X)→Cn (Y ) is defined

by composing each singular n simplex σ : ∆n →X with f to get a singular n simplex

Simplicial and Singular Homology

Section 2.1

111


P P f] (σ ) = f σ : ∆n →Y , then extending f] linearly via f] i ni σi = i ni f] (σi ) = P i ni f σi . The maps f] : Cn (X)→Cn (Y ) satisfy f] ∂ = ∂f] since
P bi , ··· , vn ] f] ∂(σ ) = f] i (−1)i σ ||[v0 , ··· , v P bi , ··· , vn ] = ∂f] (σ ) = i (−1)i f σ ||[v0 , ··· , v Thus we have a diagram

f]

− − − − − →

− − − − − →

− − − − − →

∂ ∂ ... − − − − → Cn + 1( X ) − − − − − → Cn( X ) − − − − − → Cn - 1( X ) − − − − → ... f]

f]

... − − − − → Cn + 1( Y ) − − − − − → Cn( Y ) − − − − − → Cn - 1( Y ) − − − − → ... ∂

∂

such that in each square the composition f] ∂ equals the composition ∂f] . A diagram of maps with the property that any two compositions of maps starting at one point in the diagram and ending at another are equal is called a commutative diagram. In the present case commutativity of the diagram is equivalent to the commutativity relation f] ∂ = ∂f] , but commutative diagrams can contain commutative triangles, pentagons, etc., as well as commutative squares. The fact that the maps f] : Cn (X)→Cn (Y ) satisfy f] ∂ = ∂f] is also expressed by saying that the f] ’s define a chain map from the singular chain complex of X to that of Y . The relation f] ∂ = ∂f] implies that f] takes cycles to cycles since ∂α = 0 implies ∂(f] α) = f] (∂α) = 0 . Also, f] takes boundaries to boundaries

since f] (∂β) = ∂(f] β) . Hence f] induces a homomorphism f∗ : Hn (X)→Hn (Y ) . An algebraic statement of what we have just proved is:

Proposition 2.9.

A chain map between chain complexes induces homomorphisms u t

between the homology groups of the two complexes.

Two basic properties of induced homomorphisms which are important in spite of being rather trivial are:

--→ Y --→ Z . g f σ --→ X --→ Y --→ Z .

(i) (f g)∗ = f∗ g∗ for a composed mapping X associativity of compositions ∆

n

g

f

This follows from

(ii) 11∗ = 11 where 11 denotes the identity map of a space or a group. Less trivially, we have:

Theorem 2.10.

If two maps f , g : X →Y are homotopic, then they induce the same

homomorphism f∗ = g∗ : Hn (X)→Hn (Y ) .

In view of the formal properties (f g)∗ = f∗ g∗ and 11∗ = 11 , this immediately implies:

Corollary 2.11.

The maps f∗ : Hn (X)→Hn (Y ) induced by a homotopy equivalence

f : X →Y are isomorphisms for all n .

e n (X) = 0 for all n . For example, if X is contractible then H

u t

Chapter 2

112

Proof of 2.10:

Homology

The essential ingredient is a procedure for

subdividing the product ∆n × I into (n+1) simplices. The n

w0

w1

v0

v1

n

figure shows the cases n = 1, 2 . In ∆ × I , let ∆ × {0} = [v0 , ··· , vn ] and ∆n × {1} = [w0 , ··· , wn ] , where vi and wi have the same image under the projection ∆n × I →∆n .

The n simplex [v0 , ··· , vi , wi+1 , ··· , wn ] is the graph of

the linear function ϕi : ∆n →I defined in barycentric co-

ordinates by ϕi (t0 , ··· , tn ) = ti+1 + ··· + tn since the vertices of this simplex [v0 , ··· , vi , wi+1 , ··· , wn ] are on

w2 w0

w1

the graph of ϕi and the simplex projects homeomorphically onto ∆n under the projection ∆n × I →∆n . The graph

v2

of ϕi lies below the graph of ϕi−1 since ϕi ≤ ϕi−1 , and the region between these two graphs is the simplex [v0 , ··· , vi , wi , ··· , wn ] , a true (n + 1) simplex since wi

v0

v1

is not on the graph of ϕi and hence is not in the n simplex [v0 , ··· , vi , wi+1 , ··· , wn ] . From the string of inequalities 0 = ϕn ≤ ϕn−1 ≤ ··· ≤ ϕ0 ≤ ϕ−1 = 1 we deduce that ∆n × I is the union of the (n + 1) simplices [v0 , ··· , vi , wi , ··· , wn ] , each intersecting the next in an n simplex face.

Given a homotopy F : X × I →Y from f to g , we can define prism operators

P : Cn (X)→Cn+1 (Y ) by

P (σ ) =

X (−1)i F ◦ (σ × 11) || [v0 , ··· , vi , wi , ··· , wn ] i

for σ : ∆

n

→X , where F ◦ (σ × 11) is the composition ∆n × I →X × I →Y . We will show

that these prism operators satisfy the basic relation ∂P = g] − f] − P ∂ Geometrically, the left side of this equation represents the boundary of the prism, and the three terms on the right side represent the top ∆n × {1} , the bottom ∆n × {0} , and the sides ∂∆n × I of the prism. To prove the relation we calculate X bj , ··· , vi , wi , ··· , wn ] (−1)i (−1)j F ◦ (σ × 11)||[v0 , ··· , v ∂P (σ ) = j≤i

+

X

cj , ··· , wn ] (−1)i (−1)j+1 F ◦ (σ × 11)||[v0 , ··· , vi , wi , ··· , w

j≥i

b0 , w0 , ··· , wn ] , The terms with i = j in the two sums cancel except for F ◦ (σ × 11) || [v ◦ ◦ | cn ] , which is −f ◦ σ = −f] (σ ) . which is g σ = g] (σ ) , and −F (σ × 11) | [v0 , ··· , vn , w The terms with i ≠ j are exactly −P ∂(σ ) since X cj , ··· , wn ] (−1)i (−1)j F ◦ (σ × 11)||[v0 , ··· , vi , wi , ··· , w P ∂(σ ) = i<j

+

X i>j

bj , ··· , vi , wi , ··· , wn ] (−1)i−1 (−1)j F ◦ (σ × 11)||[v0 , ··· , v

Simplicial and Singular Homology

Section 2.1

113

Now we can finish the proof of the theorem. If α ∈ Cn (X) is a cycle, then we have g] (α) − f] (α) = ∂P (α) + P ∂(α) = ∂P (α) since ∂α = 0 . Thus g] (α) − f] (α) is a boundary, so g] (α) and f] (α) determine the same homology class, which means u t

that g∗ equals f∗ on the homology class of α .

The relationship ∂P + P ∂ = g] − f] is expressed by saying P is a chain homotopy between the chain maps f] and g] . We have just shown:

Proposition 2.12.

Chain-homotopic chain maps induce the same homomorphism on u t

homology.

e n (X)→H e n (Y ) for reduced homolThere are also induced homomorphisms f∗ : H ogy groups since f] ε = εf] . The properties of induced homomorphisms we proved above hold equally well in the setting of reduced homology, with the same proofs.

Exact Sequences and Excision It would be nice if there was always a simple relationship between the homology groups of a space X , a subspace A , and the quotient space X/A . For then one could hope to understand the homology groups of spaces such as CW complexes that can be built inductively from successively more complicated subspaces. Perhaps the simplest possible relationship would be if Hn (X) contained Hn (A) as a subgroup and the quotient group Hn (X)/Hn (A) was isomorphic to Hn (X/A) . While this does hold in some cases, if it held in general then homology theory would collapse totally since every space X can be embedded as a subspace of a space with trivial homology groups, namely the cone CX = (X × I)/(X × {0}) , which is contractible. It turns out that this overly simple model does not have to be modified too much to get a relationship that is valid in fair generality. The novel feature of the actual relationship is that it involves the groups Hn (X) , Hn (A) , and Hn (X/A) for all values of n simultaneously. In practice this is not as bad as it might sound, and in addition it has the pleasant side effect of sometimes allowing higher-dimensional homology groups to be computed in terms of lower-dimensional groups, which may already be known by induction for example. In order to formulate the relationship we are looking for, we need an algebraic definition which is central to algebraic topology. A sequence of homomorphisms ···

----→ An+1 ----α--------→ An -----α---→ - An−1 ----→ ··· n+1

n

is said to be exact if Ker αn = Im αn+1 for each n . The inclusions Im αn+1 ⊂ Ker αn are equivalent to αn αn+1 = 0 , so the sequence is a chain complex, and the opposite inclusions Ker αn ⊂ Im αn+1 say that the homology groups of this chain complex are trivial.

Chapter 2

114

Homology

A number of basic algebraic concepts can be expressed in terms of exact sequences, for example: α B is exact iff Ker α = 0 , i.e., α is injective. → - A --→ α A --→ B → - 0 is exact iff Im α = B , i.e., α is surjective. α A 0→ --→ B → - 0 is exact iff α is an isomorphism, by (i) and (ii). β α 0 → - A --→ B --→ C → - 0 is exact iff α is injective, β is surjective, and

(i) 0 (ii) (iii) (iv)

Ker β =

Im α , so β induces an isomorphism C ≈ B/ Im α . This can be written C ≈ B/A if we think of α as an inclusion of A as a subgroup of B . An exact sequence 0→A→B →C →0 as in (iv) is called a short exact sequence. Exact sequences provide the right tool to relate the homology groups of a space, a subspace, and the associated quotient space:

Theorem 2.13.

If X is a space and A is a nonempty closed subspace that is a defor-

mation retract of some neighborhood in X , then there is an exact sequence ∂ e n−1 (A) ----i-→ H --→ He n (A) ----i-→ - He n (X) -----→ - He n (X/A) --→ - He n−1 (X) --→ ··· e 0 (X/A) --→ 0 ··· --→ H where i is the inclusion A > X and j is the quotient map X →X/A .

···

∗

j∗

∗

The map ∂ will be constructed in the course of the proof. The idea is that an e n (X/A) can be represented by a chain α in X with ∂α a cycle in A element x ∈ H e n−1 (A) . whose homology class is ∂x ∈ H Pairs of spaces (X, A) satisfying the hypothesis of the theorem will be called good pairs. For example, if X is a CW complex and A is a nonempty subcomplex, then (X, A) is a good pair by Proposition A.5 in the Appendix.

Corollary 2.14. Proof:

e n (S n ) ≈ Z and H e i (S n ) = 0 for i ≠ n . H

e i (D n ) in the For n > 0 take (X, A) = (D n , S n−1 ) so X/A = S n . The terms H

long exact sequence for this pair are zero since D n is contractible. Exactness of the ∂ e i−1 (S n−1 ) are isomorphisms for e i (S n ) --→ H sequence then implies that the maps H n e 0 (S ) = 0 . The result now follows by induction on n , starting with i > 0 and that H the case of S 0 where the result holds by Propositions 2.6 and 2.8.

u t

As an application of this calculation we have the following classical theorem of Brouwer, the 2 dimensional case of which was proved in §1.1.

Corollary 2.15.

∂D n is not a retract of D n . Hence every map f : D n →D n has a

fixed point.

Proof: If r : Dn →∂Dn

is a retraction, then r i = 11 for i : ∂D n →D n the inclusion map. e n−1 (∂D n ) ----i-→ The composition H -∗ He n−1 (Dn ) ----r-→ -∗ He n−1 (∂Dn ) is then the identity map

Simplicial and Singular Homology

Section 2.1

115

e n−1 (∂D n ) ≈ Z . But i∗ and r∗ are both 0 since H e n−1 (D n ) = 0 , and we have a on H contradiction. The statement about fixed points follows as in Theorem 1.9.

u t

The derivation of the exact sequence of homology groups for a good pair (X, A) will be rather a long story. We will in fact derive a more general exact sequence which holds for arbitrary pairs (X, A) , but with the homology groups of the quotient space X/A replaced by relative homology groups, denoted Hn (X, A) . These turn out to be quite useful for many other purposes as well.

Relative Homology Groups It sometimes happens that by ignoring a certain amount of data or structure one obtains a simpler, more flexible theory which, almost paradoxically, can give results not readily obtainable in the original setting. A familiar instance of this is arithmetic mod n , where one ignores multiples of n . Relative homology is another example. In this case what one ignores is all singular chains in a subspace of the given space. Relative homology groups are defined in the following way. Given a space X and a subspace A ⊂ X , let Cn (X, A) be the quotient group Cn (X)/Cn (A) . Thus chains in

A are trivial in Cn (X, A) . Since the boundary map ∂ : Cn (X)→Cn−1 (X) takes Cn (A)

to Cn−1 (A) , it induces a quotient boundary map ∂ : Cn (X, A)→Cn−1 (X, A) . Letting n vary, we have a sequence of boundary maps ···

→ - Cn (X, A) -----∂→ - Cn−1 (X, A) → - ···

The relation ∂ 2 = 0 holds for these boundary maps since it holds before passing to quotient groups. So we have a chain complex, and the homology groups Ker ∂/ Im ∂ of this chain complex are by definition the relative homology groups Hn (X, A) . By considering the definition of the relative boundary map we see: Elements of Hn (X, A) are represented by relative cycles: n chains α ∈ Cn (X) such that ∂α ∈ Cn−1 (A) . A relative cycle α is trivial in Hn (X, A) iff it is a relative boundary: α = ∂β + γ for some β ∈ Cn+1 (X) and γ ∈ Cn (A) . These properties make precise the intuitive idea that Hn (X, A) is ‘homology of X modulo A .’ The quotient Cn (X)/Cn (A) could also be viewed as a subgroup of Cn (X) , the

subgroup with basis the singular n simplices σ : ∆n →X whose image is not contained in A . However, the boundary map does not take this subgroup of Cn (X) to the corresponding subgroup of Cn−1 (X) , so it is usually better to regard Cn (X, A) as a quotient rather than a subgroup of Cn (X) . Our goal now is to show that the relative homology groups Hn (X, A) for any pair (X, A) fit into a long exact sequence ···

→ - Hn (A) → - Hn (X) → - Hn (X, A) → - Hn−1 (A) → - Hn−1 (X) → - ··· ··· → - H0 (X, A) → - 0

116

Chapter 2

Homology

This will be entirely a matter of algebra. To start the process, consider the diagram j

i

∂

− − − − − →

− − − − − − → Cn ( X ) − − − − − − → Cn ( X, A ) − − − − − − →0 − − − − − →

− − − − − →

0− − − − − − → Cn ( A )

∂

∂

j

0− − − − − − → Cn - 1( A ) − − − − − − → Cn - 1( X ) − − − − − − → Cn - 1( X, A ) − − − − − − →0 i

where i is inclusion and j is the quotient map. The diagram is commutative by the definition of the boundary maps. Letting n vary, and drawing these short exact sequences vertically rather than horizontally, we

0

columns are exact and the rows are chain complexes which we denote A , B , and C . Such a diagram is called a short exact sequence of chain com-

0

− → − − − → − − − → − →

pass to homology groups, this short

the form shown at the right, where the

0

− → − − − → − − − → − →

− → − − − → − − − → − →

0

plexes. We will show that when we

have a large commutative diagram of

∂ ∂ ... − − − − − − − → A n +1 − − − − − − − →An − − − − − − − → An - 1− − − − − − − → ... i

i

i

... − − − − − − − → Bn + 1 − − − − − − − → Bn − − − − − − − → Bn - 1 − − − − − − − → ... j

∂

∂

j

j

∂ ∂ ... − − − − − − − → Cn + 1 − − − − − − − → Cn − − − − − − − → Cn - 1 − − − − − − − → ...

0

0

exact sequence of chain complexes stretches out into a long exact sequence of homology groups ···

i ∂ Hn−1 (A) -----→ → - Hn (A) ----i-→ - Hn (B) -----→ - Hn (C) --→ - Hn−1 (B) → - ··· ∗

j∗

∗

where Hn (A) denotes the homology group Ker ∂/ Im ∂ at An in the chain complex A , and Hn (B) and Hn (C) are defined similarly. The commutativity of the squares in the short exact sequence of chain complexes means that i and j are chain maps. These therefore induce maps i∗ and j∗ on

homology. To define the boundary map ∂ : Hn (C)→Hn−1 (A) , let c ∈ Cn be a cycle. a Since j is onto, c = j(b) for some b ∈ Bn . The element ∂b ∈ Bn−1

− − − → − − − →

-

is in Ker j since j(∂b) = ∂j(b) = ∂c = 0 . So ∂b = i(a) for some ∂i(a) = ∂∂b = 0 and i is injective. We define ∂ : Hn (C)→Hn−1 (A) by sending the homology class of c to the homology class of a , ∂[c] = [a] . This is well-defined since:

-

b− − − →∂b

-

i

Bn − Bn - 1 − → ∂

− − − → − − − →

a ∈ An−1 since Ker j = Im i . Note that ∂a = 0 since i(∂a) =

An - 1

c

j

Cn

The element a is uniquely determined by ∂b since i is injective. A different choice b0 for b would have j(b0 ) = j(b) , so b0 − b is in Ker j = Im i . Thus b0 − b = i(a0 ) for some a0 , hence b0 = b + i(a0 ) . The effect of replacing b by b + i(a0 ) is to change a to the homologous element a + ∂a0 since i(a + ∂a0 ) = i(a) + i(∂a0 ) = ∂b + ∂i(a0 ) = ∂(b + i(a0 )) . A different choice of c within its homology class would have the form c + ∂c 0 . Since c 0 = j(b0 ) for some b0 , we then have c + ∂c 0 = c + ∂j(b0 ) = c + j(∂b0 ) = j(b + ∂b0 ) , so b is replaced by b + ∂b0 , which leaves ∂b and therefore also a unchanged.

Simplicial and Singular Homology

Section 2.1

117

The map ∂ : Hn (C)→Hn−1 (A) is a homomorphism since if ∂[c1 ] = [a1 ] and ∂[c2 ] = [a2 ] via elements b1 and b2 as above, then j(b1 + b2 ) = j(b1 ) + j(b2 ) = c1 + c2 and i(a1 + a2 ) = i(a1 ) + i(a2 ) = ∂b1 + ∂b2 = ∂(b1 + b2 ) , so ∂([c1 ] + [c2 ]) = [a1 ] + [a2 ] .

Theorem 2.16. The sequence of homology groups j i ∂ Hn−1 (A) -----→ ··· → - Hn (A) ----i-→ - Hn (B) -----→ - Hn (C) --→ - Hn−1 (B) → - ··· ∗

∗

∗

is exact.

Proof:

There are six things to verify:

Im i∗ ⊂ Ker j∗ . This is immediate since ji = 0 implies j∗ i∗ = 0 . Im j∗ ⊂ Ker ∂ . We have ∂j∗ = 0 since in this case ∂b = 0 in the definition of ∂ . Im ∂ ⊂ Ker i∗ . Here i∗ ∂ = 0 since i∗ ∂ takes [c] to [∂b] = 0 . Ker j∗ ⊂ Im i∗ . A homology class in Ker j∗ is represented by a cycle b ∈ Bn with

j(b) a boundary, so j(b) = ∂c 0 for some c 0 ∈ Cn+1 . Since j is surjective, c 0 = j(b0 )

for some b0 ∈ Bn+1 . We have j(b − ∂b0 ) = j(b) − j(∂b0 ) = j(b) − ∂j(b0 ) = 0 since

∂j(b0 ) = ∂c 0 = j(b) . So b − ∂b0 = i(a) for some a ∈ An . This a is a cycle since

i(∂a) = ∂i(a) = ∂(b − ∂b0 ) = ∂b = 0 and i is injective. Thus i∗ [a] = [b − ∂b0 ] = [b] , showing that i∗ maps onto Ker j∗ . Ker ∂ ⊂ Im j∗ . In the notation used in the definition of ∂ , if c represents a homology

class in Ker ∂ , then a = ∂a0 for some a0 ∈ An . The element b − i(a0 ) is a cycle

since ∂(b − i(a0 )) = ∂b − ∂i(a0 ) = ∂b − i(∂a0 ) = ∂b − i(a) = 0 . And j(b − i(a0 )) = j(b) − ji(a0 ) = j(b) = c , so j∗ maps [b − i(a0 )] to [c] .

Ker i∗ ⊂ Im ∂ . Given a cycle a ∈ An−1 such that i(a) = ∂b for some b ∈ Bn , then j(b) is a cycle since ∂j(b) = j(∂b) = ji(a) = 0 , and ∂ takes [j(b)] to [a] .

u t

This theorem represents the beginnings of the subject of homological algebra. The method of proof is sometimes called diagram chasing. Returning to topology, the preceding algebraic theorem yields a long exact sequence of homology groups: i ∂ Hn−1 (A) -----→ → - Hn (A) ----i-→ - Hn (X) -----→ - Hn (X, A) --→ - Hn−1 (X) → - ··· ··· → - H0 (X, A) → - 0 The boundary map ∂ : Hn (X, A)→Hn−1 (A) has a very simple description: If a class

···

∗

j∗

∗

[α] ∈ Hn (X, A) is represented by a relative cycle α , then ∂[α] is the class of the cycle ∂α in Hn−1 (A) . This is immediate from the algebraic definition of the boundary homomorphism in the long exact sequence of homology groups associated to a short exact sequence of chain complexes. This long exact sequence makes precise the idea that the groups Hn (X, A) measure the difference between the groups Hn (X) and Hn (A) . In particular, exactness

118

Chapter 2

Homology

implies that if Hn (X, A) = 0 for all n , then the inclusion A>X induces isomorphisms

Hn (A) ≈ Hn (X) for all n , by the remark (iii) following the definition of exactness. The converse is also true according to an exercise at the end of this section. There is a completely analogous long exact sequence of reduced homology groups for a pair (X, A) with A ≠ ∅ . This comes from applying the preceding algebraic machinery to the short exact sequence of chain complexes formed by the short exact sequences 0→Cn (A)→Cn (X)→Cn (X, A)→0 in nonnegative dimensions, augmented

by the short exact sequence 0 → - Z --→ Z → - 0→ - 0 in dimension −1 . In particular e n (X, A) is the same as Hn (X, A) for all n , when A ≠ ∅ . this means that H 11

Example 2.17.

In the long exact sequence of reduced homology groups for the pair ∂ e i−1 (S n−1 ) are isomorphisms for all i > 0 (D n , ∂D n ) , the maps Hi (D n , ∂D n ) --→ H e i (D n ) are zero for all i . Thus we obtain the calculation since the remaining terms H  Z for i = n Hi (D n , ∂D n ) ≈ 0 otherwise

Example 2.18.

Applying the long exact sequence of reduced homology groups to a e n (X) for all n since pair (X, x0 ) with x0 ∈ X yields isomorphisms Hn (X, x0 ) ≈ H e n (x0 ) = 0 for all n . H There are induced homomorphisms for relative homology just as there are in the nonrelative, or ‘absolute,’ case. A map f : X →Y with f (A) ⊂ B , or more concisely

f : (X, A)→(Y , B) , induces homomorphisms f] : Cn (X, A)→Cn (Y , B) since the chain

map f] : Cn (X)→Cn (Y ) takes Cn (A) to Cn (B) , so we get a well-defined map on quotients, f] : Cn (X, A)→Cn (Y , B) . The relation f] ∂ = ∂f] holds for relative chains since

it holds for absolute chains. By Proposition 2.9 we then have induced homomorphisms f∗ : Hn (X, A)→Hn (Y , B) .

Proposition 2.19.

If two maps f , g : (X, A)→(Y , B) are homotopic through maps of

pairs (X, A)→(Y , B) , then f∗ = g∗ : Hn (X, A)→Hn (Y , B) .

Proof: The prism operator P

from the proof of Theorem 2.10 takes Cn (A) to Cn+1 (B) ,

hence induces a relative prism operator P : Cn (X, A)→Cn+1 (Y , B) . Since we are just passing to quotient groups, the formula ∂P + P ∂ = g] − f] remains valid. Thus the maps f] and g] on relative chain groups are chain homotopic, and hence they induce the same homomorphism on relative homology groups.

u t

An easy generalization of the long exact sequence of a pair (X, A) is the long exact sequence of a triple (X, A, B) , where B ⊂ A ⊂ X : ···

→ - Hn (A, B) → - Hn (X, B) → - Hn (X, A) → - Hn−1 (A, B) → - ···

This is the long exact sequence of homology groups associated to the short exact sequence of chain complexes formed by the short exact sequences 0

→ - Cn (A, B) → - Cn (X, B) → - Cn (X, A) → - 0

Simplicial and Singular Homology

Section 2.1

119

For example, taking B to be a point, the long exact sequence of the triple (X, A, B) becomes the long exact sequence of reduced homology for the pair (X, A) .

Excision A fundamental property of relative homology groups is given by the following Excision Theorem, describing when the relative groups Hn (X, A) are unaffected by deleting, or excising, a subset Z ⊂ A .

Theorem 2.20.

Given subspaces Z ⊂ A ⊂ X such that the closure of Z is contained

in the interior of A , then the inclusion (X − Z, A − Z)

> (X, A)

induces isomor-

phisms Hn (X − Z, A − Z)→Hn (X, A) for all n . Equivalently, for subspaces A, B ⊂ X

whose interiors cover X , the inclusion (B, A ∩ B) > (X, A) induces isomorphisms Hn (B, A ∩ B)→Hn (X, A) for all n .

The translation between the two versions is obtained by setting B = X − Z and Z = X − B . Then A ∩ B = A − Z and the condition cl Z ⊂ int A is equivalent to X = int A ∪ int B since X − int B = cl Z .

Z

A

X

The proof of the excision theorem will involve a rather lengthy technical detour involving a construction known as barycentric subdivision, which allows homology groups to be computed using small singular simplices. In a metric space ‘smallness’ can be defined in terms of diameters, but for general spaces it will be defined in terms of covers. For a space X , let U = {Uj } be a collection of subspaces of X whose interiors

form an open cover of X , and let CnU (X) be the subgroup of Cn (X) consisting of P chains i ni σi such that each σi has image contained in some set in the cover U . The

U (X) , so the groups CnU (X) boundary map ∂ : Cn (X)→Cn−1 (X) takes CnU (X) to Cn−1

form a chain complex. We denote the homology groups of this chain complex by HnU (X) .

Proposition

2.21. The inclusion ι : CnU (X)

> Cn (X)

is a chain homotopy equiva-

lence, that is, there is a chain map ρ : Cn (X)→CnU (X) such that ιρ and ρι are chain homotopic to the identity. Hence ι induces isomorphisms HnU (X) ≈ Hn (X) for all n .

Proof: The barycentric subdivision process will be performed at four levels, beginning with the most geometric and becoming increasingly algebraic.

(1) Barycentric Subdivision of Simplices. The points of a simplex [v0 , ··· , vn ] are the P P linear combinations i ti vi with i ti = 1 and ti ≥ 0 for each i . The barycenter or P ‘center of gravity’ of the simplex [v0 , ··· , vn ] is the point b = i ti vi whose barycentric coordinates ti are all equal, namely ti = 1/(n + 1) for each i . The barycentric subdivision of [v0 , ··· , vn ] is the decomposition of [v0 , ··· , vn ] into the n simplices [b, w0 , ··· , wn−1 ] where, inductively, [w0 , ··· , wn−1 ] is an (n − 1) simplex in the

120

Chapter 2

Homology

bi , ··· , vn ] . The induction starts with the barycentric subdivision of a face [v0 , ··· , v case n = 0 when the barycentric subdivision of [v0 ] is defined to be just [v0 ] itself. The next two cases n = 1, 2 and part of the case n = 3 are shown

v0

b v2

in the figure. It follows from the inductive definition that the vertric subdivision of [v0 , ··· , vn ] are exactly the barycenters of all

b

v3

b

tices of simplices in the barycen-

v2

v1

v1

v0

v1

v0

the k dimensional faces [vi0 , ··· , vik ] of [v0 , ··· , vn ] for 0 ≤ k ≤ n . When k = 0 this gives the original vertices vi since the barycenter of a 0 simplex is itself. The barycenter of [vi0 , ··· , vik ] has barycentric coordinates ti = 1/(k + 1) for i = i0 , ··· , ik and ti = 0 otherwise. The n simplices of the barycentric subdivision of ∆n , together with all their faces, do in fact form a ∆ complex structure on ∆n , indeed a simplicial complex structure, though we shall not need to know this in what follows. A fact we will need is that the diameter of each simplex of the barycentric subdivision of [v0 , ··· , vn ] is at most n/(n+1) times the diameter of [v0 , ··· , vn ] . Here the diameter of a simplex is by definition the maximum distance between any two of its points, and we are using the metric from the ambient Euclidean space Rm containing [v0 , ··· , vn ] . The diameter of a simplex equals the maximum distance between any P of its vertices because the distance between two points v and i ti vi of [v0 , ··· , vn ] satisfies the inequality v − P t v = P t (v − v ) ≤ P t |v − v | ≤ P t max |v − v | = max |v − v | i i i i i i i i i i i i i To obtain the bound n/(n + 1) on the ratio of diameters, we therefore need to verify that the distance between any two vertices wj and wk of a simplex [w0 , ··· , wn ] of the barycentric subdivision of [v0 , ··· , vn ] is at most n/(n+1) times the diameter of [v0 , ··· , vn ] . If neither wi nor wj is the barycenter b of [v0 , ··· , vn ] , then these two points lie in a proper face of [v0 , ··· , vn ] and we are done by induction on n . So we may suppose wj , say, is the barycenter b , and then by the previous displayed inequalbi , ··· , vn ] , ity we may take wk to be a vertex vi . Let bi be the barycenter of [v0 , ··· , v with all barycentric coordinates equal to 1/n except for ti = 0 . Then we have b =

1 n+1

vi +

n n+1

bi . The

sum of the two coefficients is 1 , so b lies on the line segment [vi , bi ] from vi to bi , and the distance from

b

bi

vi

b to vi is n/(n + 1) times the length of [vi , bi ] . Hence the distance from b to vi is bounded by n/(n + 1) times the diameter of [v0 , ··· , vn ] . The significance of the factor n/(n+1) is that by repeated barycentric subdivision
r approaches

we can produce simplices of arbitrarily small diameter since n/(n+1)

Simplicial and Singular Homology

Section 2.1

121

0 as r goes to infinity. It is important that the bound n/(n + 1) does not depend on the shape of the simplex since repeated barycentric subdivision produces simplices of many different shapes.

(2) Barycentric Subdivision of Linear Chains. The main part of the proof will be to construct a subdivision operator S : Cn (X)→Cn (X) and show this is chain homotopic to the identity map. First we will construct S and the chain homotopy in a more restricted linear setting. For a convex set Y in some Euclidean space, the linear maps ∆n →Y generate a subgroup of Cn (Y ) that we denote LCn (Y ) , the linear chains. The boundary map ∂ : Cn (Y )→Cn−1 (Y ) takes LCn (Y ) to LCn−1 (Y ) , so the linear chains form a subcom-

plex of the singular chain complex of Y . We can uniquely designate a linear map

λ : ∆n →Y by [w0 , ··· , wn ] where wi is the image under λ of the i th vertex of ∆n . To avoid having to make exceptions for 0 simplices it will be convenient to augment the complex LC(Y ) by setting LC−1 (Y ) = Z generated by the empty simplex [∅] , with ∂[w0 ] = [∅] for all 0 simplices [w0 ] .

Each point b ∈ Y determines a homomorphism b : LCn (Y )→LCn+1 (Y ) defined

on basis elements by b([w0 , ··· , wn ]) = [b, w0 , ··· , wn ] . Geometrically, the homomorphism b can be regarded as a cone operator, sending a linear chain to the cone having the linear chain as the base of the cone and the point b as the tip of the cone. Applying the usual formula for ∂ , we obtain the relation ∂b([w0 , ··· , wn ]) = [w0 , ··· , wn ] − b(∂[w0 , ··· , wn ]) . By linearity it follows that ∂b(α) = α − b(∂α) for all α ∈ LCn (Y ) . This expresses algebraically the geometric fact that the boundary of a cone consists of its base together with the cone on the boundary of its base. The relation ∂b(α) = α−b(∂α) can be rewritten as ∂b +b∂ = 11 , so b is a chain homotopy between the identity map and the zero map on the augmented chain complex LC(Y ) . Now we define a subdivision homomorphism S : LCn (Y )→LCn (Y ) by induction

on n . Let λ : ∆n →Y be a generator of LCn (Y ) and let bλ be the image of the barycenter of ∆n under λ . Then the inductive formula for S is S(λ) = bλ (S∂λ)

where bλ : LCn−1 (Y )→LCn (Y ) is the cone operator defined in the preceding paragraph. The induction starts with S([∅]) = [∅] , so S is the identity on LC−1 (Y ) . It is also the identity on LC0 (Y ) , since when n = 0 the formula for S becomes S([w0 ]) = w0 (S∂[w0 ]) = w0 (S([∅])) = w0 ([∅]) = [w0 ] . When λ is an embedding, with image a genuine n simplex [w0 , ··· , wn ] , then S(λ) is the sum of the n simplices in the barycentric subdivision of [w0 , ··· , wn ] , with certain signs that could be computed explicitly. This is apparent by comparing the inductive definition of S with the inductive definition of the barycentric subdivision of a simplex. Let us check that the maps S satisfy ∂S = S∂ , and hence give a chain map from the chain complex LC(Y ) to itself. Since S = 11 on LC0 (Y ) and LC−1 (Y ) , we certainly have ∂S = S∂ on LC0 (Y ) . The result for larger n is given by the following calculation, in which we omit some parentheses to unclutter the formulas:

122

Chapter 2

Homology
∂Sλ = ∂ bλ (S∂λ) = S∂λ − bλ (∂S∂λ)

since ∂bλ + bλ ∂ = 11

= S∂λ − bλ (S∂∂λ)

by induction on n

= S∂λ

since ∂∂ = 0

We next build a chain homotopy T : LCn (Y )→LCn+1 (Y ) between S and the identity, fitting into a diagram

−−−→ −−−− T

S 11

−−−→ −−−−

S

T

0

− − − − − →

−−−→ −−−− T

− − − − − →

S

− − − − − →

− − − − − →

... − − − − − − − → LC 2 ( Y ) − − − − − − − →LC 1 ( Y ) − − − − − − − → LC 0 ( Y ) − − − − − − − →LC - 1 ( Y ) − − − − − − − →0 S 11

... − − − − − − − → LC 2 ( Y ) − − − − − − − →LC 1 ( Y ) − − − − − − − → LC 0 ( Y ) − − − − − − − →LC - 1 ( Y ) − − − − − − − →0 We define T on LCn (Y ) inductively by setting T = 0 for n = −1 and letting T λ = bλ (λ − T ∂λ) for n ≥ 0 . The geometric motivation for this formula is an inductively defined subdivision of ∆n × I obtained by joining all simplices in ∆n × {0} ∪ ∂∆n × I to the barycenter of ∆n × {1} , as indicated in the figure in the case n = 2 . What T actually does is take the image of this subdivision under the projection ∆n × I →∆n . The chain homotopy formula ∂T + T ∂ = 11 − S is trivial on LC−1 (Y ) where T = 0 and S = 11 . Verifying the formula on LCn (Y ) with n ≥ 0 is done by the calculation
∂T λ = ∂ bλ (λ − T ∂λ)
since ∂bλ = 11 − bλ ∂ = λ − T ∂λ − bλ ∂(λ − T ∂λ) = λ − T ∂λ − bλ (S∂λ + T ∂∂λ) = λ − T ∂λ − Sλ

by induction on n

since ∂∂ = 0 and Sλ = bλ (S∂λ)

Now we are done with inductive arguments and we can discard the group LC−1 (Y ) which was used only as a convenience. The relation ∂T +T ∂ = 11−S still holds without LC−1 (Y ) since T was zero on LC−1 (Y ) .

(3) Barycentric Subdivision of General Chains. Define S : Cn (X)→Cn (X) by setting

Sσ = σ] S∆n for a singular n simplex σ : ∆n →X . Since S∆n is the sum of the

n simplices in the barycentric subdivision of ∆n , with certain signs, Sσ is the corresponding signed sum of the restrictions of σ to the n simplices of the barycentric subdivision of ∆n . The operator S is a chain map since ∂Sσ = ∂σ] S∆n = σ] ∂S∆n = σ] S∂∆n
P th = σ] S i (−1)i ∆n face of ∆n where ∆n i i is the i P = i (−1)i σ] S∆n i P i = i (−1) S(σ ||∆n i )
P i = S i (−1) σ ||∆n i = S(∂σ )

Simplicial and Singular Homology

Section 2.1

123

In similar fashion we define T : Cn (X)→Cn+1 (X) by T σ = σ] T ∆n , and this gives a chain homotopy between S and the identity, since the formula ∂T + T ∂ = 11 − S holds by the calculation ∂T σ = ∂σ] T ∆n = σ] ∂T ∆n = σ] (∆n − S∆n − T ∂∆n ) = σ − Sσ − σ] T ∂∆n = σ − Sσ − T (∂σ ) where the last equality follows just as in the previous displayed calculation, with S replaced by T .

(4) Iterated Barycentric Subdivision. A chain homotopy between 11 and the iterate S m P is given by the operator Dm = 0≤i<m T S i since X X

∂T S i + T S i ∂ = ∂T S i + T ∂S i = ∂Dm + Dm ∂ = X

0≤i<m


∂T + T ∂ S i =

0≤i<m

X 0≤i<m n

For each singular n simplex σ : ∆




0≤i<m i

11 − S S =

→X

X


S i − S i+1 = 11 − S m

0≤i<m

there exists an m such that S m (σ ) lies in

CnU (X) since the diameter of the simplices of S m (∆n ) will be less than a Lebesgue number of the cover of ∆n by the open sets σ −1 (int Uj ) if m is large enough. (Recall

that a Lebesgue number for an open cover of a compact metric space is a number ε > 0 such that every set of diameter less than ε lies in some set of the cover; such a number exists by an elementary compactness argument.) We cannot expect the same number m to work for all σ ’s, so let us define m(σ ) to be the smallest m such that S m σ is in CnU (X) .

Suppose we define D : Cn (X)→Cn+1 (X) by Dσ = Dm(σ ) σ . To see whether D is

a chain homotopy, we manipulate the chain homotopy equation ∂Dm(σ ) σ + Dm(σ ) ∂σ = σ − S m(σ ) σ into an equation whose left side is ∂Dσ + D∂σ by moving the second term on the left side to the other side of the equation and adding D∂σ to both sides:   ∂Dσ + D∂σ = σ − S m(σ ) σ + Dm(σ ) (∂σ ) − D(∂σ ) If we define ρ(σ ) to be the expression in brackets in this last equation, then this equation has the form (∗)

∂Dσ + D∂σ = σ − ρ(σ )

We claim that ρ(σ ) ∈ CnU (X) . This is obvious for the term S m(σ ) σ . For the remaining part Dm(σ ) (∂σ ) − D(∂σ ) , note first that if σj denotes the restriction of σ to the j th face of ∆n , then m(σj ) ≤ m(σ ) , so every term T S i (σj ) in D(∂σ ) will be a term in Dm(σ ) (∂σ ) . Thus Dm(σ ) (∂σ ) − D(∂σ ) is a sum of terms T S i (σj ) with i ≥ m(σj ) ,

U (X) to CnU (X) and these terms lie in CnU (X) since T takes Cn−1

We can thus regard the equation (∗) as defining ρ : Cn (X)→CnU (X) . For varying

n these ρ ’s form a chain map since (∗) implies ∂ρ(σ ) = ∂σ − ∂D∂(σ ) = ρ(∂σ ) .

Chapter 2

124

Homology

The equation (∗) says that ∂D + D∂ = 11 − ιρ for ι : CnU (X) > Cn (X) the inclusion.

Furthermore, ρι = 11 since D is identically zero on CnU (X) , as m(σ ) = 0 if σ is in

CnU (X) , hence the summation defining Dσ is empty. Thus we have shown that ρ is a u t

chain homotopy inverse for ι .

Proof

of the Excision Theorem: We prove the second version, involving a decom-

position X = A ∪ B . For the cover U = {A, B} we introduce the suggestive notation

Cn (A + B) for CnU (X) , the sums of chains in A and chains in B . At the end of the preceding proof we had formulas ∂D + D∂ = 11 − ιρ and ρι = 11 . All the maps appearing in these formulas take chains in A to chains in A , so they induce quotient maps when we factor out chains in A . These quotient maps automatically satisfy the same two formulas, so the inclusion Cn (A + B)/Cn (A) > Cn (X)/Cn (A) induces an

isomorphism on homology. The map Cn (B)/Cn (A ∩ B)→Cn (A + B)/Cn (A) induced by inclusion is obviously an isomorphism since both quotient groups are free with basis the singular n simplices in B that do not lie in A . Hence we obtain the desired isomorphism Hn (B, A ∩ B) ≈ Hn (X, A) induced by inclusion.

u t

All that remains in the proof of Theorem 2.13 is to replace relative homology groups with absolute homology groups. This is achieved by the following result. For good pairs (X, A) , the quotient map q : (X, A)→(X/A, A/A) e n (X/A) for all n . induces isomorphisms q∗ : Hn (X, A)→Hn (X/A, A/A) ≈ H

Proposition 2.22.

Proof:

Let V be a neighborhood of A in X that deformation retracts onto A . We

have a commutative diagram

Hn ( X/A , A/A )

q∗

→−−−−−−− Hn ( X - A , V - A ) − − − →

q∗

− − − →

− − − →

Hn ( X, A ) − −−−−−−→ Hn ( X, V )

q∗

− − − − − → Hn ( X/A , V/A ) → − − − − − Hn ( X/A - A/A, V/A - A/A )

The upper left horizontal map is an isomorphism since in the long exact sequence of the triple (X, V , A) the groups Hn (V , A) are zero for all n , because a deformation retraction of V onto A gives a homotopy equivalence of pairs (V , A) ' (A, A) , and Hn (A, A) = 0 . The deformation retraction of V onto A induces a deformation retraction of V /A onto A/A , so the same argument shows that the lower left horizontal map is an isomorphism as well. The other two horizontal maps are isomorphisms directly from excision. The right-hand vertical map q∗ is an isomorphism since q restricts to a homeomorphism on the complement of A . From the commutativity of the diagram it follows that the left-hand q∗ is an isomorphism.

u t

This proposition shows that relative homology can be expressed as reduced absolute homology in the case of good pairs (X, A) , but in fact there is a way of doing this for arbitrary pairs. Consider the space X ∪ CA where CA is the cone (A× I)/(A× {0})

Simplicial and Singular Homology

Section 2.1

whose base A× {1} we identify with A ⊂ X . Using terminology

p

introduced in Chapter 0, X ∪CA can also be described as the map-

ping cone of the inclusion A > X . The assertion is that Hn (X, A) e n (X ∪ CA) for all n via the sequence of isois isomorphic to H

125

CA X

A

morphisms e n (X ∪ CA) ≈ Hn (X ∪ CA, CA) ≈ Hn (X ∪ CA − {p}, CA − {p}) ≈ Hn (X, A) H where p ∈ CA is the tip of the cone. The first isomorphism comes from the exact sequence of the pair, using the fact that CA is contractible. The second isomorphism is excision, and the third isomorphism comes from the deformation retraction of CA − {p} onto A . Here is an application of the preceding proposition:

Example

2.23.

Let us find explicit cycles representing generators of the infinite e n (S n ) . Replacing (D n , ∂D n ) by the equivalent pair cyclic groups Hn (D n , ∂D n ) and H

(∆n , ∂∆n ) , we will show by induction on n that the identity map in : ∆n →∆n , viewed

as a singular n simplex, is a cycle generating Hn (∆n , ∂∆n ) . That it is a cycle is clear since we are considering relative homology. When n = 0 it certainly represents a

generator. For the induction step, let Λ ⊂ ∆n be the union of all but one of the (n − 1) dimensional faces of ∆n . Then we claim there are isomorphisms Hn (∆n , ∂∆n )

----≈-→ - Hn−1 (∂∆n , Λ) ←-≈-----

Hn−1 (∆n−1 , ∂∆n−1 )

The first isomorphism is a boundary map in the long exact sequence of the triple (∆n , ∂∆n , Λ) , whose third terms Hi (∆n , Λ) are zero since ∆n deformation retracts onto Λ , hence (∆n , Λ) ' (Λ, Λ) . The second isomorphism comes from the preceding proposition since we are dealing with good pairs and the inclusion ∆n−1

> ∂∆n

n−1

the face not contained in Λ induces a homeomorphism of quotients ∆

n−1

/∂∆

as ≈

∂∆n /Λ . The induction step then follows since the cycle in is sent under the first isomorphism to the cycle ∂in which equals ±in−1 in Cn−1 (∂∆n , Λ) . e n (S n ) let us regard S n as two n simplices ∆n To find a cycle generating H 1 and ∆n 2 with their boundaries identified in the obvious way, preserving the ordering of n vertices. The difference ∆n 1 − ∆2 , viewed as a singular n chain, is then a cycle, and we e n (S n ) , assuming n > 0 so that the latter group is claim it represents a generator of H

infinite cyclic. To see this, consider the isomorphisms e n (S n ) H

----≈-→ - Hn (S n , ∆n2 ) ←-≈-----

n Hn (∆n 1 , ∂∆1 )

where the first isomorphism comes from the long exact sequence of the pair (S n , ∆n 2) and the second isomorphism is justified by passing to quotients as before. Under n n these isomorphisms the cycle ∆n 1 − ∆2 in the first group corresponds to the cycle ∆1

in the third group, which represents a generator of this group as we have seen, so n n e ∆n 1 − ∆2 represents a generator of Hn (S ) .

Chapter 2

126

Homology

The preceding proposition implies that the excision property holds also for subcomplexes of CW complexes:

Corollary 2.24.

If the CW complex X is the union of subcomplexes A and B , then

the inclusion (B, A ∩ B) > (X, A) induces isomorphisms Hn (B, A ∩ B)→Hn (X, A) for all n .

Proof:

Since CW pairs are good, Proposition 2.22 allows us to pass to the quotient

spaces B/(A ∩ B) and X/A which are homeomorphic, assuming we are not in the trivial case A ∩ B = ∅ .

u t

Here is another application of the preceding proposition: W W For a wedge sum α Xα , the inclusions iα : Xα > α Xα induce an isoL W e e α iα∗ : α Hn (Xα )→Hn ( α Xα ) , provided that the wedge sum is formed

Corollary L 2.25.

morphism

at basepoints xα ∈ Xα such that the pairs (Xα , xα ) are good.

Proof:

Since reduced homology is the same as homology relative to a basepoint, this ` ` u t follows from the proposition by taking (X, A) = ( α Xα , α {xα }) . Here is an application of the machinery we have developed, a classical result of Brouwer from around 1910 known as ‘invariance of dimension,’ which says in particular that Rm is not homeomorphic to Rn if m ≠ n .

Theorem 2.26.

If nonempty open sets U ⊂ Rm and V ⊂ Rn are homeomorphic,

then m = n .

Proof:

For x ∈ U we have Hk (U , U − {x}) ≈ Hk (Rm , Rm − {x}) by excision. From

the long exact sequence for the pair (Rm , Rm − {x}) we get Hk (Rm , Rm − {x}) ≈ e k−1 (Rm − {x}) . Since Rm − {x} deformation retracts onto a sphere S m−1 , we conH clude that Hk (U, U − {x}) is Z for k = m and 0 otherwise. By the same reasoning, Hk (V , V − {y}) is Z for k = n and 0 otherwise. Since a homeomorphism h : U →V

induces isomorphisms Hk (U, U − {x})→Hk (V , V − {h(x)}) for all k , we must have m = n.

u t

Generalizing the idea of this proof, the local homology groups of a space X at a point x ∈ X are defined to be the groups Hn (X, X − {x}) . For any open neighborhood U of x , excision gives isomorphisms Hn (X, X − {x}) ≈ Hn (U , U − {x}) , so these groups depend only on the local topology of X near x . A homeomorphism f : X →Y must induce isomorphisms Hn (X, X − {x}) ≈ Hn (Y , Y − {f (x)}) for all x

and n , so these local homology groups can be used to tell when spaces are not locally homeomorphic at certain points, as in the preceding proof. The exercises give some further examples of this.

Simplicial and Singular Homology

Section 2.1

127

Naturality The exact sequences we have been constructing have an extra property that will become important later at key points in many arguments, though at first glance this property may seem just an idle technicality, not very interesting. We shall discuss the property now rather than interrupting later arguments to check it when it is needed, but the reader may prefer to postpone a careful reading of this discussion. The property is called naturality. For example, to say that the long exact sequence

of a pair is natural means that for a map f : (X, A)→(Y , B) , the diagram

f∗

i∗

f∗

j∗

− − − →

f∗

− − − →

− − − →

− − − →

i∗ j∗ ∂ ... − − − − − → Hn ( A ) − − − − − → Hn ( X ) − − − − − → Hn ( X, A ) − − − − − → ... − − − − → Hn - 1( A ) − f∗

∂

... − − − − − → Hn ( B ) − − − − − → Hn ( Y ) − − − − − → Hn ( Y, B ) − − − − − → Hn - 1( B ) − − − − − → ... is commutative. Commutativity of the squares involving i∗ and j∗ follows from the obvious commutativity of the corresponding squares of chain groups, with Cn in place of Hn . For the other square, when we defined induced homomorphisms we saw that f] ∂ = ∂f] at the chain level. Then for a class [α] ∈ Hn (X, A) represented by a relative cycle α , we have f∗ ∂[α] = f∗ [∂α] = [f] ∂α] = [∂f] α] = ∂[f] α] = ∂f∗ [α] . Alternatively, we could appeal to the general algebraic fact that the long exact sequence of homology groups associated to a short exact sequence of chain complexes is natural: For a commutative diagram of short exact sequences of chain complexes

− → − − − → − − − − − → − − − − − → −

− − − → − − − − − → − − − − − → − − →

0

− − → − − − − − → − − − − − → − − − →

0

− → − − − − − → − − − − − → − − − →

0

0

− − − → − − − − − → − − − − − → − − →

− − → − − − − − → − − − − − → − − − →

0

0

∂ ∂ 0 0 ... − −−−−− −→ A0n + 1 −−−− −−− − − − − − − → ... α→ A n −−−−−−− α→ A n - 1 − α ∂ ∂ → → → − − − − − − ... ... − −−−0−−−→ A n − −−−−−−−→ A n -− −−−−− −→ − − − − − − →A n +− 1− 1− 0 i

i0

i

∂ i 0 ... − −−−−− −→ Bn + 1 −−−−−−− − − − − − − → ... β → B n −−−−−−− β→ B n - 1 − β → → → ∂ ∂ − − − − − − − − − . . . ... − − − − − − − − − − → B n + 1 −−−−−−−→ B n −−−−−−−→ B n - 1 −−−−−− −→ 0 i

0

j0

i

∂

0

j0

j

∂ j ∂ j j 0 0 ... − −−− −− → Cn0 + 1 −−−− −−− − − − − − − → ... γ− γ → Cn −−−−−−− γ → Cn - 1 − → → → ∂ ∂ − − − − − − −−−−−−−→ Cn -− −−−−−−−→ . . . − −−−−−−→ Cn − ... − − − − − − − → Cn +− − 1− 1−

0

0

0

0

0

0

the induced diagram

β∗

0

γ∗

− − − →

0

− − − →

α∗

− − − →

− − − →

i∗ j∗ ∂ ... − − − − − → Hn - 1( A ) − − − − − → Hn( A ) − − − − − → Hn( B ) − − − − − → Hn(C ) − − − − − → ... α∗

i∗ j∗ ∂ ... − − − − − → Hn( A0 ) − − − − − → Hn( B 0) − − − − − → H n( C 0 ) − − − − − → Hn - 1( A0 ) − − − − − → ...

is commutative. Commutativity of the first two squares is obvious since βi = i0 α 0 β∗ . For the third square, recall implies β∗ i∗ = i0∗ α∗ and γj = j 0 β implies γ∗ j∗ = j∗

that the map ∂ : Hn (C)→Hn−1 (A) was defined by ∂[c] = [a] where c = j(b) and i(a) = ∂b . Then ∂[γ(c)] = [α(a)] since γ(c) = γj(b) = j 0 (β(b)) and i0 (α(a)) =

βi(a) = β∂(b) = ∂β(b) . Hence ∂γ∗ [c] = α∗ [a] = α∗ ∂[c] .

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128

Homology

This algebraic fact also implies naturality of the long exact sequence of a triple and the long exact sequence of reduced homology of a pair. Finally, there is the naturality of the long exact sequence in Theorem 2.13, that is, commutativity of the diagram

∼ − − − − − → Hn ( Y ) i∗

− f

∗

∼ − − − − − → Hn (Y/B ) q∗

− − − − − →

...

∼ − − − − − → Hn ( B )

f∗

− − − − − →

f∗

− − − − − →

− − − − − →

q∗ i∗ ∼ ∼ ∼ ∂ ∼ ... − − − − − → Hn ( A ) − − − − − → Hn ( X ) − − − − − → Hn ( X/A ) − − − − − → ... − − − − → Hn - 1( A ) − f∗

∼ − − − − − → Hn - 1( B ) ∂

− − − − − → ...

where i and q denote inclusions and quotient maps, and f : X/A→Y /B is induced by f . The first two squares commute since f i = if and f q = qf . The third square expands into

∗

∗

− − − − − →

∗

− − − − − →

− − − − − →

− − − − − →

q∗ j∗ ∼ ∂ ∼ Hn ( X/A ) − − − − − → Hn ( X/A , A/A ) → − − − − − Hn ( X, A ) − − − − − → Hn - 1( A ) ≈ ≈− − − f f f f ∗

j∗ q∗ ∂ ∼ ∼ Hn (Y/B ) − − − − − → Hn - 1( B ) − − − − → Hn ( Y/B , B/B ) → − − − − − − Hn ( Y, B ) − ≈ ≈

We have already shown commutativity of the first and third squares, and the second square commutes since f q = qf .

The Equivalence of Simplicial and Singular Homology We can use the preceding results to show that the simplicial and singular homology groups of ∆ complexes are always isomorphic. For the proof it will be convenient to consider the relative case as well, so let X be a ∆ complex with A ⊂ X a subcomplex. Thus A is the ∆ complex formed by any union of simplices of X . Relative groups Hn∆(X, A) can be defined in the same way as for singular homology, via relative chains ∆n (X, A) = ∆n (X)/∆n (A) , and this yields a long exact sequence of simplicial homology groups for the pair (X, A) by the same algebraic argument as for singular homology. There is a canonical homomorphism Hn∆(X, A)→Hn (X, A) induced by the

chain map ∆n (X, A)→Cn (X, A) sending each n simplex of X to its characteristic

map σ : ∆n →X . The possibility A = ∅ is not excluded, in which case the relative groups reduce to absolute groups.

Theorem 2.27.

The homomorphisms Hn∆(X, A)→Hn (X, A) are isomorphisms for

all n and all ∆ complex pairs (X, A) .

Proof:

First we do the case that X is finite-dimensional and A is empty. For X k

the k skeleton of X , consisting of all simplices of dimension k or less, we have a commutative diagram of exact sequences: k

k-1

− − − →

− − − →

− − − →

− − →

)− − − − → Hn∆( X k - 1 ) − − − − → Hn∆ ( X k ) − − − − → Hn∆( X k, X k - 1 ) − − − − → Hn∆ - 1( X k - 1 )

− − − →

Hn∆+ 1( X , X

k k-1 Hn + 1( X , X ) − − − − → Hn ( X k - 1 ) − − − − → Hn( X k ) − − − − → Hn( X k, X k - 1 ) − − − − → Hn - 1( X k - 1 )

Simplicial and Singular Homology

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129

Let us first show that the first and fourth vertical maps are isomorphisms for all n . The simplicial chain group ∆n (X k , X k−1 ) is zero for n ≠ k , and is free abelian with

basis the k simplices of X when n = k . Hence Hn∆(X k , X k−1 ) has exactly the same

description. The corresponding singular homology groups Hn (X k , X k−1 ) can be com` puted by considering the map Φ : α (∆kα , ∂∆kα )→(X k , X k−1 ) formed by the characteristic maps ∆k →X for all the k simplices of X . Since Φ induces a homeomorphism ` ` of quotient spaces α ∆kα / α ∂∆kα ≈ X k /X k−1 , it induces isomorphisms on all singular homology groups. Thus Hn (X k , X k−1 ) is zero for n ≠ k , while for n = k this group is free abelian with basis represented by the relative cycles given by the characteristic maps of all the k simplices of X , in view of the fact that Hk (∆k , ∂∆k ) is

generated by the identity map ∆k →∆k , as we showed in Example 2.23. Therefore the map Hk∆(X k , X k−1 )→Hk (X k , X k−1 ) is an isomorphism.

By induction on k we may assume the second and fifth vertical maps in the preceding diagram are isomorphisms as well. The following frequently quoted basic algebraic lemma will then imply that the middle vertical map is an isomorphism, finishing the proof when X is finite-dimensional and A = ∅ . In a commutative diagram

A− − − − →B

β

0 0 j

γ

0 0 k

δ

`0

− − →

i0

k

− − →

α

0

j

` − − − − →C − − − − →D− − − − →E

− − →

are exact and α , β , δ , and ε are isomorphisms,

i

− − →

of abelian groups as at the right, if the two rows

A− − − − →B

− − →

The Five-Lemma.

ε

− − − − →C − − − − →D − − − − →E 0

0

then γ is an isomorphism also.

Proof:

It suffices to show:

(a) γ is surjective if β and δ are surjective and ε is injective. (b) γ is injective if β and δ are injective and α is surjective. The proofs of these two statements are straightforward diagram chasing. There is really no choice about how the argument can proceed, and it would be a good exercise for the reader to close the book now and reconstruct the proofs without looking. To prove (a), start with an element c 0 ∈ C 0 . Then k0 (c 0 ) = δ(d) for some d ∈ D since δ is surjective. Since ε is injective and ε`(d) = `0 δ(d) = `0 k0 (c 0 ) = 0 , we deduce that `(d) = 0 , hence d = k(c) for some c ∈ C by exactness of the upper row. The difference c 0 − γ(c) maps to 0 under k0 since k0 (c 0 ) − k0 γ(c) = k0 (c) − δk(c) = k0 (c 0 ) − δ(d) = 0 . Therefore c 0 − γ(c) = j 0 (b0 ) for some b0 ∈ B 0 by exactness. Since β is surjective, b0 = β(b) for some b ∈ B , and then γ(c + j(b)) = γ(c) + γj(b) = γ(c) + j 0 β(b) = γ(c) + j 0 (b0 ) = c 0 , showing that γ is surjective. To prove (b), suppose that γ(c) = 0 . Since δ is injective, δk(c) = k0 γ(c) = 0 implies k(c) = 0 , so c = j(b) for some b ∈ B . The element β(b) satisfies j 0 β(b) = γj(b) = γ(c) = 0 , so β(b) = i0 (a0 ) for some a0 ∈ A0 . Since α is surjective, a0 = α(a) for some a ∈ A . Since β is injective, β(i(a) − b) = βi(a) − β(b) = i0 α(a) − β(b) = i0 (a0 )−β(b) = 0 implies i(a)−b = 0 . Thus b = i(a) , and hence c = j(b) = ji(a) = 0 since ji = 0 . This shows γ has trivial kernel.

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Chapter 2

130

Homology

Returning to the proof of the theorem, we next consider the case that X is infinitedimensional, where we will use the following fact: A compact set in X can meet only finitely many open simplices of X , that is, simplices with their proper faces deleted. This is a general fact about CW complexes proved in the Appendix, but here is a direct proof for ∆ complexes. If a compact set C intersected infinitely many open simplices, it would contain an infinite sequence of points xi each lying in a different S open simplex. Then the sets Ui = X − j≠i {xj } , which are open since their preimages under the characteristic maps of all the simplices are clearly open, form an open cover of C with no finite subcover. This can be applied to show the map Hn∆(X)→Hn (X) is surjective. Represent a given element of Hn (X) by a singular n cycle z . This is a linear combination of finitely many singular simplices with compact images, meeting only finitely many open simplices of X , hence contained in X k for some k . We have shown that Hn∆(X k )→Hn (X k )

is an isomorphism, in particular surjective, so z is homologous in X k (hence in X ) to a simplicial cycle. This gives surjectivity. Injectivity is similar: If a simplicial n cycle z is the boundary of a singular chain in X , this chain has compact image and hence

must lie in some X k , so z represents an element of the kernel of Hn∆(X k )→Hn (X k ) .

But we know this map is injective, so z is a simplicial boundary in X k , and therefore in X . It remains to do the case of arbitrary X with A ≠ ∅ , but this follows from the absolute case by applying the five-lemma to the canonical map from the long exact sequence of simplicial homology groups for the pair (X, A) to the corresponding long exact sequence of singular homology groups.

u t

We can deduce from this theorem that Hn (X) is finitely generated whenever X is a ∆ complex with finitely many n simplices, since in this case the simplicial chain group ∆n (X) is finitely generated, hence also its subgroup of cycles and therefore

also the latter group’s quotient Hn∆(X) . If we write Hn (X) as the direct sum of cyclic

groups, then the number of Z summands is known traditionally as the n th Betti number of X , and integers specifying the orders of the finite cyclic summands are called torsion coefficients. It is a curious historical fact that homology was not thought of originally as a sequence of groups, but rather as Betti numbers and torsion coefficients. One can after all compute Betti numbers and torsion coefficients from the simplicial boundary maps without actually mentioning homology groups. This computational viewpoint, with homology being numbers rather than groups, prevailed from when Poincar´ e first started serious work on homology around 1900, up until the 1920s when the more abstract viewpoint of groups entered the picture. During this period ‘homology’ meant primarily ‘simplicial homology,’ and it was another 20 years before the shift to singular homology was complete, with the final definition of singular homology emerging only

Simplicial and Singular Homology

Section 2.1

131

in a 1944 paper of Eilenberg, after contributions from quite a few others, particularly Alexander and Lefschetz. Within the next few years the rest of the basic structure of homology theory as we have presented it fell into place, and the first definitive treatment appeared in the classic book [Eilenberg & Steenrod 1952].

Exercises 1. What familiar space is the quotient ∆ complex of a 2 simplex [v0 , v1 , v2 ] obtained by identifying the edges [v0 , v1 ] and [v1 , v2 ] , preserving the ordering of vertices? 2. Show that the ∆ complex obtained from ∆3 by performing the edge identifications [v0 , v1 ] ∼ [v1 , v3 ] and [v0 , v2 ] ∼ [v2 , v3 ] deformation retracts onto a Klein bottle. Find other pairs of identifications of edges that produce ∆ complexes deformation retracting onto a torus, a 2 sphere, and RP2 . 3. Construct a ∆ complex structure on RPn as a quotient of a ∆ complex structure on S n having vertices the two vectors of length 1 along each coordinate axis in Rn+1 . 4. Compute the simplicial homology groups of the triangular parachute obtained from ∆2 by identifying its three vertices to a single point. 5. Compute the simplicial homology groups of the Klein bottle using the ∆ complex structure described at the beginning of this section. 6. Compute the simplicial homology groups of the ∆ complex obtained from n + 1 2 simplices ∆20 , ··· , ∆2n by identifying all three edges of ∆20 to a single edge, and for i > 0 identifying the edges [v0 , v1 ] and [v1 , v2 ] of ∆2i to a single edge and the edge [v0 , v2 ] to the edge [v0 , v1 ] of ∆2i−1 . 7. Find a way of identifying pairs of faces of ∆3 to produce a ∆ complex structure on S 3 having a single 3 simplex, and compute the simplicial homology groups of this ∆ complex. 8. Construct a 3 dimensional ∆ complex X from n tetrahedra T1 , ··· , Tn by the following two steps. First arrange the tetrahedra in a cyclic pattern as in the figure, so that each Ti shares a common vertical face with its two neighbors Ti−1 and Ti+1 , subscripts being taken mod n . Then identify the bottom face of Ti with the top face of Ti+1 for each i . Show the simplicial homology groups of X in dimensions 0 , 1 , 2 , 3 are Z , Zn , 0 , Z , respectively. [The space X is an example of a lens space; see Example 2.43 for the general case.] 9. Compute the homology groups of the ∆ complex X obtained from ∆n by identifying all faces of the same dimension. Thus X has a single k simplex for each k ≤ n . 10. (a) Show the quotient space of a finite collection of disjoint 2 simplices obtained by identifying pairs of edges is always a surface, locally homeomorphic to R2 . (b) Show the edges can always be oriented so as to define a ∆ complex structure on the quotient surface. [This is more difficult.]

132

Chapter 2

Homology

11. Show that if A is a retract of X then the map Hn (A)→Hn (X) induced by the inclusion A ⊂ X is injective. 12. Show that chain homotopy of chain maps is an equivalence relation. 13. Verify that f ' g implies f∗ = g∗ for induced homomorphisms of reduced homology groups. 14. Determine whether there exists a short exact sequence 0→Z4 →Z8 ⊕ Z2 →Z4 →0 . More generally, determine which abelian groups A fit into a short exact sequence

0→Zpm →A→Zpn →0 with p prime. What about the case of short exact sequences 0→Z→A→Zn →0 ?

15. For an exact sequence A→B →C →D →E show that C = 0 iff the map A→B

is surjective and D →E is injective. Hence for a pair of spaces (X, A) , the inclusion A > X induces isomorphisms on all homology groups iff Hn (X, A) = 0 for all n .

16. (a) Show that H0 (X, A) = 0 iff A meets each path-component of X .

(b) Show that H1 (X, A) = 0 iff H1 (A)→H1 (X) is surjective and each path-component of X contains at most one path-component of A .

17. (a) Compute the homology groups Hn (X, A) when X is S 2 or S 1 × S 1 and A is a finite set of points in X . (b) Compute the groups Hn (X, A) and Hn (X, B) for X a closed orientable surface of genus two with A and B

A

B

the circles shown. [What are X/A and X/B ?] 18. Show that for the subspace Q ⊂ R , the relative homology group H1 (R, Q) is free abelian and find a basis. 19. Compute the homology groups of the subspace of I × I consisting of the four boundary edges plus all points in the interior whose first coordinate is rational. e n+1 (SX) for all n , where SX is the suspension of X . More e n (X) ≈ H 20. Show that H generally, thinking of SX as the union of two cones CX with their bases identified, compute the reduced homology groups of the union of n cones CX with their bases identified. 21. Making the preceding problem more concrete, construct explicit chain maps e n (X)→H e n+1 (SX) . s : Cn (X)→Cn+1 (SX) inducing isomorphisms H 22. Prove by induction on dimension the following facts about the homology of a finite-dimensional CW complex X , using the observation that X n /X n−1 is a wedge sum of n spheres: (a) If X has dimension n then Hi (X) = 0 for i > n and Hn (X) is free. (b) Hn (X) is free with basis in bijective correspondence with the n cells if there are no cells of dimension n − 1 or n + 1 . (c) If X has k n cells, then Hn (X) is generated by at most k elements.

Simplicial and Singular Homology

Section 2.1

133

23. Show that the second barycentric subdivision of a ∆ complex is a simplicial complex. Namely, show that the first barycentric subdivision produces a ∆ complex with the property that each simplex has all its vertices distinct, then show that for a ∆ complex with this property, barycentric subdivision produces a simplicial complex. 24. Show that each n simplex in the barycentric subdivision of ∆n is defined by n inequalities ti0 ≤ ti1 ≤ ··· ≤ tin in its barycentric coordinates, where (i0 , ··· , in ) is a permutation of (0, ··· , n) . 25. Find an explicit, noninductive formula for the barycentric subdivision operator S : Cn (X)→Cn (X) .

e 1 (X/A) if X = [0, 1] and A is the 26. Show that H1 (X, A) is not isomorphic to H sequence 1, 1/2 , 1/3 , ··· together with its limit 0 . [See Example 1.25.] 27. Let f : (X, A)→(Y , B) be a map such that both f : X →Y and the restriction

f : A→B are homotopy equivalences.

(a) Show that f∗ : Hn (X, A)→Hn (Y , B) is an isomorphism for all n .

(b) For the case of the inclusion f : (D n , S n−1 ) > (D n , D n − {0}) , show that f is not

a homotopy equivalence of pairs — there is no g : (D n , D n − {0})→(D n , S n−1 ) such

that f g and gf are homotopic to the identity through maps of pairs. [Observe that a homotopy equivalence of pairs (X, A)→(Y , B) is also a homotopy equivalence for the pairs obtained by replacing A and B by their closures.] 28. Let X be the cone on the 1 skeleton of ∆3 , the union of all line segments joining points in the six edges of ∆3 to the barycenter of ∆3 . Compute the local homology groups Hn (X, X − {x}) for all x ∈ X . Define ∂X to be the subspace of points x such that Hn (X, X − {x}) = 0 for all n , and compute the local homology groups Hn (∂X, ∂X − {x}) . Use these calculations to determine which subsets A ⊂ X have the property that f (A) ⊂ A for all homeomorphisms f : X →X .

29. Show that S 1 × S 1 and S 1 ∨ S 1 ∨ S 2 have isomorphic homology groups in all dimensions, but their universal covering spaces do not. 30. In each of the following commutative diagrams assume that all maps but one are isomorphisms. Show that the remaining map must be an isomorphism as well.

C

− − − →

− − − − − →

− − − − − →D

A− − − − − →B

− − − →

C

− − − →

→ − − − − −

C

A− − − − − →B

− − − →

A− − − − − →B

− − − − − →D

31. Using the notation of the five-lemma, give an example where the maps α , β , δ , and ε are zero but γ is nonzero. This can be done with short exact sequences in which all the groups are either Z or 0 .

134

Chapter 2

Homology

Now that the basic properties of homology have been established, we can begin to move a little more freely. Our first topic, exploiting the calculation of Hn (S n ) , is

Brouwer’s notion of degree for maps S n →S n . Historically, Brouwer’s introduction of this concept in the years 1910–12 preceded the rigorous development of homology, so his definition was rather different, using the technique of simplicial approximation which we explain in §2.C. The later definition in terms of homology is certainly more elegant, though perhaps with some loss of geometric intuition. More in the spirit of Brouwer’s definition is a third approach using differential topology, presented very lucidly in [Milnor 1965].

Degree For a map f : S n →S n with n > 0 , the induced map f∗ : Hn (S n )→Hn (S n ) is a homomorphism from an infinite cyclic group to itself and so must be of the form f∗ (α) = dα for some integer d depending only on f . This integer is called the degree of f , with the notation deg f . Here are some basic properties of degree: (a) deg 11 = 1 , since 11∗ = 11 . (b) deg f = 0 if f is not surjective. For if we choose a point x0 ∈ S n − f (S n ) then f

can be factored as a composition S n →S n − {x0 } > S n and Hn (S n − {x0 }) = 0

since S n − {x0 } is contractible. Hence f∗ = 0 .

(c) If f ' g then deg f = deg g since f∗ = g∗ . The converse statement, that f ' g if deg f = deg g , is a fundamental theorem of Hopf from around 1925 which we prove in Corollary 4.25. (d) deg f g = deg f deg g , since (f g)∗ = f∗ g∗ . As a consequence, deg f = ±1 if f is a homotopy equivalence since f g ' 11 implies deg f deg g = deg 11 = 1 . (e) deg f = −1 if f is a reflection of S n , fixing the points in a subsphere S n−1 and interchanging the two complementary hemispheres. For we can give S n a ∆ complex structure with these two hemispheres as its two n simplices ∆n 1 and n n n ∆n 2 , and the n chain ∆1 − ∆2 represents a generator of Hn (S ) as we saw in n Example 2.23, so the reflection interchanging ∆n 1 and ∆2 sends this generator to

its negative. (f) The antipodal map −11 : S n →S n , x

, −x , has degree

(−1)n+1 since it is the

composition of n + 1 reflections, each changing the sign of one coordinate in Rn+1 .

(g) If f : S n →S n has no fixed points then deg f = (−1)n+1 . For if f (x) ≠ x then the line segment from f (x) to −x , defined by t , (1 − t)f (x) − tx for 0 ≤ t ≤ 1 ,

does not pass through the origin. Hence if f has no fixed points, the formula ft (x) = [(1 − t)f (x) − tx]/|(1 − t)f (x) − tx| defines a homotopy from f to

Computations and Applications

Section 2.2

135

the antipodal map. Note that the antipodal map has no fixed points, so the fact that maps without fixed points are homotopic to the antipodal map is a sort of converse statement. Here is an interesting application of degree:

Theorem 2.28. Proof: x∈S

S n has a continuous field of nonzero tangent vectors iff n is odd.

Suppose x

n

, v(x)

is a tangent vector field on S n , assigning to a vector

the vector v(x) tangent to S n at x . Regarding v(x) as a vector at the origin

instead of at x , tangency just means that x and v(x) are orthogonal in Rn+1 . If v(x) ≠ 0 for all x , we may normalize so that |v(x)| = 1 for all x by replacing v(x) by v(x)/|v(x)| . Assuming this has been done, the vectors (cos t)x + (sin t)v(x) lie in the unit circle in the plane spanned by x and v(x) . Letting t go from 0 to π , we obtain a homotopy ft (x) = (cos t)x + (sin t)v(x) from the identity map of S n to the antipodal map −11 . This implies that deg(−11) = deg 11 , hence (−1)n+1 = 1 and n must be odd. Conversely, if n is odd, say n = 2k − 1 , we can define v(x1 , x2 , ··· , x2k−1 , x2k ) = (−x2 , x1 , ··· , −x2k , x2k−1 ) . Then v(x) is orthogonal to x , so v is a tangent vector field on S n , and |v(x)| = 1 for all x ∈ S n .

u t

For the much more difficult problem of finding the maximum number of tangent vector fields on S n that are linearly independent at each point, see [VBKT] or [Husemoller 1966]. Another nice application of degree, giving a partial answer to a question raised in Example 1.43, is the following result:

Proposition 2.29.

Z2 is the only nontrivial group that can act freely on S n if n is

even. Recall that an action of a group G on a space X is a homomorphism from G

to the group Homeo(X) of homeomorphisms X →X , and the action is free if the homeomorphism corresponding to each nontrivial element of G has no fixed points. In the case of S n , the antipodal map x , −x generates a free action of Z2 .

Proof: on S

n

Since the degree of a homeomorphism must be ±1 , an action of a group G

determines a degree function d : G→{±1} . This is a homomorphism since

deg f g = deg f deg g . If the action is free, then d sends every nontrivial element of G to (−1)n+1 by property (g) above. Thus when n is even, d has trivial kernel, so G ⊂ Z2 .

u t

Next we describe a technique for computing degrees which can be applied to most maps that arise in practice. Suppose f : S n →S n , n > 0 , has the property that for

Chapter 2

136

Homology

some point y ∈ S n , the preimage f −1 (y) consists of only finitely many points, say x1 , ··· , xm . Let U1 , ··· , Um be disjoint neighborhoods of these points, mapped by f into a neighborhood V of y . Then f (Ui − xi ) ⊂ V − y for each i , and we have a commutative diagram

→ −−−− −−−−

n

n

n

-1

f∗

(y )) − − − − − → Hn ( S , S n - y ) n

→ − − −

−−− − − −−− → ≈

≈

ki

Hn ( S , S - x i ) → − − − − − Hn ( S , S - f n

− − − →

pi

f

∗ Hn ( Ui , Ui - xi ) − −−− −→ Hn ( V , V - y )

− − − − − − − − − − → →

≈

≈

j

f∗

n Hn( S ) −−−−−−−→ Hn ( S ) n

where all the maps are the obvious ones, in particular ki and pi are induced by inclusions. The two isomorphisms in the upper half of the diagram come from excision, while the lower two isomorphisms come from exact sequences of pairs. Via these four isomorphisms, the top two groups in the diagram can be identified with Hn (S n ) ≈ Z , and the top homomorphism f∗ becomes multiplication by an integer called the local degree of f at xi , written deg f || xi . For example, if f is a homeomorphism, then y can be any point and there is only one corresponding xi , so all the maps in the diagram are isomorphisms and deg f || xi = deg f = ±1 . More generally, if f maps each Ui homeomorphically onto V , then deg f || xi = ±1 for each i . This situation occurs quite often in applications, and it is usually not hard to determine the correct signs. Here is the formula that reduces degree calculations to computing local degrees:

Proposition 2.30. Proof:

deg f =

P i

deg f || xi .


By excision, the central term Hn S n , S n − f −1 (y) in the preceding diagram

is the direct sum of the groups Hn (Ui , Ui − xi ) ≈ Z , with ki the inclusion of the i th summand. Since the upper triangle commutes, the projections of this direct sum onto its summands are given by the maps pi . Identifying the outer groups in the diagram with Z as before, commutativity of the lower triangle says that pi j(1) = 1 , P i ki (1) . Commutativity of the upper square says that the P P middle f∗ takes ki (1) to deg f || xi , hence i ki (1) = j(1) is taken to i deg f || xi . P u t Commutativity of the lower square then gives the formula deg f = i deg f || xi .

hence j(1) = (1, ··· , 1) =

We can use this result to construct a map S n →S n of any given degree, W for each n ≥ 1 . Let q : S n → k S n be the quotient map obtained by collapsing the W complement of k disjoint open balls Bi in S n to a point, and let p : k S n →S n identify

Example 2.31.

all the summands to a single sphere. Consider the composition f = pq . For almost all y ∈ S n we have f −1 (y) consisting of one point xi in each Bi . The local degree of f at xi is ±1 since f is a homeomorphism near xi . By precomposing p with reflections W of the summands of k S n if necessary, we can make each local degree either +1 or −1 , whichever we wish. Thus we can produce a map S n →S n of degree ±k .

Computations and Applications

Example 2.32.

Section 2.2

137

In the case of S 1 , the map f (z) = zk , where we view S 1 as the unit

circle in C , has degree k . This is evident in the case k = 0 since f is then constant.

The case k < 0 reduces to the case k > 0 by composing with z , z−1 , which is a

reflection, of degree −1 . To compute the degree when k > 0 , observe first that for

any y ∈ S 1 , f −1 (y) consists of k points x1 , ··· , xk near each of which f is a local homeomorphism, stretching a circular arc by a factor of k . This local stretching can be eliminated by a deformation of f near xi that does not change local degree, so the local degree at xi is the same as for a rotation of S 1 . A rotation is a homeomorphism so its local degree at any point equals its global degree, which is +1 since a rotation is homotopic to the identity. Hence deg f || xi = 1 and deg f = k . Another way of obtaining a map S n →S n of degree k is to take a repeated sus-

pension of the map z , zk in Example 2.32, since suspension preserves degree:

Proposition 2.33. map f : S n →S n . Proof:

deg Sf = deg f , where Sf : S n+1 →S n+1 is the suspension of the

Let CS n denote the cone (S n × I)/(S n × 1) with base S n = S n × 0 ⊂ CS n ,

so CS /S n is the suspension of S n . The map f induces Cf : (CS n , S n )→(CS n , S n ) n

with quotient Sf . The naturality of the boundary maps in the long exact sequence of the pair (CS , S ) then gives commutativity of the diagram at the right. Hence if f∗ is multiplication by d , so is Sf∗ .

u t

∼ n +1 Hn + 1( S )

∼

∂ − − − − − → Hn ( S n ) ≈

Sf∗

∼ n +1 Hn + 1( S )

− − − − − →

n

− − − − − →

n

f∗

∼ − − − − − → Hn ( S n ) ≈ ∂

Note that for f : S n →S n , the suspension Sf maps only one point to each of the

two ‘poles’ of S n+1 . This implies that the local degree of Sf at each pole must equal

the global degree of Sf . Thus the local degree of a map S n →S n can be any integer

if n ≥ 2 , just as the degree itself can be any integer when n ≥ 1 .

Cellular Homology Cellular homology is a very efficient tool for computing the homology groups of CW complexes, based on degree calculations. Before giving the definition of cellular homology, we first establish a few preliminary facts:

Lemma 2.34. n

(a) Hk (X , X

If X is a CW complex, then : n−1

) is zero for k ≠ n and is free abelian for k = n , with a basis in

one-to-one correspondence with the n cells of X . (b) Hk (X n ) = 0 for k > n . In particular, if X is finite-dimensional then Hk (X) = 0 for k > dim X .

(c) The inclusion i : X n > X induces an isomorphism i∗ : Hk (X n )→Hk (X) if k < n .

Proof:

Statement (a) follows immediately from the observation that (X n , X n−1 ) is a

good pair and X n /X n−1 is a wedge sum of n spheres, one for each n cell of X . Here we are using Proposition 2.22 and Corollary 2.25.

138

Chapter 2

Homology

To prove (b), consider the long exact sequence of the pair (X n , X n−1 ) , which contains the segments Hk+1 (X n , X n−1 )

→ - Hk (X n−1 ) → - Hk (X n ) → - Hk (X n , X n−1 )

If k is not equal to n or n − 1 then the outer two groups are zero by part (a), so we have isomorphisms Hk (X n−1 ) ≈ Hk (X n ) for k ≠ n, n − 1 . Thus if k > n we have Hk (X n ) ≈ Hk (X n−1 ) ≈ Hk (X n−2 ) ≈ ··· ≈ Hk (X 0 ) = 0 , proving (b). Further, if k < n then Hk (X n ) ≈ Hk (X n+1 ) ≈ ··· ≈ Hk (X n+m ) for all m ≥ 0 , proving (c) if X is finite-dimensional. The proof of (c) when X is infinite-dimensional requires more work, and this can be done in two different ways. The more direct approach is to descend to the chain level and use the fact that a singular chain in X has compact image, hence meets only finitely many cells of X by Proposition A.1 in the Appendix. Thus each chain lies in a finite skeleton X m . So a k cycle in X is a cycle in some X m , and then by the finite-dimensional case of (c), the cycle is homologous to a cycle in X n if n > k , so

i∗ : Hk (X n )→Hk (X) is surjective. Similarly for injectivity, if a k cycle in X n bounds a chain in X , this chain lies in some X m with m ≥ n , so by the finite-dimensional

case the cycle bounds a chain in X n if n > k . The other approach is more general. From the long exact sequence of the pair e k (X/X n ) , (X, X n ) it suffices to show Hk (X, X n ) = 0 for k ≤ n . Since Hk (X, X n ) ≈ H this reduces the problem to showing: e k (X) = 0 for k ≤ n if the n skeleton of X is a point. (∗) H When X is finite-dimensional, (∗) is immediate from the finite-dimensional case of (c) which we have already shown. It will suffice therefore to reduce the infinitedimensional case to the finite-dimensional case. This reduction will be achieved by stretching X out to a complex that is at least locally finite-dimensional, using a special case of the ‘mapping telescope’ construction described in greater generality in §3.F. Consider X × [0, ∞) with its product cell structure, where we give [0, ∞) the cell structure with the integer S points as 0 cells. Let T = i X i × [i, ∞) , a subcomplex

R

of X × [0, ∞) . The figure shows a schematic picture of T with [0, ∞) in the horizontal direction and the subcomplexes X i × [i, i + 1] as rectangles whose size increases with i since X i ⊂ X i+1 . The line labeled R can be ignored for now. We claim that T ' X , hence Hk (X) ≈ Hk (T ) for all k . Since X is a deformation retract of X × [0, ∞) , it suffices to show that X × [0, ∞) also deformation retracts onto T . Let
Yi = T ∪ X × [i, ∞) . Then Yi deformation retracts onto Yi+1 since X × [i, i+1] deformation retracts onto X i × [i, i + 1] ∪ X × {i + 1} by Proposition 0.16. If we perform the deformation retraction of Yi onto Yi+1 during the t interval [1 − 1/2i , 1 − 1/2i+1 ] , then this gives a deformation retraction ft of X × [0, ∞) onto T , with points in X i × [0, ∞) stationary under ft for t ≥ 1 − 1/2i+1 . Continuity follows from the fact

Computations and Applications

Section 2.2

139

that CW complexes have the weak topology with respect to their skeleta, so a map is continuous if its restriction to each skeleton is continuous. Recalling that X 0 is a point, let R ⊂ T be the ray X 0 × [0, ∞) and let Z ⊂ T be the union of this ray with all the subcomplexes X i × {i} . Then Z/R is homeomorphic to W i i X , a wedge sum of finite-dimensional complexes with n skeleton a point, so the finite-dimensional case of (∗) together with Corollary 2.25 describing the homology e k (Z/R) = 0 for k ≤ n . The same is therefore true for Z , of wedge sums implies that H from the long exact sequence of the pair (Z, R) , since R is contractible. Similarly, T /Z is a wedge sum of finite-dimensional complexes with (n + 1) skeleton a point, since if we first collapse each subcomplex X i × {i} of T to a point, we obtain the infinite sequence of suspensions SX i ‘skewered’ along the ray R , and then if we collapse R to W a point we obtain i ΣX i where ΣX i is the reduced suspension of X i , obtained from SX i by collapsing the line segment X 0 × [i, i+1] to a point, so ΣX i has (n+1) skeleton e k (T /Z) = 0 for k ≤ n + 1 , and then the long exact sequence of the a point. Thus H e k (T ) = 0 for k ≤ n , and we have proved (∗) . pair (T , Z) implies that H

u t

Let X be a CW complex. Using Lemma 2.34, portions of the long exact sequences for the pairs (X n+1 , X n ) , (X n , X n−1 ) , and (X n−1 , X n−2 ) fit into a diagram

0−

− − − − →

Hn ( X

→ − − − − n +1 −

0

) ≈ Hn ( X )

→ − − − − − n Hn ( X ) ∂n + 1 −− j → −−− d −−−→n − − dn 1 .. . − − − − − →Hn + 1( X n + 1, X n ) −−−n−+− → Hn( X n, X−n - 1 ) −−−− −→ Hn - 1( X n - 1, X n - 2 ) − − − − − → ... −−−−→ → ∂n −−−−−jn - 1 n-1 ) Hn - 1( X

0

→ − − − − −

where dn+1 and dn are defined as the compositions jn ∂n+1 and jn−1 ∂n , which are just ‘relativizations’ of the boundary maps ∂n+1 and ∂n . The composition dn dn+1 includes two successive maps in one of the exact sequences, hence is zero. Thus the horizontal row in the diagram is a chain complex, called the cellular chain complex of X since Hn (X n , X n−1 ) is free with basis in one-to-one correspondence with the n cells of X , so one can think of elements of Hn (X n , X n−1 ) as linear combinations of n cells of X . The homology groups of this cellular chain complex are called the cellular homology groups of X . Temporarily we denote them HnCW (X) .

Theorem 2.35. Proof:

HnCW (X) ≈ Hn (X) .

From the diagram above, Hn (X) can be identified with Hn (X n )/ Im ∂n+1 .

Since jn is injective, it maps Im ∂n+1 isomorphically onto Im(jn ∂n+1 ) = Im dn+1

Chapter 2

140

Homology

and Hn (X n ) isomorphically onto Im jn = Ker ∂n . Since jn−1 is injective, Ker ∂n = Ker dn . Thus jn induces an isomorphism of the quotient Hn (X n )/ Im ∂n+1 onto u t

Ker dn / Im dn+1 . Here are a few immediate applications: (i) Hn (X) = 0 if X is a CW complex with no n cells.

(ii) More generally, if X is a CW complex with k n cells, then Hn (X) is generated by at most k elements. For since Hn (X n , X n−1 ) is free abelian on k generators, the subgroup Ker dn must be generated by at most k elements, hence also the quotient Ker dn / Im dn+1 . (iii) If X is a CW complex having no two of its cells in adjacent dimensions, then Hn (X) is free abelian with basis in one-to-one correspondence with the n cells of X . This is because the cellular boundary maps dn are automatically zero in this case. This last observation applies for example to CPn , which has a CW structure with one cell of each even dimension 2k ≤ 2n as we saw in Example 0.6. Thus  Z for i = 0, 2, 4, ··· , 2n Hi (CPn ) ≈ 0 otherwise Another simple example is S n × S n with n > 1 , using the product CW structure consisting of a 0 cell, two n cells, and a 2n cell. It is possible to prove the statements (i)–(iii) for finite-dimensional CW complexes by induction on the dimension, without using cellular homology but only the basic results from the previous section. However, the viewpoint of cellular homology makes (i)–(iii) quite transparent. Next we describe how the cellular boundary maps dn can be computed. When

n = 1 this is easy since the boundary map d1 : H1 (X 1 , X 0 )→H0 (X 0 ) is the same as

the simplicial boundary map ∆1 (X)→∆0 (X) . In case X is connected and has only

one 0 cell, then d1 must be 0 , otherwise H0 (X) would not be Z . When n > 1 we will show that dn can be computed in terms of degrees: n Cellular Boundary Formula. dn (eα )=

map

Sαn−1

→X

n−1

→

Sβn−1

P β

dαβ eβn−1 where dαβ is the degree of the

n that is the composition of the attaching map of eα with

the quotient map collapsing X n−1 − eβn−1 to a point. n and eβn−1 with generators of the corresponding Here we are identifying the cells eα

summands of the cellular chain groups. The summation in the formula contains only n has compact image, so this image finitely many terms since the attaching map of eα

meets only finitely many cells eβn−1 . To derive the cellular boundary formula, consider the commutative diagram

Computations and Applications

Section 2.2

141

− − − − − →

→ − − − − −

− − − − − →

− − − − − →

− − − − − →

∆αβ ∗ ∼ ∼ ∂ n-1 n n n Hn ( Dα , ∂Dα ) −−−−−→ Hn - 1( ∂Dα ) −−−−−−−−→ Hn - 1( Sβ ) ≈ ϕα ∗

Φα ∗

qβ∗

q ∼ ∼ n n-1 )− Hn ( X , X −−−−→ Hn - 1( X n - 1 ) −−−−−∗−→ Hn - 1( X n - 61 Xn - 2) ∂n

−− −− dn −→

≈

jn - 1

n-1 n-2 Hn - 1( X , X ) − −≈ −→ Hn - 1( X n - 61 Xn - 2, X n - 26 Xn - 2 )

where: n Φα is the characteristic map of the cell eα and ϕα is its attaching map.

q : X n−1 →X n−1 /X n−2 is the quotient map.

qβ : X n−1 /X n−2 →Sβn−1 collapses the complement of the cell eβn−1 to a point, the

resulting quotient sphere being identified with Sβn−1 = Dβn−1 /∂Dβn−1 via the characteristic map Φβ .

n ∆αβ : ∂Dα →Sβn−1 is the composition qβ qϕα , in other words, the attaching map

n followed by the quotient map X n−1 →Sβn−1 collapsing the complement of of eα

eβn−1 in X n−1 to a point.

n n n ] ∈ Hn (Dα , ∂Dα ) to a generator of the Z The map Φα∗ takes a chosen generator [Dα n n . Letting eα denote this generator, summand of Hn (X n , X n−1 ) corresponding to eα n n ) = jn−1 ϕα∗ ∂[Dα ] . In commutativity of the left half of the diagram then gives dn (eα

terms of the basis for Hn−1 (X n−1 , X n−2 ) corresponding to the cells eβn−1 , the map qβ∗ is the projection of Hn−1 (X n−1 /X n−2 ) onto its Z summand corresponding to eβn−1 . Commutativity of the diagram then yields the formula for dn given above.

Example 2.36.

Let Mg be the closed orientable surface of genus g with its usual CW

structure consisting of one 0 cell, 2g 1 cells, and one 2 cell attached by the product of commutators [a1 , b1 ] ··· [ag , bg ] . The associated cellular chain complex is 0

--→ Z ---d--→ - Z2g ---d--→ - Z --→ 0 2

1

As observed above, d1 must be 0 since there is only one 0 cell. Also, d2 is 0 because each ai or bi appears with its inverse in [a1 , b1 ] ··· [ag , bg ] , so the maps ∆αβ are homotopic to constant maps. Since d1 and d2 are both zero, the homology groups of Mg are the same as the cellular chain groups, namely, Z in dimensions 0 and 2 , and Z2g in dimension 1 .

Example 2.37.

The closed nonorientable surface Ng of genus g has a cell structure

with one 0 cell, g 1 cells, and one 2 cell attached by the word a21 a22 ··· a2g . Again

d1 = 0 , and d2 : Z→Zg is specified by the equation d2 (1) = (2, ··· , 2) since each ai

appears in the attaching word of the 2 cell with total exponent 2 , which means that each ∆αβ is homotopic to the map z , z2 , of degree 2 . Since d2 (1) = (2, ··· , 2) , we have d2 injective and hence H2 (Ng ) = 0 . If we change the basis for Zg by replacing

the last standard basis element (0, ··· , 0, 1) by (1, ··· , 1) , we see that H1 (Ng ) ≈ Zg−1 ⊕ Z2 .

Chapter 2

142

Homology

These two examples illustrate the general fact that the orientability of a closed connected manifold M of dimension n is detected by Hn (M) , which is Z if M is orientable and 0 otherwise. This is shown in Theorem 3.26. An Acyclic Space. Let X be obtained from S 1 ∨ S 1 by attaching  two  5 −2 2 cells by the words a5 b−3 and b3 (ab)−2 . Then d2 : Z2 →Z2 has matrix −3 1 ,

Example 2.38:

with the two columns coming from abelianizing a5 b−3 and b3 (ab)−2 to 5a − 3b

and −2a + b , in additive notation. The matrix has determinant −1 , so d2 is an e i (X) = 0 for all i . Such a space X is called acyclic. isomorphism and H We can see that this acyclic space is not contractible by considering π1 (X) , which

 a, b || a5 b−3 , b3 (ab)−2 . There is a nontrivial homomorphism

has the presentation

from this group to the group G of rotational symmetries of a regular dodecahedron, sending a to the rotation ρa through angle 2π /5 about the axis through the center of a pentagonal face, and b to the rotation ρb through angle 2π /3 about the axis through a vertex of this face. The composition ρa ρb is a rotation through angle π about the axis through the midpoint of an edge abutting this vertex. Thus the relations a5 = b3 = (ab)2 defining π1 (X) become ρa5 = ρb3 = (ρa ρb )2 = 1 in G , which means

there is a well-defined homomorphism ρ : π1 (X)→G sending a to ρa and b to ρb .

It is not hard to see that G is generated by ρa and ρb , so ρ is surjective. With more work one can compute that the kernel of ρ is Z2 , generated by the element a5 = b3 = (ab)2 , and this Z2 is in fact the center of π1 (X) . In particular, π1 (X) has order 120 since G has order 60. After these 2 dimensional examples, let us now move up to three dimensions, where we have the additional task of computing the cellular boundary map d3 .

Example 2.39. T

3

1

A 3 dimensional torus

= S × S × S 1 can be constructed

from a cube by identifying each pair of opposite square faces as in the first

a

c

1

b b

of the two figures. The second figure

c

b

a a a

a

c

c b

b

a

b c

b a

c

c

a

b c

shows a slightly different pattern of identifications of opposite faces, with the front and back faces now identified via a rotation of the cube around a horizontal left-right axis. The space produced by these identifications is the product K × S 1 of a Klein bottle and a circle. For both T 3 and K × S 1 we have a CW structure with one 3 cell, three 2 cells, three 1 cells, and one 0 cell. The cellular chain complexes thus have the form 0

0 Z→ → - Z ---d--→ - Z3 ---d--→ - Z3 --→ - 0 3

2

In the case of the 3 torus T 3 the cellular boundary map d2 is zero by the same calculation as for the 2 dimensional torus. We claim that d3 is zero as well. This

amounts to saying that the three maps ∆αβ : S 2 →S 2 corresponding to the three 2 cells

Computations and Applications

Section 2.2

143

have degree zero. Each ∆αβ maps the interiors of two opposite faces of the cube homeomorphically onto the complement of a point in the target S 2 and sends the remaining four faces to this point. Computing local degrees at the center points of the two opposite faces, we see that the local degree is +1 at one of these points and −1 at the other, since the restrictions of ∆αβ to these two faces differ by a reflection of the boundary of the cube across the plane midway between them, and a reflection has degree −1 . Since the cellular boundary maps are all zero, we deduce that Hi (T 3 ) is Z for i = 0, 3 , Z3 for i = 1, 2 , and 0 for i > 3 . For K × S 1 , when we compute local degrees for the front and back faces we find that the degrees now have the same rather than opposite signs since the map ∆αβ on these two faces differs not by a reflection but by a rotation of the boundary of the cube. The local degrees for the other faces are the same as before. Using the letters A , B , C to denote the 2 cells given by the faces orthogonal to the edges a , b , c , respectively, we have the boundary formulas d3 e3 = 2C , d2 A = 2b , d2 B = 0 , and d2 C = 0 . It follows that H3 (K × S 1 ) = 0 , H2 (K × S 1 ) = Z ⊕ Z2 , and H1 (K × S 1 ) = Z ⊕ Z ⊕ Z2 . Many more examples of a similar nature, quotients of a cube or other polyhedron with faces identified in some pattern, could be worked out in similar fashion. But let us instead turn to some higher-dimensional examples. Moore Spaces. Given an abelian group G and an integer n ≥ 1 , we e i (X) = 0 for i ≠ n . Such a will construct a CW complex X such that Hn (X) ≈ G and H

Example 2.40:

space is called a Moore space, commonly written M(G, n) to indicate the dependence on G and n . It is probably best for the definition of a Moore space to include the condition that M(G, n) be simply-connected if n > 1 . The spaces we construct will have this property. As an easy special case, when G = Zm we can take X to be S n with a cell en+1

attached by a map S n →S n of degree m . More generally, any finitely generated G can be realized by taking wedge sums of examples of this type for finite cyclic summands of G , together with copies of S n for infinite cyclic summands of G . In the general nonfinitely generated case let F →G be a homomorphism of a free abelian group F onto G , sending a basis for F onto some set of generators of G . The kernel K of this homomorphism is a subgroup of a free abelian group, hence is itself P free abelian. Choose bases {xα } for F and {yβ } for K , and write yβ = α dβα xα . W Let X n = α Sαn , so Hn (X n ) ≈ F via Corollary 2.25. We will construct X from X n by

attaching cells eβn+1 via maps fβ : S n →X n such that the composition of fβ with the

projection onto the summand Sαn has degree dβα . Then the cellular boundary map dn+1 will be the inclusion K > F , hence X will have the desired homology groups.

The construction of fβ generalizes the construction in Example 2.31 of a map P α |dβα |

S n →S n of given degree. Namely, we can let fβ map the complement of

144

Chapter 2

Homology

disjoint balls in S n to the 0 cell of X n while sending |dβα | of the balls onto the summand Sαn by maps of degree +1 if dβα > 0 , or degree −1 if dβα < 0 .

Example 2.41.

By taking a wedge sum of the Moore spaces constructed in the preced-

ing example for varying n we obtain a connected CW complex with any prescribed sequence of homology groups in dimensions 1, 2, 3, ··· .

Example 2.42:

Real Projective Space RPn . As we saw in Example 0.4, RPn has a CW

structure with one cell ek in each dimension k ≤ n , and the attaching map for ek is the

2 sheeted covering projection ϕ : S k−1 →RPk−1 . To compute the boundary map dk we compute the degree of the composition S k−1

--→ RPk−1 --→ RPk−1 /RPk−2 = S k−1 , ϕ

q

with q the quotient map. The map qϕ is a homeomorphism when restricted to each component of S k−1 − S k−2 , and these two homeomorphisms are obtained from each other by precomposing with the antipodal map of S k−1 , which has degree (−1)k . Hence deg qϕ = deg 11 + deg(−11) = 1 + (−1)k , and so dk is either 0 or multiplication by 2 according to whether k is odd or even. Thus the cellular chain complex for RPn is

2 0 2 0 2 0 Z --→ ··· --→ Z --→ Z --→ Z --→ Z → → - Z --→ - 0 0 2 2 0 2 0 0→ - Z --→ Z --→ ··· --→ Z --→ Z --→ Z --→ Z → - 0

0

if n is even if n is odd

From this it follows that

 Z Hk (RP ) = Z2  0 n

Example 2.43:

for k = 0 and for k = n odd for k odd, 0 < k < n otherwise

Lens Spaces. This example is somewhat more complicated. Given an

integer m > 1 and integers `1 , ··· , `n relatively prime to m , define the lens space L = Lm (`1 , ··· , `n ) to be the orbit space S 2n−1 /Zm of the unit sphere S 2n−1 ⊂ Cn with the action of Zm generated by the rotation ρ(z1 , ··· , zn ) = (e2π i`1 /m z1 , ··· , e2π i`n /m zn ) , rotating the j th C factor of Cn by the angle 2π `j /m . In particular, when m = 2 , ρ is the antipodal map, so L = RP2n−1 in this case. In the general case, the projection S 2n−1 →L is a covering space since the action of Zm on S 2n−1 is free: Only the identity

element fixes any point of S 2n−1 since each point of S 2n−1 has some coordinate zj

nonzero and then e2π ik`j /m zj ≠ zj for 0 < k < m , as a result of the assumption that `j is relatively prime to m . We shall construct a CW structure on L with one cell ek for each k ≤ 2n − 1 and show that the resulting cellular chain complex is 0

0 m 0 0 m 0 Z -----→ ··· --→ Z -----→ Z→ → - Z --→ - Z --→ - Z --→ - 0

with boundary maps alternately 0 and multiplication by m . Hence  for k = 0, 2n − 1
Z Hk Lm (`1 , ··· , `n ) = Zm for k odd, 0 < k < 2n − 1  0 otherwise

Computations and Applications

Section 2.2

145

To obtain the CW structure, first subdivide the unit circle C in the n th C factor of Cn by taking the points e2π ij/m ∈ C as vertices, j = 1, ··· , m . Joining the j th vertex of C to the unit sphere S 2n−3 ⊂ Cn−1 by arcs of great circles in S 2n−1 yields a (2n − 2) dimensional ball Bj2n−2 bounded by S 2n−3 . Specifically, Bj2n−2 consists of the points cos θ (0, ··· , 0, e2π ij/m )+sin θ (z1 , ··· , zn−1 , 0) for 0 ≤ θ ≤ π /2 . Similarly, 2n−2 , joining the j th edge of C to S 2n−3 gives a ball Bj2n−1 bounded by Bj2n−2 and Bj+1

subscripts being taken mod m . The rotation ρ carries S 2n−3 to itself and rotates C by the angle 2π `n /m , hence ρ permutes the Bj2n−2 ’s and the Bj2n−1 ’s. A suitable power of ρ , namely ρ r where r `n ≡ 1 mod m , takes each Bj2n−2 and Bj2n−1 to the next one. Since ρ r has order m , it is also a generator of the rotation group Zm , and hence we may obtain L as the quotient of one Bj2n−1 by identifying its two faces Bj2n−2 2n−2 and Bj+1 together via ρ r .

In particular, when n = 2 , Bj2n−1 is a lens-shaped 3 ball and L is obtained from this ball by identifying its two curved disk faces via ρ r , which may be described as the composition of the reflection across the plane containing the rim of the lens, taking one face of the lens to the other, followed by a rotation of this face through the angle 2π `/m where ` = r `1 . The figure illustrates the case (m, `) = (7, 2) , with the two dots indicating a typical pair of identified points in the upper and lower faces of the lens. Since the lens space L is determined by the rotation angle 2π `/m , it is conveniently written L`/m . Clearly only the mod m value of ` matters. It is a classical theorem of Reidemeister from the 1930s that L`/m is homeo-

morphic to L`0 /m0 iff m0 = m and `0 ≡ ±`±1 mod m . For example, when m = 7 there are only two distinct lens spaces L1/7 and L2/7 . The ‘if’ part of this theorem is easy: Reflecting the lens through a mirror shows that L`/m ≈ L−`/m , and by interchanging the roles of the two C factors of C2 one obtains L`/m ≈ L`−1 /m . In the converse di-

rection, L`/m ≈ L`0 /m0 clearly implies m = m0 since π1 (L`/m ) ≈ Zm . The rest of the theorem takes considerably more work, involving either special 3 dimensional tech-

niques or more algebraic methods that generalize to classify the higher-dimensional lens spaces as well. The latter approach is explained in [Cohen 1973]. Returning to the construction of a CW structure on Lm (`1 , ··· , `n ) , observe that the (2n − 3) dimensional lens space Lm (`1 , ··· , `n−1 ) sits in Lm (`1 , ··· , `n ) as the quotient of S 2n−3 , and Lm (`1 , ··· , `n ) is obtained from this subspace by attaching two cells, of dimensions 2n − 2 and 2n − 1 , coming from the interiors of Bj2n−1 and 2n−2 . Inductively this gives a CW structure on its two identified faces Bj2n−2 and Bj+1

Lm (`1 , ··· , `n ) with one cell ek in each dimension k ≤ 2n − 1 . The boundary maps in the associated cellular chain complex are computed as follows. The first one, d2n−1 , is zero since the identification of the two faces of Bj2n−1 is via a reflection (degree −1 ) across Bj2n−1 fixing S 2n−3 , followed by a rota-

146

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tion (degree +1 ), so d2n−1 (e2n−1 ) = e2n−2 − e2n−2 = 0 . The next boundary map d2n−2 takes e2n−2 to me2n−3 since the attaching map for e2n−2 is the quotient map S 2n−3 →Lm (`1 , ··· , `n−1 ) and the balls Bj2n−3 in S 2n−3 which project down onto e2n−3

are permuted cyclically by the rotation ρ of degree +1 . Inductively, the subsequent boundary maps dk then alternate between 0 and multiplication by m . Also of interest are the infinite-dimensional lens spaces Lm (`1 , `2 , ···) = S ∞ /Zm defined in the same way as in the finite-dimensional case, starting from a sequence of integers `1 , `2 , ··· relatively prime to m . The space Lm (`1 , `2 , ···) is the union of the increasing sequence of finite-dimensional lens spaces Lm (`1 , ··· , `n ) for n = 1, 2, ··· , each of which is a subcomplex of the next in the cell structure we have just constructed, so Lm (`1 , `2 , ···) is also a CW complex. Its cellular chain complex consists of a Z in each dimension with boundary maps alternately 0 and m , so its reduced homology consists of a Zm in each odd dimension. In the terminology of §1.B, the infinite-dimensional lens space Lm (`1 , `2 , ···) is

an Eilenberg–MacLane space K(Zm , 1) since its universal cover S ∞ is contractible, as

we showed there. By Theorem 1B.8 the homotopy type of Lm (`1 , `2 , ···) depends only on m , and not on the `i ’s. This is not true in the finite-dimensional case, when

0 ) have the same homotopy type two lens spaces Lm (`1 , ··· , `n ) and Lm (`10 , ··· , `n

0 mod m for some integer k . A proof of this is outlined in iff `1 ··· `n ≡ ±kn `10 ··· `n

Exercise 2 in §3.E and Exercise 29 in §4.2. For example, the 3 dimensional lens spaces L1/5 and L2/5 are not homotopy equivalent, though they have the same fundamental group and the same homology groups. On the other hand, L1/7 and L2/7 are homotopy equivalent but not homeomorphic.

Euler Characteristic For a finite CW complex X , the Euler characteristic χ (X) is defined to be the P alternating sum n (−1)n cn where cn is the number of n cells of X , generalizing the familiar formula vertices − edges + faces for 2 dimensional complexes. The following result shows that χ (X) can be defined purely in terms of homology, and hence depends only on the homotopy type of X . In particular, χ (X) is independent of the choice of CW structure on X .

Theorem 2.44.

χ (X) =

P

n n (−1)

rank Hn (X) .

Here the rank of a finitely generated abelian group is the number of Z summands when the group is expressed as a direct sum of cyclic groups. We shall need the following fact, whose proof we leave as an exercise: If 0→A→B →C →0 is a short exact sequence of finitely generated abelian groups, then rank B = rank A + rank C .

Proof of 2.44:

This is purely algebraic. Let 0

→ - Ck -----→ - Ck−1 → - ··· → - C1 ---d--→ - C0 → - 0 dk

1

Computations and Applications

Section 2.2

147

be a chain complex of finitely generated abelian groups, with cycles Zn = Ker dn , boundaries Bn = Im dn+1 , and homology Hn = Zn /Bn . Thus we have short exact sequences 0→Zn →Cn →Bn−1 →0 and 0→Bn →Zn →Hn →0 , hence rank Cn = rank Zn + rank Bn−1 rank Zn = rank Bn + rank Hn Now substitute the second equation into the first, multiply the resulting equation by P P (−1)n , and sum over n to get n (−1)n rank Cn = n (−1)n rank Hn . Applying this with Cn = Hn (X n , X n−1 ) then gives the theorem.

u t

For example, the surfaces Mg and Ng have Euler characteristics χ (Mg ) = 2 − 2g and χ (Ng ) = 2 − g . Thus all the orientable surfaces Mg are distinguished from each other by their Euler characteristics, as are the nonorientable surfaces Ng , and there are only the relations χ (Mg ) = χ (N2g ) .

Split Exact Sequences Suppose one has a retraction r : X →A , so r i = 11 where i : A→X is the inclusion.

The induced map i∗ : Hn (A)→Hn (X) is then injective since r∗ i∗ = 11 . From this it

follows that the boundary maps in the long exact sequence for (X, A) are zero, so the long exact sequence breaks up into short exact sequences 0

i Hn (X) --→ Hn (X, A) → → - Hn (A) --→ - 0 ∗

j∗

The relation r∗ i∗ = 11 actually gives more information than this, by the following piece of elementary algebra:

Splitting Lemma.

For a short exact sequence 0

i B --→ C → → - A --→ - 0 j

of abelian

groups the following statements are equivalent :

(a) There is a homomorphism p : B →A such that pi = 11 : A→A .

(b) There is a homomorphism s : C →B such that js = 11 : C →C . (c) There is an isomorphism B ≈ A ⊕ C making the maps in the lower row are the obvious ones, a , (a, 0) and (a, c) , c .

− − − →

a commutative diagram as at the right, where

j B− i −−−→ → − − − − ≈ 0− C− − → A− − →0 − − → → − − A ⊕C −

If these conditions are satisfied, the exact sequence is said to split. Note that (c) is symmetric: There is no essential difference between the roles of A and C . Sketch of Proof: For the implication (a) ⇒ (c) one checks that the map B →A ⊕ C ,
b , p(b), j(b) , is an isomorphism with the desired properties. For (b) ⇒ (c) one uses instead the map A ⊕ C →B , (a, c)

, i(a) + s(c) .

The opposite implications

(c) ⇒ (a) and (c) ⇒ (b) are fairly obvious. If one wants to show (b) ⇒ (a) directly,
one can define p(b) = i−1 b − sj(b) . Further details are left to the reader. u t

Chapter 2

148

Homology

Except for the implications (b) ⇒ (a) and (b) ⇒ (c) , the proof works equally well for nonabelian groups. In the nonabelian case, (b) is definitely weaker than (a) and (c), and short exact sequences satisfying (b) only determine B as a semidirect product of A and C . The difficulty is that s(C) might not be a normal subgroup of B . In the nonabelian case one defines ‘splitting’ to mean that (b) is satisfied. In both the abelian and nonabelian contexts, if C is free then every exact sequence

0→A

i B --→ C →0 splits, since one can define s : C →B --→ j

by choosing a basis {cα }

for C and letting s(cα ) be any element bα ∈ B such that j(bα ) = cα . The converse is also true: If every short exact sequence ending in C splits, then C is free. This is

because for every C there is a short exact sequence 0→A→B →C →0 with B free — choose generators for C and let B have a basis in one-to-one correspondence with

these generators, then let B →C send each basis element to the corresponding gen-

erator — so if this sequence 0→A→B →C →0 splits, C is isomorphic to a subgroup

of a free group, hence is free. From the Splitting Lemma and the remarks preceding it we deduce that a retraction r : X →A gives a splitting Hn (X) ≈ Hn (A) ⊕ Hn (X, A) . This can be used to show the nonexistence of such a retraction in some cases, for example in the situation of the Brouwer fixed point theorem, where a retraction D n →S n−1 would give an im-

possible splitting Hn−1 (D n ) ≈ Hn−1 (S n−1 ) ⊕ Hn−1 (D n , S n−1 ) . For a somewhat more

subtle example, consider the mapping cylinder Mf of a degree m map f : S n →S n

with m > 1 . If Mf retracted onto the S n ⊂ Mf corresponding to the domain of f ,

we would have a split short exact sequence

m

==

0− − − − − − →Z

==

==

0− − − → Hn( S n ) − − − → Hn( Mf ) − − − → Hn( Mf , S n ) − − − →0

−−−−−−−→ Z −−−−−−−→ Z m −−−−−→ 0

But this sequence does not split since Z is not isomorphic to Z ⊕ Zm if m > 1 , so the

retraction cannot exist. In the simplest case of the degree 2 map S 1 →S 1 , z , z2 , this says that the M¨ obius band does not retract onto its boundary circle.

Homology of Groups In §1.B we constructed for each group G a CW complex K(G, 1) having a contractible universal cover, and we showed that the homotopy type of such a space
K(G, 1) is uniquely determined by G . The homology groups Hn K(G, 1) therefore depend only on G , and are usually denoted simply Hn (G) . The calculations for lens spaces in Example 2.43 show that Hn (Zm ) is Zm for odd n and 0 for even n > 0 . Since S 1 is a K(Z, 1) and the torus is a K(Z× Z, 1) , we also know the homology of these two groups. More generally, the homology of finitely generated abelian groups can be computed from these examples using the K¨ unneth formula in §3.B and the fact that a product K(G, 1)× K(H, 1) is a K(G× H, 1) . Here is an application of the calculation of Hn (Zm ) :

Computations and Applications

Proposition 2.45.

Section 2.2

149

If a finite-dimensional CW complex X is a K(G, 1) , then the group

G = π1 (X) must be torsionfree. This applies to quite a few manifolds, for example closed surfaces other than S 2 and RP2 , and also many 3 dimensional manifolds such as complements of knots in S 3 .

Proof:

If G had torsion, it would have a finite cyclic subgroup Zm for some m > 1 ,

and the covering space of X corresponding to this subgroup of G = π1 (X) would be a K(Zm , 1) . Since X is a finite-dimensional CW complex, the same would be true of its covering space K(Zm , 1) , and hence the homology of the K(Zm , 1) would be nonzero in only finitely many dimensions. But this contradicts the fact that Hn (Zm ) u t

is nonzero for infinitely many values of n .

Reflecting the richness of group theory, the homology of groups has been studied quite extensively. A good starting place for those wishing to learn more is the textbook [Brown 1982]. At a more advanced level the books [Adem & Milgram 1994] and [Benson 1992] treat the subject from a mostly topological viewpoint.

Mayer–Vietoris Sequences In addition to the long exact sequence of homology groups for a pair (X, A) , there is another sort of long exact sequence, known as a Mayer–Vietoris sequence, which is equally powerful but is sometimes more convenient to use. For a pair of subspaces A , B ⊂ X such that X is the union of the interiors of A and B , this exact sequence has the form ···

→ - Hn (A ∩ B) -----Φ→ - Hn (A) ⊕ Hn (B) -----Ψ→ - Hn (X) -----∂→ - Hn−1 (A ∩ B) → - ··· ··· → - H0 (X) → - 0

In addition to its usefulness for calculations, the Mayer–Vietoris sequence is also applied frequently in induction arguments, where one might know that a certain statement is true for A , B , and A ∩ B by induction and then deduce that it is true for A ∪ B by the exact sequence. The Mayer–Vietoris sequence is easy to derive from the machinery of §2.1. Let Cn (A + B) be the subgroup of Cn (X) consisting of chains that are sums of chains in A and chains in B . The usual boundary map ∂ : Cn (X)→Cn−1 (X) takes Cn (A + B) to

Cn−1 (A + B) , so the Cn (A + B) ’s form a chain complex. According to Proposition 2.21, the inclusions Cn (A + B) > Cn (X) induce isomorphisms on homology groups. The

Mayer–Vietoris sequence is then the long exact sequence of homology groups associated to the short exact sequence of chain complexes formed by the short exact sequences 0

→ - Cn (A ∩ B) -----→ - Cn (A) ⊕ Cn (B) -----→ - Cn (A + B) → - 0 ϕ

ψ

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where ϕ(x) = (x, −x) and ψ(x, y) = x + y . The exactness of this short exact sequence can be checked as follows. First, Ker ϕ = 0 since a chain in A ∩ B that is zero as a chain in A (or in B ) must be the zero chain. Next, Im ϕ ⊂ Ker ψ since ψϕ = 0 . Also, Ker ψ ⊂ Im ϕ since for a pair (x, y) ∈ Cn (A) ⊕ Cn (B) the condition x + y = 0 implies x = −y , so x is a chain in both A and B , that is, x ∈ Cn (A ∩ B) , and (x, y) = (x, −x) ∈ Im ϕ . Finally, exactness at Cn (A + B) is immediate from the definition of Cn (A + B) .

The boundary map ∂ : Hn (X)→Hn−1 (A ∩ B) can easily be made explicit. A class

α ∈ Hn (X) is represented by a cycle z , and by barycentric subdivision or some other method we can choose z to be a sum x +y of chains in A and B , respectively. It need not be true that x and y are cycles individually, but ∂x = −∂y since ∂(x + y) = 0 , and the element ∂α ∈ Hn−1 (A ∩ B) is represented by the cycle ∂x = −∂y , as is clear from the definition of the boundary map in the long exact sequence of homology groups associated to a short exact sequence of chain complexes. There is also a formally identical Mayer–Vietoris sequence for reduced homology groups, obtained by augmenting the previous short exact sequence of chain complexes in the obvious way:

0

ϕ

ψ

ϕ

ε⊕ε

0− −−−−−→ Z −−−−−−−−→ Z ⊕ Z

− − − →

ε

− − − →

− − − →

− − − − → C0 ( A ∩ B ) − − − − → C0 ( A ) ⊕ C0 ( B ) − − − − → C0 ( A + B ) − − − − →0 ε

ψ

−−−−−−−−→ Z −−−−−→ 0

Mayer–Vietoris sequences can be viewed as analogs of the van Kampen theorem since if A∩B is path-connected, the H1 terms of the reduced Mayer–Vietoris sequence
yield an isomorphism H1 (X) ≈ H1 (A) ⊕ H1 (B) / Im Φ . This is exactly the abelianized statement of the van Kampen theorem, and H1 is the abelianization of π1 for pathconnected spaces, as we show in §2.A. There are also Mayer–Vietoris sequences for decompositions X = A ∪ B such that A and B are deformation retracts of neighborhoods U and V with U ∩V deformation retracting onto A ∩ B . Under these assumptions the five-lemma implies that the maps

Cn (A + B)→Cn (U + V ) induce isomorphisms on homology, and hence so do the maps Cn (A + B)→Cn (X) , which was all that we needed to obtain a Mayer–Vietoris sequence. For example, if X is a CW complex and A and B are subcomplexes, then we can choose for U and V neighborhoods of the form Nε (A) and Nε (B) constructed in the Appendix, which have the property that Nε (A) ∩ Nε (B) = Nε (A ∩ B) .

Example 2.46.

Take X = S n with A and B the northern and southern hemispheres,

so that A ∩ B = S n−1 . Then in the reduced Mayer–Vietoris sequence the terms e i (S n ) ≈ H e i−1 (S n−1 ) . This gives e i (B) are zero, so we obtain isomorphisms H e i (A) ⊕ H H another way of calculating the homology groups of S n by induction.

Example

2.47. We can decompose the Klein bottle K as the union of two M¨ obius

bands A and B glued together by a homeomorphism between their boundary circles.

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Section 2.2

151

Then A , B , and A ∩ B are homotopy equivalent to circles, so the interesting part of the reduced Mayer–Vietoris sequence for the decomposition K = A ∪ B is the segment 0

Φ H1 (A) ⊕ H1 (B) → → - H2 (K) → - H1 (A ∩ B) --→ - H1 (K) → - 0

obius band wraps The map Φ is Z→Z ⊕ Z , 1 , (2, −2) , since the boundary circle of a M¨ twice around the core circle. Since Φ is injective we obtain H2 (K) = 0 . Furthermore,

we have H1 (K) ≈ Z ⊕ Z2 since we can choose (1, 0) and (1, −1) as a basis for Z ⊕ Z . All the higher homology groups of K are zero from the earlier part of the Mayer–Vietoris sequence.

Example 2.48.

Let us describe an exact sequence which is somewhat similar to the

Mayer–Vietoris sequence and which in some cases generalizes it. If we are given two maps f , g : X →Y then we can form a quotient space Z of the disjoint union of X × I and Y via the identifications (x, 0) ∼ f (x) and (x, 1) ∼ g(x) , thus attaching one end of X × I to Y by f and the other end by g . For example, if f and g are each the identity map X →X then Z = X × S 1 . If only one of f and g , say f , is the identity

map, then Z is homeomorphic to what is called the mapping torus of g , the quotient space of X × I under the identifications (x, 0) ∼ (g(x), 1) . The Klein bottle is an example, with g a reflection S 1 →S 1 .

The exact sequence we want has the form (∗)

···

f∗ −g∗

f∗ −g∗

-→ - Hn (X) -------------→ - Hn (Y ) ---i-→ Hn (Z) -→ - Hn−1 (X) -------------→ - Hn−1 (Y ) -→ - ··· ∗

where i is the evident inclusion Y

> Z.

To derive this exact sequence, consider

the map q : (X × I, X × ∂I)→(Z, Y ) that is the restriction to X × I of the quotient map X × I q Y →Z . The map q induces a map of long exact sequences:

q∗

− − − →

q∗

− − − →

− − − →

0 0 i∗ ∂ ... − − − → Hn + 1( X × I, X × ∂I ) − − − → H n ( X × ∂I ) − − − → Hn ( X × I ) − − − → ... q∗

... − −−−−→ Hn + 1( Z , Y ) − − − − − − − − − − − → Hn ( Y ) − − − − − − − − → Hn ( Z ) −−−−−→ . . . ∂

i∗

In the upper row the middle term is the direct sum of two copies of Hn (X) , and the map i∗ is surjective since X × I deformation retracts onto X × {0} and X × {1} . Surjectivity of the maps i∗ in the upper row implies that the next maps are 0 , which in turn implies that the maps ∂ are injective. Thus the map ∂ in the upper row gives an isomorphism of Hn+1 (X × I, X × ∂I) onto the kernel of i∗ , which consists of the pairs (α, −α) for α ∈ Hn (X) . This kernel is a copy of Hn (X) , and the middle vertical map q∗ takes (α, −α) to f∗ (α) − g∗ (α) . The left-hand q∗ is an isomorphism since these are good pairs and q induces a homeomorphism of quotient spaces

(X × I)/(X × ∂I)→Z/Y . Hence if we replace Hn+1 (Z, Y ) in the lower exact sequence by the isomorphic group Hn (X) ≈ Ker i∗ we obtain the long exact sequence we want. In the case of the mapping torus of a reflection g : S 1 →S 1 , with Z a Klein bottle,

the interesting portion of the exact sequence (∗) is

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152

Homology 11 - g

11 - g

−−−−−−−−→ Z 2

−−−−−−−−→ Z 0→Z2 →H1 (Z)→Z→0 . Z

Thus H2 (Z) = 0 and we have a short exact sequence

=

=

Z

=

=

∗ ∗ 1 1 H1 ( S ) − H0 ( S ) 0− − → H2 ( Z ) − − → H1 ( S 1 ) −−−−→ − − → H1 ( Z ) − − − → H0 ( S 1 ) −−−−→

0

This

splits since Z is free, so H1 (Z) ≈ Z2 ⊕ Z . Other examples are given in the Exercises.

If Y is the disjoint union of spaces Y1 and Y2 , with f : X →Y1 and g : X →Y2 ,

then Z consists of the mapping cylinders of these two maps with their domain ends identified. For example, suppose we have a CW complex decomposed as the union of two subcomplexes A and B and we take f and g to be the inclusions A ∩ B > A and

A∩B

> B.

Then the double mapping cylinder Z is homotopy equivalent to A ∪ B

since we can view Z as (A ∩ B)× I with A and B attached at the two ends, and then slide the attaching of A down to the B end to produce A ∪ B with (A ∩ B)× I attached at one of its ends. By Proposition 0.18 the sliding operation preserves homotopy type, so we obtain a homotopy equivalence Z ' A ∪ B . The exact sequence (∗) in this case is the Mayer–Vietoris sequence. A relative form of the Mayer–Vietoris sequence is sometimes useful. If one has a pair of spaces (X, Y ) = (A ∪ B, C ∪ D) with C ⊂ A and D ⊂ B , such that X is the union of the interiors of A and B , and Y is the union of the interiors of C and D , then there is a relative Mayer–Vietoris sequence ···

→ - Hn (A ∩ B, C ∩ D) -----Φ→ - Hn (A, C) ⊕ Hn (B, D) -----Ψ→ - Hn (X, Y ) -----∂→ - ···

To derive this, consider the commutative diagram

0

0 ψ

− → − → − → − →

→ − → − → − → −

→ − → − → − → −

ϕ

0

0− −−−−→ Cn ( C ∩ D)

−−−−−→ Cn ( C ) ⊕ Cn ( D ) −−−−−→ Cn( C + D) − − − − − →0

0− −−−−→ Cn ( A ∩ B )

−−−−−→ Cn ( A ) ⊕ Cn ( B ) −−−−−→ Cn( A + B ) − − − − − →0

ϕ

ϕ

ψ ψ

0− − − → Cn ( A ∩ B , C ∩ D ) − − − − → Cn ( A , C ) ⊕ C n ( B , D ) − − − − → Cn( A + B , C + D) − − →0 0

0

0

where Cn (A + B, C + D) is the quotient of the subgroup Cn (A + B) ⊂ Cn (X) by its subgroup Cn (C + D) ⊂ Cn (Y ) . Thus the three columns of the diagram are exact. We have seen that the first two rows are exact, and we claim that the third row is exact also, with the maps ϕ and ψ induced from the ϕ and ψ in the second row. Since ψϕ = 0 in the second row, this holds also in the third row, so the third row is at least a chain complex. Viewing the three rows as chain complexes, the diagram then represents a short exact sequence of chain complexes. The associated long exact sequence of homology groups has two out of every three terms zero since the first two rows of the diagram are exact. Hence the remaining homology groups are zero and the third row is exact.

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Section 2.2

153

The third column maps to 0→Cn (Y )→Cn (X)→Cn (X, Y )→0 , inducing maps of homology groups that are isomorphisms for the X and Y terms as we have seen above.

So by the five-lemma the maps Cn (A+B, C +D)→Cn (X, Y ) also induce isomorphisms on homology. The relative Mayer–Vietoris sequence is then the long exact sequence of homology groups associated to the short exact sequence of chain complexes given by the third row of the diagram.

Homology with Coefficients There is an easy generalization of the homology theory we have considered so far that behaves in a very similar fashion and sometimes offers technical advanP tages. The generalization consists of using chains of the form i ni σi where each σi is a singular n simplex in X as before, but now the coefficients ni are taken to lie in a fixed abelian group G rather than Z . Such n chains form an abelian group Cn (X; G) , and there is the expected relative version Cn (X, A; G) = Cn (X; G)/Cn (A; G) . The old formula for the boundary maps ∂ can still be used for arbitrary G , namely
P P bj , ··· , vn ] . Just as before, a calculation shows ∂ i ni σi = i,j (−1)j ni σi || [v0 , ··· , v that ∂ 2 = 0 , so the groups Cn (X; G) and Cn (X, A; G) form chain complexes. The resulting homology groups Hn (X; G) and Hn (X, A; G) are called homology groups e n (X; G) are defined via the augmented chain with coefficients in G. Reduced groups H complex ···

ε G→ → - C0 (X; G) --→ - 0 with ε again defined by summing coefficients.

The case G = Z2 is particularly simple since one is just considering sums of singular simplices with coefficients 0 or 1 , so by discarding terms with coefficient 0 one can think of chains as just finite ‘unions’ of singular simplices. The boundary formulas also simplify since one no longer has to worry about signs. Since signs are an algebraic representation of orientation considerations, one can also ignore orientations. This means that homology with Z2 coefficients is often the most natural tool in the absence of orientability. All the theory we developed in §2.1 for Z coefficients carries over directly to general coefficient groups G with no change in the proofs. The same is true for Mayer– Vietoris sequences. Differences between Hn (X; G) and Hn (X) begin to appear only when one starts making calculations. When X is a point, the method used to compute Hn (X) shows that Hn (X; G) is G for n = 0 and 0 for n > 0 . From this it follows e n (S k ; G) is G for n = k and 0 otherwise. just as for G = Z that H Cellular homology also generalizes to homology with coefficients, with the cellular chain group Hn (X n , X n−1 ) replaced by Hn (X n , X n−1 ; G) , which is a direct sum of G ’s, one for each n cell. The proof that the cellular homology groups HnCW (X) agree with singular homology Hn (X) extends immediately to give HnCW (X; G) ≈ Hn (X; G) . The cellular boundary maps are given by the same formula as for Z coefficients, P P n
dn α nα eα = α,β dαβ nα eβn−1 . The old proof applies, but the following result is needed to know that the coefficients dαβ are the same as before:

Chapter 2

154

Lemma 2.49.

Homology

If f : S k →S k has degree m , then f∗ : Hk (S k ; G)→Hk (S k ; G) is multi-

plication by m .

Proof:

As a preliminary observation, note that a homomorphism ϕ : G1 →G2 induces

maps ϕ] : Cn (X, A; G1 )→Cn (X, A; G2 ) commuting with boundary maps, so there are induced homomorphisms ϕ∗ : Hn (X, A; G1 )→Hn (X, A; G2 ) . These have various nat-

urality properties. For example, they give a commutative diagram mapping the long exact sequence of homology for the pair (X, A) with G1 coefficients to the corresponding sequence with G2 coefficients. Also, the maps ϕ∗ commute with homomorphisms f∗ induced by maps f : (X, A)→(Y , B) .

Now let f : S k →S k have degree m and let ϕ : Z→G take 1 to a given element

g ∈ G . Then we have a commutative

f

f∗

∼

≈ Z

ϕ∗

− − − − − − → Hk ( S k; G )

− − − − − →

ϕ∗

∼ G ≈ Hk ( S k; G )

∼

∗ − − − − − − → Hk ( S k; Z )

− − − − − →

from the inductive calculation of these

ϕ

− − − − − →

tativity of the outer two squares comes

− − − − − →

diagram as at the right, where commu-

∼ Z ≈ Hk ( S k; Z )

ϕ

≈ G

homology groups, reducing to the case k = 0 when the commutativity is obvious. Since the diagram commutes, the assumption that the map across the top takes u t

1 to m implies that the map across the bottom takes g to mg .

Example

2.50. It is instructive to see what happens to the homology of RPn when

the coefficient group G is chosen to be a field F . The cellular chain complex is ···

0 2 0 2 0 F --→ F --→ F --→ F --→ F → --→ - 0

Hence if F has characteristic 2 , for example if F = Z2 , then Hk (RPn ; F ) ≈ F for 0 ≤ k ≤ n , a more uniform answer than with Z coefficients. On the other hand, if F has characteristic different from 2 then the boundary maps F n

2 F --→

are isomor-

phisms, hence Hk (RP ; F ) is F for k = 0 and for k = n odd, and is zero otherwise. In §3.A we will see that there is a general algebraic formula expressing homology with arbitrary coefficients in terms of homology with Z coefficients. Some easy special cases that give much of the flavor of the general result are included in the Exercises. In spite of the fact that homology with Z coefficients determines homology with other coefficient groups, there are many situations where homology with a suitably chosen coefficient group can provide more information than homology with Z coefficients. A good example of this is the proof of the Borsuk–Ulam theorem using Z2 coefficients in §2.B.

As another illustration, we will now give an example of a map f : X →Y with the

property that the induced maps f∗ are trivial for homology with Z coefficients but not for homology with Zm coefficients for suitably chosen m . Thus homology with Zm coefficients tells us that f is not homotopic to a constant map, which we would not know using only Z coefficients.

Computations and Applications

Example 2.51. cell e

n+1

Section 2.2

155

Let X be a Moore space M(Zm , n) obtained from S n by attaching a

by a map of degree m . The quotient map f : X →X/S n = S n+1 induces

trivial homomorphisms on reduced homology with Z coefficients since the nonzero reduced homology groups of X and S n+1 occur in different dimensions. But with Zm coefficients the story is different, as we can see by considering the long exact sequence of the pair (X, S n ) , which contains the segment e n+1 (S n ; Zm ) 0=H

→ - He n+1 (X; Zm ) --→ He n+1 (X/S n ; Zm ) f∗

e n+1 (X; Zm ) is Zm , the celExactness says that f∗ is injective, hence nonzero since H

lular boundary map Hn+1 (X n+1 , X n ; Zm )→Hn (X n , X n−1 ; Zm ) being Zm

m Zm . --→

Exercises 1. Prove the Brouwer fixed point theorem for maps f : D n →D n by applying degree

theory to the map S n →S n that sends both the northern and southern hemispheres of S n to the southern hemisphere via f . [This was Brouwer’s original proof.]

2. Given a map f : S 2n →S 2n , show that there is some point x ∈ S 2n with either

f (x) = x or f (x) = −x . Deduce that every map RP2n →RP2n has a fixed point.

Construct maps RP2n−1 →RP2n−1 without fixed points from linear transformations R2n →R2n without eigenvectors.

3. Let f : S n →S n be a map of degree zero. Show that there exist points x, y ∈ S n with f (x) = x and f (y) = −y . Use this to show that if F is a continuous vector field defined on the unit ball D n in Rn such that F (x) ≠ 0 for all x , then there exists a point on ∂D n where F points radially outward and another point on ∂D n where F points radially inward. 4. Construct a surjective map S n →S n of degree zero, for each n ≥ 1 . 5. Show that any two reflections of S n across different n dimensional hyperplanes are homotopic, in fact homotopic through reflections. [The linear algebra formula for a reflection in terms of inner products may be helpful.] 6. Show that every map S n →S n can be homotoped to have a fixed point if n > 0 . 7. For an invertible linear transformation f : Rn →Rn show that the induced map e n−1 (Rn − {0}) ≈ Z is 11 or −11 according to whether the on Hn (Rn , Rn − {0}) ≈ H determinant of f is positive or negative. [Use Gaussian elimination to show that the matrix of f can be joined by a path of invertible matrices to a diagonal matrix with ±1 ’s on the diagonal.] 8. A polynomial f (z) with complex coefficients, viewed as a map C→C , can always be extended to a continuous map of one-point compactifications fb : S 2 →S 2 . Show

that the degree of fb equals the degree of f as a polynomial. Show also that the local degree of fb at a root of f is the multiplicity of the root.

156

Chapter 2

Homology

9. Compute the homology groups of the following 2 complexes: (a) The quotient of S 2 obtained by identifying north and south poles to a point. (b) S 1 × (S 1 ∨ S 1 ) . (c) The space obtained from D 2 by first deleting the interiors of two disjoint subdisks in the interior of D 2 and then identifying all three resulting boundary circles together via homeomorphisms preserving clockwise orientations of these circles. (d) The quotient space of S 1 × S 1 obtained by identifying points in the circle S 1 × {x0 } that differ by 2π /m rotation and identifying points in the circle {x0 }× S 1 that differ by 2π /n rotation. 10. Let X be the quotient space of S 2 under the identifications x ∼ −x for x in the equator S 1 . Compute the homology groups Hi (X) . Do the same for S 3 with antipodal points of the equatorial S 2 ⊂ S 3 identified. 11. In an exercise for §1.2 we described a 3 dimensional CW complex obtained from the cube I 3 by identifying opposite faces via a one-quarter twist. Compute the homology groups of this complex. 12. Show that the quotient map S 1 × S 1 →S 2 collapsing the subspace S 1 ∨ S 1 to a point is not nullhomotopic by showing that it induces an isomorphism on H2 . On the other hand, show via covering spaces that any map S 2 →S 1 × S 1 is nullhomotopic.

13. Let X be the 2 complex obtained from S 1 with its usual cell structure by attaching two 2 cells by maps of degrees 2 and 3 , respectively. (a) Compute the homology groups of all the subcomplexes A ⊂ X and the corresponding quotient complexes X/A . (b) Show that X ' S 2 and that the only subcomplex A ⊂ X for which the quotient map X →X/A is a homotopy equivalence is the trivial subcomplex, the 0 cell.

14. A map f : S n →S n satisfying f (x) = f (−x) for all x is called an even map. Show that an even map S n →S n must have even degree, and that the degree must in fact be

zero when n is even. When n is odd, show there exist even maps of any given even degree. [Hints: If f is even, it factors as a composition S n →RPn →S n . Using the

calculation of Hn (RPn ) in the text, show that the induced map Hn (S n )→Hn (RPn ) sends a generator to twice a generator when n is odd. It may be helpful to show that the quotient map RPn →RPn /RPn−1 induces an isomorphism on Hn when n is odd.]

15. Show that if X is a CW complex then Hn (X n ) is free by identifying it with the kernel of the cellular boundary map Hn (X n , X n−1 )→Hn−1 (X n−1 , X n−2 ) .

16. Let ∆n = [v0 , ··· , vn ] have its natural ∆ complex structure with k simplices [vi0 , ··· , vik ] for i0 < ··· < ik . Compute the ranks of the simplicial (or cellular) chain groups ∆i (∆n ) and the subgroups of cycles and boundaries. [Hint: Pascal’s triangle.] n n k
e Apply this to show that the k skeleton   of ∆ has homology groups Hi (∆ ) equal n to 0 for i < k , and free of rank k+1 for i = k .

Computations and Applications

Section 2.2

157

17. Show the isomorphism between cellular and singular homology is natural in the following sense: A map f : X →Y that is cellular — satisfying f (X n ) ⊂ Y n for

all n — induces a chain map f∗ between the cellular chain complexes of X and Y , and the map f∗ : HnCW (X)→HnCW (Y ) induced by this chain map corresponds to

f∗ : Hn (X)→Hn (Y ) under the isomorphism HnCW ≈ Hn .

18. For a CW pair (X, A) show there is a relative cellular chain complex formed by the groups Hi (X i , X i−1 ∪ Ai ) , having homology groups isomorphic to Hn (X, A) . 19. Compute Hi (RPn /RPm ) for m < n by cellular homology, using the standard CW structure on RPn with RPm as its m skeleton. 20. For finite CW complexes X and Y , show that χ (X × Y ) = χ (X) χ (Y ) . 21. If a finite CW complex X is the union of subcomplexes A and B , show that χ (X) = χ (A) + χ (B) − χ (A ∩ B) . e →X an n sheeted covering space, show that 22. For X a finite CW complex and p : X e = n χ (X) . χ (X) 23. Show that if the closed orientable surface Mg of genus g is a covering space of Mh , then g = n(h − 1) + 1 for some n , namely, n is the number of sheets in the covering. [Conversely, if g = n(h − 1) + 1 then there is an n sheeted covering

Mg →Mh , as we saw in Example 1.41.]

24. Suppose we build S 2 from a finite collection of polygons by identifying edges in pairs. Show that in the resulting CW structure on S 2 the 1 skeleton cannot be either of the two graphs shown, with five and six vertices. [This is one step in a proof that neither of these graphs embeds in R2 .] 25. Show that for each n ∈ Z there is a unique function ϕ assigning an integer to each finite CW complex, such that (a) ϕ(X) = ϕ(Y ) if X and Y are homeomorphic, (b) ϕ(X) = ϕ(A) + ϕ(X/A) if A is a subcomplex of X , and (c) ϕ(S 0 ) = n . For such a function ϕ , show that ϕ(X) = ϕ(Y ) if X ' Y . 26. For a pair (X, A) , let X ∪ CA be X with a cone on A attached. (a) Show that X is a retract of X ∪ CA iff A is contractible in X : There is a homotopy ft : A→X with f0 the inclusion A > X and f1 a constant map.

e n (X) ⊕ H e n−1 (A) , using the (b) Show that if A is contractible in X then Hn (X, A) ≈ H fact that (X ∪ CA)/X is the suspension SA of A . 27. The short exact sequences 0→Cn (A)→Cn (X)→Cn (X, A)→0 always split, but why does this not always yield splittings Hn (X) ≈ Hn (A) ⊕ Hn (X, A) ?

28. (a) Use the Mayer–Vietoris sequence to compute the homology groups of the space obius band via a homeomorphism from obtained from a torus S 1 × S 1 by attaching a M¨ the boundary circle of the M¨ obius band to the circle S 1 × {x0 } in the torus. (b) Do the same for the space obtained by attaching a M¨ obius band to RP2 via a homeomorphism of its boundary circle to the standard RP1 ⊂ RP2 .

158

Chapter 2

Homology

29. The surface Mg of genus g , embedded in R3 in the standard way, bounds a compact region R . Two copies of R , glued together by the identity map between their boundary surfaces Mg , form a closed 3-manifold X . Compute the homology groups of X via the Mayer–Vietoris sequence for this decomposition of X into two copies of R . Also compute the relative groups Hi (R, Mg ) . 30. For the mapping torus Tf of a map f : X →X , we constructed in Example 2.48 a long exact sequence ···

→ - Hn (X) ----------→ Hn (X) → - Hn (Tf ) → - Hn−1 (X) → - ··· . 1−f∗

Use

this to compute the homology of the mapping tori of the following maps: (a) A reflection S 2 →S 2 .

(b) A map S 2 →S 2 of degree 2 .

(c) The map S 1 × S 1 →S 1 × S 1 that is the identity on one factor and a reflection on the other.

(d) The map S 1 × S 1 →S 1 × S 1 that is a reflection on each factor.

(e) The map S 1 × S 1 →S 1 × S 1 that interchanges the two factors and then reflects one of the factors.

e n (X ∨ Y ) ≈ 31. Use the Mayer–Vietoris sequence to show there are isomorphisms H e e Hn (X) ⊕ Hn (Y ) if the basepoints of X and Y that are identified in X ∨ Y are deformation retracts of neighborhoods U ⊂ X and V ⊂ Y . 32. For SX the suspension of X , show by a Mayer–Vietoris sequence that there are e n−1 (X) for all n . e n (SX) ≈ H isomorphisms H 33. Suppose the space X is the union of open sets A1 , ··· , An such that each intersection Ai1 ∩ ··· ∩ Aik is either empty or has trivial reduced homology groups. Show e i (X) = 0 for i ≥ n − 1 , and give an example showing this inequality is best that H possible, for each n . 34. Derive the long exact sequence of a pair (X, A) from the Mayer–Vietoris sequence applied to X ∪ CA , where CA is the cone on A . [We showed after the proof of e n (X ∪ CA) for all n .] Proposition 2.22 that Hn (X, A) ≈ H 35. Use the Mayer–Vietoris sequence to show that a nonorientable closed surface, or more generally a finite simplicial complex X for which H1 (X) contains torsion, cannot be embedded as a subspace of R3 in such a way as to have a neighborhood homeomorphic to the mapping cylinder of some map from a closed orientable surface to X . [This assumption on a neighborhood is in fact not needed if one deduces the result from Alexander duality in §3.3.] 36. Show that Hi (X × S n ) ≈ Hi (X) ⊕ Hi−n (X) for all i and n , where Hi = 0 for i < 0 by definition. Namely, show Hi (X × S n ) ≈ Hi (X) ⊕ Hi (X × S n , X × {x0 }) and Hi (X × S n , X × {x0 }) ≈ Hi−1 (X × S n−1 , X × {x0 }) . [For the latter isomorphism the relative Mayer–Vietoris sequence yields an easy proof.] 37. Give an elementary derivation for the Mayer–Vietoris sequence in simplicial homology for a ∆ complex X decomposed as the union of subcomplexes A and B .

Computations and Applications

Section 2.2

159

38. Show that a commutative diagram

→ −

→ −

→ −

− − − → Cn − − − → ... − − − − − → Bn − →A − → Bn - 1 − →A − − − − − − − − − − − − − → n - 1− → n− → Dn − → Dn - 1− − − − − ... − − − − − → En + 1 − − − − → En − − − → ... → −

... − − − → Cn +1 − −

with the two sequences across the top and bottom exact, gives rise to an exact sequence ···

→ - En+1 → - Bn → - Cn ⊕ Dn → - En → - Bn−1 → - ···

where the maps

are obtained from those in the previous diagram in the obvious way, except that Bn →Cn ⊕ Dn has a minus sign in one coordinate. 39. Use the preceding exercise to derive relative Mayer–Vietoris sequences for CW pairs (X, Y ) = (A ∪ B, C ∪ D) with A = B or C = D . 40. From the long exact sequence of homology groups associated to the short exact sequence of chain complexes 0

n Ci (X) → → - Ci (X) --→ - Ci (X; Zn ) → - 0

deduce

immediately that there are short exact sequences 0

→ - Hi (X)/nHi (X) → - Hi (X; Zn ) → - n-Torsion(Hi−1 (X)) → - 0

where n-Torsion(G) is the kernel of the map G --→ G , g , ng . Use this to show that e i (X) is a vector space over Q for all i . e i (X; Zp ) = 0 for all i and all primes p iff H H n

41. For X a finite CW complex and F a field, show that the Euler characteristic χ (X) P can also be computed by the formula χ (X) = n (−1)n dim Hn (X; F ) , the alternating sum of the dimensions of the vector spaces Hn (X; F ) . 42. Let X be a finite connected graph having no vertex that is the endpoint of just one edge, and suppose that H1 (X; Z) is free abelian of rank n > 1 , so the group of automorphisms of H1 (X; Z) is GLn (Z) , the group of invertible n× n matrices with integer entries whose inverse matrix also has integer entries. Show that if G is a finite group of homeomorphisms of X , then the homomorphism G→GLn (Z) assigning to

g : X →X the induced homomorphism g∗ : H1 (X; Z)→H1 (X; Z) is injective. Show the same result holds if the coefficient group Z is replaced by Zm with m > 2 . What goes wrong when m = 2 ? 43. (a) Show that a chain complex of free abelian groups Cn splits as a direct sum of

subcomplexes 0→Ln+1 →Kn →0 with at most two nonzero terms. [Show the short exact sequence 0→ Ker ∂ →Cn → Im ∂ →0 splits and take Kn = Ker ∂ .]

(b) In case the groups Cn are finitely generated, show there is a further splitting into summands 0→Z→0 and 0

m Z → → - Z --→ - 0.

[Reduce the matrix of the boundary

map Ln+1 →Kn to echelon form by elementary row and column operations.] (c) Deduce that if X is a CW complex with finitely many cells in each dimension, then Hn (X; G) is the direct sum of the following groups: a copy of G for each Z summand of Hn (X) a copy of G/mG for each Zm summand of Hn (X) a copy of the kernel of G

m G for each Zm --→

summand of Hn−1 (X)

160

Chapter 2

Homology

Sometimes it is good to step back from the forest of details and look for general patterns. In this rather brief section we will first describe the general pattern of homology by axioms, then we will look at some common formal features shared by many of the constructions we have made, using the language of categories and functors which has become common in much of modern mathematics.

Axioms for Homology For simplicity let us restrict attention to CW complexes and focus on reduced homology to avoid mentioning relative homology. A (reduced) homology theory assigns e (X) and to each map to each nonempty CW complex X a sequence of abelian groups h n

e (Y ) e (X)→h f : X →Y between CW complexes a sequence of homomorphisms f∗ : h n n such that (f g)∗ = f∗ g∗ and 11∗ = 11 , and so that the following three axioms are satisfied. e (Y ) . e (X)→h (1) If f ' g : X →Y , then f∗ = g∗ : h n n e e (X/A)→h (2) There are boundary homomorphisms ∂ : h

n−1 (A)

n

defined for each CW

pair (X, A) , fitting into an exact sequence ···

-----∂→ - he n (A) ----i-→ - he n (X) -----→ - he n (X/A) -----∂→ - he n−1 (A) ----i-→ - ··· q∗

∗

∗

where i is the inclusion and q is the quotient map. Furthermore the boundary

maps are natural: For f : (X, A)→(Y , B) inducing a quotient map f : X/A→Y /B , there are commutative diagrams

∼ h n (Y/B )

− − − − − − − → h n - 1( B )

∂

∼

− − − − − →

− − − − − − − → h n - 1( A )

− − − − − →

∼ h n ( X/A ) − f

f∗

∗

∂

∼

W (3) For a wedge sum X = α Xα with inclusions iα : Xα > X , the direct sum map L L e e α iα∗ : α hn (Xα )→hn (X) is an isomorphism for each n . Negative values for the subscripts n are permitted. Ordinary singular homology is zero in negative dimensions by definition, but interesting homology theories with nontrivial groups in negative dimensions do exist. The third axiom may seem less substantial than the first two, and indeed for finite wedge sums it can be deduced from the first two axioms, though not in general for infinite wedge sums, as an example in the Exercises shows. It is also possible, and not much more difficult, to give axioms for unreduced homology theories. One supposes one has relative groups hn (X, A) defined, specializing to absolute groups by setting hn (X) = hn (X, ∅) . Axiom (1) is replaced by its

The Formal Viewpoint

Section 2.3

161

obvious relative form, and axiom (2) is broken into two parts, the first hypothesizing a long exact sequence involving these relative groups, with natural boundary maps, the second stating some version of excision, for example hn (X, A) ≈ hn (X/A, A/A) if one is dealing with CW pairs. In axiom (3) the wedge sum is replaced by disjoint union. These axioms for unreduced homology are essentially the same as those originally laid out in the highly influential book [Eilenberg & Steenrod 1952], except that axiom (3) was omitted since the focus there was on finite complexes, and there was another axiom specifying that the groups hn (point ) are zero for n ≠ 0 , as is true for singular homology. This axiom was called the ‘dimension axiom,’ presumably because it specifies that a point has nontrivial homology only in dimension zero. It can be regarded as a normalization axiom, since one can trivially define a homology theory where it fails by setting hn (X, A) = Hn+k (X, A) for a fixed nonzero integer k . At the time there were no interesting homology theories known for which the dimension axiom did not hold, but soon thereafter topologists began studying a homology theory called ‘bordism’ having the property that the bordism groups of a point are nonzero in infinitely many dimensions. Axiom (3) seems to have appeared first in [Milnor 1962]. Reduced and unreduced homology theories are essentially equivalent. From an e by setting h e (X) equal to the unreduced theory h one gets a reduced theory h n

kernel of the canonical map hn (X)→hn (point ) . In the other direction, one sets e (X ) where X is the disjoint union of X with a point. We leave it hn (X) = h n + +

as an exercise to show that these two transformations between reduced and unreduced homology are inverses of each other. Just as with ordinary homology, one has e (X) ⊕ h (x ) for any point x ∈ X , since the long exact sequence of the h (X) ≈ h n

n

n

0

0

e (x ) = 0 for all n , pair (X, x0 ) splits via the retraction of X onto x0 . Note that h n 0 as can be seen by looking at the long exact sequence of reduced homology groups of the pair (x0 , x0 ) . e (S 0 ) are called the coefficients of the homology theoThe groups hn (x0 ) ≈ h n e , by analogy with the case of singular homology with coefficients. One ries h and h can trivially realize any sequence of abelian groups Gi as the coefficient groups of a L homology theory by setting hn (X, A) = i Hn−i (X, A; Gi ) . In general, homology theories are not uniquely determined by their coefficient groups, but this is true for singular homology: If h is a homology theory defined for CW pairs, whose coefficient groups hn (x0 ) are zero for n ≠ 0 , then there are natural isomorphisms hn (X, A) ≈ Hn (X, A; G) for all CW pairs (X, A) and all n , where G = h0 (x0 ) . This will be proved in Theorem 4.59. We have seen how Mayer–Vietoris sequences can be quite useful for singular homology, and in fact every homology theory has Mayer–Vietoris sequences, at least for CW complexes. These can be obtained directly from the axioms in the follow-

162

Chapter 2

Homology

ing way. For a CW complex X = A ∪ B with A and B subcomplexes, the inclusion (B, A ∩ B) > (X, A) induces a commutative diagram of exact sequences

− − →

≈

− − →

− − →

− − →

... − − − − → h n ( B, A∩ B ) − − − → h n + 1( B, A∩ B ) − − − → h n ( A∩ B ) − − − → h n( B ) − − − → ... ≈

... − − − − − → h n + 1( X, A) −−−−−−→ h n ( A ) − − − − − → h n( X ) − − − − − − → h n ( X, A ) − − − − − − → ... The vertical maps between relative groups are isomorphisms since B/(A ∩ B) = X/A . Then it is a purely algebraic fact, whose proof is Exercise 38 at the end of the previous section, that a diagram such as this with every third vertical map an isomorphism gives rise to a long exact sequence involving the remaining nonisomorphic terms. In the present case this takes the form of a Mayer-Vietoris sequence ···

∂ hn−1 (A ∩ B) → → - hn (A ∩ B) --→ hn (A) ⊕ hn (B) --→ hn (X) --→ - ··· ϕ

ψ

Categories and Functors Formally, singular homology can be regarded as a sequence of functions Hn that

assign to each space X an abelian group Hn (X) and to each map f : X →Y a homo-

morphism Hn (f ) = f∗ : Hn (X)→Hn (Y ) , and similarly for relative homology groups. This sort of situation arises quite often, and not just in algebraic topology, so it is useful to introduce some general terminology for it. Roughly speaking, ‘functions’ like Hn are called ‘functors,’ and the domains and ranges of these functors are called ‘categories.’ Thus for Hn the domain category consists of topological spaces and continuous maps, or in the relative case, pairs of spaces and continuous maps of pairs, and the range category consists of abelian groups and homomorphisms. A key point is that one is interested not only in the objects in the category, for example spaces or groups, but also in the maps, or ‘morphisms,’ between these objects. Now for the precise definitions. A category C consists of three things: (1) A collection Ob(C) of objects. (2) Sets Mor(X, Y ) of morphisms for each pair X, Y ∈ Ob(C) , including a distinguished ‘identity’ morphism 11 = 11X ∈ Mor(X, X) for each X . (3) A ‘composition of morphisms’ function

◦

: Mor(X, Y )× Mor(Y , Z)→Mor(X, Z) for

each triple X, Y , Z ∈ Ob(C) , satisfying f ◦ 11 = f , 11 ◦ f = f , and (f ◦ g) ◦ h = f ◦ (g ◦ h) . There are plenty of obvious examples, such as:

The category of topological spaces, with continuous maps as the morphisms. Or we could restrict to special classes of spaces such as CW complexes, keeping continuous maps as the morphisms. We could also restrict the morphisms, for example to homeomorphisms. The category of groups, with homomorphisms as morphisms. Or the subcategory of abelian groups, again with homomorphisms as the morphisms. Generalizing

The Formal Viewpoint

Section 2.3

163

this is the category of modules over a fixed ring, with morphisms the module homomorphisms. The category of sets, with arbitrary functions as the morphisms. Or the morphisms could be restricted to injections, surjections, or bijections. There are also many categories where the morphisms are not simply functions, for example: Any group G can be viewed as a category with only one object and with G as the morphisms of this object, so that condition (3) reduces to two of the three axioms for a group. If we require only these two axioms, associativity and a left and right identity, we have a ‘group without inverses,’ usually called a monoid since it is the same thing as a category with one object. A partially ordered set (X, ≤) can be considered a category where the objects are the elements of X and there is a unique morphism from x to y whenever x ≤ y . The relation x ≤ x gives the morphism 11 and transitivity gives the composition

Mor(x, y)× Mor(y, z)→Mor(x, z) . The condition that x ≤ y and y ≤ x implies x = y says that there is at most one morphism between any two objects. There is a ‘homotopy category’ whose objects are topological spaces and whose morphisms are homotopy classes of maps, rather than actual maps. This uses the fact that composition is well-defined on homotopy classes: f0 g0 ' f1 g1 if f0 ' f1 and g0 ' g1 . Chain complexes are the objects of a category, with chain maps as morphisms. This category has various interesting subcategories, obtained by restricting the objects. For example, we could take chain complexes whose groups are zero in negative dimensions, or zero outside a finite range. Or we could restrict to exact sequences, or short exact sequences. In each case we take morphisms to be chain maps, which are commutative diagrams. Going a step further, there is a category whose objects are short exact sequences of chain complexes and whose morphisms are commutative diagrams of maps between such short exact sequences. A functor F from a category C to a category D assigns to each object X in C an object F (X) in D and to each morphism f ∈ Mor(X, Y ) in C a morphism F (f ) ∈
Mor F (X), F (Y ) in D , such that F (11) = 11 and F (f ◦ g) = F (f ) ◦ F (g) . In the case of the singular homology functor Hn , the latter two conditions are the familiar properties 11∗ = 11 and (f g)∗ = f∗ g∗ of induced maps. Strictly speaking, what we have just

defined is a covariant functor. A contravariant functor would differ from this by
assigning to f ∈ Mor(X, Y ) a ‘backwards’ morphism F (f ) ∈ Mor F (Y ), F (X) with F (11) = 11 and F (f ◦ g) = F (g) ◦ F (f ) . A classical example of this is the dual vector space functor, which assigns to a vector space V over a fixed scalar field K the dual vector space F (V ) = V ∗ of linear maps V →K , and to each linear transformation

164

Chapter 2

Homology

f : V →W the dual map F (f ) = f ∗ : W ∗ →V ∗ , going in the reverse direction. In the next chapter we will study the contravariant version of homology, called cohomology. A number of the constructions we have studied in this chapter are functors: The singular chain complex functor assigns to a space X the chain complex of

singular chains in X and to a map f : X →Y the induced chain map. This is

a functor from the category of spaces and continuous maps to the category of chain complexes and chain maps. The algebraic homology functor assigns to a chain complex its sequence of homology groups and to a chain map the induced homomorphisms on homology. This is a functor from the category of chain complexes and chain maps to the category whose objects are sequences of abelian groups and whose morphisms are sequences of homomorphisms. The composition of the two preceding functors is the functor assigning to a space its singular homology groups. The first example above, the singular chain complex functor, can itself be regarded as the composition of two functors. The first functor assigns to a space X its singular complex S(X) , a ∆ complex, and the second functor assigns to a ∆ complex its simplicial chain complex. This is what the two functors do on objects, and what they do on morphisms can be described in the following way. A map of spaces f : X →Y induces a map f∗ : S(X)→S(Y ) by composing singular

simplices ∆n →X with f . The map f∗ is a map between ∆ complexes taking the

distinguished characteristic maps in the domain ∆ complex to the distinguished characteristic maps in the target ∆ complex. Call such maps ∆ maps and let them be the morphisms in the category of ∆ complexes. Note that a ∆ map induces a chain map between simplicial chain complexes, taking basis elements to basis elements, so we have a simplicial chain complex functor taking the category of ∆ complexes and ∆ maps to the category of chain complexes and chain maps. There is a functor assigning to a pair of spaces (X, A) the associated long exact sequence of homology groups. Morphisms in the domain category are maps of pairs, and in the target category morphisms are maps between exact sequences forming commutative diagrams. This functor is the composition of two functors, the first assigning to (X, A) a short exact sequence of chain complexes, the second assigning to such a short exact sequence the associated long exact sequence of homology groups. Morphisms in the intermediate category are the evident commutative diagrams. Another sort of process we have encountered is the transformation of one functor into another, for example: Boundary maps Hn (X, A)→Hn−1 (A) in singular homology, or indeed in any homology theory.

The Formal Viewpoint

Section 2.3

165

Change-of-coefficient homomorphisms Hn (X; G1 )→Hn (X; G2 ) induced by a ho-

momorphism G1 →G2 , as in the proof of Lemma 2.49.

In general, if one has two functors F , G : C→D then a natural transformation T from

F to G assigns a morphism TX : F (X)→G(X) to each object

are contravariant rather than covariant is similar.

TX

− − − − − →

C the square at the right commutes. The case that F and G

F (f )

F (X ) − −−−−→ F ( Y )

− − − − − →

X ∈ C , in such a way that for each morphism f : X →Y in

TY

G( f )

G( X ) − −−−−→ G ( Y )

We have been describing the passage from topology to the abstract world of categories and functors, but there is also a nice path in the opposite direction: To each category C there is associated a ∆ complex B C called the classifying

space of C , whose n simplices are the strings X0 →X1 → ··· →Xn of morphisms

in C . The faces of this simplex are obtained by deleting an Xi , and then composing the two adjacent morphisms if i ≠ 0, n . Thus when n = 2 the three faces of X0 →X1 →X2 are X0 →X1 , X1 →X2 , and the composed morphism X0 →X2 . In

case C has a single object and the morphisms of C form a group G , then B C is the same as the ∆ complex BG constructed in Example 1B.7, a K(G, 1) . In general, the space B C need not be a K(G, 1) , however. For example, if we start with a ∆ complex X and regard its set of simplices as a partially ordered set C(X) under the relation of inclusion of faces, then B C(X) is the barycentric subdivision of X . A functor F : C→D induces a map B C→B D . This is the ∆ map that sends an

n simplex X0 →X1 → ··· →Xn to the n simplex F (X0 )→F (X1 )→ ··· →F (Xn ) .

A natural transformation from a functor F to a functor G induces a homotopy between the induced maps of classifying spaces. We leave this for the reader to make explicit, using the subdivision of ∆n × I into (n + 1) simplices described earlier in the chapter.

Exercises 1. If Tn (X, A) denotes the torsion subgroup of Hn (X, A; Z) , show that the functors

(X, A) , Tn (X, A) , with the obvious induced homomorphisms Tn (X, A)→Tn (Y , B)

and boundary maps Tn (X, A)→Tn−1 (A) , do not define a homology theory. Do the same for the ‘mod torsion’ functor MTn (X, A) = Hn (X, A; Z)/Tn (X, A) .

e (X) = 2. Define a candidate for a reduced homology theory on CW complexes by h n Q L e e e i Hi (X) i Hi (X) . Thus hn (X) is independent of n and is zero if X is finiteW dimensional, but is not identically zero, for example for X = i S i . Show that the axioms for a homology theory are satisfied except that the wedge axiom fails. e is a reduced homology theory, then h e (point ) = 0 for all n . Deduce 3. Show that if h n e e that there are suspension isomorphisms hn (X) ≈ hn+1 (SX) for all n . 4. Show that the wedge axiom for homology theories follows from the other axioms in the case of finite wedge sums.

Chapter 2

166

Homology

There is a close connection between H1 (X) and π1 (X) , arising from the fact that

a map f : I →X can be viewed as either a path or a singular 1 simplex. If f is a loop, with f (0) = f (1) , this singular 1 simplex is a cycle since ∂f = f (1) − f (0) .

Theorem 2A.1. By regarding loops as singular 1 cycles, we obtain a homomorphism h : π1 (X, x0 )→H1 (X) . If X is path-connected, then h is surjective and has kernel the commutator subgroup of π1 (X) , so h induces an isomorphism from the abelianization of π1 (X) onto H1 (X) .

Proof:

Recall the notation f ' g for the relation of homotopy, fixing endpoints,

between paths f and g . Regarding f and g as chains, the notation f ∼ g will mean that f is homologous to g , that is, f − g is the boundary of some 2 chain. Here are some facts about this relation. (i) If f is a constant path, then f ∼ 0 . Namely, f is a cycle since it is a loop, and since H1 (point ) = 0 , f must then be a boundary. Explicitly, f is the boundary of the constant singular 2 simplex σ having the same image as f since ∂σ = σ || [v1 , v2 ] − σ || [v0 , v2 ] + σ || [v0 , v1 ] = f − f + f = f (ii) If f ' g then f ∼ g . To see this, consider a homotopy F : I × I →X from f to g . This yields a pair of singular 2 simplices σ1 and σ2 in X by subdividing the square I × I into two triangles [v0 , v1 , v3 ]

g

v2

σ2

and [v0 , v2 , v3 ] as shown in the figure. When one computes ∂(σ1 − σ2 ) , the two restrictions of F to the diagonal of the square cancel, leaving f − g together with two constant singular 1 simplices from the left and right edges of the square.

σ1 v0

v2

(iii) f g ∼ f + g , where f g denotes the product of the paths f and g . For if σ : ∆

→X

g g

is the composition of orthogonal f

projection of ∆2 = [v0 , v1 , v2 ] onto the edge [v0 , v2 ] followed by f g : [v0 , v2 ]→X , then ∂σ = g − f g + f .

v1

f

By (i) these are boundaries, so f − g is also a boundary. 2

v3

v0

f

v1

(iv) f ∼ −f , where f is the inverse path of f . This follows from the preceding three observations, which give f + f ∼ f f ∼ 0 . Applying (ii) and (iii) to loops, it follows that we have a well-defined homomorphism h : π1 (X, x0 )→H1 (X) sending the homotopy class of a loop f to the homology class of the 1 cycle f .

Homology and Fundamental Group To show h is surjective when X is path-connected, let

Section 2.A P i

167

ni σi be a 1 cycle rep-

resenting a given element of H1 (X) . After relabeling the σi ’s we may assume each P ni is ±1 . By (iv) we may in fact take each ni to be +1 , so our 1 cycle is i σi . If
P some σi is not a loop, then the fact that ∂ i σi = 0 means there must be another σj such that the composed path σi σj is defined. By (iii) we may then combine the terms σi and σj into a single term σi σj . Iterating this, we reduce to the case that each σi is a loop. Since X is path-connected, we may choose a path γi from x0 to the basepoint of σi . We have γi σi γ i ∼ σi by (iii) and (iv), so we may assume all σi ’s are loops at x0 . Then we can combine all the σi ’s into a single σ by (iii). This says the given element of H1 (X) is in the image of h . The commutator subgroup of π1 (X) is contained in the kernel of h since H1 (X) is abelian. To obtain the reverse inclusion we will show that every class [f ] in the kernel of h is trivial in the abelianization π1 (X)ab of π1 (X) . If an element [f ] ∈ π1 (X) is in the kernel of h , then f , as a 1 cycle, is the boundP ary of a 2 chain i ni σi . Again we may assume each ni is ±1 . As in the discussion P preceding Proposition 2.6, we can associate to the chain i ni σi a 2 dimensional ∆ complex K by taking a 2 simplex ∆2i for each σi and identi-

v2

fying certain pairs of edges of these 2 simplices. Namely, if we apply the usual boundary formula to write ∂σi = τi0 − τi1 + τi2 for singular 1 simplices τij , then the formula
P P P f = ∂ i ni σi = i ni ∂σi = i,j (−1)j ni τij

τi1 v0

σi τi 2

τi 0 v1

implies that we can group all but one of the τij ’s into pairs for which the two coefficients (−1)j ni in each pair are +1 and −1 . The one remaining τij is equal to f . We then identify edges of the ∆2j ’s corresponding to the paired τij ’s, preserving orientations of these edges so that we obtain a ∆ complex K .

The maps σi fit together to give a map σ : K →X . We can deform σ , staying

fixed on the edge corresponding to f , so that each vertex maps to the basepoint x0 , in the following way. Paths from the images of these vertices to x0 define such a homotopy on the union of the 0 skeleton of K with the edge corresponding to f , and then we can appeal to the homotopy extension property in Proposition 0.16 to extend this homotopy to all of K . Alternatively, it is not hard to construct such an extension by hand. Restricting the new σ to the simplices ∆2i , we obtain a new chain P i ni σi with boundary equal to f and with all τij ’s loops at x0 . P

Using additive notation in the abelian group π1 (X)ab , we have the formula [f ] =

j i,j (−1) ni [τij ] because P tion i,j (−1)j ni [τij ] as

of the canceling pairs of τij ’s. We can rewrite the summaP i ni [∂σi ] where [∂σi ] = [τi0 ] − [τi1 ] + [τi2 ] . Since σi

gives a nullhomotopy of the composed loop τi0 − τi1 + τi2 , we conclude that [f ] = 0 in π1 (X)ab .

u t

Chapter 2

168

Homology

The end of this proof can be illuminated by looking more closely at the geometry. The complex K is in fact a compact surface with boundary consisting of a single circle formed by the edge corresponding to f . This is because any pattern of identifications of pairs of edges of a finite collection of disjoint 2 simplices produces a compact surface with boundary. We leave it as an exercise for the reader to check that the algebraic
P formula f = ∂ i ni σi with each ni = ±1 implies that K c is an orientable surface. The component of K containing

d

b

the boundary circle is a standard closed orientable surface c

of some genus g with an open disk removed, by the basic structure theorem for compact orientable surfaces. Giving

b

d

this surface the cell structure indicated in the figure, it then

a

f a

becomes obvious that f is homotopic to a product of g commutators in π1 (X) .

The map h : π1 (X, x0 )→H1 (X) can also be defined by h([f ]) = f∗ (α) where

f :S

1

→X represents a given element of π1 (X, x0 ) , f∗ is the induced map on H1 , and

α is the generator of H1 (S 1 ) ≈ Z represented by the standard map σ : I →S 1 , σ (s) = e2π is . This is because both [f ] ∈ π1 (X, x0 ) and f∗ (α) ∈ H1 (X) are represented by

the loop f σ : I →X . A consequence of this definition is that h([f ]) = h([g]) if f and g are homotopic maps S 1 →X , since f∗ = g∗ by Theorem 2.10.

Example

2A.2. For the closed orientable surface M of genus g , the abelianization

of π1 (M) is Z2g , the product of 2g copies of Z , and a basis for H1 (M) consists of the 1 cycles represented by the 1 cells of M in its standard CW structure. We can also represent a basis by the loops αi and βi shown in the figure below since these α 20

β2

β1 α1

α 30

γ1

α2

β3 γ2

α3

β4

γ3

α4

loops are homotopic to the loops represented by the 1 cells, as one can see in the picture of the cell structure in Chapter 0. The loops γi , on the other hand, are trivial in homology since the portion of M on one side of γi is a compact surface bounded by γi , so γi is homotopic to a loop that is a product of commutators, as we saw a couple paragraphs earlier. The loop α0i represents the same

homology class as αi since the region between γi and αi ∪ α0i

provides a homotopy between γi and a product of two loops

homotopic to αi and the inverse of α0i , so αi − α0i ∼ γi ∼ 0 , hence αi ∼ α0i .

γi αi

α i0

Classical Applications

Section 2.B

169

In this section we use homology theory to prove several interesting results in topology and algebra whose statements give no hint that algebraic topology might be involved. To begin, we calculate the homology of complements of embedded spheres and disks in a sphere. Recall that an embedding is a map that is a homeomorphism onto its image.
e i S n − h(D k ) = 0 for all i . (a) For an embedding h : D k →S n , H
e i S n − h(S k ) is Z for i = n − k − 1 (b) For an embedding h : S k →S n with k < n , H

Proposition 2B.1.

and 0 otherwise. As a special case of (b) we have the Jordan curve theorem: A subspace of S 2 homeomorphic to S 1 separates S 2 into two complementary components, or equivalently, path-components since open subsets of S n are locally path-connected. One could just as well use R2 in place of S 2 here since deleting a point from an open set in S 2 does not affect its connectedness. More generally, (b) says that a subspace of S n homeomorphic to S n−1 separates it into two components, and these components have the same homology groups as a point. Somewhat surprisingly, there are embeddings where these complementary components are not simply-connected as they are for the standard embedding. An example is the Alexander horned sphere in S 3 which we describe in detail following the proof of the proposition. These complications involving embedded S n−1 ’s in S n are all local in nature since it is known that any locally nicely embedded S n−1 in S n is equivalent to the standard S n−1 ⊂ S n , equivalent in the sense that there is a homeomorphism of S n taking the given embedded S n−1 onto the standard S n−1 . In particular, both complementary regions are homeomorphic to open balls. See [Brown 1960] for a precise statement and proof. When n = 2 it is a classical theorem of Schoenflies that all embeddings S 1 > S 2 are equivalent.

By contrast, when we come to embeddings of S n−2 in S n , even locally nice embed-

dings need not be equivalent to the standard one. This is the subject of knot theory, including the classical case of knotted embeddings of S 1 in S 3 or R3 . For embeddings of S n−2 in S n the complement always has the same homology as S 1 , according to the theorem, but the fundamental group can be quite different. In spite of the fact that the homology of a knot complement does not detect knottedness, it is still possible to use homology to distinguish different knots by looking at the homology of covering spaces of their complements.

Proof:

We prove (a) by induction on k . When k = 0 , S n − h(D 0 ) is homeomorphic

to Rn , so this case is trivial. For the induction step it will be convenient to replace the domain disk D k of h by the cube I k . Let A = S n − h(I k−1 × [0, 1/2 ]) and let

170

Chapter 2

Homology

B = S n − h(I k−1 × [1/2 , 1]), so A ∩ B = S n − h(I k ) and A ∪ B = S n − h(I k−1 × {1/2 }). By e i (A ∪ B) = 0 for all i , so the Mayer–Vietoris sequence gives isomorphisms induction H
n e i (A) ⊕ H e i (B) for all i . Modulo signs, the two components of Φ e i S − h(I k ) →H Φ:H are induced by the inclusions S n − h(I k ) > A and S n − h(I k ) > B , so if there exists

an i dimensional cycle α in S n − h(I k ) that is not a boundary in S n − h(I k ) , then α is also not a boundary in at least one of A and B . (When i = 0 the word ‘cycle’ here is to be interpreted in the sense of augmented chain complexes since we are dealing with reduced homology.) By iteration we can then produce a nested sequence of closed intervals I1 ⊃ I2 ⊃ ··· in the last coordinate of I k shrinking down to a point p ∈ I , such that α is not a boundary in S n − h(I k−1 × Im ) for any m . On the other hand, by induction on k we know that α is the boundary of a chain β in S n − h(I k−1 × {p}) . This β is a finite linear combination of singular simplices with compact image in S n − h(I k−1 × {p}) . The union of these images is covered by the nested sequence of open sets S n − h(I k−1 × Im ) , so by compactness β must actually be a chain in S n − h(I k−1 × Im ) for some m . This contradiction shows that α must be a boundary in S n − h(I k ) , finishing the induction step. Part (b) is also proved by induction on k , starting with the trivial case k = 0 when n

S − h(S 0 ) is homeomorphic to S n−1 × R . For the induction step, write S k as the k k and D− intersecting in S k−1 . The Mayer–Vietoris sequence union of hemispheres D+ k k ) and B = S n −h(D− ) , both of which have trivial reduced homology for A = S n −h(D+

e i+1 S n − h(S k−1 ) . e u t by part (a), then gives isomorphisms Hi S n − h(D k ) ≈ H

If we apply the last part of this proof to an embedding h : S n →S n , the Mayer
e 0 (B)→H e 0 S n − h(S n−1 ) →0 . Both e 0 (A) ⊕ H Vietoris sequence ends with the terms H
e 0 (B) are zero, so exactness would imply that H e 0 S n − h(S n−1 ) = 0 e 0 (A) and H H which appears to contradict the fact that S n − h(S n−1 ) has two path-components. The only way out of this dilemma is for h to be surjective, so that A ∩ B is empty and e −1 (∅) which is Z rather than 0 . the 0 at the end of the Mayer-Vietoris sequence is H In particular, this shows that S n cannot be embedded in Rn since this would yield a nonsurjective embedding in S n . A consequence is that there is no embedding Rm > Rn for m > n since this would restrict to an embedding of S n ⊂ Rm into Rn .

More generally there is no continuous injection Rm →Rn for m > n since this too

would give an embedding S n > Rn .

Example 2B.2:

The Alexander Horned Sphere. This is a subspace S ⊂ R3 homeo-

morphic to S 2 such that the unbounded component of R3 −S is not simply-connected as it is for the standard S 2 ⊂ R3 . We will construct S by defining a sequence of compact subspaces X0 ⊃ X1 ⊃ ··· of R3 whose intersection is homeomorphic to a ball, and then S will be the boundary sphere of this ball. We begin with X0 a solid torus S 1 × D 2 obtained from a ball B0 by attaching a handle I × D 2 along ∂I × D 2 . In the figure this handle is shown as the union of

Classical Applications

Section 2.B

171

two ‘horns’ attached to the ball, together with a shorter handle drawn as dashed lines. To form the space X1 ⊂ X0 we delete part of the short handle, so that what remains is a pair of linked handles attached to the ball B1 that is the union of B0 with the two horns. To form X2 the process is repeated: Decompose each of the second stage handles as a pair of horns and a short handle, then delete a part of the short handle. In the same way Xn is constructed inductively from Xn−1 . Thus Xn is a ball Bn with 2n handles attached, and Bn is obtained from Bn−1 by attaching 2n horns. There are homeomorphisms hn : Bn−1 →Bn that are the identity

outside a small neighborhood of Bn − Bn−1 . As n goes to infinity, the composition

hn ··· h1 approaches a map f : B0 →R3 which is continuous since the convergence is

uniform. The set of points in B0 where f is not equal to hn ··· h1 for large n is a Cantor set, whose image under f is the intersection of all the handles. It is not hard to see that f is one-to-one. By compactness it follows that f is a homeomorphism onto its image, a ball B ⊂ R3 whose boundary sphere f (∂B0 ) is S , the Alexander horned sphere. Now we compute π1 (R3 −B) . Note that B is the intersection of the Xn ’s, so R3 −B is the union of the complements Yn of the Xn ’s, which form an increasing sequence Y0 ⊂ Y1 ⊂ ··· . We will show that the groups π1 (Yn ) also form an increasing sequence of successively larger groups, whose union is π1 (R3 −B) . To begin we have π1 (Y0 ) ≈ Z since X0 is a solid torus embedded in R3 in a standard way. To compute π1 (Y1 ) , let Y 0 be the closure of Y0 in Y1 , so Y 0 − Y0 is an open annulus A and π1 (Y 0 ) is also Z . We obtain Y1 from Y 0 by attaching the space Z = Y1 − Y0 along A . The group π1 (Z) is the free group F2 on two generators α1 and α2 represented by loops linking the two handles, since Z − A is homeomorphic to an open ball with two straight tubes deleted. A loop α generating π1 (A) represents the commutator [α1 , α2 ] , as one can see by noting that the closure of Z is obtained from Z by adjoining two disjoint surfaces, each homeomorphic to a torus with an open disk removed; the boundary of this disk is homotopic to α and is also homotopic to the commutator of meridian and longitude circles in the torus, which correspond to α1 and α2 . Van Kampen’s theorem now implies that the inclusion Y0 > Y1 induces an injection of π1 (Y0 ) into π1 (Y1 ) as the infinite cyclic subgroup generated by [α1 , α2 ] . In a similar way we can regard Yn+1 as being obtained from Yn by adjoining 2n copies of Z . Assuming inductively that π1 (Yn ) is the free group F2n with generators represented by loops linking the 2n smallest handles of Xn , then each copy of Z ad-

Chapter 2

172

Homology

joined to Yn changes π1 (Yn ) by making one of the generators into the commutator of two new generators. Note that adjoining a copy of Z induces an injection on π1 since

the induced homomorphism is the free product of the injection π1 (A)→π1 (Z) with the identity map on the complementary free factor. Thus the map π1 (Yn )→π1 (Yn+1 )

is an injection F2n →F2n+1 . The group π1 (R3 − B) is isomorphic to the union of this

increasing sequence of groups by a compactness argument: Each loop in R3 − B has

compact image and hence must lie in some Yn , and similarly for homotopies of loops. In particular we see explicitly why π1 (R3 − B) has trivial abelianization, because each of its generators is exactly equal to the commutator of two other generators. This inductive construction in which each generator of a free group is decreed to be the commutator of two new generators is perhaps the simplest way of building a nontrivial group with trivial abelianization, and for the construction to have such a nice geometric interpretation is something to marvel at. From a naive viewpoint it may seem a little odd that a highly nonfree group can be built as a union of an increasing sequence of free groups, but this can also easily happen for abelian groups, as Q for example is the union of an increasing sequence of infinite cyclic subgroups. The next theorem says that for subspaces of Rn , the property of being open is a topological invariant. This result is known classically as Invariance of Domain, the word ‘domain’ being an older designation for an open set in Rn .

Theorem 2B.3.

If U is an open set in Rn then for any embedding h : U →Rn the

image h(U) must be an open set in Rn .

Proof: Regarding S n as the one-point compactification of Rn , an equivalent statement is that h(U) is open in S n , and this is what we will prove. Each x ∈ U is the center point of a disk D n ⊂ U . It will suffice to prove that h(D n − ∂D n ) is open in S n . By the previous proposition S n − h(∂D n ) has two path-components. These pathcomponents are h(D n − ∂D n ) and S n − h(D n ) since these two subspaces are disjoint and the first is path-connected since it is homeomorphic to D n −∂D n while the second is path-connected by the proposition. Since S n − h(∂D n ) is open in S n , its pathcomponents are the same as its components. The components of a space with finitely many components are open, so h(D n − ∂D n ) is open in S n − h(∂D n ) and hence also in S n .

u t

Here is an application involving the notion of an n manifold, which is a Hausdorff space locally homeomorphic to Rn :

Corollary 2B.4.

If M is a compact n manifold and N is a connected n manifold,

then an embedding h : M →N must be surjective, hence a homeomorphism.

Proof:

h(M) is closed in N since it is compact and N is Hausdorff. Since N is

connected it suffices to show h(M) is also open in N , and this is immediate from the theorem.

u t

Classical Applications

Section 2.B

173

The Invariance of Domain and the n dimensional generalization of the Jordan curve theorem were first proved by Brouwer around 1910, at a very early stage in the development of algebraic topology.

Division Algebras Here is an algebraic application of homology theory due to H. Hopf:

Theorem 2B.5.

R and C are the only finite-dimensional division algebras over R

which are commutative and have an identity. By definition, an algebra structure on Rn is simply a bilinear multiplication map

R × Rn →Rn , (a, b) , ab . Thus the product satisfies left and right distributivity, n

a(b +c) = ab +ac and (a+ b)c = ac +bc , and scalar associativity, α(ab) = (αa)b = a(αb) for α ∈ R . Commutativity, full associativity, and an identity element are not assumed. An algebra is a division algebra if the equations ax = b and xa = b are always solvable whenever a ≠ 0 . In other words, the linear transformations x , ax

and x ,xa are surjective when a ≠ 0 . These are linear maps Rn →Rn , so surjectivity is equivalent to having trivial kernel, which means there are no zero-divisors. The four classical examples are R , C , the quaternions H , and the octonions O . Frobenius proved in 1877 that R , C , and H are the only finite-dimensional associative division algebras over R , and in 1898 Hurwitz proved that these three together with O are the only finite-dimensional division algebras over R with a product satisfying |ab| = |a||b| . See [Ebbinghaus 1991]. We will show in Theorem 3.20 that a finitedimensional division algebra over R must have dimension a power of 2 . In fact the only possible dimensions are 1 , 2 , 4 , and 8 , as in the classical examples. The first proofs of this appeared in [Bott & Milnor 1958] and [Kervaire 1958]. A very nice proof using K–theory is in [Adams & Atiyah 1966], and an exposition of this can be found in [VBKT]. See §4.B for further comments. It still appears that the only known proofs of this seemingly algebraic result are topological.

Proof:

Suppose first that Rn has a commutative division algebra structure. Define

a map f : S n−1 →S n−1 by f (x) = x 2 /|x 2 | . This is well-defined since x ≠ 0 implies

x 2 ≠ 0 in a division algebra. The map f is continuous since the multiplication map

Rn × Rn →Rn is bilinear, hence continuous. Since f (−x) = f (x) for all x , f induces a quotient map f : RPn−1 →S n−1 . The following argument shows that f is injective.

An equality f (x) = f (y) implies x 2 = α2 y 2 for α = (|x 2 |/|y 2 |)1/2 > 0 . Thus we

have x 2 − α2 y 2 = 0 , which factors as (x + αy)(x − αy) = 0 using commutativity and the fact that α is a real scalar. Since there are no divisors of zero, we deduce that x = ±αy . Since x and y are unit vectors and α is real, this yields x = ±y , so x and y determine the same point of RPn−1 , which means that f is injective. Since f is an injective map of compact Hausdorff spaces, it must be a homeomorphism onto its image. By Corollary 2B.4, f must in fact be surjective if we are

174

Chapter 2

Homology

not in the trivial case n = 1 . Thus we have a homeomorphism RPn−1 ≈ S n−1 . This implies n = 2 since if n > 2 the spaces RPn−1 and S n−1 have different homology groups (or different fundamental groups). It remains to show that a 2 dimensional commutative division algebra A with identity is isomorphic to C . This is elementary algebra: If j ∈ A is not a real scalar multiple of the identity element 1 ∈ A and we write j 2 = a + bj for a, b ∈ R , then (j − b/2)2 = a + b2 /4 so by rechoosing j we may assume that j 2 = a ∈ R . If a ≥ 0 , say a = c 2 , then j 2 = c 2 implies (j + c)(j − c) = 0 , so j = ±c , but this contradicts the choice of j . So j 2 = −c 2 and by rescaling j we may assume j 2 = −1 , hence A is isomorphic to C .

u t

Leaving out the last paragraph, the proof shows that a finite-dimensional commutative division algebra, not necessarily with an identity, must have dimension at most 2 . Oddly enough, there do exist 2 dimensional commutative division algebras without identity elements, for example C with the modified multiplication z·w = zw , the bar denoting complex conjugation.

The Borsuk–Ulam Theorem In Theorem 1.10 we proved the 2 dimensional case of the Borsuk–Ulam theorem, and now we will give a proof for all dimensions, using the following theorem of Borsuk:

Proposition 2B.6.

An odd map f : S n →S n , satisfying f (−x) = −f (x) for all x ,

must have odd degree. The corresponding result that even maps have even degree is easier, and was an exercise for §2.2. The proof will show that using homology with a coefficient group other than Z can sometimes be a distinct advantage. The main ingredient will be a certain exact e →X , sequence associated to a two-sheeted covering space p : X ···

e Z2 ) --→ Hn (X; Z2 ) → → - Hn (X; Z2 ) --τ→ Hn (X; - Hn−1 (X; Z2 ) → - ··· ∗

p∗

This is the long exact sequence of homology groups associated to a short exact sequence of chain complexes consisting of short exact sequences of chain groups 0

τ e Z2 ) --→ Cn (X; Z2 ) → Cn (X; → - Cn (X; Z2 ) --→ - 0 p]

e , as ∆n The map p] is surjective since singular simplices σ : ∆n →X always lift to X

e 1 and σ e 2 . Because we is simply-connected. Each σ has in fact precisely two lifts σ

e1 + σ e 2 . So if we are using Z2 coefficients, the kernel of p] is generated by the sums σ e n , then the image of define τ to send each σ : ∆n →X to the sum of its two lifts to ∆ τ is the kernel of p] . Obviously τ is injective, so we have the short exact sequence indicated. Since τ and p] commute with boundary maps, we have a short exact sequence of chain complexes, yielding the long exact sequence of homology groups.

Classical Applications

Section 2.B

175

The map τ∗ is a special case of more general transfer homomorphisms considered in §3.G, so we will refer to the long exact sequence involving the maps τ∗ as the transfer sequence. This sequence can also be viewed as a special case of the Gysin sequences discussed in §4.D. There is a generalization of the transfer sequence to homology with other coefficients, but this uses a more elaborate form of homology called homology with local coefficients, as we show in §3.H.

Proof p:S

n

of 2B.6: The proof will involve the transfer sequence for the covering space

→RPn .

This has the following form, where to simplify notation we abbreviate

RPn to P n and we let the coefficient group Z2 be implicit: p∗

τ∗

0− − − → Hn( P n ) − − − → Hn ( S n ) − − − → Hn( P n ) − − − →Hn - 1( P n ) − − − →0 − − − → 0 ≈ ≈

...

... − − − →0− − − → Hi ( P n ) − − − → Hi - 1( P n ) − − − →0− − − → ... ≈

p∗ ... − − − →0− − − → H1( P ) − − − → H0 ( P n ) − − − → H0 ( S n ) − − − → H0 ( P n ) − − − →0 ≈ ≈ 0 n

The initial 0 is Hn+1 (P n ; Z2 ) , which vanishes since P n is an n dimensional CW complex. The other terms that are zero are Hi (S n ) for 0 < i < n . We assume n > 1 , leaving the minor modifications needed for the case n = 1 to the reader. All the terms that are not zero are Z2 , by cellular homology. Alternatively, this exact sequence can be used to compute the homology groups Hi (RPn ; Z2 ) if one does not already know them. Since all the nonzero groups in the sequence are Z2 , exactness forces the maps to be isomorphisms or zero as indicated. An odd map f : S n →S n induces a quotient map f : RPn →RPn . These two maps induce a map from the transfer sequence to itself, and we will need to know that the squares in the resulting diagram commute. This follows from the naturality of the long exact sequence of homology associated to a short exact sequence of chain complexes, once we verify commutativity of the diagram p]

τ

− − − →

− − − →

]

]

p]

− − − →

0− − − − − → Ci ( P n ) − − − − − → Ci ( S n ) − − − − − → Ci ( P n ) − − − − − →0 − − f f f ]

0− − − − − → Ci ( P ) − − − − − → Ci ( S ) − − − − − → Ci ( P ) − − − − − →0 n

τ

n

n

Here the right-hand square commutes since pf = f p . The left-hand square com-

e 1 and σ e 2 , the two lifts of mutes since for a singular i simplex σ : ∆i →P n with lifts σ e 1 and f σ e 2 since f takes antipodal points to antipodal points. f σ are f σ

Now we can see that all the maps f∗ and f ∗ in the commutative diagram of transfer sequences are isomorphisms by induction on dimension, using the evident fact that if three maps in a commutative square are isomorphisms, so is the fourth. The induction starts with the trivial fact that f∗ and f ∗ are isomorphisms in dimension zero.

Chapter 2

176

Homology

In particular we deduce that the map f∗ : Hn (S n ; Z2 )→Hn (S n ; Z2 ) is an isomorphism. By Lemma 2.49 this map is multiplication by the degree of f mod 2 , so the u t

degree of f must be odd.

The fact that odd maps have odd degree easily implies the Borsuk–Ulam theorem:

Corollary 2B.7.

For every map g : S n →Rn there exists a point x ∈ S n with g(x) =

g(−x) .

Proof:

Let f (x) = g(x) − g(−x) , so f is odd. We need to show that f (x) = 0 for

some x . If this is not the case, we can replace f (x) by f (x)/|f (x)| to get a new

map f : S n →S n−1 which is still odd. The restriction of this f to the equator S n−1

then has odd degree by the proposition. But this restriction is nullhomotopic via the restriction of f to one of the hemispheres bounded by S n−1 .

u t

Exercises 1. Compute Hi (S n − X) when X is a subspace of S n homeomorphic to S k ∨ S ` or to Sk q S` . e n−i−1 (X) when X is homeomorphic to a finite connected e i (S n − X) ≈ H 2. Show that H graph. [First do the case that the graph is a tree.] 3. Let (D, S) ⊂ (D n , S n−1 ) be a pair of subspaces homeomorphic to (D k , S k−1 ) , with D ∩ S n−1 = S . Show the inclusion S n−1 − S n

> Dn − D

induces an isomorphism

on homology. [Glue two copies of (D , D) together along (S n−1 , S) and examine the Mayer–Vietoris sequence for the complement of the resulting k sphere in S n , decomposed into two copies of D n − D .] 4. In the unit sphere S p+q−1 ⊂ Rp+q let S p−1 and S q−1 be the subspheres consisting of points whose last q and first p coordinates are zero, respectively. (a) Show that S p+q−1 − S p−1 deformation retracts onto S q−1 , and is in fact homeomorphic to S q−1 × Rp . (b) Show that S p−1 and S q−1 are not the boundaries of any pair of disjointly embedded disks D p and D q in D p+q . [The preceding exercise may be useful.] 5. Let S be an embedded k sphere in S n for which there exists a disk D n ⊂ S n intersecting S in the disk D k ⊂ D n defined by the first k coordinates of D n . Let D n−k ⊂ D n be the disk defined by the last n − k coordinates, with boundary sphere

S n−k−1 . Show that the inclusion S n−k−1 > S n − S induces an isomorphism on homol-

ogy groups. 6. Modify the construction of the Alexander horned sphere to produce an embedding S 2 > R3 for which neither component of R3 − S 2 is simply-connected.

Simplicial Approximation

Section 2.C

177

7. Analyze what happens when the number of handles in the basic building block for the Alexander horned sphere is doubled, as in the figure at the right. 8. Show that R2n+1 is not a division algebra over R if n > 0 by showing that if it were, then for nonzero a ∈ R2n+1 the map

S 2n →S 2n , x , ax/|ax| would be homotopic to x , −ax/|ax| , but these maps have different degrees.

e →X , where 9. Make the transfer sequence explicit in the case of a trivial covering X 0 e = X×S . X 10. Use the transfer sequence for the covering S ∞ →RP∞ to compute Hn (RP∞ ; Z2 ) .

11. Use the transfer sequence for the covering X × S ∞ →X × RP∞ to produce isomorL phisms Hn (X × RP∞ ; Z2 ) ≈ i≤n Hi (X; Z2 ) for all n .

Many spaces of interest in algebraic topology can be given the structure of simplicial complexes, and early in the history of the subject this structure was exploited as one of the main technical tools. Later, CW complexes largely superseded simplicial complexes in this role, but there are still some occasions when the extra structure of simplicial complexes can be quite useful. This will be illustrated nicely by the proof of the classical Lefschetz fixed point theorem in this section. One of the good features of simplicial complexes is that arbitrary continuous maps between them can always be deformed to maps that are linear on the simplices of some subdivision of the domain complex. This is the idea of ‘simplicial approximation,’ developed by Brouwer and Alexander before 1920. Here is the relevant definition: If K and L are simplicial complexes, then a map f : K →L is simplicial if it sends each simplex of K to a simplex of L by a linear map taking vertices to vertices. In barycentric coordinates, a linear map of a simplex [v0 , ··· , vn ] has the form P P i ti vi , i ti f (vi ) . Since a linear map from a simplex to a simplex is uniquely determined by its values on vertices, this means that a simplicial map is uniquely determined by its values on vertices. It is easy to see that a map from the vertices of K to the vertices of L extends to a simplicial map iff it sends the vertices of each simplex of K to the vertices of some simplex of L . Here is the most basic form of the Simplicial Approximation Theorem:

Theorem 2C.1.

If K is a finite simplicial complex and L is an arbitrary simplicial

complex, then any map f : K →L is homotopic to a map that is simplicial with respect

to some iterated barycentric subdivision of K .

Chapter 2

178

Homology

To see that subdivision of K is essential, consider the case of maps S n →S n . With fixed simplicial structures on the domain and range spheres there are only finitely many simplicial maps since there are only finitely many ways to map vertices to vertices. Hence only finitely many degrees are realized by maps that are simplicial with respect to fixed simplicial structures in both the domain and range spheres. This remains true even if the simplicial structure on the range sphere is allowed to vary, since if the range sphere has more vertices than the domain sphere then the map cannot be surjective, hence must have degree zero. Before proving the simplicial approximation theorem we need some terminology and a lemma. The star St σ of a simplex σ in a simplicial complex X is defined to be the subcomplex consisting of all the simplices of X that contain σ . Closely related to this is the open star st σ , which is the union of the interiors of all simplices containing σ , where the interior of a simplex τ is by definition τ − ∂τ . Thus st σ is an open set in X whose closure is St σ .

Lemma

2C.2. For vertices v1 , ··· , vn of a simplicial complex X , the intersection

st v1 ∩ ··· ∩ st vn is empty unless v1 , ··· , vn are the vertices of a simplex σ of X , in which case st v1 ∩ ··· ∩ st vn = st σ .

Proof:

The intersection st v1 ∩ ··· ∩ st vn consists of the interiors of all simplices τ

whose vertex set contains {v1 , ··· , vn } . If st v1 ∩ ··· ∩ st vn is nonempty, such a τ exists and contains the simplex σ = [v1 , ··· , vn ] ⊂ X . The simplices τ containing {v1 , ··· , vn } are just the simplices containing σ , so st v1 ∩ ··· ∩ st vn = st σ .

Proof of 2C.1:

u t

Choose a metric on K that restricts to the standard Euclidean metric

on each simplex of K . For example, K can be viewed as a subcomplex of a simplex ∆N whose vertices are all the vertices of K , and we can restrict a standard metric on ∆N to give a metric on K . Let ε be a Lebesgue number for the open cover
{ f −1 st w | w is a vertex of L } of K . After iterated barycentric subdivision of K we may assume that each simplex has diameter less than ε/2 . The closed star of each vertex v of K then has diameter less than ε , hence this closed star maps by f to

the open star of some vertex g(v) of L . The resulting map g : K 0 →L0 thus satisfies f (St v) ⊂ st g(v) for all vertices v of K .

To see that g extends to a simplicial map g : K →L , consider the problem of

extending g over a simplex [v1 , ··· , vn ] of K . An interior point x of this simplex lies in st vi for each i , so f (x) lies in st g(vi ) for each i , since f (st vi ) ⊂ st g(vi ) by the definition of g(vi ) . Thus st g(v1 ) ∩ ··· ∩ st g(vn ) ≠ ∅ , so [g(v1 ), ··· , g(vn )] is a simplex of L by the lemma, and we can extend g linearly over [v1 , ··· , vn ] . Both f (x) and g(x) lie in a single simplex of L since g(x) lies in [g(v1 ), ··· , g(vn )] and f (x) lies in the star of this simplex. So taking the linear path (1−t)f (x)+tg(x) , 0 ≤ t ≤ 1 , in the simplex containing f (x) and g(x) defines a homotopy from f to g . To check continuity of this homotopy it suffices to restrict to the simplex [v1 , ··· , vn ] , where

Simplicial Approximation

Section 2.C

179

continuity is clear since f (x) varies continuously in the star of [g(v1 ), ··· , g(vn )] and g(x) varies continuously in [g(v1 ), ··· , g(vn )] .

u t

Notice that if f already sends some vertices of K to vertices of L then we may choose g to equal to f on these vertices, and hence the homotopy from f to g will be stationary on these vertices. This is convenient if one is in a situation where one wants maps and homotopies to preserve basepoints. The proof makes it clear that the simplicial approximation g can be chosen not just homotopic to f but also close to f if we allow subdivisions of L as well as K .

The Lefschetz Fixed Point Theorem This very classical application of homology is a considerable generalization of the Brouwer fixed point theorem. It is also related to the Euler characteristic formula. For a homomorphism ϕ : Zn →Zn with matrix [aij ] , the trace tr ϕ is defined P to be i aii , the sum of the diagonal elements of [aij ] . Since tr([aij ][bij ]) = tr([bij ][aij ]) , conjugate matrices have the same trace, and it follows that tr ϕ is independent of the choice of basis for Zn . For a homomorphism ϕ : A→A of a finitely

generated abelian group A we can then define tr ϕ to be the trace of the induced homomorphism ϕ : A/Torsion→A/Torsion .

For a map f : X →X of a finite CW complex X , or more generally any space whose

homology groups are finitely generated and vanish in high dimensions, the Lefschetz
P number τ(f ) is defined to be n (−1)n tr f∗ : Hn (X)→Hn (X) . In particular, if f is the identity, or is homotopic to the identity, then τ(f ) is the Euler characteristic χ (X) since the trace of the n× n identity matrix is n . Here is the Lefschetz fixed point theorem:

Theorem 2C.3.

If X is a finite simplicial complex, or more generally a retract of a

finite simplicial complex, and f : X →X is a map with τ(f ) ≠ 0 , then f has a fixed point.

As we show in Theorem A.7 in the Appendix, every compact, locally contractible space that can be embedded in Rn for some n is a retract of a finite simplicial complex. This includes compact manifolds and finite CW complexes, for example. The compactness hypothesis is essential, since a translation of R has τ = 1 but no fixed points. For an example showing that local properties are also significant, let X be the compact subspace of R2 consisting of two concentric circles together with a copy of R between them whose two ends spiral in to the two circles, wrapping around them infinitely often, and let f : X →X be a homeomorphism translating the copy of R along itself and rotating the circles, with no fixed points. Since f is homotopic to the identity, we have τ(f ) = χ (X) , which equals 1 since the three path components of X are two circles and a line.

Chapter 2

180

Homology

If X has the same homology groups as a point, at least modulo torsion, then

the theorem says that every map X →X has a fixed point. This holds for exam-

ple for RPn if n is even. The case of projective spaces is interesting because of its connection with linear algebra. An invertible linear transformation f : Rn →Rn

takes lines through 0 to lines through 0 , hence induces a map f : RPn−1 →RPn−1 .

Fixed points of f are equivalent to eigenvectors of f . The characteristic polynomial of f has odd degree if n is odd, hence has a real root, so an eigenvector exists in this case. This is in agreement with the observation above that every map RP2k →RP2k has a fixed point. On the other hand the rotation of R2k defined by f (x1 , ··· , x2k ) = (x2 , −x1 , x4 , −x3 , ··· , x2k , −x2k−1 ) has no eigenvectors and its projectivization f : RP2k−1 →RP2k−1 has no fixed points.

Similarly, in the complex case an invertible linear transformation f : Cn →Cn in-

duces f : CPn−1 →CPn−1 , and this always has a fixed point since the characteristic

polynomial always has a complex root. Nevertheless, as in the real case there is a map CP2k−1 →CP2k−1 without fixed points. Namely, consider f : C2k →C2k defined by f (z1 , ··· , z2k ) = (z2 , −z1 , z4 , −z3 , ··· , z2k , −z2k−1 ) . This map is only ‘conjugatelinear’ over C , but this is still good enough to imply that f induces a well-defined map f on CP2k−1 , and it is easy to check that f has no fixed points. The similarity between the real and complex cases persists in the fact that every map CP2k →CP2k

has a fixed point, though to deduce this from the Lefschetz fixed point theorem requires more structure than homology has, so this will be left as an exercise for §3.2, using cup products in cohomology. One could go further and consider the quaternionic case. The antipodal map of S

4

= HP1 has no fixed points, but every map HPn →HPn with n > 1 does have a

fixed point. This is shown in Example 4L.4 using considerably heavier machinery.

Proof

of 2C.3: The general case easily reduces to the case of finite simplicial com-

plexes, for suppose r : K →X is a retraction of the finite simplicial complex K onto

X . For a map f : X →X , the composition f r : K →X ⊂ K then has exactly the same

fixed points as f . Since r∗ : Hn (K)→Hn (X) is projection onto a direct summand, we clearly have tr(f∗ r∗ ) = tr f∗ , so τ(f∗ r∗ ) = τ(f∗ ) .

For X a finite simplicial complex, suppose that f : X →X has no fixed points. We

claim there is a subdivision L of X , a further subdivision K of L , and a simplicial map

g : K →L homotopic to f such that g(σ )∩σ = ∅ for each simplex σ of K . To see this, first choose a metric d on X as in the proof of the simplicial approximation theorem.
Since f has no fixed points, d x, f (x) > 0 for all x ∈ X , so by the compactness
of X there is an ε > 0 such that d x, f (x) > ε for all x . Choose a subdivision L of X so that the stars of all simplices have diameter less than ε/2 . Applying the simplicial approximation theorem, there is a subdivision K of L and a simplicial map

g : K →L homotopic to f . By construction, g has the property that for each simplex σ of K , f (σ ) is contained in the star of the simplex g(σ ) . Then g(σ ) ∩ σ = ∅

Simplicial Approximation

Section 2.C

181


for each simplex σ of K since for any choice of x ∈ σ we have d x, f (x) > ε , while g(σ ) lies within distance ε/2 of f (x) and σ lies within distance ε/2 of x , as a consequence of the fact that σ is contained in a simplex of L , K being a subdivision of L . The Lefschetz numbers τ(f ) and τ(g) are equal since f and g are homotopic. Since g is simplicial, it takes the n skeleton K n of K to the n skeleton Ln of L , for each n . Since K is a subdivision of L , Ln is contained in K n , and hence g(K n ) ⊂ K n for all n . Thus g induces a chain map of the cellular chain complex {Hn (K n , K n−1 )} to itself. This can be used to compute τ(g) according to the formula τ(g) =

X n




(−1)n tr g∗ : Hn (K n , K n−1 )→Hn (K n , K n−1 )

This is the analog of Theorem 2.44 for trace instead of rank, and is proved in precisely the same way, based on the elementary algebraic fact that trace is additive for endomorphisms of short exact sequences: Given a comthen tr β = tr α + tr γ . This algebraic fact can be

0− − →A− − − →B

proved by reducing to the easy case that A , B , and

− − − →C − − →0

β

− − →

− − →

α

− − →

0− − →A− − − →B

mutative diagram as at the right with exact rows,

γ

− − − →C − − →0

C are free by first factoring out the torsion in B , hence also the torsion in A , then eliminating any remaining torsion in C by replacing A by a larger subgroup A0 ⊂ B , with A having finite index in A0 . The details of this argument are left to the reader. Finally, note that g∗ : Hn (K n , K n−1 )→Hn (K n , K n−1 ) has trace 0 since the matrix for g∗ has zeros down the diagonal, in view of the fact that g(σ ) ∩ σ = ∅ for each n simplex σ . So τ(f ) = τ(g) = 0 .

Example

u t

2C.4. Let us verify the theorem in an example. Let X be the closed ori-

entable surface of genus 3 as shown in the figure below, with f : X →X the 180

degree rotation about a vertical axis

α20

passing through the central hole of X . Since f has no fixed points, we should have τ(f ) = 0 . The induced

map f∗ : H0 (X)→H0 (X) is the iden-

β2

β1 α2

α1

β3 α3

tity, as always for a path-connected space, so this contributes 1 to τ(f ) . For H1 (X) we saw in Example 2A.2 that the six loops αi and βi represent a basis. The map f∗ interchanges the homology classes of α1 and α3 , and likewise for β1 and β3 ,

while β2 is sent to itself and α2 is sent to α02 which is homologous to α2 as we

saw in Example 2A.2. So f∗ : H1 (X)→H1 (X) contributes −2 to τ(f ) . It remains to check that f∗ : H2 (X)→H2 (X) is the iden-

tral torus and y = f (x) . We can see that the

f

∗ − − − − − − − − − − − → H2 ( X )

f∗

− − →

at the right, where x is a point of X in the cen-

H2 ( X ) ≈

− − →

tity, which we do by the commutative diagram

≈

H 2 ( X, X - { x } ) − − − − − → H 2 ( X, X - { y } )

182

Chapter 2

Homology

left-hand vertical map is an isomorphism by considering the long exact sequence of the triple (X, X − {x}, X 1 ) where X 1 is the 1 skeleton of X in its usual CW structure and x is chosen in X − X 1 , so that X − {x} deformation retracts onto X 1 and Hn (X − {x}, X 1 ) = 0 for all n . The same reasoning shows the right-hand vertical map is an isomorphism. There is a similar commutative diagram with f replaced by a homeomorphism g that is homotopic to the identity and equals f in a neighborhood of x , with g the identity outside a disk in X containing x and y . Since g is homotopic to the identity, it induces the identity across the top row of the diagram, and since g equals f near x , it induces the same map as f in the bottom row of the diagram, by excision. It follows that the map f∗ in the upper row is the identity. This example generalizes to surfaces of any odd genus by adding symmetric pairs of tori at the left and right. Examples for even genus are described in one of the exercises. Fixed point theory is a well-developed side branch of algebraic topology, but we touch upon it only occasionally in this book. For a nice introduction see [Brown 1971].

Simplicial Approximations to CW Complexes The simplicial approximation theorem allows arbitrary continuous maps to be replaced by homotopic simplicial maps in many situations, and one might wonder about the analogous question for spaces: Which spaces are homotopy equivalent to simplicial complexes ? We will show this is true for the most common class of spaces in algebraic topology, CW complexes. In the Appendix the question is answered for a few other classes of spaces as well.

Theorem 2C.5.

Every CW complex X is homotopy equivalent to a simplicial complex,

which can be chosen to be of the same dimension as X , finite if X is finite, and countable if X is countable. We will build a simplicial complex Y ' X inductively as an increasing union of subcomplexes Yn homotopy equivalent to the skeleta X n . For the inductive step, assuming we have already constructed Yn ' X n , let en+1 be an (n + 1) cell of X

attached by a map ϕ : S n →X n . The map S n →Yn corresponding to ϕ under the homotopy equivalence Yn ' X n is homotopic to a simplicial map f : S n →Yn by the

simplicial approximation theorem, and it is not hard to see that the spaces X n ∪ϕ en+1 and Yn ∪f en+1 are homotopy equivalent, where the subscripts denote attaching en+1 via ϕ and f , respectively; see Proposition 0.18 for a proof. We can view Yn ∪f en+1

as the mapping cone Cf , obtained from the mapping cylinder of f by collapsing the domain end to a point. If we knew that the mapping cone of a simplicial map was a simplicial complex, then by performing the same construction for all the (n + 1) cells of X we would have completed the induction step. Unfortunately, and somewhat surprisingly, mapping cones and mapping cylinders are rather awkward objects in the

Simplicial Approximation

Section 2.C

183

simplicial category. To avoid this awkwardness we will instead construct simplicial analogs of mapping cones and cylinders that have all the essential features of actual mapping cones and cylinders. Let us first construct the simplicial analog of a mapping cylinder. For a simplicial map f : K →L this will be a simplicial complex M(f ) containing both L and the

barycentric subdivision K 0 of K as subcomplexes, and such that there is a deformation retraction rt of M(f ) onto L with r1 || K 0 = f . The figure shows the case that f is a simplicial surjection

∆2 →∆1 . The construction proceeds one simplex of K at a time, by induction on dimension. To begin, the

ordinary mapping cylinder of f : K 0 →L suffices for M(f || K 0 ) . Assume inductively that we have already constructed M(f || K n−1 ) . Let σ be an n simplex of K and let τ = f (σ ) , a simplex of L of dimension n or less. By the inductive hy-

pothesis we have already constructed M(f : ∂σ →τ) with the desired properties, and we let M(f : σ →τ) be the cone on M(f : ∂σ →τ) , as shown in the figure. The space

M(f : ∂σ →τ) is contractible since by induction it deformation retracts onto τ which is contractible. The cone M(f : σ →τ) is of course contractible, so the inclusion

of M(f : ∂σ →τ) into M(f : σ →τ) is a homotopy equivalence. This implies that

M(f : σ →τ) deformation retracts onto M(f : ∂σ →τ) by Corollary 0.20, or one can

give a direct argument using the fact that M(f : ∂σ →τ) is contractible. By attaching M(f : σ →τ) to M(f || K n−1 ) along M(f : ∂σ →τ) ⊂ M(f || K n−1 ) for all n simplices σ of K we obtain M(f || K n ) with a deformation retraction onto M(f || K n−1 ) . Taking the union over all n yields M(f ) with a deformation retraction rt onto L , the

infinite concatenation of the previous deformation retractions, with the deformation retraction of M(f || K n ) onto M(f || K n−1 ) performed in the t interval [1/2n+1 , 1/2n ] . The map r1 || K may not equal f , but it is homotopic to f via the linear homotopy tf +(1−t)r1 , which is defined since r1 (σ ) ⊂ f (σ ) for all simplices σ of K . By applying the homotopy extension property to the homotopy of r1 that equals tf + (1 − t)r1 on K and the identity map on L , we can improve our deformation retraction of M(f ) onto L so that its restriction to K at time 1 is f . From the simplicial analog M(f ) of a mapping cylinder we construct the simplicial ‘mapping cone’ C(f ) by attaching the ordinary cone on K 0 to the subcomplex K 0 ⊂ M(f ) .

Proof

of 2C.5: We will construct for each n a CW complex Zn containing X n as a

deformation retract and also containing as a deformation retract a subcomplex Yn that is a simplicial complex. Beginning with Y0 = Z0 = X 0 , suppose inductively that n+1 of X be attached by maps we have already constructed Yn and Zn . Let the cells eα

ϕα : S n →X n . Using the simplicial approximation theorem, there is a homotopy from S ϕα to a simplicial map fα : S n →Yn . The CW complex Wn = Zn α M(fα ) contains a

184

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simplicial subcomplex Sαn homeomorphic to S n at one end of M(fα ) , and the homeomorphism S n ≈ Sαn is homotopic in Wn to the map fα , hence also to ϕα . Let Zn+1 be n+1 × I ’s via these homotopies between the ϕα ’s and obtained from Zn by attaching Dα

the inclusions Sαn > Wn . Thus Zn+1 contains X n+1 at one end, and at the other end we S have a simplicial complex Yn+1 = Yn α C(fα ) , where C(fα ) is obtained from M(fα )

by attaching a cone on the subcomplex Sαn . Since D n+1 × I deformation retracts onto ∂D n+1 × I ∪ D n+1 × {1} , we see that Zn+1 deformation retracts onto Zn ∪ Yn+1 , which in turn deformation retracts onto Yn ∪ Yn+1 = Yn+1 by induction. Likewise, Zn+1 deformation retracts onto X n+1 ∪ Wn which deformation retracts onto X n+1 ∪ Zn and hence onto X n+1 ∪ X n = X n+1 by induction. S S Let Y = n Yn and Z = n Zn . The deformation retractions of Zn onto X n give deformation retractions of X ∪ Zn onto X , and the infinite concatenation of the latter deformation retractions is a deformation retraction of Z onto X . Similarly, Z deformation retracts onto Y .

u t

Exercises 1. What is the minimum number of edges in simplicial complex structures K and L

on S 1 such that there is a simplicial map K →L of degree n ?

2. Use the Lefschetz fixed point theorem to show that a map S n →S n has a fixed point unless its degree is equal to the degree of the antipodal map x , −x .

3. Verify that the formula f (z1 , ··· , z2k ) = (z2 , −z1 , z4 , −z3 , ··· , z2k , −z2k−1 ) defines a map f : C2k →C2k inducing a quotient map CP2k−1 →CP2k−1 without fixed points.

4. If X is a finite simplicial complex and f : X →X is a simplicial homeomorphism, show that the Lefschetz number τ(f ) equals the Euler characteristic of the set of fixed points of f . In particular, τ(f ) is the number of fixed points if the fixed points are isolated. [Hint: Barycentrically subdivide X to make the fixed point set a subcomplex.] 5. Let M be a closed orientable surface embedded in R3 in such a way that reflection

across a plane P defines a homeomorphism r : M →M fixing M ∩ P , a collection of circles. Is it possible to homotope r to have no fixed points? 6. Do an even-genus analog of Example 2C.4 by replacing the central torus by a sphere letting f be a homeomorphism that restricts to the antipodal map on this sphere. 7. Verify that the Lefschetz fixed point theorem holds also when τ(f ) is defined using homology with coefficients in a field F . 8. Let X be homotopy equivalent to a finite simplicial complex and let Y be homotopy equivalent to a finite or countably infinite simplicial complex. Using the simplicial approximation theorem, show that there are at most countably many homotopy classes of maps X →Y . 9. Show that there are only countably many homotopy types of finite CW complexes.

Cohomology is an algebraic variant of homology, the result of a simple dualization in the definition. Not surprisingly, the cohomology groups H i (X) satisfy axioms much like the axioms for homology, except that induced homomorphisms go in the opposite direction as a result of the dualization. The basic distinction between homology and cohomology is thus that cohomology groups are contravariant functors while homology groups are covariant. In terms of intrinsic information, however, there is not a big difference between homology groups and cohomology groups. The homology groups of a space determine its cohomology groups, and the converse holds at least when the homology groups are finitely generated. What is a little surprising is that contravariance leads to extra structure in cohomology. This first appears in a natural product, called cup product, which makes the cohomology groups of a space into a ring. This is an extremely useful piece of additional structure, and much of this chapter is devoted to studying cup products, which are considerably more subtle than the additive structure of cohomology. How does contravariance lead to a product in cohomology that is not present in homology? Actually there is a natural product in homology, but it takes the somewhat different form of a map Hi (X)× Hj (Y )

→ - Hi+j (X × Y ) called the cross product. If both

X and Y are CW complexes, this cross product in homology is induced from a map of cellular chains sending a pair (ei , ej ) consisting of a cell of X and a cell of Y to the product cell ei × ej in X × Y . The details of the construction are described in §3.B. Taking X = Y , we thus have the first half of a hypothetical product Hi (X)× Hj (X)

→ - Hi+j (X × X) → - Hi+j (X)

The difficulty is in defining the second map. The natural thing would be for this to be induced by a map X × X →X . The multiplication map in a topological group, or more generally an H–space, is such a map, and the resulting Pontryagin product can be quite useful when studying these spaces, as we show in §3.C. But for general X , the only

Chapter 3

186

Cohomology

natural maps X × X →X are the projections onto one of the factors, and since these projections collapse the other factor to a point, the resulting product in homology is rather trivial. With cohomology, however, the situation is better. One still has a cross product H i (X)× H j (Y )

→ - H i+j (X × Y ) constructed in much the same way as in homology, so

one can again take X = Y and get the first half of a product H i (X)× H j (X)

→ - H i+j (X × X) → - H i+j (X)

But now by contravariance the second map would be induced by a map X →X × X , and there is an obvious candidate for this map, the diagonal map ∆(x) = (x, x) . This turns out to work very nicely, giving a well-behaved product in cohomology, the cup product. Another sort of extra structure in cohomology whose existence is traceable to contravariance is provided by cohomology operations. These make the cohomology groups of a space into a module over a certain rather complicated ring. Cohomology operations lie at a depth somewhat greater than the cup product structure, so we defer their study to §4.L. The extra layer of algebra in cohomology arising from the dualization in its definition may seem at first to be separating it further from topology, but there are many topological situations where cohomology arises quite naturally. One of these is Poincar´ e duality, the topic of the third section of this chapter. Another is obstruction theory, covered in §4.3. Characteristic classes in vector bundle theory (see [Milnor & Stasheff 1974] or [VBKT]) provide a further instance. From the viewpoint of homotopy theory, cohomology is in some ways more basic than homology. As we shall see in §4.3, cohomology has a description in terms of homotopy classes of maps that is very similar to, and in a certain sense dual to, the definition of homotopy groups. There is an analog of this for homology, described in §4.F, but the construction is more complicated.

The Idea of Cohomology Let us look at a few low-dimensional examples to get an idea of how one might be led naturally to consider cohomology groups, and to see what properties of a space they might be measuring. For the sake of simplicity we consider simplicial cohomology of ∆ complexes, rather than singular cohomology of more general spaces. Taking the simplest case first, let X be a 1 dimensional ∆ complex, or in other words an oriented graph. For a fixed abelian group G , the set of all functions from vertices of X to G also forms an abelian group, which we denote by ∆0 (X; G) . Similarly the set of all functions assigning an element of G to each edge of X forms an abelian group ∆1 (X; G) . We will be interested in the homomorphism δ : ∆0 (X; G)→∆1 (X; G) sending ϕ ∈ ∆0 (X; G) to the function δϕ ∈ ∆1 (X; G) whose value on an oriented

The Idea of Cohomology

187

edge [v0 , v1 ] is the difference ϕ(v1 ) − ϕ(v0 ) . For example, X might be the graph formed by a system of trails on a mountain, with vertices at the junctions between trails. The function ϕ could then assign to each junction its elevation above sea level, in which case δϕ would measure the net change in elevation along the trail from one junction to the next. Or X might represent a simple electrical circuit with ϕ measuring voltages at the connection points, the vertices, and δϕ measuring changes in voltage across the components of the circuit, represented by edges. Regarding the map δ : ∆0 (X; G)→∆1 (X; G) as a chain complex with 0 ’s before and after these two terms, the homology groups of this chain complex are by definition the simplicial cohomology groups of X , namely H 0 (X; G) = Ker δ ⊂ ∆0 (X; G) and H 1 (X; G) = ∆1 (X; G)/ Im δ . For simplicity we are using here the same notation as will be used for singular cohomology later in the chapter, in anticipation of the theorem that the two theories coincide for ∆ complexes, as we show in §3.1. The group H 0 (X; G) is easy to describe explicitly. A function ϕ ∈ ∆0 (X; G) has δϕ = 0 iff ϕ takes the same value at both ends of each edge of X . This is equivalent to saying that ϕ is constant on each component of X . So H 0 (X; G) is the group of all functions from the set of components of X to G . This is a direct product of copies of G , one for each component of X . The cohomology group H 1 (X; G) = ∆1 (X; G)/ Im δ will be trivial iff the equation δϕ = ψ has a solution ϕ ∈ ∆0 (X; G) for each ψ ∈ ∆1 (X; G) . Solving this equation means deciding whether specifying the change in ϕ across each edge of X determines an actual function ϕ ∈ ∆0 (X; G) . This is rather like the calculus problem of finding a function having a specified derivative, with the difference operator δ playing the role of differentiation. As in calculus, if a solution of δϕ = ψ exists, it will be unique up to adding an element of the kernel of δ , that is, a function that is constant on each component of X . The equation δϕ = ψ is always solvable if X is a tree since if we choose arbitrarily a value for ϕ at a basepoint vertex v0 , then if the change in ϕ across each edge of X is specified, this uniquely determines the value of ϕ at every other vertex v by induction along the unique path from v0 to v in the tree. When X is not a tree, we first choose a maximal tree in each component of X . Then, since every vertex lies in one of these maximal trees, the values of ψ on the edges of the maximal trees determine ϕ uniquely up to a constant on each component of X . But in order for the equation δϕ = ψ to hold, the value of ψ on each edge not in any of the maximal trees must equal the difference in the already-determined values of ϕ at the two ends of the edge. This condition need not be satisfied since ψ can have arbitrary values on these edges. Thus we see that the cohomology group H 1 (X; G) is a direct product of copies of the group G , one copy for each edge of X not in one of the chosen maximal trees. This can be compared with the homology group H1 (X; G) which consists of a direct sum of copies of G , one for each edge of X not in one of the maximal trees.

188

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Note that the relation between H 1 (X; G) and H1 (X; G) is the same as the relation between H 0 (X; G) and H0 (X; G) , with H 0 (X; G) being a direct product of copies of G and H0 (X; G) a direct sum, with one copy for each component of X in either case. Now let us move up a dimension, taking X to be a 2 dimensional ∆ complex. Define ∆0 (X; G) and ∆1 (X; G) as before, as functions from vertices and edges of X to the abelian group G , and define ∆2 (X; G) to be the functions from 2 simplices of

X to G . A homomorphism δ : ∆1 (X; G)→∆2 (X; G) is defined by δψ([v0 , v1 , v2 ]) =

ψ([v0 , v1 ]) + ψ([v1 , v2 ]) − ψ([v0 , v2 ]) , a signed sum of the values of ψ on the three edges in the boundary of [v0 , v1 , v2 ] , just as δϕ([v0 , v1 ]) for ϕ ∈ ∆0 (X; G) was a signed sum of the values of ϕ on the boundary of [v0 , v1 ] . The two homomorphisms ∆0 (X; G)

δ δ ∆1 (X; G) --→ ∆2 (X; G) form a chain complex since for ϕ ∈ ∆0 (X; G) we --→




have δδϕ = ϕ(v1 )−ϕ(v0 ) + ϕ(v2 )−ϕ(v1 ) − ϕ(v2 )−ϕ(v0 ) = 0 . Extending this chain complex by 0 ’s on each end, the resulting homology groups are by definition the cohomology groups H i (X; G) . The formula for the map δ : ∆1 (X; G)→∆2 (X; G) can be looked at from several different viewpoints. Perhaps the simplest is the observation that δψ = 0 iff ψ satisfies the additivity property ψ([v0 , v2 ]) = ψ([v0 , v1 ]) + ψ([v1 , v2 ]) , where we think of the edge [v0 , v2 ] as the sum of the edges [v0 , v1 ] and [v1 , v2 ] . Thus δψ measures the deviation of ψ from being additive. From another point of view, δψ can be regarded as an obstruction to finding ϕ ∈ ∆0 (X; G) with ψ = δϕ , for if ψ = δϕ then δψ = 0 since δδϕ = 0 as we saw above. We can think of δψ as a local obstruction to solving ψ = δϕ since it depends only on the values of ψ within individual 2 simplices of X . If this local obstruction vanishes, then ψ defines an element of H 1 (X; G) which is zero iff ψ = δϕ has an actual solution. This class in H 1 (X; G) is thus the global obstruction to solving ψ = δϕ . This situation is similar to the calculus problem of determining whether a given vector field is the gradient vector field of some function. The local obstruction here is the vanishing of the curl of the vector field, and the global obstruction is the vanishing of all line integrals around closed loops in the domain of the vector field. The condition δψ = 0 has an interpretation of a more geometric nature when X is a surface and the group G is Z or Z2 . Consider first the simpler case G = Z2 . The condition δψ = 0 means that the number of times that ψ takes the value 1 on the edges of each 2 simplex is even, either 0 or 2 . This means we can associate to ψ a collection Cψ of disjoint curves in X crossing the 1 skeleton transversely, such that the number of intersections of Cψ with each edge is equal to the value of ψ on that edge. If ψ = δϕ for some ϕ , then the curves of Cψ divide X into two regions X0 and X1 where the subscript indicates the value of ϕ on all vertices in the region.

The Idea of Cohomology

189

When G = Z we can refine this construction by building Cψ from a number of arcs in each 2 simplex, each arc having a transverse orientation, the orientation which agrees or disagrees with the orientation

v2

v2

of each edge according to the sign of the 3

value of ψ on the edge, as in the figure

-3

2

2

at the right. The resulting collection Cψ of disjoint curves in X can be thought

v0

v1

1

of as something like level curves for a

v0

v1

5

1

0

function ϕ with δϕ = ψ , if such a function exists. The value of ϕ changes by

4

3

0

1 each time a curve of Cψ is crossed.

4

1

2

For example, if X is a disk then we will

1

1

show that H (X; Z) = 0 , so δψ = 0 implies ψ = δϕ for some ϕ , hence every

1

0

0

transverse curve system Cψ forms the level curves of a function ϕ . On the other hand, if X is an annulus then this need no longer be true, as

1

illustrated in the example shown in the figure at the left, where the equation ψ = δϕ obviously has no solution even though 1

? ?

δψ = 0 . By identifying the inner and outer boundary circles

0 0

of this annulus we obtain a similar example on the torus. Even with G = Z2 the equation ψ − δϕ has no solution since the curve Cψ does not separate X into two regions X0 and X1 .

The key to relating cohomology groups to homology groups is the observation that a function from i simplices of X to G is equivalent to a homomorphism from the simplicial chain group ∆i (X) to G . This is because ∆i (X) is free abelian with basis the i simplices of X , and a homomorphism with domain a free abelian group is uniquely determined by its values on basis elements, which can be assigned arbitrarily. Thus we have an identification of ∆i (X; G) with the group Hom(∆i (X), G) of homomorphisms

∆i (X)→G , which is called the dual group of ∆i (X) . There is also a simple relationship

of duality between the homomorphism δ : ∆i (X; G)→∆i+1 (X; G) and the boundary homomorphism ∂ : ∆i+1 (X)→∆i (X) . The general formula for δ is X bj , ··· , vi+1 ]) δϕ([v0 , ··· , vi+1 ]) = (−1)j ϕ([v0 , ··· , v j

and the latter sum is just ϕ(∂[v0 , ··· , vi+1 ]) . Thus we have δϕ = ϕ∂ . In other words, δ sends each ϕ ∈ Hom(∆i (X), G) to the composition ∆i+1 (X)

∂ ∆i (X) --→ G , which --→ ϕ

in the language of linear algebra means that δ is the dual map of ∂ . Thus we have the algebraic problem of understanding the relationship between the homology groups of a chain complex and the homology groups of the dual complex obtained by applying the functor C , Hom(C, G) . This is the first topic of the chapter.

Chapter 3

190

Cohomology

Homology groups Hn (X) are the result of a two-stage process: First one forms a chain complex ···

∂ Cn−1 --→ ··· --→ Cn --→

of singular, simplicial, or cellular chains,

then one takes the homology groups of this chain complex, Ker ∂/ Im ∂ . To obtain the cohomology groups H n (X; G) we interpolate an intermediate step, replacing the chain groups Cn by the dual groups Hom(Cn , G) and the boundary maps ∂ by their dual maps δ , before forming the cohomology groups Ker δ/ Im δ . The plan for this section is first to sort out the algebra of this dualization process and show that the cohomology groups are determined algebraically by the homology groups, though in a somewhat subtle way. Then after this algebraic excursion we will define the cohomology groups of spaces and show that these satisfy basic properties very much like those for homology. The payoff for all this formal work will begin to be apparent in subsequent sections.

The Universal Coefficient Theorem Let us begin with a simple example. Consider the chain complex 0

2

0

=

=

--→ Z

=

where Z

2

=

0− − − − →Z− − − − − →Z − − − − − →Z− − − − − →Z− − − − →0 C3

C2

C1

C0

is the map x , 2x . If we dualize by taking Hom(−, G) with G = Z ,

we obtain the cochain complex 0

2

0

− − − − → −−−−→ −−−−→ −−−−→ − − − − →

0

=

Z

=

Z

=

Z

=

Z

C

C

C

C

∗ 3

∗ 2

∗ 1

0

∗ 0

In the original chain complex the homology groups are Z ’s in dimensions 0 and 3 , together with a Z2 in dimension 1 . The homology groups of the dual cochain complex, which are called cohomology groups to emphasize the dualization, are again Z ’s in dimensions 0 and 3 , but the Z2 in the 1 dimensional homology of the original complex has shifted up a dimension to become a Z2 in 2 dimensional cohomology. More generally, consider any chain complex of finitely generated free abelian groups. Such a chain complex always splits as the direct sum of elementary complexes of the forms 0→Z→0 and 0→Z

m Z→0 , according to Exercise 43 in §2.2. --→

Applying Hom(−, Z) to this direct sum of elementary complexes, we obtain the direct sum of the corresponding dual complexes 0 ← Z ← 0 and 0 ← Z ← --- Z ← 0 . Thus the m

cohomology groups are the same as the homology groups except that torsion is shifted up one dimension. We will see later in this section that the same relation between homology and cohomology holds whenever the homology groups are finitely generated, even when the chain groups are not finitely generated. It would also be quite easy to

Cohomology Groups

Section 3.1

191

see in this example what happens if Hom(−, Z) is replaced by Hom(−, G) , since the dual elementary cochain complexes would then be 0 ← G ← 0 and 0 ← G ← --- G ← 0 . m

Consider now a completely general chain complex C of free abelian groups ···

--→ Cn+1 -----∂→ - Cn -----∂→ - Cn−1 --→ ···

To dualize this complex we replace each chain group Cn by its dual cochain group

Cn∗ = Hom(Cn , G) , the group of homomorphisms Cn →G , and we replace each bound-

∗ ary map ∂ : Cn →Cn−1 by its dual coboundary map δ = ∂ ∗ : Cn−1 →Cn∗ . The reason

why δ goes in the opposite direction from ∂ , increasing rather than decreasing dimension, is purely formal: For a homomorphism α : A→B , the dual homomorphism α∗ : Hom(B, G)→Hom(A, G) is defined by α∗ (ϕ) = ϕα , so α∗ sends B

composition A 11

∗

α B --→ G . --→ ϕ

--→ G to the ϕ

Dual homomorphisms obviously satisfy (αβ)∗ = β∗ α∗ ,

= 11 , and 0∗ = 0 . In particular, since ∂∂ = 0 it follows that δδ = 0 , and the

cohomology group H n (C; G) can be defined as the ‘homology group’ Ker δ/ Im δ at Cn∗ in the cochain complex ∗ ∗ ··· ← ---- Cn+1 ←-------- Cn∗ ←-------- Cn−1 ←---- ··· δ

δ

Our goal is to show that the cohomology groups H n (C; G) are determined solely by G and the homology groups Hn (C) = Ker ∂/ Im ∂ . A first guess might be that H n (C; G) is isomorphic to Hom(Hn (C), G) , but this is overly optimistic, as shown by the example above where H2 was zero while H 2 was nonzero. Nevertheless, there is

a natural map h : H n (C; G)→Hom(Hn (C), G) , defined as follows. Denote the cycles and boundaries by Zn = Ker ∂ ⊂ Cn and Bn = Im ∂ ⊂ Cn . A class in H n (C; G) is

represented by a homomorphism ϕ : Cn →G such that δϕ = 0 , that is, ϕ∂ = 0 , or in other words, ϕ vanishes on Bn . The restriction ϕ0 = ϕ || Zn then induces a quotient

homomorphism ϕ0 : Zn /Bn →G , an element of Hom(Hn (C), G) . If ϕ is in Im δ , say ϕ = δψ = ψ∂ , then ϕ is zero on Zn , so ϕ0 = 0 and hence also ϕ0 = 0 . Thus there is a well-defined quotient map h : H n (C; G)→Hom(Hn (C), G) sending the cohomology

class of ϕ to ϕ0 . Obviously h is a homomorphism. It is not hard to see that h is surjective. The short exact sequence 0

∂ Bn−1 → → - Zn → - Cn --→ - 0

splits since Bn−1 is free, being a subgroup of the free abelian group Cn−1 . Thus

there is a projection homomorphism p : Cn →Zn that restricts to the identity on Zn .

Composing with p gives a way of extending homomorphisms ϕ0 : Zn →G to homo-

morphisms ϕ = ϕ0 p : Cn →G . In particular, this extends homomorphisms Zn →G

that vanish on Bn to homomorphisms Cn →G that still vanish on Bn , or in other

words, it extends homomorphisms Hn (C)→G to elements of Ker δ . Thus we have

a homomorphism Hom(Hn (C), G)→ Ker δ . Composing this with the quotient map Ker δ→H n (C; G) gives a homomorphism from Hom(Hn (C), G) to H n (C; G) . If we

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Chapter 3

Cohomology

follow this map by h we get the identity map on Hom(Hn (C), G) since the effect of composing with h is simply to undo the effect of extending homomorphisms via p . This shows that h is surjective. In fact it shows that we have a split short exact sequence 0

h Hom(Hn (C), G) → → - Ker h → - H n (C; G) --→ - 0

The remaining task is to analyze Ker h . A convenient way to start the process is to consider not just the chain complex C , but also its subcomplexes consisting of the cycles and the boundaries. Thus we consider the commutative diagram of short exact sequences

0− − − − − → Zn + 1 − − − − − → Cn + 1 − − − − − → Bn − − − − − →0 ∂

∂

− →

0

− →

− →

(i)

0

0− − − − − → Zn −−−−−→ Cn −−− −−→B n - 1 − − − − − →0 ∂

where the vertical boundary maps on Zn+1 and Bn are the restrictions of the boundary map in the complex C , hence are zero. Dualizing (i) gives a commutative diagram

0→ − − − − − Zn + 1→ − − − − − Cn + 1 → − − − − − Bn → − − − − −0 ∗

δ

∗

→ −

0

→ −

→ −

(ii)

∗

0

0→ − − − − − Zn →−−−−− Cn →−− −−−B n∗ - 1→ − − − − −0 ∗

∗

The rows here are exact since, as we have already remarked, the rows of (i) split, and the dual of a split short exact sequence is a split short exact sequence because of the natural isomorphism Hom(A ⊕ B, G) ≈ Hom(A, G) ⊕ Hom(B, G) . We may view (ii), like (i), as part of a short exact sequence of chain complexes. ∗ complexes are zero, the associated long Since the coboundary maps in the Zn∗ and Bn

exact sequence of homology groups has the form (iii)

∗ ∗ ··· ← --- Bn∗ ←--- Zn∗ ←--- H n (C; G) ←--- Bn−1 ←--- Zn−1 ←--- ···

∗ The ‘boundary maps’ Zn∗ →Bn in this long exact sequence are in fact the dual maps

i∗ n of the inclusions in : Bn →Zn , as one sees by recalling how these boundary maps are defined: In (ii) one takes an element of Zn∗ , pulls this back to Cn∗ , applies δ to

∗ ∗ , then pulls this back to Bn . The first of these steps extends get an element of Cn+1

a homomorphism ϕ0 : Zn →G to ϕ : Cn →G , the second step composes this ϕ with ∂ , and the third step undoes this composition and restricts ϕ to Bn . The net effect

is just to restrict ϕ0 from Zn to Bn . A long exact sequence can always be broken up into short exact sequences, and doing this for the sequence (iii) yields short exact sequences (iv)

0← --- Ker i∗n ←--- H n (C; G) ←--- Coker i∗n−1 ←--- 0

The group Ker i∗ n can be identified naturally with Hom(Hn (C), G) since elements of Ker i∗ n are homomorphisms Zn →G that vanish on the subgroup Bn , and such homo-

morphisms are the same as homomorphisms Zn /Bn →G . Under this identification of

Cohomology Groups

Section 3.1

193

n ∗ Ker i∗ n with Hom(Hn (C), G) , the map H (C; G)→ Ker in in (iv) becomes the map h

considered earlier. Thus we can rewrite (iv) as a split short exact sequence (v)

0

h Hom(Hn (C), G) → → - Coker i∗n−1 → - H n (C; G) --→ - 0

Our objective now is to show that the more mysterious term Coker i∗ n−1 depends only on Hn−1 (C) and G , in a natural, functorial way. First let us observe that

Coker i∗ n−1 would be zero if it were always true that the dual of a short exact sequence was exact, since the dual of the short exact sequence (vi)

0

--→ Bn−1 ---i-----→ Zn−1 --→ Hn−1 (C) --→ 0 n−1

is the sequence i∗ n−1

∗ ∗ 0← --- Bn−1 ←--------- Zn−1 ←--- Hn−1 (C)∗ ←--- 0

(vii)

∗ ∗ and if this were exact at Bn−1 , then i∗ n−1 would be surjective, hence Coker in−1 would

be zero. This argument does apply if Hn−1 (C) happens to be free, since (vi) splits in this case, which implies that (vii) is also split exact. So in this case the map h in (v) is an isomorphism. However, in the general case it is easy to find short exact sequences whose duals are not exact. For example, if we dualize 0→Z

n Z→Zn →0 --→

by applying Hom(−, Z) we get 0 ← Z ← --- Z ← 0 ← 0 which fails to be exact at the n

left-hand Z , precisely the place we are interested in for Coker i∗ n−1 .

We might mention in passing that the loss of exactness at the left end of a short exact sequence after dualization is in fact all that goes wrong, in view of the following:

Exercise.

If A→B →C →0 is exact, then dualizing by applying Hom(−, G) yields an

exact sequence A∗ ← B ∗ ← C ∗ ← 0 .

However, we will not need this fact in what follows. The exact sequence (vi) has the special feature that both Bn−1 and Zn−1 are free, so (vi) can be regarded as a free resolution of Hn−1 (C) , where a free resolution of an abelian group H is an exact sequence ···

--→ F2 -----→ - F1 -----→ - F0 -----→ - H --→ 0 f2

f1

f0

with each Fn free. If we dualize this free resolution by applying Hom(−, G) , we may lose exactness, but at least we get a chain complex — or perhaps we should say ‘cochain complex,’ but algebraically there is no difference. This dual complex has the form

f2∗

f1∗

f0∗

··· ← --- F2∗ ←------ F1∗ ←------ F0∗ ←------ H ∗ ←--- 0 ∗ Let us use the temporary notation H n (F ; G) for the homology group Ker fn+1 / Im fn∗

of this dual complex. Note that the group Coker i∗ n−1 that we are interested in is

H 1 (F ; G) where F is the free resolution in (vi). Part (b) of the following lemma therefore shows that Coker i∗ n−1 depends only on Hn−1 (C) and G .

Chapter 3

194

Lemma 3.1.

Cohomology

(a) Given free resolutions F and F 0 of abelian groups H and H 0 , then

every homomorphism α : H →H 0 can be extended to a chain map from F to F 0 : α1

f 10

α0

f 00

− − − →

f 20

− − − →

α2

− − − →

− − − →

f2 f1 f0 ... − − − → F2 − − − − → F1 − − − − → F0 − − − − →H − − − →0 α

... − − − → F20− − − − → F10− − − − → F00− − − − → H 0− − − →0 Furthermore, any two such chain maps extending α are chain homotopic. (b) For any two free resolutions F and F 0 of H , there are canonical isomorphisms H n (F ; G) ≈ H n (F 0 ; G) for all n .

Proof:

The αi ’s will be constructed inductively. Since the Fi ’s are free, it suffices to

define each αi on a basis for Fi . To define α0 , observe that surjectivity of f00 implies

that for each basis element x of F0 there exists x 0 ∈ F00 such that f00 (x 0 ) = αf0 (x) ,

so we define α0 (x) = x 0 . We would like to define α1 in the same way, sending a basis element x ∈ F1 to an element x 0 ∈ F10 such that f10 (x 0 ) = α0 f1 (x) . Such an x 0 will

exist if α0 f1 (x) lies in Im f10 = Ker f00 , which it does since f00 α0 f1 = αf0 f1 = 0 . The same procedure defines all the subsequent αi ’s.

If we have another chain map extending α given by maps α0i : Fi →Fi0 , then the

differences βi = αi − α0i define a chain map extending the zero map β : H →H 0 . It

0 defining a chain homotopy from βi to 0 , will suffice to construct maps λi : Fi →Fi+1

0 λi + λi−1 fi . The λi ’s are constructed inductively by a procedure that is, with βi = fi+1

much like the construction of the αi ’s. When i = 0 we let λ−1 : H →F00 be zero,

and then the desired relation becomes β0 = f10 λ0 . We can achieve this by letting λ0 send a basis element x to an element x 0 ∈ F10 such that f10 (x 0 ) = β0 (x) . Such

an x 0 exists since Im f10 = Ker f00 and f00 β0 (x) = βf0 (x) = 0 . For the inductive

0 step we wish to define λi to take a basis element x ∈ Fi to an element x 0 ∈ Fi+1

0 such that fi+1 (x 0 ) = βi (x) − λi−1 fi (x) . This will be possible if βi (x) − λi−1 fi (x)

0 = Ker fi0 , which will hold if fi0 (βi − λi−1 fi ) = 0 . Using the relation lies in Im fi+1

fi0 βi = βi−1 fi and the relation βi−1 = fi0 λi−1 + λi−2 fi−1 which holds by induction, we

have fi0 (βi − λi−1 fi ) = fi0 βi − fi0 λi−1 fi = βi−1 fi − fi0 λi−1 fi = (βi−1 − fi0 λi−1 )fi = λi−2 fi−1 fi = 0 as desired. This finishes the proof of (a). 0∗ ∗ The maps αn constructed in (a) dualize to maps α∗ n : Fn →Fn forming a chain

map between the dual complexes F 0∗ and F ∗ . Therefore we have induced homomor-

phisms on cohomology α∗ : H n (F 0 ; G)→H n (F ; G) . These do not depend on the choice

of αn ’s since any other choices α0n are chain homotopic, say via chain homotopies

0∗ ∗ λn , and then α∗ n and αn are chain homotopic via the dual maps λn since the dual

0 0∗ ∗ 0∗ ∗ ∗ λi + λi−1 fi is α∗ of the relation αi − α0i = fi+1 i − αi = λi fi+1 + fi λi−1 .

The induced homomorphisms α∗ : H n (F 0 ; G)→H n (F ; G) satisfy (βα)∗ = α∗ β∗

for a composition H

α H 0 --→ H 00 --→ β

with a free resolution F 00 of H 00 also given, since

Cohomology Groups

Section 3.1

195

one can choose the compositions βn αn of extensions αn of α and βn of β as an extension of βα . In particular, if we take α to be an isomorphism and β to be its inverse, with F 00 = F , then α∗ β∗ = (βα)∗ = 11 , the latter equality coming from the

obvious extension of 11 : H →H by the identity map of F . The same reasoning shows β∗ α∗ = 11 , so α∗ is an isomorphism. Finally, if we specialize further, taking α to be the identity but with two different free resolutions F and F 0 , we get a canonical

isomorphism 11∗ : H n (F 0 ; G)→H n (F ; G) .

u t

Every abelian group H has a free resolution of the form 0→F1 →F0 →H →0 , with Fi = 0 for i > 1 , obtainable in the following way. Choose a set of generators for H and let F0 be a free abelian group with basis in one-to-one correspondence with these

generators. Then we have a surjective homomorphism f0 : F0 →H sending the basis

elements to the chosen generators. The kernel of f0 is free, being a subgroup of a free

abelian group, so we can let F1 be this kernel with f1 : F1 →F0 the inclusion, and we can

then take Fi = 0 for i > 1 . For this free resolution we obviously have H n (F ; G) = 0 for

n > 1 , so this must also be true for all free resolutions. Thus the only interesting group H n (F ; G) is H 1 (F ; G) . As we have seen, this group depends only on H and G , and the standard notation for it is Ext(H, G) . This notation arises from the fact that Ext(H, G) has an interpretation as the set of isomorphism classes of extensions of G by H , that

is, short exact sequences 0→G→J →H →0 , with a natural definition of isomorphism between such exact sequences. This is explained in books on homological algebra, for example [Brown 1982], [Hilton & Stammbach 1970], or [MacLane 1963]. However, this interpretation of Ext(H, G) is rarely needed in algebraic topology. Summarizing, we have established the following algebraic result:

Theorem 3.2.

If a chain complex C of free abelian groups has homology groups

Hn (C) , then the cohomology groups H n (C; G) of the cochain complex Hom(Cn , G) are determined by split exact sequences 0

h Hom(Hn (C), G) → → - Ext(Hn−1 (C), G) → - H n (C; G) --→ - 0

u t

This is known as the universal coefficient theorem for cohomology because it is formally analogous to the universal coefficient theorem for homology in §3.A which expresses homology with arbitrary coefficients in terms of homology with Z coefficients. Computing Ext(H, G) for finitely generated H is not difficult using the following three properties: Ext(H ⊕ H 0 , G) ≈ Ext(H, G) ⊕ Ext(H 0 , G) . Ext(H, G) = 0 if H is free. Ext(Zn , G) ≈ G/nG . The first of these can be obtained by using the direct sum of free resolutions of H and H 0 as a free resolution for H ⊕ H 0 . If H is free, the free resolution 0→H →H →0

Chapter 3

196

Cohomology

yields the second property, while the third comes from dualizing the free resolution n Z→ → - Z --→ - Zn → - 0 to produce an exact sequence

n

Hom( Z , G )

− − − − →

−−−−−−−→ −−−−−−→ G

n

==

==

==

− − − − →

G/nG

Hom( Z , G )

− − − − − →

Ext ( Zn , G )

− − − − →

0

Hom( Z n , G )

− − − − →

0

0

G

In particular, these three properties imply that Ext(H, Z) is isomorphic to the torsion subgroup of H if H is finitely generated. Since Hom(H, Z) is isomorphic to the free part of H if H is finitely generated, we have:

Corollary

3.3. If the homology groups Hn and Hn−1 of a chain complex C of

free abelian groups are finitely generated, with torsion subgroups Tn ⊂ Hn and Tn−1 ⊂ Hn−1 , then H n (C; Z) ≈ (Hn /Tn ) ⊕ Tn−1 .

u t

It is useful in many situations to know that the short exact sequences in the universal coefficient theorem are natural, meaning that a chain map α between chain complexes C and C 0 of free abelian groups induces a commutative diagram

0− − − − → Ext( Hn - 1( C ),G ) − − − − − → H n( C ; G ) − − − − → Hom ( Hn ( C ),G ) − − − − →0

− − − →

( α∗)∗

− − − − →

− − − →

h

( α∗)∗

α∗

0− − − − → Ext( Hn - 1( C 0 ),G ) − − − − → H n(C 0; G ) − − − − → Hom ( Hn ( C 0),G ) − − − − →0 h

This is apparent if one just thinks about the construction; one obviously obtains a map ∗ between the short exact sequences (iv) containing Ker i∗ n and Coker in−1 , the identi-

fication Ker i∗ n = Hom(Hn (C), G) is certainly natural, and the proof of Lemma 3.1 shows that Ext(H, G) depends naturally on H .

However, the splitting in the universal coefficient theorem is not natural since it depends on the choice of the projections p : Cn →Zn . An exercise at the end of the section gives a topological example showing that the splitting in fact cannot be natural. The naturality property together with the five-lemma proves:

Corollary 3.4.

If a chain map between chain complexes of free abelian groups in-

duces an isomorphism on homology groups, then it induces an isomorphism on cohomology groups with any coefficient group G .

u t

One could attempt to generalize the algebraic machinery of the universal coefficient theorem by replacing abelian groups by modules over a chosen ring R and Hom by HomR , the R module homomorphisms. The key fact about abelian groups that was needed was that subgroups of free abelian groups are free. Submodules of free R modules are free if R is a principal ideal domain, so in this case the generalization is automatic. One obtains natural split short exact sequences 0

h HomR (Hn (C), G) → → - ExtR (Hn−1 (C), G) → - H n (C; G) --→ - 0

Cohomology Groups

Section 3.1

197

where C is a chain complex of free R modules with boundary maps R module homomorphisms, and the coefficient group G is also an R module. If R is a field, for example, then R modules are always free and so the ExtR term is always zero since

we may choose free resolutions of the form 0→F0 →H →0 .

It is interesting to note that the proof of Lemma 3.1 on the uniqueness of free resolutions is valid for modules over an arbitrary ring R . Moreover, every R module H has a free resolution, which can be constructed in the following way. Choose a set of generators for H as an R module, and let F0 be a free R module with basis in one-toone correspondence with these generators. Thus we have a surjective homomorphism f0 : F0 →H sending the basis elements to the chosen generators. Now repeat the process with Ker f0 in place of H , constructing a homomorphism f1 : F1 →F0 sending a

basis for a free R module F1 onto generators for Ker f0 . And inductively, construct

fn : Fn →Fn−1 with image equal to Ker fn−1 by the same procedure.

By Lemma 3.1 the groups H n (F ; G) depend only on H and G , not on the free

resolution F . The standard notation for H n (F ; G) is Extn R (H, G) . For sufficiently complicated rings R the groups Extn R (H, G) can be nonzero for n > 1 . In certain more advanced topics in algebraic topology these Extn R groups play an essential role. A final remark about the definition of Extn R (H, G) : By the Exercise stated earlier,

exactness of F1 →F0 →H →0 implies exactness of F1∗ ← F0∗ ← H ∗ ← 0 . This means

that H 0 (F ; G) as defined above is zero. Rather than having Ext0R (H, G) be automatically zero, it is better to define H n (F ; G) as the n th homology group of the complex

··· ← F1∗ ← F0∗ ← 0 with the term H ∗ omitted. This can be viewed as defining the

groups H n (F ; G) to be unreduced cohomology groups. With this slightly modified definition we have Ext0R (H, G) = H 0 (F ; G) = H ∗ = HomR (H, G) by the exactness of

F1∗ ← F0∗ ← H ∗ ← 0 . The real reason why unreduced Ext groups are better than reduced groups is perhaps to be found in certain exact sequences involving Ext and Hom derived in §3.F, which would not work with the Hom terms replaced by zeros.

Cohomology of Spaces Now we return to topology. Given a space X and an abelian group G , we define the group C n (X; G) of singular n cochains with coefficients in G to be the dual group Hom(Cn (X), G) of the singular chain group Cn (X) . Thus an n cochain ϕ ∈ C n (X; G)

assigns to each singular n simplex σ : ∆n →X a value ϕ(σ ) ∈ G . Since the singular

n simplices form a basis for Cn (X) , these values can be chosen arbitrarily, hence n cochains are exactly equivalent to functions from singular n simplices to G . The coboundary map δ : C n (X; G)→C n+1 (X; G) is the dual ∂ ∗ , so for a cochain

ϕ ∈ C n (X; G) , its coboundary δϕ is the composition Cn+1 (X)

∂ Cn (X) --→ G . This --→

means that for a singular (n + 1) simplex σ : ∆n+1 →X we have X bi , ··· , vn+1 ]) δϕ(σ ) = (−1)i ϕ(σ || [v0 , ··· , v i

ϕ

198

Chapter 3

Cohomology

It is automatic that δ2 = 0 since δ2 is the dual of ∂ 2 = 0 . Therefore we can define the cohomology group H n (X; G) with coefficients in G to be the quotient Ker δ/ Im δ at C n (X; G) in the cochain complex ··· ← --- C n+1 (X; G) ←------ C n (X; G) ←------ C n−1 (X; G) ←--- ··· ←--- C 0 (X; G) ←--- 0 δ

δ

Elements of Ker δ are cocycles, and elements of Im δ are coboundaries. For a cochain ϕ to be a cocycle means that δϕ = ϕ∂ = 0 , or in other words, ϕ vanishes on boundaries. Since the chain groups Cn (X) are free, the algebraic universal coefficient theorem takes on the topological guise of split short exact sequences 0

→ - Ext(Hn−1 (X), G) → - H n (X; G) → - Hom(Hn (X), G) → - 0

which describe how cohomology groups with arbitrary coefficients are determined purely algebraically by homology groups with Z coefficients. For example, if the homology groups of X are finitely generated then Corollary 3.3 tells how to compute the cohomology groups H n (X; Z) from the homology groups. When n = 0 there is no Ext term, and the universal coefficient theorem reduces to an isomorphism H 0 (X; G) ≈ Hom(H0 (X), G) . This can also be seen directly from the definitions. Since singular 0 simplices are just points of X , a cochain in C 0 (X; G)

is an arbitrary function ϕ : X →G , not necessarily continuous. For this to be a cocycle

means that for each singular 1 simplex σ : [v0 , v1 ]→X we have δϕ(σ ) = ϕ(∂σ ) =

ϕ σ (v1 ) − ϕ σ (v0 ) = 0 . This is equivalent to saying that ϕ is constant on path-

components of X . Thus H 0 (X; G) is all the functions from path-components of X to G . This is the same as Hom(H0 (X), G) . Likewise in the case of H 1 (X; G) the universal coefficient theorem gives an isomorphism H 1 (X; G) ≈ Hom(H1 (X), G) since Ext(H0 (X), G) = 0 , the group H0 (X) being free. If X is path-connected, H1 (X) is the abelianization of π1 (X) and we can identify Hom(H1 (X), G) with Hom(π1 (X), G) since G is abelian. The universal coefficient theorem has a simpler form if we take coefficients in a field F for both homology and cohomology. In §2.2 we defined the homology groups Hn (X; F ) as the homology groups of the chain complex of free F modules Cn (X; F ) , where Cn (X; F ) has basis the singular n simplices in X . The dual complex HomF (Cn (X; F ), F ) of F module homomorphisms is the same as Hom(Cn (X), F ) since both can be identified with the functions from singular n simplices to F . Hence the homology groups of the dual complex HomF (Cn (X; F ), F ) are the cohomology groups H n (X; F ) . In the generalization of the universal coefficient theorem to the case of modules over a principal ideal domain, the ExtF terms vanish since F is a field, so we obtain isomorphisms H n (X; F ) ≈ HomF (Hn (X; F ), F )

Cohomology Groups

Section 3.1

199

Thus, with field coefficients, cohomology is the exact dual of homology. Note that when F = Zp or Q we have HomF (H, G) = Hom(H, G) , the group homomorphisms, for arbitrary F modules G and H . For the remainder of this section we will go through the main features of singular homology and check that they extend without much difficulty to cohomology. e n (X; G) can be defined by dualizing Reduced Groups. Reduced cohomology groups H

the augmented chain complex ··· →C0 (X) --→ Z→0 , then taking Ker / Im . As with e n (X; G) = H n (X; G) for n > 0 , and the universal coefficient homology, this gives H e 0 (X), G) . We can describe the difference bee 0 (X; G) with Hom(H theorem identifies H ε

e 0 (X; G) and H 0 (X; G) more explicitly by using the interpretation of H 0 (X; G) tween H

as functions X →G that are constant on path-components. Recall that the augmentation map ε : C0 (X)→Z sends each singular 0 simplex σ to 1 , so the dual map ε∗ sends a homomorphism ϕ : Z→G to the composition C0 (X)

the function σ

, ϕ(1) .

ε Z --→ G , which is --→ ϕ

This is a constant function X →G , and since ϕ(1) can be

any element of G , the image of ε∗ consists of precisely the constant functions. Thus e 0 (X; G) is all functions X →G that are constant on path-components modulo the H functions that are constant on all of X . Relative Groups and the Long Exact Sequence of a Pair. To define relative groups H n (X, A; G) for a pair (X, A) we first dualize the short exact sequence 0

i Cn (X) --→ Cn (X, A) → → - Cn (A) --→ - 0 j

by applying Hom(−, G) to get i∗

j∗

0← --- C n (A; G) ←--- C n (X; G) ←--- C n (X, A; G) ←--- 0 where by definition C n (X, A; G) = Hom(Cn (X, A), G) . This sequence is exact by the

following direct argument. The map i∗ restricts a cochain on X to a cochain on A . Thus for a function from singular n simplices in X to G , the image of this function

under i∗ is obtained by restricting the domain of the function to singular n simplices in A . Every function from singular n simplices in A to G can be extended to be defined on all singular n simplices in X , for example by assigning the value 0 to all singular n simplices not in A , so i∗ is surjective. The kernel of i∗ consists of cochains taking the value 0 on singular n simplices in A . Such cochains are the same as homomorphisms Cn (X, A) = Cn (X)/Cn (A)→G , so the kernel of i∗ is exactly

C n (X, A; G) = Hom(Cn (X, A), G) , giving the desired exactness. Notice that we can view C n (X, A; G) as the functions from singular n simplices in X to G that vanish on simplices in A , since the basis for Cn (X) consisting of singular n simplices in X is the disjoint union of the simplices with image contained in A and the simplices with image not contained in A .

Relative coboundary maps δ : C n (X, A; G)→C n+1 (X, A; G) are obtained as restric-

tions of the absolute δ ’s, so relative cohomology groups H n (X, A; G) are defined. The

Chapter 3

200

Cohomology

fact that the relative cochain group is a subgroup of the absolute cochains, namely the cochains vanishing on chains in A , means that relative cohomology is conceptually a little simpler than relative homology. The maps i∗ and j ∗ commute with δ since i and j commute with ∂ , so the preceding displayed short exact sequence of cochain groups is part of a short exact sequence of cochain complexes, giving rise to an associated long exact sequence of cohomology groups ···

j∗

∗

i δ H n (A; G) --→ H n+1 (X, A; G) → → - H n (X, A; G) --→ H n (X; G) --→ - ···

By similar reasoning one obtains a long exact sequence of reduced cohomology groups e n (X, A; G) = H n (X, A; G) for all n , as in for a pair (X, A) with A nonempty, where H homology. Taking A to be a point x0 , this exact sequence gives an identification of e n (X; G) with H n (X, x0 ; G) . H More generally there is a long exact sequence for a triple (X, A, B) coming from the short exact sequences j∗

i∗

0← --- C n (A, B; G) ←--- C n (X, B; G) ←--- C n (X, A; G) ←--- 0 The long exact sequence of reduced cohomology can be regarded as the special case that B is a point. As one would expect, there is a duality relationship between the connecting homomorphisms δ : H n (A; G)→H n+1 (X, A; G) and ∂ : Hn+1 (X, A)→Hn (A) . This takes

Hom ( Hn( A ) , G ) − − − → Hom ( Hn + 1( X, A ), G )

(X ;G ) → − − − − C n + 1( X , A ; G )

−−→

− − −n − − (A ;G )→ − − − − C (X ;G )

Cn + 1 ( X ; G ) − − − − → Cn + 1( X, A ; G )

− − − →

C

n

n+1

− − − →

C

h

∂∗

−→

diagrams

h

−−−

homomorphisms are defined, via the

δ

− − − →

tativity, recall how the two connecting

n H (A ;G ) − −−−−−−−→H n + 1( X, A ; G )

− − − →

shown at the right. To verify commu-

−−−

the form of the commutative diagram

Cn ( A ; G ) − − − − → Cn ( X ; G )

The connecting homomorphisms are represented by the dashed arrows, which are well-defined only when the chain and cochain groups are replaced by homology and cohomology groups. To show that hδ = ∂ ∗ h , start with an element α ∈ H n (A; G) represented by a cocycle ϕ ∈ C n (A; G) . To compute δ(α) we first extend ϕ to a cochain ϕ ∈ C n (X; G) , say by letting it take the value 0 on singular simplices not in

A . Then we compose ϕ with ∂ : Cn+1 (X)→Cn (X) to get a cochain ϕ∂ ∈ C n+1 (X; G) ,

which actually lies in C n+1 (X, A; G) since the original ϕ was a cocycle in A . This cochain ϕ∂ ∈ C n+1 (X, A; G) represents δ(α) in H n+1 (X, A; G) . Now we apply the map h , which simply restricts the domain of ϕ∂ to relative cycles in Cn+1 (X, A) , that is, (n + 1) chains in X whose boundary lies in A . On such chains we have ϕ∂ = ϕ∂ since the extension of ϕ to ϕ is irrelevant. The net result of all this is that hδ(α)

Cohomology Groups

Section 3.1

201

is represented by ϕ∂ . Let us compare this with ∂ ∗ h(α) . Applying h to ϕ restricts its domain to cycles in A . Then applying ∂ ∗ composes with the map which sends a relative (n + 1) cycle in X to its boundary in A . Thus ∂ ∗ h(α) is represented by ϕ∂ just as hδ(α) was, and so the square commutes. Induced Homomorphisms. Dual to the chain maps f] : Cn (X)→Cn (Y ) induced by

f : X →Y are the cochain maps f ] : C n (Y ; G)→C n (X; G) . The relation f] ∂ = ∂f]

dualizes to δf ] = f ] δ , so f ] induces homomorphisms f ∗ : H n (Y ; G)→H n (X; G) .

In the relative case a map f : (X, A)→(Y , B) induces f ∗ : H n (Y , B; G)→H n (X, A; G) by the same reasoning, and in fact f induces a map between short exact sequences of cochain complexes, hence a map between long exact sequences of cohomology groups, with commuting squares. The properties (f g)] = g ] f ] and 11] = 11 imply (f g)∗ = g ∗ f ∗ and 11∗ = 11 , so X

, H n (X; G)

and (X, A) , H n (X, A; G) are contravariant

functors, the ‘contra’ indicating that induced maps go in the reverse direction. The algebraic universal coefficient theorem applies also to relative cohomology since the relative chain groups Cn (X, A) are free, and there is a naturality statement: A map f : (X, A)→(Y , B) induces a commutative diagram

0− − − − → Ext( Hn - 1( X, A ),G ) − − − − − → H n ( X, A ; G ) − − − − − → Hom ( Hn ( X, A ),G ) − − − − →0 f∗

( f∗)∗

− − − →

− − − →

− − − →

h

( f∗)∗

0− − − − → Ext( Hn - 1( Y, B ),G ) − − − − − → H ( Y, B ; G ) − − − − − → Hom ( Hn ( Y, B ) ,G ) − − − − →0 n

h

This follows from the naturality of the algebraic universal coefficient sequences since the vertical maps are induced by the chain maps f] : Cn (X, A)→Cn (Y , B) . When the subspaces A and B are empty we obtain the absolute forms of these results. Homotopy Invariance. The statement is that if f ' g : (X, A)→(Y , B) , then f ∗ =

g ∗ : H n (Y , B)→H n (X, A) . This is proved by direct dualization of the proof for homology. From the proof of Theorem 2.10 we have a chain homotopy P satisfying g] − f] = ∂P + P ∂ . This relation dualizes to g ] − f ] = P ∗ δ + δP ∗ , so P ∗ is a chain

homotopy between the maps f ] , g ] : C n (Y ; G)→C n (X; G) . This restricts also to a

chain homotopy between f ] and g ] on relative cochains, the cochains vanishing on

singular simplices in the subspaces B and A . Since f ] and g ] are chain homotopic, they induce the same homomorphism f ∗ = g ∗ on cohomology. Excision. For cohomology this says that for subspaces Z ⊂ A ⊂ X with the closure

of Z contained in the interior of A , the inclusion i : (X − Z, A − Z) > (X, A) induces

isomorphisms i∗ : H n (X, A; G)→H n (X − Z, A − Z; G) for all n . This follows from the corresponding result for homology by the naturality of the universal coefficient theorem and the five-lemma. Alternatively, if one wishes to avoid appealing to the universal coefficient theorem, the proof of excision for homology dualizes easily to cohomology by the following argument. In the proof for homology there were chain maps ι : Cn (A + B)→Cn (X) and ρ : Cn (X)→Cn (A + B) such that ρι = 11 and 11 − ιρ = ∂D + D∂ for a chain homotopy D . Dualizing by taking Hom(−, G) , we have maps

202

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Cohomology

ρ ∗ and ι∗ between C n (A + B; G) and C n (X; G) , and these induce isomorphisms on cohomology since ι∗ ρ ∗ = 11 and 11 − ρ ∗ ι∗ = D ∗ δ + δD ∗ . By the five-lemma, the maps C n (X, A; G)→C n (A + B, A; G) also induce isomorphisms on cohomology. There is an

obvious identification of C n (A+B, A; G) with C n (B, A∩B; G) , so we get isomorphisms

H n (X, A; G)) ≈ H n (B, A ∩ B; G) induced by the inclusion (B, A ∩ B) > (X, A) . Axioms for Cohomology. These are exactly dual to the axioms for homology. Restricting attention to CW complexes again, a (reduced) cohomology theory is a sequence of e n from CW complexes to abelian groups, together with natcontravariant functors h e n+1 (X/A) for CW pairs (X, A) , satise n (A)→h ural coboundary homomorphisms δ : h fying the following axioms: e n (Y )→h e n (X) . (1) If f ' g : X →Y , then f ∗ = g ∗ : h (2) For each CW pair (X, A) there is a long exact sequence ···

q∗

∗

q∗

-----δ→ - he n (X/A) -----→ - he n (X) ----i-→ - he n (A) -----δ→ - he n+1 (X/A) -----→ - ···

where i is the inclusion and q is the quotient map. W (3) For a wedge sum X = α Xα with inclusions iα : Xα > X , the product map Q ∗ n Q n e e α iα : h (X)→ α h (Xα ) is an isomorphism for each n . We have already seen that the first axiom holds for singular cohomology. The second axiom follows from excision in the same way as for homology, via isomorphisms e n (X/A; G) ≈ H n (X, A; G) . Note that the third axiom involves direct product, rather H than the direct sum appearing in the homology version. This is because of the natQ L ural isomorphism Hom( α Aα , G) ≈ α Hom(Aα , G) , which implies that the cochain ` complex of a disjoint union α Xα is the direct product of the cochain complexes of the individual Xα ’s, and this direct product splitting passes through to cohomology groups. The same argument applies in the relative case, so we get isomorphisms ` ` Q H n ( α Xα , α Aα ; G) ≈ α H n (Xα , Aα ; G) . The third axiom is obtained by taking the ` ` W Aα ’s to be basepoints xα and passing to the quotient α Xα / α xα = α Xα . The relation between reduced and unreduced cohomology theories is the same as for homology, as described in §2.3. Simplicial Cohomology. If X is a ∆ complex and A ⊂ X is a subcomplex, then the simplicial chain groups ∆n (X, A) dualize to simplicial cochain groups ∆n (X, A; G) = Hom(∆n (X, A), G) , and the resulting cohomology groups are by definition the simplicial cohomology groups H∆n (X, A; G) . Since the inclusions ∆n (X, A) ⊂ Cn (X, A)

induce isomorphisms Hn∆(X, A) ≈ Hn (X, A) , Corollary 3.4 implies that the dual maps C n (X, A; G)→∆n (X, A; G) also induce isomorphisms H n (X, A; G) ≈ H∆n (X, A; G) .

Cellular Cohomology. For a CW complex X this is defined via the cellular cochain complex formed by the horizontal sequence in the following diagram, where coefficients in a given group G are understood, and the cellular coboundary maps dn are

Cohomology Groups

Section 3.1

203

the compositions δn jn , making the triangles commute. Note that dn dn−1 = 0 since jn δn−1 = 0 .

0

→ − − − − − n-1 n-1 H (X ) jn - 1 −−−−−δn - 1 → − → −− − − dn - 1 dn n-1 n-1 n-2 n-1 .. . − ( ) )− X X H , ,X − − − − → −−−−−→ H n( X n− −−− −→ H n+ 1( X n + 1, X n ) − − − − − → ... −−−−→ → jn δn −−−−− n n H (X )

n n H (X ) ≈ H (X

0

Theorem 3.5.

− − − − − →

→ − − − − − n +1 )

→ − − − − −

0

H n (X; G) ≈ Ker dn / Im dn−1 . Furthermore, the cellular cochain com-

plex {H n (X n , X n−1 ; G), dn } is isomorphic to the dual of the cellular chain complex, obtained by applying Hom(−, G) .

Proof:

The universal coefficient theorem implies that H k (X n , X n−1 ; G) = 0 for k ≠ n .

The long exact sequence of the pair (X n , X n−1 ) then gives isomorphisms H k (X n ; G) ≈ H k (X n−1 ; G) for k ≠ n , n − 1 . Hence by induction on n we obtain H k (X n ; G) = 0 if k > n . Thus the diagonal sequences in the preceding diagram are exact. The universal coefficient theorem also gives H k (X, X n+1 ; G) = 0 for k ≤ n + 1 , so H n (X; G) ≈ H n (X n+1 ; G) . The diagram then yields isomorphisms H n (X; G) ≈ H n (X n+1 ; G) ≈ Ker δn ≈ Ker dn / Im δn−1 ≈ Ker dn / Im dn−1 For the second statement in the theorem we have the diagram

h

k

Hom (H k ( X , X

h

k -1

− − − →

− − − →

− − − →

k k k -1 δ H (X , X ;G ) − −−−−−−−→ H k ( X k ; G ) −−−−− −−−→ H k + 1( X k + 1, X k ; G )

h

∂∗

), G ) − − − → Hom ( Hk ( X ) , G ) − − − → Hom ( Hk +1( X k +1, X k ), G ) k

The cellular coboundary map is the composition across the top, and we want to see that this is the same as the composition across the bottom. The first and third vertical maps are isomorphisms by the universal coefficient theorem, so it suffices to show the diagram commutes. The first square commutes by naturality of h , and commutativity of the second square was shown in the discussion of the long exact sequence u t

of cohomology groups of a pair (X, A) . Mayer–Vietoris Sequences. In the absolute case these take the form ···

Ψ Φ H n (A; G) ⊕ H n (B; G) --→ H n (A ∩ B; G) → → - H n (X; G) --→ - H n+1 (X; G) → - ···

where X is the union of the interiors of A and B . This is the long exact sequence associated to the short exact sequence of cochain complexes 0

→ - C n (A + B, G) --→ C n (A; G) ⊕ C n (B; G) --→ C n (A ∩ B; G) → - 0 ψ

ϕ

Chapter 3

204

Cohomology

Here C n (A + B; G) is the dual of the subgroup Cn (A + B) ⊂ Cn (X) consisting of sums of singular n simplices lying in A or in B . The inclusion Cn (A + B) ⊂ Cn (X) is a chain homotopy equivalence by Proposition 2.21, so the dual restriction map C n (X; G)→C n (A + B; G) is also a chain homotopy equivalence, hence induces an isomorphism on cohomology as shown in the discussion of excision a couple pages back. The map ψ has coordinates the two restrictions to A and B , and ϕ takes the difference of the restrictions to A ∩ B , so it is obvious that ϕ is onto with kernel the image of ψ . There is a relative Mayer–Vietoris sequence ···

→ - H n (X, Y ; G) → - H n (A, C; G) ⊕ H n (B, D; G) → - H n (A ∩ B, C ∩ D; G) → - ···

for a pair (X, Y ) = (A ∪ B, C ∪ D) with C ⊂ A and D ⊂ B such that X is the union of the interiors of A and B while Y is the union of the interiors of C and D . To derive this, consider first the map of short exact sequences of cochain complexes

− →

− →

− →

0− −− −→ C n( X , Y ; G ) − − − − − − − − − − → C n( X ; G ) −−−−→ C n( Y ; G ) −−−→ 0 0− − → C n( A + B , C + D ; G ) − − → C n( A + B ; G ) − − → C n( C + D ; G ) − − →0 Here C n (A + B, C + D; G) is defined as the kernel of C n (A + B; G)

→ - C n (C + D; G) , the

restriction map, so the second sequence is exact. The vertical maps are restrictions. The second and third of these induce isomorphisms on cohomology, as we have seen, so by the five-lemma the first vertical map also induces isomorphisms on cohomology. The relative Mayer–Vietoris sequence is then the long exact sequence associated to the short exact sequence of cochain complexes 0

→ - C n (A + B, C + D; G) --→ C n (A, C; G) ⊕ C n (B, D; G) --→ C n (A ∩ B, C ∩ D; G) → - 0 ψ

ϕ

This is exact since it is the dual of the short exact sequence 0

→ - Cn (A ∩ B, C ∩ D) → - Cn (A, C) ⊕ Cn (B, D) → - Cn (A + B, C + D) → - 0

constructed in §2.2, which splits since Cn (A + B, C + D) is free with basis the singular n simplices in A or in B that do not lie in C or in D .

Exercises 1. Show that Ext(H, G) is a contravariant functor of H for fixed G , and a covariant functor of G for fixed H . 2. Show that the maps G

n n G and H --→ H --→

multiplying each element by the integer

n induce multiplication by n in Ext(H, G) . 3. Regarding Z2 as a module over the ring Z4 , construct a resolution of Z2 by free modules over Z4 and use this to show that Extn Z4 (Z2 , Z2 ) is nonzero for all n .

Cohomology Groups

Section 3.1

205

4. What happens if one defines homology groups hn (X; G) as the homology groups

of the chain complex ··· →Hom G, Cn (X) →Hom G, Cn−1 (X) → ··· ? More specifically, what are the groups hn (X; G) when G = Z , Zm , and Q ? 5. Regarding a cochain ϕ ∈ C 1 (X; G) as a function from paths in X to G , show that if ϕ is a cocycle, then (a) ϕ(f g) = ϕ(f ) + ϕ(g) , (b) ϕ takes the value 0 on constant paths, (c) ϕ(f ) = ϕ(g) if f ' g , (d) ϕ is a coboundary iff ϕ(f ) depends only on the endpoints of f , for all f .

[In particular, (a) and (c) give a map H 1 (X; G)→Hom(π1 (X), G) , which the universal coefficient theorem says is an isomorphism if X is path-connected.] 6. (a) Directly from the definitions, compute the simplicial cohomology groups of S 1 × S 1 with Z and Z2 coefficients, using the ∆ complex structure given in §2.1. (b) Do the same for RP2 and the Klein bottle. 7. Show that the functors hn (X) = Hom(Hn (X), Z) do not define a cohomology theory on the category of CW complexes. 8. Many basic homology arguments work just as well for cohomology even though maps go in the opposite direction. Verify this in the following cases: (a) Compute H i (S n ; G) by induction on n in two ways: using the long exact sequence of a pair, and using the Mayer–Vietoris sequence. (b) Show that if A is a closed subspace of X that is a deformation retract of some

neighborhood, then the quotient map X →X/A induces isomorphisms H n (X, A; G) ≈ e n (X/A; G) for all n . H (c) Show that if A is a retract of X then H n (X; G) ≈ H n (A; G) ⊕ H n (X, A; G) .

9. Show that if f : S n →S n has degree d then f ∗ : H n (S n ; G)→H n (S n ; G) is multiplication by d . 10. For the lens space Lm (`1 , ··· , `n ) defined in Example 2.43, compute the cohomology groups using the cellular cochain complex and taking coefficients in Z , Q , Zm , and Zp for p prime. Verify that the answers agree with those given by the universal coefficient theorem. 11. Let X be a Moore space M(Zm , n) obtained from S n by attaching a cell en+1 by a map of degree m .

e i (−; Z) (a) Show that the quotient map X →X/S n = S n+1 induces the trivial map on H for all i , but not on H n+1 (−; Z) . Deduce that the splitting in the universal coefficient theorem for cohomology cannot be natural. e i (−; Z) for all i , but (b) Show that the inclusion S n > X induces the trivial map on H

not on Hn (−; Z) .

12. Show H k (X, X n ; G) = 0 if X is a CW complex and k ≤ n , by using the cohomology version of the second proof of the corresponding result for homology in Lemma 2.34.

Chapter 3

206

Cohomology

13. Let hX, Y i denote the set of basepoint-preserving homotopy classes of basepoint-

preserving maps X →Y . Using Proposition 1B.9, show that if X is a connected CW

complex and G is an abelian group, then the map hX, K(G, 1)i→H 1 (X; G) sending a
map f : X →K(G, 1) to the induced homomorphism f∗ : H1 (X)→H1 K(G, 1) ≈ G is a bijection, where we identify H 1 (X; G) with Hom(H1 (X), G) via the universal coeffi-

cient theorem.

In the introduction to this chapter we sketched a definition of cup product in terms of another product called cross product. However, to define the cross product from scratch takes some work, so we will proceed in the opposite order, first giving an elementary definition of cup product by an explicit formula with simplices, then afterwards defining cross product in terms of cup product. The other approach of defining cup product via cross product is explained at the end of §3.B. To define the cup product we consider cohomology with coefficients in a ring R , the most common choices being Z , Zn , and Q . For cochains ϕ ∈ C k (X; R) and ψ ∈ C ` (X; R) , the cup product ϕ ` ψ ∈ C k+` (X; R) is the cochain whose value on a singular simplex σ : ∆k+` →X is given by the formula



(ϕ ` ψ)(σ ) = ϕ σ || [v0 , ··· , vk ] ψ σ || [vk , ··· , vk+` ] where the right-hand side is the product in R . To see that this cup product of cochains induces a cup product of cohomology classes we need a formula relating it to the coboundary map:

Lemma 3.6. Proof:

δ(ϕ `ψ) = δϕ`ψ+(−1)k ϕ `δψ for ϕ ∈ C k (X; R) and ψ ∈ C ` (X; R) .

For σ : ∆k+`+1 →X we have (δϕ ` ψ)(σ ) =

k+1 X



bi , ··· , vk+1 ] ψ σ ||[vk+1 , ··· , vk+`+1 ] (−1)i ϕ σ ||[v0 , ··· , v

i=0

(−1)k (ϕ ` δψ)(σ ) =

k+`+1 X



bi , ··· , vk+`+1 ] (−1)i ϕ σ ||[v0 , ··· , vk ] ψ σ ||[vk , ··· , v

i=k

When we add these two expressions, the last term of the first sum cancels the first term of the second sum, and the remaining terms are exactly δ(ϕ ` ψ)(σ ) = (ϕ ` ψ)(∂σ ) Pk+`+1 bi , ··· , vk+`+1 ] . u t since ∂σ = i=0 (−1)i σ || [v0 , ··· , v

Cup Product

Section 3.2

207

From the formula δ(ϕ ` ψ) = δϕ ` ψ ± ϕ ` δψ it is apparent that the cup product of two cocycles is again a cocycle. Also, the cup product of a cocycle and a coboundary, in either order, is a coboundary since ϕ ` δψ = ±δ(ϕ ` ψ) if δϕ = 0 , and δϕ ` ψ = δ(ϕ ` ψ) if δψ = 0 . It follows that there is an induced cup product H k (X; R) × H ` (X; R)

------` -----→ H k+` (X; R)

This is associative and distributive since at the level of cochains the cup product obviously has these properties. If R has an identity element, then there is an identity element for cup product, the class 1 ∈ H 0 (X; R) defined by the 0 cocycle taking the value 1 on each singular 0 simplex. A cup product for simplicial cohomology can be defined by the same formula as for singular cohomology, so the canonical isomorphism between simplicial and singular cohomology respects cup products. Here are three examples of direct calculations of cup products using simplicial cohomology.

Example 3.7.

Let M be the closed orientable surface

a2

of genus g ≥ 1 with the ∆ complex structure shown

b2

in the figure for the case g = 2 . The cup product of

α2

interest is H 1 (M)× H 1 (M)→H 2 (M) . Taking Z coefficients, a basis for H1 (M) is formed by the edges ai

a2

and bi , as we showed in Example 2.36 when we computed the homology of M using cellular homology. We have H 1 (M) ≈ Hom(H1 (M), Z) by cellular coho-

β2 b2

mology or the universal coefficient theorem. A basis

+ + _ _ _ _ + +

α1

b1 β1 a1

b1

a1

for H1 (M) determines a dual basis for Hom(H1 (M), Z) , so dual to ai is the cohomology class αi assigning the value 1 to ai and 0 to the other basis elements, and similarly we have cohomology classes βi dual to bi . To represent αi by a simplicial cocycle ϕi we need to choose values for ϕi on the edges radiating out from the central vertex in such a way that δϕi = 0 . This is the ‘cocycle condition’ discussed in the introduction to this chapter, where we saw that it has a geometric interpretation in terms of curves transverse to the edges of M . With this interpretation in mind, consider the arc labeled αi in the figure, which represents a loop in M meeting ai in one point and disjoint from all the other basis elements aj and bj . We define ϕi to have the value 1 on edges meeting the arc αi and the value 0 on all other edges. Thus ϕi counts the number of intersections of each edge with the arc αi . In similar fashion we obtain a cocycle ψi counting intersections with the arc βi , and ψi represents the cohomology class βi dual to bi . Now we can compute cup products by applying the definition. Keeping in mind that the ordering of the vertices of each 2 simplex is compatible with the indicated orientations of its edges, we see for example that ϕ1 ` ψ1 takes the value 0 on all 2 simplices except the one with outer edge b1 in the lower right part of the figure,

208

Chapter 3

Cohomology

where it takes the value 1 . Thus ϕ1 ` ψ1 takes the value 1 on the 2 chain c formed by the sum of all the 2 simplices with the signs indicated in the center of the figure. It is an easy calculation that ∂c = 0 . Since there are no 3 simplices, c is not a boundary, so it represents a nonzero element of H2 (M) . The fact that (ϕ1 ` ψ1 )(c) is a generator of Z implies both that c represents a generator of H2 (M) ≈ Z and that ϕ1 ` ψ1 represents the dual generator γ of H 2 (M) ≈ Hom(H2 (M), Z) ≈ Z . Thus α1 ` β1 = γ . In similar fashion one computes:    γ, i = j  αi ` βj = = −(βi ` αj ),  0, i ≠ j 

αi ` αj = 0,

βi ` βj = 0

These relations determine the cup product H 1 (M)× H 1 (M)→H 2 (M) completely since cup product is distributive. Notice that cup product is not commutative in this example since αi ` βi = −(βi ` αi ) . We will show in Theorem 3.14 below that this is the worst that can happen: Cup product is commutative up to a sign depending only on dimension. One can see in this example that nonzero cup products of distinct classes αi or βj occur precisely when the corresponding loops αi or βj intersect. This is also true for the cup product of αi or βi with itself if we allow ourselves to take two copies of the corresponding loop and deform one of them to be disjoint from the other.

Example

3.8. The closed nonorientable surface N

a3

of genus g can be treated in similar fashion if we

a3

use Z2 coefficients. Using the ∆ complex structure

α3

a2

shown, the edges ai give a basis for H1 (N; Z2 ) , and the dual basis elements αi ∈ H 1 (N; Z2 ) can be repre-

a4

α2

α4

a2

sented by cocycles with values given by counting intersections with the arcs labeled αi in the figure. Then one computes that αi ` αi is the nonzero element of H 2 (N; Z2 ) ≈ Z2 and αi ` αj = 0 for i ≠ j . In particu-

a4

α1

a1

a1

lar, when g = 1 we have N = RP2 , and the cup product of a generator of H 1 (RP2 ; Z2 ) with itself is a generator of H 2 (RP2 ; Z2 ) . The remarks in the paragraph preceding this example apply here also, but with the following difference: When one tries to deform a second copy of the loop αi in the present example to be disjoint from the original copy, the best one can do is make it intersect the original in one point. This reflects the fact that αi ` αi is now nonzero.

Example 3.9.

Let X be the 2 dimensional CW complex obtained by attaching a 2 cell

to S 1 by the degree m map S 1 →S 1 , z , zm . Using cellular cohomology, or cellular homology and the universal coefficient theorem, we see that H n (X; Z) consists of a

Z for n = 0 and a Zm for n = 2 , so the cup product structure with Z coefficients is uninteresting. However, with Zm coefficients we have H i (X; Zm ) ≈ Zm for i = 0, 1, 2,

Cup Product

Section 3.2

209

so there is the possibility that the cup product of two 1 dimensional classes can be nontrivial. To obtain a ∆ complex structure on X , take a regular m gon subdivided into m triangles Ti around a central vertex v , as shown in the figure for the case m = 4 , then identify all the outer edges by rotations of the m gon. This gives X a ∆ complex structure with 2 vertices, m+1

e

w e0 e

is represented by a cocycle ϕ assigning the value 1 to the edge e , which generates H1 (X) . The condition that ϕ be

T3 e3

T0

edges, and m 2 simplices. A generator α of H 1 (X; Zm )

w

v e1 T1

w

e

T2

e

e2 w

a cocycle means that ϕ(ei ) + ϕ(e) = ϕ(ei+1 ) for all i , subscripts being taken mod m . So we may take ϕ(ei ) = i ∈ Zm . Hence (ϕ ` ϕ)(Ti ) = ϕ(ei )ϕ(e) = i . The map P h : H 2 (X; Zm )→Hom(H2 (X; Zm ), Zm ) is an isomorphism since i Ti is a generator P of H2 (X; Zm ) and there are 2 cocycles taking the value 1 on i Ti , for example the cocycle taking the value 1 on one Ti and 0 on all the others. The cocycle ϕ ` ϕ takes P the value 0 + 1 + ··· + (m − 1) on i Ti , hence represents 0 + 1 + ··· + (m − 1) times a generator β of H 2 (X; Zm ) . In Zm the sum 0 + 1 + ··· + (m − 1) is 0 if m is odd and k if m = 2k since the terms 1 and m − 1 cancel, 2 and m − 2 cancel, and so on. Thus, writing α2 for α ` α , we have α2 = 0 if m is odd and α2 = kβ if m = 2k . In particular, if m = 2 , X is RP2 and α2 = β in H 2 (RP2 ; Z2 ) , as we showed already in Example 3.8.

The cup product formula (ϕ ` ψ)(σ ) = ϕ σ || [v0 , ··· , vk ] ψ σ || [vk , ··· , vk+` ] also gives relative cup products

------` -----→ H k+` (X, A; R) ` H k (X, A; R) × H ` (X; R) -----------→ H k+` (X, A; R) ` H k (X, A; R) × H ` (X, A; R) -----------→ H k+` (X, A; R) H k (X; R) × H ` (X, A; R)

since if ϕ or ψ vanishes on chains in A then so does ϕ ` ψ . There is a more general relative cup product H k (X, A; R) × H ` (X, B; R)

------` -----→ H k+` (X, A ∪ B; R)

when A and B are open subsets of X or subcomplexes of the CW complex X . This is obtained in the following way. The absolute cup product restricts to a cup product C k (X, A; R)× C ` (X, B; R)→C k+` (X, A + B; R) where C n (X, A + B; R) is the subgroup

of C n (X; R) consisting of cochains vanishing on sums of chains in A and chains in B . If A and B are open in X , the inclusions C n (X, A ∪ B; R)

> C n (X, A + B; R)

induce isomorphisms on cohomology, via the five-lemma and the fact that the restriction maps C n (A ∪ B; R)→C n (A + B; R) induce isomorphisms on cohomology as we saw in the discussion of excision in the previous section. Therefore the cup product C k (X, A; R)× C ` (X, B; R)→C k+` (X, A + B; R) induces the desired relative cup product

Chapter 3

210

Cohomology

H k (X, A; R)× H ` (X, B; R)→H k+` (X, A ∪ B; R) . This holds also if X is a CW complex

with A and B subcomplexes since here again the maps C n (A ∪ B; R)→C n (A + B; R) induce isomorphisms on cohomology, as we saw for homology in §2.2.

Proposition 3.10.

For a map f : X →Y , the induced maps f ∗ : H n (Y ; R)→H n (X; R)

satisfy f ∗ (α ` β) = f ∗ (α) ` f ∗ (β) , and similarly in the relative case.

Proof:

This comes from the cochain formula f ] (ϕ) ` f ] (ψ) = f ] (ϕ ` ψ) :

(f ] ϕ ` f ] ψ)(σ ) = f ] ϕ σ ||[v0 , ··· , vk ] f ] ψ σ ||[vk , ··· , vk+` ]

= ϕ f σ ||[v0 , ··· , vk ] ψ f σ ||[vk , ··· , vk+` ] = (ϕ ` ψ)(f σ ) = f ] (ϕ ` ψ)(σ )

u t

We now define the cross product or external cup product. The absolute and general relative forms are the maps

-------×----→ H k+` (X × Y ; R) × H k (X, A; R) × H ` (Y , B; R) -----------→ H k+` (X × Y , A× Y ∪ X × B; R) H k (X; R) × H ` (Y ; R)

given by a× b = p1∗ (a) ` p2∗ (b) where p1 and p2 are the projections of X × Y onto X and Y .

Example

3.11: The n Torus. For the n dimensional torus T n , the product of n

circles, let us show that all cohomology classes are cup products of 1 dimensional classes. More precisely, we show that H k (T n ; R) is a free R module with basis the cup products αi1 ` ··· ` αik for i1 < ··· < ik , where αi ∈ H 1 (T n ; R) is pi∗ (α) for α a generator H 1 (S 1 ; R) and pi the projection of T n onto its i th factor. As a preliminary step we show that for α a generator of H 1 (I, ∂I; R) , the map H n (Y ; R)→H n+1 (I × Y , ∂I × Y ; R),

β , α× β

is an isomorphism for all spaces Y . This uses commutativity of the following square: δ × 11

+

− − − − − →

− − − − − →

k k 1 ` ` H ( A ; R ) × H ( Y ; R ) −−−−−→ H ( X, A ; R) × H ( Y ; R )

×

H

×

( A × Y ; R) − −−−−−−−−→ H

k+`

δ

( X × Y , A × Y ; R)

k + ` +1

To check this, start with an element of the upper left product, represented by cocycles ϕ ∈ C k (A; R) and ψ ∈ C ` (Y ; R) . Extend ϕ to a cochain ϕ ∈ C k (X; R) . Then the pair ]

]

(ϕ, ψ) maps rightward to (δϕ, ψ) and then downward to p1 (δϕ) ` p2 (ψ) . Going ] ] the other way around the square, (ϕ, ψ) maps downward to p1 (ϕ) ` p2 (ψ) and
] ] ] ] ] ] rightward to δ p1 (ϕ) ` p2 (ψ) since p1 (ϕ) ` p2 (ψ) extends p1 (ϕ) ` p2 (ψ)
] ] ] ] X × Y . Finally, δ p1 (ϕ) ` p2 (ψ) = p1 (δϕ) ` p2 (ψ) since δψ = 0 .

then over

Returning to the product I × Y , the long exact sequence for the pair (I × Y , ∂I × Y ) breaks up into split short exact sequences 0

δ H n+1 (I × Y , ∂I × Y ; R) → → - H n (I × Y , R) → - H n (∂I × Y ; R) --→ - 0

Cup Product

Section 3.2

211

The map δ is an isomorphism when restricted to the copy of H n (Y ; R) corresponding to {0}× Y . This copy of H n (Y ; R) consists of elements of the form 10 × β where 10 ∈ H 0 (∂I; R) is represented by the cocycle that is 1 on 0 ∈ ∂I and 0 on 1 ∈ ∂I . By the commutative square above, δ(10 × β) = δ(10 )× β . The element δ(10 ) is a generator of H 1 (I, ∂I; R) , by the case that Y is a point. Any other generator α is a scalar multiple of δ(10 ) by a unit of R , so this shows the map β , α× β is an isomorphism. An equivalent statement is that the map H n (Y ; R)→H n+1 (S 1 × Y , {s0 }× Y ; R) ,

β

, α× β ,

is an isomorphism, with α now a generator of H 1 (S 1 , s0 ; R) . Via the

long exact sequence of the pair (S 1 × Y , {s0 }× Y ) , this implies that the map H n+1 (Y ; R)× H n (Y ; R)→H n+1 (S 1 × Y ; R),

(β1 , β2 ) , 1× β1 + α× β2

is an isomorphism, with α a generator of H 1 (S 1 ; R) . Specializing to the case of the n torus, we conclude by induction on n that H k (T n ; R) has the structure described at the beginning of the example. We can use this calculation to deduce a fact that will be used shortly in the calculation of cup products in projective spaces. Writing n = i+j , the cube I n is the product I i × I j , and the assertion is that the cross product of generators of H i (I i , ∂I i ; R) and H j (I j , ∂I j ; R) is a generator of H n (I n , ∂I n ; R) , where we are using the first of the following three cross products:

-------×----→ H n (I n , ∂I n ; R) × H i (T i , T˙i ; R) × H j (T j , T˙j ; R) -----------→ H n (T n , T˙n ; R) × H i (T i ; R) × H j (T j ; R) -----------→ H n (T n ; R) H i (I i , ∂I i ; R) × H j (I j , ∂I j ; R)

In the second cross product, the dots denote deletion of the top-dimensional cell. All three cross products are equivalent. This is evident for the first two, thinking of the torus as a quotient of a cube. For the second two, note that all cellular boundary maps for T n with Z coefficients must be trivial, otherwise the cohomology groups would be smaller than computed above. Hence all cellular coboundary maps with arbitrary coefficients are zero, and the map H n (T n , T˙n ; R)→H n (T n ; R) is an isomorphism.

The corresponding results for T i and T j are of course true as well.

Since cross product is associative, the earlier calculation shows that for the last of the three cross products above, the cross product of generators is a generator, so this is also true for the first cross product.

The Cohomology Ring Since cup product is associative and distributive, it is natural to try to make it the multiplication in a ring structure on the cohomology groups of a space X . This is easy to do if we simply define H ∗ (X; R) to be the direct sum of the groups H n (X; R) . P Elements of H ∗ (X; R) are finite sums i αi with αi ∈ H i (X; R) , and the product of

Chapter 3

212

two such sums is defined to be ∗

Cohomology P i

αi


P j

βj




=

P i,j

αi βj . It is routine to check

that this makes H (X; R) into a ring, with identity if R has an identity. Similarly, H ∗ (X, A; R) is a ring via the relative cup product. Taking scalar multiplication by elements of R into account, these rings can also be regarded as R algebras. For example, the calculations in Example 3.8 or 3.9 above show that H ∗ (RP2 ; Z2 )

consists of the polynomials a0 +a1 α+a2 α2 with coefficients ai ∈ Z2 , so H ∗ (RP2 ; Z2 )

is the quotient Z2 [α]/(α3 ) of the polynomial ring Z2 [α] by the ideal generated by α3 .

This example illustrates how H ∗ (X; R) often has a more compact description

than the sequence of individual groups H n (X; R) , so there is a certain economy in the change of scale that comes from regarding all the groups H n (X; R) as part of a single object H ∗ (X; R) . Adding cohomology classes of different dimensions to form H ∗ (X; R) is a convenient formal device, but it has little topological significance. One always regards the L cohomology ring as a graded ring: a ring A with a decomposition as a sum k≥0 Ak of additive subgroups Ak such that the multiplication takes Ak × A` to Ak+` . To indicate that an element a ∈ A lies in Ak we write |a| = k . This applies in particular to elements of H k (X; R) . Some authors call |a| the ‘degree’ of a , but we will use the term ‘dimension’ which is more geometric and avoids potential confusion with the degree of a polynomial. Among the simplest graded rings are polynomial rings R[α] and their truncated versions R[α]/(αn ) , consisting of polynomials of degree less than n . The example we have seen is H ∗ (RP2 ; Z2 ) ≈ Z2 [α]/(α3 ) . Generalizing this, we have:

Theorem 3.12.

H ∗ (RPn ; Z2 ) ≈ Z2 [α]/(αn+1 ) and H ∗ (RP∞ ; Z2 ) ≈ Z2 [α] , where

|α| = 1 . In the complex case, H ∗ (CPn ; Z) ≈ Z[α]/(αn+1 ) and H ∗ (CP∞ ; Z) ≈ Z[α] where |α| = 2 . This turns out to be a quite important result, and it can be proved in a number of different ways. The proof we give here consists of a direct reduction to the relative cup product calculation in Example 3.11 above. Another proof using Poincar´ e duality will be given in Example 3.40. A third proof is contained in §4.D as an application of the Gysin sequence.

Proof:

Let us do the case of RPn first. To simplify notation we abbreviate RPn to P n

and we let the coefficient group Z2 be implicit. Since the inclusion P n−1 > P n induces

an isomorphism on H i for i ≤ n − 1 , it suffices by induction on n to show that the cup product of a generator of H n−1 (P n ) with a generator of H 1 (P n ) is a generator of H n (P n ) . It will be no more work to show more generally that the cup product of a generator of H i (P n ) with a generator of H n−i (P n ) is a generator of H n (P n ) . As a further notational aid, we let j = n − i , so i + j = n . The proof uses some of the geometric structure of P n . Recall that P n consists of nonzero vectors (x0 , ··· , xn ) ∈ Rn+1 modulo multiplication by nonzero scalars. In-

Cup Product

Section 3.2

213

side P n is a copy of P i represented by vectors whose last j coordinates xi+1 , ··· , xn are zero. We also have a copy of P j represented by points whose first i coordinates x0 , ··· , xi−1 are zero. The intersection P i ∩ P j is a single point p , represented by vectors whose only nonzero coordinate is xi . Let U be the subspace of P n represented by vectors with nonzero coordinate xi . Each point in U may be represented by a unique vector with xi = 1 and the other

P P

j

i-1

p

P

P

i

n coordinates arbitrary, so U is homeomorphic to Rn ,

P

i-1

n-1

with p corresponding to 0 under this homeomorphism. We can write this Rn as Ri × Rj , with Ri as the coordinates x0 , ··· , xi−1 and Rj as the coordinates xi+1 , ··· , xn . In the figure P n is represented as a disk with antipodal points of its boundary sphere identified to form a P n−1 ⊂ P n with U = P n − P n−1 the interior of the disk. Consider the diagram

→ → − −

→ − − →

i n j n H (P ) × H (P ) − −−−−−−−−−−−−→ H n ( P n ) i n n j j n n i H (P ,P - P ) × H (P ,P - P ) − −−−−→ H n ( P n, P n - { p } ) i n n j j n n i H (R ,R - R ) × H (R ,R - R ) − −−−−→ H n ( Rn, Rn - { 0 } )

which commutes by naturality of cup product. The lower cup product map takes generator cross generator to generator, as we showed in Example 3.11 above in the equivalent situation of a product of cubes. The same will be true for the top row if the four vertical maps are isomorphisms, so this is what remains to be proved. The lower map in the right column is an isomorphism by excision. For the upper map in this column, the fact that P n − {p} deformation retracts to a P n−1 gives an isomorphism H n (P n , P n −{0}) ≈ H n (P n , P n−1 ) via the five-lemma applied to the long exact sequences for these pairs. And H n (P n , P n−1 ) ≈ H n (P n ) by cellular cohomology. To see that the vertical maps in the left column are isomorphisms we use the following commutative diagram:

i -1

)→ −− H i ( P i, P i - { p } ) −−→ H i ( Ri, Ri - { 0 } )

− →

i i H (P )→ −− H i ( P i, P

− →

)→ −− H i ( P n, P n - P j ) −−−→ H i ( Rn, Rn - Rj )

− →

i -1

− →

i n H (P )→ −− H i ( P n, P

If we can show all these maps are isomorphisms, then the same argument will apply with i and j interchanged, and the proof for RPn will be finished. The left-hand square consists of isomorphisms by cellular cohomology. The righthand vertical map is obviously an isomorphism. The lower right horizontal map is an isomorphism by excision, and the map to the left of this is an isomorphism since P i − {p} deformation retracts onto P i−1 . The remaining maps will be isomorphisms if the middle map in the upper row is an isomorphism. And this map is in fact

214

Chapter 3

Cohomology

an isomorphism because P n − P j deformation retracts onto P i−1 by the following argument. The subspace P n − P j ⊂ P n consists of points represented by vectors v = (x0 , ··· , xn ) with at least one of the coordinates x0 , ··· , xi−1 nonzero. The formula ft (v) = (x0 , ··· , xi−1 , txi , ··· , txn ) for t decreasing from 1 to 0 gives a well-defined deformation retraction of P n − P j onto P i−1 since ft (λv) = λft (v) for scalars λ ∈ R . The case of RP∞ follows from the finite-dimensional case since the inclusion RP

n

> RP∞

induces isomorphisms on H i (−; Z2 ) for i ≤ n by cellular cohomology.

Complex projective spaces are handled in precisely the same way, using Z coefficients and replacing each H k by H 2k and R by C .

u t

There are also quaternionic projective spaces HPn and HP∞ , defined exactly as in the complex case, with CW structures of the form e0 ∪ e4 ∪ e8 ∪ ··· . Associativity of quaternion multiplication is needed for the identification v ∼ λv to be an equivalence relation, so the definition does not extend to octonionic projective spaces, though there is an octonionic projective plane OP2 that will be defined in §4.3. The cup product structure in quaternionic projective spaces is just like that in complex projective spaces, except that the generator is 4 dimensional: H ∗ (HP∞ ; Z) ≈ Z[α]

and

H ∗ (HPn ; Z) ≈ Z[α]/(αn+1 ),

with |α| = 4

The same proof as in the real and complex cases works as well in this case. The cup product structure for RP∞ with Z coefficients can easily be deduced from the cup product structure with Z2 coefficients, as follows. In general, a ring

homomorphism R →S induces a ring homomorphism H ∗ (X, A; R)→H ∗ (X, A; S) . In

the case of the projection Z→Z2 we get for RP∞ an induced chain map of cellular cochain complexes with Z and Z2 coefficients:

− →

− →

− →

− →

− →

2 0 2 0 ... → − − − − − Z→ − − − − − Z→ − − − − − Z→ − − − − − Z→ − − − − − Z→ − − − − −0 0 0 0 0 ... → − − − − − Z2→ − − − − − Z2→ − − − − − Z2→ − − − − − Z2→ − − − − − Z 2→ − − − − −0

From this we see that the ring homomorphism H ∗ (RP∞ ; Z)→H ∗ (RP∞ ; Z2 ) is injec-

tive in positive dimensions, with image the even-dimensional part of H ∗ (RP∞ ; Z2 ) .

Alternatively, this could be deduced from the universal coefficient theorem. Hence we have H ∗ (RP∞ ; Z) ≈ Z[α]/(2α) with |α| = 2 . The cup product structure in H ∗ (RPn ; Z) can be computed in a similar fashion, though the description is a little cumbersome: H ∗ (RP2k ; Z) ≈ Z[α]/(2α, αk+1 ), ∗

H (RP

2k+1

k+1

; Z) ≈ Z[α, β]/(2α, α

|α| = 2 , β2 , αβ),

|α| = 2, |β| = 2k + 1

Here β is a generator of H 2k+1 (RP2k+1 ; Z) ≈ Z . From this calculation we see that the rings H ∗ (RP2k+1 ; Z) and H ∗ (RP2k ∨ S 2k+1 ; Z) are isomorphic, though with Z2

Cup Product

Section 3.2

215

coefficients this is no longer true, as the generator α ∈ H 1 (RP2k+1 ; Z2 ) has α2k+1 ≠ 0 , while α2k+1 = 0 for the generator α ∈ H 1 (RP2k ∨ S 2k+1 ; Z2 ) . Induced homomorphisms are ring homomorphisms by Proposition 3.10. Here is an example illustrating this fact.

Example 3.13.

`

The isomorphism H ∗ (

are induced by the inclusions iα : Xα >

α Xα ; R)

`

≈ --→

Q

αH

∗

(Xα ; R) whose coordinates

α Xα is a ring isomorphism with respect to

the usual coordinatewise multiplication in a product ring, because each coordinate function i∗ α is a ring homomorphism. Similarly for a wedge sum the isomorphism Q W e ∗ (Xα ; R) is a ring isomorphism. Here we take reduced cohomole ∗ ( α Xα ; R) ≈ α H H ogy to be cohomology relative to a basepoint, and we use relative cup products. We should assume the basepoints xα ∈ Xα are deformation retracts of neighborhoods, to be sure that the claimed isomorphism does indeed hold. This product ring structure for wedge sums can sometimes be used to rule out splittings of a space as a wedge sum up to homotopy equivalence. For example, consider CP2 , which is S 2 with a cell e4 attached by a certain map f : S 3 →S 2 . Using homology or just the additive structure of cohomology it is impossible to conclude that CP2 is not homotopy equivalent to S 2 ∨ S 4 , and hence that f is not homotopic to a constant map. However, with cup products we can distinguish these two spaces since the square of each element of H 2 (S 2 ∨ S 4 ; Z) is zero in view of the ring isoe ∗ (S 2 ; Z) ⊕ H e ∗ (S 4 ; Z) , but the square of a generator of e ∗ (S 2 ∨ S 4 ; Z) ≈ H morphism H H 2 (CP2 ; Z) is nonzero by Theorem 3.12. More generally, cup products can be used to distinguish infinitely many different homotopy classes of maps S 4n−1 →S 2n for all n ≥ 1 . This is systematized in the notion of the Hopf invariant , which is studied in §4.B. The natural question of whether the cohomology ring is commutative is answered by the following:

Theorem 3.14.

The identity α ` β = (−1)k` β ` α holds for all α ∈ H k (X, A; R) and

`

β ∈ H (X, A; R) , when R is commutative. Taking α = β , this implies in particular that if α is an element of H k (X, A; R) with k odd, then 2α2 = 0 in H 2k (X, A; R) . Hence if H 2k (X, A; R) has no elements of order two, then α2 = 0 . For example, if X is the 2 complex obtained by attaching a disk to S 1 by a map of degree m as in Example 3.9 above, then we can deduce that the square of a generator of H 1 (X; Zm ) is zero if m is odd, and is either zero or the unique element of H 2 (X; Zm ) ≈ Zm of order two if m is even. As we showed, the square is in fact nonzero when m is even. A graded ring satisfying the commutativity property of the theorem is usually called simply commutative in the context of algebraic topology, in spite of the potential for misunderstanding. In the older literature one finds less ambiguous terms such as graded commutative, anticommutative, or skew commutative.

Chapter 3

216

Proof:

Cohomology

Consider first the case A = ∅ . For cochains ϕ ∈ C k (X; R) and ψ ∈ C ` (X, R)

one can see from the definition that the cup products ϕ ` ψ and ψ ` ϕ differ only by a permutation of the vertices of ∆k+` . The idea of the proof is to study a particularly nice permutation of vertices, namely the one that totally reverses their order, replacing [v0 , ··· , vn ] by [vn , ··· , v0 ] . This has the convenient feature of also reversing the ordering of vertices in any face. For a singular n simplex σ : [v0 , ··· , vn ]→X , let σ be the singular n simplex obtained by preceding σ by the linear homeomorphism of [v0 , ··· , vn ] reversing the order of the vertices. Thus σ (vi ) = σ (vn−i ) . This reversal of vertices is the product of n + (n − 1) + ··· + 1 = n(n + 1)/2 transpositions of adjacent vertices, each of which reverses orientation of the n simplex since it is a reflection across an (n − 1) dimensional hyperplane. So to take orientations into account we would expect that a sign εn = (−1)n(n+1)/2 ought to be inserted. Hence we define a homomorphism

ρ : Cn (X)→Cn (X) by ρ(σ ) = εn σ .

We will show that ρ is a chain map, chain homotopic to the identity, so it induces the identity on cohomology. From this the theorem quickly follows. Namely, the formulas



(ρ ∗ ϕ ` ρ ∗ ψ)(σ ) = ϕ εk σ ||[vk , ··· , v0 ] ψ ε` σ ||[vk+` , ··· , vk ]

ρ ∗ (ψ ` ϕ)(σ ) = εk+` ψ σ ||[vk+` , ··· , vk ] ϕ σ ||[vk , ··· , v0 ]

show that εk ε` (ρ ∗ ϕ ` ρ ∗ ψ) = εk+` ρ ∗ (ψ ` ϕ) , since we assume R is commutative.

A trivial calculation gives εk+` = (−1)k` εk ε` , hence ρ ∗ ϕ ` ρ ∗ ψ = (−1)k` ρ ∗ (ψ ` ϕ) .

Since ρ is chain homotopic to the identity, the ρ ∗ ’s disappear when we pass to cohomology classes, and so we obtain the desired formula α ` β = (−1)k` β ` α . The chain map property ∂ρ = ρ∂ can be verified by calculating, for a singular n simplex σ , ∂ρ(σ ) = εn

X bn−i , ··· , v0 ] (−1)i σ ||[vn , ··· , v i

ρ∂(σ ) = ρ

X i

= εn−1



bi , ··· , vn ] (−1)i σ ||[v0 , ··· , v

X

bn−i , ··· , v0 ] (−1)n−i σ ||[vn , ··· , v

i

which reduces us to the easily checked identity εn = (−1)n εn−1 . To define a chain homotopy between ρ and the identity we are motivated by the construction of the prism operator P in the proof that homotopic maps induce the same homomorphism on homology, in Theorem 2.10. The main ingredient in the construction of P was a subdivision of ∆n × I into (n + 1) simplices with vertices vi in ∆n × {0} and wi in ∆n × {1} , the vertex wi lying directly above vi . Using

the same subdivision, and letting π : ∆n × I →∆n be the projection, we now define P : Cn (X)→Cn+1 (X) by

P (σ ) =

X (−1)i εn−i (σ π ) || [v0 , ··· , vi , wn , ··· , wi ] i

Cup Product

Section 3.2

217

Thus the w vertices are written in reverse order, and there is a compensating sign εn−i . One can view this formula as arising from the ∆ complex structure on ∆n × I in which the vertices are ordered v0 , ··· , vn , wn , ··· , w0 rather than the more natural ordering v0 , ··· , vn , w0 , ··· , wn . To show ∂P + P ∂ = ρ − 11 we first calculate ∂P , leaving out σ ’s and σ π ’s for notational simplicity: X bj , ··· , vi , wn , ··· , wi ] ∂P = (−1)i (−1)j εn−i [v0 , ··· , v j≤i

+

X

cj , ··· , wi ] (−1)i (−1)i+1+n−j εn−i [v0 , ··· , vi , wn , ··· , w

j≥i

The j = i terms in these two sums give X εn−i [v0 , ··· , vi−1 , wn , ··· , wi ] εn [wn , ··· , w0 ] + +

X

i>0 n+i+1

(−1)

εn−i [v0 , ··· , vi , wn , ··· , wi+1 ] − [v0 , ··· , vn ]

ij

Since εn−i = (−1)n−i εn−i−1 , this finishes the verification that ∂P + P ∂ = ρ − 11 , and so the theorem is proved when A = ∅ . The proof also applies when A ≠ ∅ since the maps ρ and P take chains in A to chains in A , so the dual homomorphisms ρ ∗ and P ∗ act on relative cochains.

Example

u t

3.15: Exterior Algebras. In general, the exterior algebra ΛR [α1 , α2 , ···]

over a commutative ring R with identity is the free R module with basis the finite products αi1 ··· αik , i1 < ··· < ik , with multiplication defined by the rules αi αj = −αj αi and α2i = 0 , the latter relation being a special case of the former if 2 ≠ 0 in R . The empty product of αi ’s is allowed, and provides an identity element 1 in ΛR [α1 , α2 , ···] . The calculation of cup products in the n torus T n in Example 3.11

shows that H ∗ (T n ; R) is the exterior algebra ΛR [α1 , ··· , αn ] . The same is true for any product of odd-dimensional spheres, as could be proved by a continuation of the calculation for the torus or by simply quoting Theorem 3.16 below.

218

Chapter 3

Cohomology

A K¨ unneth Formula One might guess that there should be some connection between cup product and product spaces, and indeed this is the case, as we will show in this subsection. To begin, we define the cross product, or external cup product as it is sometimes called. This is the map H ∗ (X; R) × H ∗ (Y ; R)

-------×----→ H ∗ (X × Y ; R)

given by a× b = p1∗ (a) ` p2∗ (b) where p1 and p2 are the projections of X × Y onto X and Y . Since cup product is distributive, the cross product is bilinear, that is, linear in each variable separately. We might hope that the cross product map would be an isomorphism in many cases, thereby giving a nice description of the cohomology rings of these product spaces. However, a bilinear map is rarely a homomorphism, so it could hardly be an isomorphism. Fortunately there is a nice algebraic solution to this problem, and that is to replace the direct product H ∗ (X; R)× H ∗ (Y ; R) by the tensor product H ∗ (X; R) ⊗R H ∗ (Y ; R) . Let us review the definition and basic properties of tensor product. For abelian groups A and B the tensor product A ⊗ B is defined to be the abelian group with generators a ⊗ b for a ∈ A , b ∈ B , and relations (a + a0 ) ⊗ b = a ⊗ b + a0 ⊗ b and a ⊗ (b + b0 ) = a ⊗ b + a ⊗ b0 . So the zero element of A ⊗ B is 0 ⊗ 0 = 0 ⊗ b = a ⊗ 0 , and −(a ⊗ b) = −a ⊗ b = a ⊗ (−b) . Some readily verified elementary properties are: (1) A ⊗ B ≈ B ⊗ A . L L (2) ( i Ai ) ⊗ B ≈ i (Ai ⊗ B) . (3) (A ⊗ B) ⊗ C ≈ A ⊗ (B ⊗ C) . (4) Z ⊗ A ≈ A . (5) Zn ⊗ A ≈ A/nA .

(6) A pair of homomorphisms f : A→A0 and g : B →B 0 induces a homomorphism f ⊗ g : A ⊗ B →A0 ⊗ B 0 via (f ⊗ g)(a ⊗ b) = f (a) ⊗ g(b) .

(7) A bilinear map ϕ : A× B →C induces a homomorphism A ⊗ B →C sending a ⊗ b to ϕ(a, b) . In (1)–(5) the isomorphisms are the obvious ones, for example a ⊗ b

, b⊗a

in (1)

and n ⊗ a , na in (4). Properties (1), (2), (4), and (5) allow the calculation of tensor products of finitely generated abelian groups. The generalization to tensor product of modules over a commutative ring R is easy. One defines A ⊗R B for R modules A and B to be the quotient of A ⊗ B obtained by imposing the further relations r a ⊗ b = a ⊗ r b for r ∈ R , a ∈ A , and b ∈ B . This relation guarantees that A ⊗R B is again an R module. In case R is not commutative, one assumes A is a right R module and B is a left R module, and the relation is written instead ar ⊗ b = a ⊗ r b , but now A ⊗R B is only an abelian group, not an R module necessarily. It is an easy algebra exercise to see that A ⊗R B = A ⊗ B when R

Cup Product

Section 3.2

219

√ is Zm or Q . But in general A ⊗R B is not the same as A ⊗ B . For example, if R = Q( 2) , a 2 dimensional vector space over Q , then R ⊗R R = R but R ⊗ R is a 4 dimensional vector space over Q . The statements (1)–(3), (6), and (7) remain valid for tensor products of R modules. The generalization of (4) is the canonical isomorphism R ⊗R A ≈ A , r ⊗ a , r a . Property (7) of tensor products guarantees that the cross product as defined above gives rise to a homomorphism H ∗ (X; R) ⊗R H ∗ (Y ; R)

-------×----→ H ∗ (X × Y ; R),

a ⊗ b , a× b

which we shall also call cross product. This map becomes a ring homomorphism if we define the multiplication in a tensor product of graded rings by (a ⊗ b)(c ⊗ d) = (−1)|b||c| ac ⊗ bd where |x| denotes the dimension of x . Namely, the cross product map sends (a ⊗ b)(c ⊗ d) = (−1)|b||c| ac ⊗ bd to (−1)|b||c| ac × bd = (−1)|b||c| p1∗ (a ` c) ` p2∗ (b ` d) = (−1)|b||c| p1∗ (a) ` p1∗ (c) ` p2∗ (b) ` p2∗ (d) = p1∗ (a) ` p2∗ (b) ` p1∗ (c) ` p2∗ (d) = (a× b)(c × d) which is the product of the images of a ⊗ b and c ⊗ d .

Theorem 3.16.

The cross product H ∗ (X; R) ⊗R H ∗ (Y ; R)→H ∗ (X × Y ; R) is an iso-

morphism of rings if X and Y are CW complexes and H k (Y ; R) is a finitely generated free R module for all k .

Results of this type, computing homology or cohomology of a product space, are known as K¨ unneth formulas. The hypothesis that X and Y are CW complexes will be shown to be unnecessary in §4.1 when we consider CW approximations to arbitrary spaces. On the other hand, the freeness hypothesis cannot always be dispensed with, as we shall see in §3.B when we obtain a completely general K¨ unneth formula for the homology of a product space. When the conclusion of the theorem holds, the ring structure in H ∗ (X × Y ; R) is determined by the ring structures in H ∗ (X; R) and H ∗ (Y ; R) . Example 3E.6 shows that some hypotheses are necessary in order for this to be true. Before proving the theorem, let us look at some examples.

Example 3.17. ∗

∞

The theorem says that H ∗ (RP∞ × RP∞ ; Z2 ) is isomorphic as a ring to

H (RP ; Z2 ) ⊗ H ∗ (RP∞ ; Z2 ) . By Theorem 3.12 this is Z2 [α] ⊗ Z2 [β] , which is just the polynomial ring Z2 [α, β] . More generally we see by induction that for a product of n copies of RP∞ , the Z2 cohomology is a polynomial ring in n variables. Similar

remarks apply to CP∞ and HP∞ with coefficients in an arbitrary commutative ring.

Chapter 3

220

Example

Cohomology

3.18. The exterior algebra ΛR [α1 , α2 , ···] is the graded tensor product

over R of the one-variable exterior algebras ΛR [αi ] where the αi ’s have odd di-

mension. The K¨ unneth formula then gives an isomorphism H ∗ (S k1 × ··· × S kn ; Z) ≈ ΛZ [α1 , ··· , αn ] if the dimensions ki are all odd. With some ki ’s even, one would

have the tensor product of an exterior algebra for the odd-dimensional spheres and truncated polynomial rings Z[α]/(α2 ) for the even-dimensional spheres. Of course, ΛZ [α] and Z[α]/(α2 ) are isomorphic as rings, but when one takes tensor products in the graded sense it becomes important to distinguish them as graded rings, with α odd-dimensional in ΛZ [α] and even-dimensional in Z[α]/(α2 ) . These remarks apply more generally with any coefficient ring R in place of Z , though when R = Z2 there is no need to distinguish between the odd-dimensional and even-dimensional cases since signs become irrelevant. The idea of the proof of the theorem will be to consider, for a fixed CW complex Y , the functors hn (X, A) =

L i




H i (X, A; R)⊗R H n−i (Y ; R)

kn (X, A) = H n (X × Y , A× Y ; R) The cross product, or a relative version of it, defines a map µ : hn (X, A)→kn (X, A) which we want to show is an isomorphism when X is a CW complex and A = ∅ . We will show: (1) h∗ and k∗ are cohomology theories on the category of CW pairs. (2) µ is a natural transformation: It commutes with induced homomorphisms and with coboundary homomorphisms in long exact sequences of pairs. It is obvious that µ : hn (X)→kn (X) is an isomorphism when X is a point since it is

just the scalar multiplication map R ⊗R H n (Y ; R)→H n (Y ; R) . The following general fact will then imply the theorem.

Proposition 3.19.

If a natural transformation between unreduced cohomology the-

ories on the category of CW pairs is an isomorphism when the CW pair is (point , ∅) , then it is an isomorphism for all CW pairs.

Proof:

Let µ : h∗ (X, A)→k∗ (X, A) be the natural transformation. By the five-lemma

it will suffice to show that µ is an isomorphism when A = ∅ . First we do the case of finite-dimensional X by induction on dimension. The induction starts with the case that X is 0 dimensional, where the result holds by hypothesis and by the axiom for disjoint unions. For the induction step, µ gives a map between the two long exact sequences for the pair (X n , X n−1 ) , with commuting squares since µ is a natural transformation. The five-lemma reduces the inductive step to showing that µ is an isomorphism for (X, A) = (X n , X n−1 ) . Let ` n n , ∂Dα )→(X n , X n−1 ) be a collection of characteristic maps for all the n cells Φ : α (Dα

of X . By excision, Φ∗ is an isomorphism for h∗ and k∗ , so by naturality it suffices

Cup Product to show that µ is an isomorphism for (X, A) =

Section 3.2 `

n n α (Dα , ∂Dα ) .

221

The axiom for dis-

joint unions gives a further reduction to the case of the pair (D n , ∂D n ) . Finally, this case follows by applying the five-lemma to the long exact sequences of this pair, since D n is contractible and hence is covered by the 0 dimensional case, and ∂D n is (n − 1) dimensional. The case that X is infinite-dimensional reduces to the finite-dimensional case by a telescope argument as in the proof of Lemma 2.34. We leave this for the reader since the finite-dimensional case suffices for the special h∗ and k∗ we are considering, as hi (X, X n ) and ki (X, X n ) are both zero when n ≥ i , by cellular cohomology for example.

Proof

u t

of 3.16: It remains to check that h∗ and k∗ are cohomology theories, and

that µ is a natural transformation. Since we are dealing with unreduced cohomology theories there are four axioms to verify. (1) Homotopy invariance: f ' g implies f ∗ = g ∗ . This is obvious for both h∗ and k∗ . (2) Excision: h∗ (X, A) ≈ h∗ (B, A ∩ B) for A and B subcomplexes of the CW complex X = A ∪ B . This is obvious, and so is the corresponding statement for k∗ since (A× Y ) ∪ (B × Y ) = (A ∪ B)× Y and (A× Y ) ∩ (B × Y ) = (A ∩ B)× Y . (3) The long exact sequence of a pair. This is a triviality for k∗ , but a few words of explanation are needed for h∗ , where the desired exact sequence is obtained in two steps. For the first step, tensor the long exact sequence of ordinary cohomology groups for a pair (X, A) with the free R module H n (Y ; R) , for a fixed n . This yields another exact sequence because H n (Y ; R) is a direct sum of copies of R , so the result of tensoring an exact sequence with this direct sum is simply to produce a direct sum of copies of the exact sequence, which is again an exact sequence. The second step is to let n vary, taking a direct sum of the previously constructed exact sequences for each n , with the n th exact sequence shifted up by n dimensions. (4) Disjoint unions. Again this axiom obviously holds for k∗ , but some justification is required for h∗ . What is needed is the algebraic fact that there is a canoniQ Q

cal isomorphism α Mα ⊗R N ≈ α Mα ⊗R N for R modules Mα and a finitely generated free R module N . Since N is a direct product of finitely many copies Rβ of R , Mα ⊗R N is a direct product of corresponding copies Mαβ = Mα ⊗R Rβ of Q Q Q Q β α Mαβ ≈ α β Mαβ , which is obviously

Mα and the desired relation becomes true.

Finally there is naturality of µ to consider. Naturality with respect to maps between spaces is immediate from the naturality of cup products. Naturality with respect to coboundary maps in long exact sequences is commutativity of the square displayed in Example 3.11.

u t

Chapter 3

222

Cohomology

The following theorem of Hopf is a nice algebraic application of the cup product unneth formula. structure in H ∗ (RPn × RPn ; Z2 ) described by the K¨

Theorem 3.20.

If Rn has the structure of a division algebra over the scalar field R ,

then n must be a power of 2 .

Proof:

Given a division algebra structure on Rn , define a map g : S n−1 × S n−1 →S n−1

by g(x, y) = xy/|xy| . This is well-defined since there are no zero divisors, and continuous by the bilinearity of the multiplication. From the relations (−x)y = −(xy) = x(−y) it follows that g(−x, y) = −g(x, y) = g(x, −y) . This implies that g induces

a quotient map h : RPn−1 × RPn−1 →RPn−1 .

We claim that h∗ : H 1 (RPn−1 ; Z2 )→H 1 (RPn−1 × RPn−1 ; Z2 ) is the map h∗ (γ) =

α + β where γ generates H 1 (RPn−1 ; Z2 ) and α and β are the pullbacks of γ under

the projections of RPn−1 × RPn−1 onto its two factors. This can be proved as follows. We may assume n > 2 , so π1 (RPn−1 ) ≈ Z2 . Let λ : I →S n−1 be a path joining a point x

to the antipodal point −x . Then for fixed y , the path s , g(λ(s), y) joins g(x, y)

to g(−x, y) = −g(x, y) . Hence, identifying antipodal points, h takes a nontrivial

loop in the first RPn−1 factor of RPn−1 × RPn−1 to a nontrivial loop in RPn−1 . The same argument works for the second factor, so the restriction of h to the 1 skeleton S 1 ∨S 1 is homotopic to the map that includes each S 1 summand of S 1 ∨S 1 into RPn−1 as the 1 skeleton. Since restriction to the 1 skeleton is an isomorphism on H 1 (−; Z2 )

for both RPn−1 and RPn−1 × RPn−1 , it follows that h∗ (γ) = α + β . P n Since γ n = 0 we have 0 = h∗ (γ n ) = (α + β)n = k k αk βn−k . This is an equa  tion in the ring H ∗ (RPn−1 × RPn−1 ; Z2 ) ≈ Z2 [α, β]/(αn , βn ) , so the coefficient n k must be zero in Z2 for all k in the range 0 < k < n . It is a rather easy number theory fact that this happens only when n is a power of 2 . Namely, an obviously equivalent statement is that in the polynomial ring Z2 [x] , the equality (1 + x)n = 1 + x n holds only when n is a power of 2 . To prove the latter statement, write n as a sum of powers of 2 , n = n1 +···+nk with n1 < ··· < nk . Then (1 + x)n = (1 + x)n1 ··· (1 + x)nk = (1 + x n1 ) ··· (1 + x nk ) since squaring is an additive homomorphism with Z2 coefficients. If one multiplies the product (1 + x n1 ) ··· (1 + x nk ) out, no terms combine or cancel since ni ≥ 2ni−1 for each i , and so the resulting polynomial has 2k terms. Thus if this polynomial equals 1 + x n we must have k = 1 , which means that n is a u t

power of 2 .

It is sometimes important to have a relative version of the K¨ unneth formula in Theorem 3.16. The relative cross product is H ∗ (X, A; R) ⊗R H ∗ (Y , B; R)

-------×----→ H ∗ (X × Y , A× Y ∪ X × B; R)

for CW pairs (X, A) and (Y , B) , defined just as in the absolute case by a× b = p1∗ (a) ` p2∗ (b) where p1∗ (a) ∈ H ∗ (X × Y , A× Y ; R) and p2∗ (b) ∈ H ∗ (X × Y , X × B; R) .

Cup Product

Theorem 3.21.

Section 3.2

223

For CW pairs (X, A) and (Y , B) the cross product homomorphism

H (X, A; R) ⊗R H (Y , B; R)→H ∗ (X × Y , A× Y ∪ X × B; R) is an isomorphism of rings ∗

∗

if H k (Y , B; R) is a finitely generated free R module for each k .

Proof:

The case B = ∅ was covered in the course of the proof of the absolute case,

so it suffices to deduce the case B ≠ ∅ from the case B = ∅ . The following commutative diagram shows that collapsing B to a point reduces the proof to the case that B is a point: ≈

H ( X , A) ⊗R H ( Y , B ) →−−−−−−− H ( X , A) ⊗R H ( Y/B , B/B ) ∗

∗

∗

∗

− − − − − →

− − − − − →

×

× ≈

H (X ×Y , A×Y ∪ X ×B ) → − −−− − − H ( X × ( Y/B ), A × ( Y/B ) ∪ X × ( B/B ) ) ∗

∗

The lower map is an isomorphism since the quotient spaces (X × Y )/(A× Y ∪ X × B)

and X × (Y /B) / A× (Y /B) ∪ X × (B/B) are the same. In the case that B is a point y0 ∈ Y , consider the commutative diagram

H ( X , A) ⊗R H ( Y , y0 ) − −−−→ H ( X , A) ⊗R H ( Y ) −−−−→ H ( X , A) ⊗R H ( y0 ) ∗

∗

∗

∗

∗

− − − →

×

×

∗

H ( X × y0 , A × y0 )

−−→ ≈ −−−−−−∗ (X × Y, A × Y ) − ( × × Y, A × Y ) ∪ X y A H − − − → 0

∗

→ − −

H ( X × Y, X × y0 ∪ A × Y ) − − − − − − →H ∗

−−−−−−−→

−−−−−−−→

×

∗

Since y0 is a retract of Y , the upper row of this diagram is a split short exact sequence. The lower row is the long exact sequence of a triple, and it too is a split short exact sequence since (X × y0 , A× y0 ) is a retract of (X × Y , A× Y ) . The middle and right cross product maps are isomorphisms by the case B = ∅ since H k (Y ; R) is a finitely generated free R module if H k (Y , y0 ; R) is. The five-lemma then implies that the left-hand cross product map is an isomorphism as well.

u t

The relative cross product for pairs (X, x0 ) and (Y , y0 ) gives a reduced cross product e ∗ (Y ; R) e ∗ (X; R) ⊗R H H

-------×----→ He ∗ (X ∧ Y ; R)

where X ∧Y is the smash product X × Y /(X × {y0 }∪{x0 }× Y ) . The preceding theorem e ∗ (Y ; R) e ∗ (X; R) or H implies that this reduced cross product is an isomorphism if H is free and finitely generated in each dimension. For example, we have isomorphisms e n+k (X ∧ S k ; R) via cross product with a generator of H k (S k ; R) ≈ R . The e n (X; R) ≈ H H space X ∧ S k is the k fold reduced suspension Σk X of X , so we see that the suspene n+k (Σk X; R) derivable by elementary exact sequence e n (X; R) ≈ H sion isomorphisms H e ∗ (S k ; R) . arguments can also be obtained via cross product with a generator of H

Chapter 3

224

Cohomology

Spaces with Polynomial Cohomology We saw in Theorem 3.12 that RP∞ , CP∞ , and HP∞ have cohomology rings that are polynomial algebras. We will describe now a construction for enlarging S 2n to a space J(S 2n ) whose cohomology ring H ∗ (J(S 2n ); Z) is almost the polynomial ring Z[x] on a generator x of dimension 2n . And if we change from Z to Q coefficients, then H ∗ (J(S 2n ); Q) is exactly the polynomial ring Q[x] . This construction, known as the James reduced product, is also of interest because of its connections with loopspaces described in §4.J. `

For a space X , let X k be the product of k copies of X . From the disjoint union

k≥1 X

k

, let us form a quotient space J(X) by identifying (x1 , ··· , xi , ··· , xk ) with

b i , ··· , xk ) if xi = e , a chosen basepoint of X . Points of J(X) can thus (x1 , ··· , x be thought of as k tuples (x1 , ··· , xk ) , k ≥ 0 , with no xi = e . Inside J(X) is the subspace Jm (X) consisting of the points (x1 , ··· , xk ) with k ≤ m . This can be viewed as a quotient space of X m under the identifications (x1 , ··· , xi , e, ··· , xm ) ∼ (x1 , ··· , e, xi , ··· , xm ) . For example, J1 (X) = X and J2 (X) = X × X/(x, e) ∼ (e, x) . If X is a CW complex with e a 0 cell, the quotient map X m →Jm (X) glues together

the m subcomplexes of the product complex X m where one coordinate is e . These

glueings are by homeomorphisms taking cells onto cells, so Jm (X) inherits a CW structure from X m . There are natural inclusions Jm (X) ⊂ Jm+1 (X) as subcomplexes, and J(X) is the union of these subcomplexes, hence is also a CW complex.

Proposition 3.22.




For n > 0 , H ∗ J(S n ); Z

consists of a Z in each dimension a
multiple of n . If n is even, the ith power of a generator of H n J(S n ); Z is i! times
a generator of H in J(S n ); Z , for each i ≥ 1 .
Thus for n even, H ∗ J(S n ); Z can be identified with the subring of the polynomial ring Q[x] additively generated by the monomials x i /i! . This subring is called a divided polynomial algebra and is denoted ΓZ [x] . An exercise at the end of the
section is to show that when n is odd, H ∗ J(S n ); Z is isomorphic as a graded ring
to H ∗ (S n ; Z) ⊗ H ∗ J(S 2n ); Z , the tensor product of an exterior algebra and a divided polynomial algebra.

Proof:

Giving S n its usual CW structure, the resulting CW structure on J(S n ) con-

sists of exactly one cell in each dimension a multiple of n . Thus if n > 1 we deduce
immediately from cellular cohomology that H ∗ J(S n ); Z consists exactly of Z ’s in dimensions a multiple of n . An alternative argument that works also when n = 1

is the following. Consider the quotient map q : (S n )m →Jm (S n ) . This carries each

cell of (S n )m homeomorphically onto a cell of Jm (S n ) . In particular q is a cellular map, taking k skeleton to k skeleton for each k , so q induces a chain map of cellular chain complexes. This chain map is surjective since each cell of Jm (S n ) is the homeomorphic image of a cell of (S n )m . Hence all the cellular boundary maps for Jm (S n )

Cup Product

Section 3.2

225


will be trivial if the same is true for (S n )m , which it must be in order for H ∗ (S n )m ; Z to have the structure given by Theorem 3.16.

Since q maps each of the m n cells of (S n )m homeomorphically onto the n cell
of Jm (S n ) , we see from cellular cohomology that a generator α ∈ H n Jm (S n ); Z pulls
back by q∗ to the sum α1 +···+αm of the generators of H n (S n )m ; Z corresponding
to the n cells of (S n )m . If n is even, the cup product structure in H ∗ J(S n ); Z is
strictly commutative and H ∗ (S n )m ; Z ≈ Z[α1 , ··· , αm ]/(α21 , ··· , α2m ) . The power αm then pulls back to (α1 + ··· + αm )m = m!α1 ··· αm , where the product α1 ··· αm
generates H mn (S n )m ; Z ≈ Z . The map q is a homeomorphism from the mn cell of (S n )m to the mn cell of Jm (S n ) , so q∗ is an isomorphism on H mn . This implies that
αm is m! times a generator of H mn Jm (S n ); Z . Since the cells of J(S n )−Jm (S n ) have dimension at least (m + 1)n , the inclusion Jm (S n ) ⊂ J(S n ) induces isomorphisms
on H i for i ≤ mn . Thus if we let xi denote a generator of H in J(S n ); Z , we have x1m = ±m!xm for all m . The sign can be made + by rechoosing xm if need be.

u t

In ΓZ [x] ⊂ Q[x] , if we let xi = x i /i! then the multiplicative structure is given by i+j xi xj = i x i+j . More generally, for a commutative ring R we could define ΓR [x] to be the free  R module with basis x0 = 1, x1 , x2 , ··· and multiplication
defined by i+j i+j . The preceding proposition implies that H ∗ J(S 2n ); R ≈ ΓR [x] . xi xj = i x

When R = Q it is clear that ΓQ [x] is just Q[x] . However, for R = Zp with p prime something quite different happens: There is an isomorphism O p p p p ΓZp [x] ≈ Zp [x1 , xp , xp2 , ···]/(x1 , xp , xp2 , ···) = Zp [xpi ]/(xpi ) i≥0

as we show in §3.C, where we will also see that divided polynomial algebras are in a certain sense dual to polynomial algebras. The examples of projective spaces lead naturally to the following question: Given a coefficient ring R and an integer d > 0 , is there a space X having H ∗ (X; R) ≈ R[α] with |α| = d ? Historically, it took major advances in the theory to answer this simplelooking question. Here is a table giving

R

d

all the possible values of d for some of

Z Q Z2 Zp

2, 4 any even number 1, 2, 4 any even divisor of 2(p − 1)

the most obvious and important choices of R , namely Z , Q , Z2 , and Zp with p an odd prime. As we have seen, projective

spaces give the examples for Z and Z2 . Examples for Q are the spaces J(S d ) , and examples for Zp are constructed in §3.G. Showing that no other d ’s are possible takes considerably more work. The fact that d must be even when R ≠ Z2 is a consequence of the commutativity property of cup product. In Theorem 4L.9 and Corollary 4L.10 we will settle the case R = Z and show that d must be a power of 2 for R = Z2 and a power of p times an even divisor of 2(p − 1) for R = Zp , p odd. Ruling out the remaining cases is best done using K–theory, as in [VBKT] or the classical reference

226

Chapter 3

Cohomology

[Adams & Atiyah 1966]. However there is one slightly anomalous case, R = Z2 , d = 8 , which must be treated by special arguments; see [Toda 1963]. It is an interesting fact that for each even d there exists a CW complex Xd which is simultaneously an example for all the admissible choices of coefficients R in the table. Moreover, Xd can be chosen to have the simplest CW structure consistent with its cohomology, namely a single cell in each dimension a multiple of d . For example, we may take X2 = CP∞ and X4 = HP∞ . The next space X6 would have H ∗ (X6 ; Zp ) ≈ Zp [α] for p = 7, 13, 19, 31, ··· , primes of the form 3s + 1 , the condition 6|2(p − 1) being equivalent to p = 3s + 1 . (By a famous theorem of Dirichlet there are infinitely many primes in any such arithmetic progression.) Note that, in terms of Z coefficients, Xd must have the property that for a generator α of H d (Xd ; Z) , each power αi is an

integer ai times a generator of H di (Xd ; Z) , with ai ≠ 0 if H ∗ (Xd ; Q) ≈ Q[α] and ai

relatively prime to p if H ∗ (Xd ; Zp ) ≈ Zp [α] . A construction of Xd is given in [SSAT],

or in the original source [Hoffman & Porter 1973]. One might also ask about realizing the truncated polynomial ring R[α]/(αn+1 ) , in view of the examples provided by RPn , CPn , and HPn , leaving aside the trivial case n = 1 where spheres provide examples. The analysis for polynomial rings also settles which truncated polynomial rings are realizable; there are just a few more than for the full polynomial rings. There is also the question of realizing polynomial rings R[α1 , ··· , αn ] with generators αi in specified dimensions di . Since R[α1 , ··· , αm ] ⊗R R[β1 , ··· , βn ] is equal to R[α1 , ··· , αm , β1 , ··· , βn ] , the product of two spaces with polynomial cohomology is again a space with polynomial cohomology, assuming the number of polynomial generators is finite in each dimension. For example, the n fold product (CP∞ )n has
H ∗ (CP∞ )n ; Z ≈ Z[α1 , ··· , αn ] with each αi 2 dimensional. Similarly, products of the spaces J(S di ) realize all choices of even di ’s with Q coefficients. However, with Z and Zp coefficients, products of one-variable examples do not exhaust all the possibilities. As we show in §4.D, there are three other basic examples with Z coefficients: 1. Generalizing the space CP∞ of complex lines through the origin in C∞ , there is the Grassmann manifold Gn (C∞ ) of n dimensional vector subspaces of C∞ , and this has H ∗ (Gn (C∞ ); Z) ≈ Z[α1 , ··· , αn ] with |αi | = 2i . This space is also known as BU(n) , the ‘classifying space’ of the unitary group U (n) . It is central to the study of vector bundles and K–theory. 2. Replacing C by H , there is the quaternionic Grassmann manifold Gn (H∞ ) , also known as BSp(n) , the classifying space for the symplectic group Sp(n) , with H ∗ (Gn (H∞ ); Z) ≈ Z[α1 , ··· , αn ] with |αi | = 4i . 3. There is a classifying space BSU (n) for the special unitary group SU (n) , whose cohomology is the same as for BU (n) but with the first generator α1 omitted, so

H ∗ (BSU(n); Z) ≈ Z[α2 , ··· , αn ] with |αi | = 2i .

Cup Product

Section 3.2

227

These examples and their products account for all the realizable polynomial cup product rings with Z coefficients, according to a theorem in [Adams & Wilkerson 1980]. The situation for Zp coefficients is more complicated and will be discussed in §3.G. Here is the evident general question along these lines: The Realization Problem. Which graded commutative R algebras occur as cup product algebras H ∗ (X; R) of spaces X ? This is a difficult problem, with the degree of difficulty depending strongly on the coefficient ring R . The most accessible case is R = Q , where essentially every graded commutative Q algebra is realizable, as shown in [Quillen 1969]. Next in order of difficulty is R = Zp with p prime. This is much harder than the case of Q , and only partial results, obtained with much labor, are known, mainly about realizing polynomial rings. Finally there is R = Z , about which very little is known beyond what is implied by the Zp cases. Polynomial algebras are examples of free graded commutative algebras, where ‘free’ means loosely ‘having no unnecessary relations.’ In general, a free graded commutative algebra is a tensor product of single-generator free graded commutative algebras. The latter are either polynomial algebras R[α] on even-dimension generators α or quotients R[α]/(2α2 ) with α odd-dimensional. Note that if R is a field then R[α]/(2α2 ) is either the exterior algebra ΛR [α] if the characteristic of R is not 2, or the polynomial algebra R[α] otherwise. Every graded commutative algebra is a quotient of a free one, clearly.

Example 3.23:

Subcomplexes of the n Torus. To give just a small hint of the endless

variety of nonfree cup product algebras that can be realized, consider subcomplexes of the n torus T n , the product of n copies of S 1 . Here we give S 1 its standard minimal cell structure and T n the resulting product cell structure. We know that H ∗ (T n ; Z) is the exterior algebra ΛZ [α1 , ··· , αn ] , with the monomial αi1 ··· αik corresponding via cellular cohomology to the k cell ei11 × ··· × ei1k . So if we pass to a subcomplex

X ⊂ T n by omitting certain cells, then H ∗ (X; Z) is the quotient of ΛZ [α1 , ··· , αn ]

obtained by setting the monomials corresponding to the omitted cells equal to zero. Since we are dealing with rings, we are factoring out by an ideal in ΛZ [α1 , ··· , αn ] , the ideal generated by the monomials corresponding to the ‘minimal’ omitted cells, those whose boundary is entirely contained in X . For example, if we take X to be the subcomplex of T 3 obtained by deleting the cells e11 × e21 × e31 and e21 × e31 , then H ∗ (X; Z) ≈ ΛZ [α1 , α2 , α3 ]/(α2 α3 ) .

How many different subcomplexes of T n are there? To each subcomplex X ⊂ T n we can associate a finite simplicial complex CX by the following procedure. View T n as the quotient of the n cube I n = [0, 1]n ⊂ Rn obtained by identifying opposite faces. If we intersect I n with the hyperplane x1 + ··· + xn = ε for small ε > 0 , we get a simplex ∆n−1 . Then for q : I n →T n the quotient map, we take CX to be

228

Chapter 3

Cohomology

∆n−1 ∩ q−1 (X) . This is a subcomplex of ∆n−1 whose k simplices correspond exactly to the (k + 1) cells of X . Clearly X is uniquely determined by CX , and it is easy to see that every subcomplex of ∆n−1 occurs as CX for some subcomplex X of T n . Since every simplicial complex with n vertices is a subcomplex of ∆n−1 , we see that T n has quite a large number of subcomplexes, if n is not too small. Of course, it may be that some of the resulting cohomology rings H ∗ (X; Z) are isomorphic for different subcomplexes X ⊂ T n . For example, one could just permute the factors of T n to change X without affecting its cohomology ring. Whether there are less trivial examples is a harder algebraic problem. Somewhat more elaborate examples could be produced by looking at subcomplexes of the product of n copies of CP∞ . In this case the cohomology rings are isomorphic to polynomial rings modulo ideals generated by monomials. One could also take subcomplexes of a product of S 1 ’s and CP∞ ’s. However, this is still a whole lot less complicated than the general case, where one takes free algebras modulo ideals generated by arbitrary polynomials having all their terms of the same dimension. Let us conclude this section with an example of a cohomology ring that is not too far removed from a polynomial ring.

Example

3.24: Cohen–Macaulay Rings. Let X be the quotient space CP∞ /CPn−1 .

The quotient map CP∞ →X induces an injection H ∗ (X; Z)→H ∗ (CP∞ ; Z) embedding H ∗ (X; Z) in Z[α] as the subring generated by 1, αn , αn+1 , ··· . If we view this sub-

ring as a module over Z[αn ] , it is free with basis {1, αn+1 , αn+2 , ··· , α2n−1 } . Thus H ∗ (X; Z) is an example of a Cohen–Macaulay ring: a ring containing a polynomial subring over which it is a finitely generated free module. While polynomial cup product rings are rather rare, Cohen–Macaulay cup product rings occur much more frequently.

Exercises 1. Assuming as known the cup product structure on the torus S 1 × S 1 , compute the cup product structure in H ∗ (Mg ) for Mg the closed orientable surface of genus g by using the quotient map from Mg to a wedge sum of g tori, shown below.

2. Using the cup product H k (X, A; R)× H ` (X, B; R)→H k+` (X, A ∪ B; R) , show that if X is the union of contractible open subsets A and B , then all cup products of positive-dimensional classes in H ∗ (X; R) are zero. This applies in particular if X is a suspension. Generalize to the situation that X is the union of n contractible open subsets, to show that all n fold cup products of positive-dimensional classes are zero.

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3. (a) Using the cup product structure, show there is no map RPn →RPm inducing

a nontrivial map H 1 (RPm ; Z2 )→H 1 (RPn ; Z2 ) if n > m . What is the corresponding result for maps CPn →CPm ?

(b) Prove the Borsuk–Ulam theorem by the following argument. Suppose on the contrary that f : S n →Rn satisfies f (x) ≠ f (−x) for all x . Then define g : S n →S n−1 by
g(x) = f (x) − f (−x) /|f (x) − f (−x)| , so g(−x) = −g(x) and g induces a map

RPn →RPn−1 . Show that part (a) applies to this map.

4. Apply the Lefschetz fixed point theorem to show that every map f : CPn →CPn has

a fixed point if n is even, using the fact that f ∗ : H ∗ (CPn ; Z)→H ∗ (CPn ; Z) is a ring homomorphism. When n is odd show there is a fixed point unless f ∗ (α) = −α , for

α a generator of H 2 (CPn ; Z) . [See Exercise 3 in §2.C for an example of a map without fixed points in this exceptional case.] 5. Show the ring H ∗ (RP∞ ; Z2k ) is isomorphic to Z2k [α, β]/(2α, 2β, α2 − kβ) where

|α| = 1 and |β| = 2 . [Use the coefficient map Z2k →Z2 and the proof of Theorem 3.12.]

6. Use cup products to compute the map H ∗ (CPn ; Z)→H ∗ (CPn ; Z) induced by the

map CPn →CPn that is a quotient of the map Cn+1 →Cn+1 raising each coordinate to

d ) , for a fixed integer d > 0 . [First do the the d th power, (z0 , ··· , zn ) , (z0d , ··· , zn

case n = 1 .]

7. Use cup products to show that RP3 is not homotopy equivalent to RP2 ∨ S 3 . 8. Let X be CP2 with a cell e3 attached by a map S 2 →CP1 ⊂ CP2 of degree p , and

let Y = M(Zp , 2) ∨ S 4 . Thus X and Y have the same 3 skeleton but differ in the way their 4 cells are attached. Show that X and Y have isomorphic cohomology rings with Z coefficients but not with Zp coefficients. 9. Show that if Hn (X; Z) is free for each n , then H ∗ (X; Zp ) and H ∗ (X; Z) ⊗ Zp are isomorphic as rings, so in particular the ring structure with Z coefficients determines the ring structure with Zp coefficients. 10. Show that the cross product map H ∗ (X; Z) ⊗ H ∗ (Y ; Z)→H ∗ (X × Y ; Z) is not an isomorphism if X and Y are infinite discrete sets. [This shows the necessity of the hypothesis of finite generation in Theorem 3.16.] 11. Using cup products, show that every map S k+` →S k × S ` induces the trivial ho-

momorphism Hk+` (S k+` )→Hk+` (S k × S ` ) , assuming k > 0 and ` > 0 .

12. Show that the spaces (S 1 × CP∞ )/(S 1 × {x0 }) and S 3 × CP∞ have isomorphic cohomology rings with Z or any other coefficients. [An exercise for §4.L is to show these two spaces are not homotopy equivalent.] 13. Describe H ∗ (CP∞ /CP1 ; Z) as a ring with finitely many multiplicative generators. How does this ring compare with H ∗ (S 6 × HP∞ ; Z) ? 14. Let q : RP∞ →CP∞ be the natural quotient map obtained by regarding both spaces

as quotients of S ∞ , modulo multiplication by real scalars in one case and complex

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scalars in the other. Show that the induced map q∗ : H ∗ (CP∞ ; Z)→H ∗ (RP∞ ; Z) is surjective in even dimensions by showing first by a geometric argument that the restriction q : RP2 →CP1 induces a surjection on H 2 and then appealing to cup product structures. Next, form a quotient space X of RP∞ qCPn by identifying each point x ∈ RP2n

with q(x) ∈ CPn . Show there are ring isomorphisms H ∗ (X; Z) ≈ Z[α]/(2αn+1 ) and H ∗ (X; Z2 ) ≈ Z2 [α, β]/(β2 − α2n+1 ) , where |α| = 2 and |β| = 2n + 1 . Make a similar

construction and analysis for the quotient map q : CP∞ →HP∞ .

15. For a fixed coefficient field F , define the Poincar´ e series of a space X to be P i the formal power series p(t) = i ai t where ai is the dimension of H i (X; F ) as a vector space over F , assuming this dimension is finite for all i . Show that p(X × Y ) = p(X)p(Y ) . Compute the Poincar´ e series for S n , RPn , RP∞ , CPn , CP∞ , and the spaces in the preceding three exercises. 16. Show that if X and Y are finite CW complexes such that H ∗ (X; Z) and H ∗ (Y ; Z) contain no elements of order a power of a given prime p , then the same is true for X × Y . [Apply Theorem 3.16 with coefficients in various fields.]




17. Show that H ∗ (J(S n ); Z) for n odd is isomorphic to H ∗ (S n ; Z) ⊗ H ∗ J(S 2n ); Z

as a graded ring. [Consider the natural quotient map S n × S n × J2k−1 (S n )→J2k+1 (S n ) and use induction on k .] 18. For the closed orientable surface M of genus g ≥ 1 , show that for each nonzero α ∈ H 1 (M; Z) there exists β ∈ H 1 (M; Z) with αβ ≠ 0 . Deduce that M is not homotopy equivalent to a wedge sum X ∨ Y of CW complexes with nontrivial reduced homology. Do the same for closed nonorientable surfaces using cohomology with Z2 coefficients.

Algebraic topology is most often concerned with properties of spaces that depend only on homotopy type, so local topological properties do not play much of a role. Digressing somewhat from this viewpoint, we study in this section a class of spaces whose most prominent feature is their local topology, namely manifolds, which are locally homeomorphic to Rn . It is somewhat miraculous that just this local homogeneity property, together with global compactness, is enough to impose a strong symmetry on the homology and cohomology groups of such spaces, as well as strong nontriviality of cup products. This is the Poincar´ e duality theorem, one of the earliest theorems in the subject. In fact, Poincar´ e’s original work on the duality property came before homology and cohomology had even been properly defined, and it took many

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years for the concepts of homology and cohomology to be refined sufficiently to put Poincar´ e duality on a firm footing. Let us begin with some definitions. A manifold of dimension n , or more concisely an n manifold, is a Hausdorff space M in which each point has an open neighborhood homeomorphic to Rn . The dimension of M is intrinsically characterized by the fact that for x ∈ M , the local homology group Hi (M, M −{x}; Z) is nonzero only for i = n : Hi (M, M − {x}; Z) ≈ Hi (Rn , Rn − {0}; Z) e i−1 (Rn − {0}; Z) ≈H e i−1 (S n−1 ; Z) ≈H

by excision since Rn is contractible

since Rn − {0} ' S n−1

A compact manifold is called closed, to distinguish it from the more general notion of a compact manifold with boundary, considered later in this section. For example S n is a closed manifold, as are RPn and lens spaces since they have S n as a covering space. Another closed manifold is CPn . This is compact since it is a quotient space of S 2n+1 , and the manifold property is satisfied since there is an open cover by subsets homeomorphic to R2n , the sets Ui = { [z0 , ··· , zn ] ∈ CPn | zi = 1 } . The same reasoning applies also for quaternionic projective spaces. Further examples of closed manifolds can be generated from these using the obvious fact that the product of closed manifolds of dimensions m and n is a closed manifold of dimension m + n . Poincar´ e duality in its most primitive form asserts that for a closed orientable manifold M of dimension n , there are isomorphisms Hk (M; Z) ≈ H n−k (M; Z) for all k . Implicit here is the convention that homology and cohomology groups of negative dimension are zero, so the duality statement includes the fact that all the nontrivial homology and cohomology of M lies in the dimension range from 0 to n . The definition of ‘orientable’ will be given below. Without the orientability hypothesis there is a weaker statement that Hk (M; Z2 ) ≈ H n−k (M; Z2 ) for all k . As we show in Corollaries A.8 and A.9 in the Appendix, the homology groups of a closed manifold are all finitely generated. So via the universal coefficient theorem, Poincar´ e duality for a closed orientable n manifold M can be stated just in terms of homology: Modulo their torsion subgroups, Hk (M; Z) and Hn−k (M; Z) are isomorphic, and the torsion subgroups of Hk (M; Z) and Hn−k−1 (M; Z) are isomorphic. However, the statement in terms of cohomology is really more natural. Poincar´ e duality thus expresses a certain symmetry in the homology of closed orientable manifolds. For example, consider the n dimensional torus T n , the product of n circles. By induction on n it follows from the K¨ unneth formula, or from the easy special case Hi (X × S 1 ; Z) ≈ Hi (X; Z) ⊕ Hi−1 (X; Z)  which was an exercise in §2.2, that

n e duality Hk (T n ; Z) is isomorphic to the direct sum of k copies of Z . So Poincar´     n n is reflected in the relation k = n−k . The reader might also check that Poincar´ e

duality is consistent with our calculations of the homology of projective spaces and lens spaces, which are all orientable except for RPn with n even.

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For many manifolds there is a very nice geometric proof of Poincar´ e duality using the notion of dual cell structures. The germ of this idea can be traced back to the five regular Platonic solids: the tetrahedron, cube, octahedron, dodecahedron, and icosahedron. Each of these polyhedra has a dual polyhedron whose vertices are the center points of the faces of the given polyhedron. Thus the dual of the cube is the octahedron, and vice versa. Similarly the dodecahedron and icosahedron are dual to each other, and the tetrahedron is its own dual. One can regard each of these polyhedra as defining a cell structure C on S 2 with a dual cell structure C ∗ determined by the dual polyhedron. Each vertex of C lies in a dual 2 cell of C ∗ , each edge of C crosses a dual edge of C ∗ , and each 2 cell of C contains a dual vertex of C ∗ . The first figure at the right shows the case of the cube and octahedron. There is no need to restrict to regular polyhedra here, and we can generalize further by replacing S 2 by any surface. A portion of a more-or-less random pair of dual cell structures is shown in the second figure. On the torus, if we lift a dual pair of cell structures to the universal cover R2 , we get a dual pair of periodic tilings of the plane, as in the next three figures. The last two figures show that the standard CW structure on the surface of genus g , obtained from a 4g gon by identifying edges via the product of commutators [a1 , b1 ] ··· [ag , bg ] , is homeomorphic to its own dual.

Given a pair of dual cell structures C and C ∗ on a closed surface M , the pair-

ing of cells with dual cells gives identifications of cellular chain groups C0∗ = C2 ,

C1∗ = C1 , and C2∗ = C0 . If we use Z coefficients these identifications are not quite canonical since there is an ambiguity of sign for each cell, the choice of a generator for the corresponding Z summand of the cellular chain complex. We can avoid this ambiguity by considering the simpler situation of Z2 coefficients, where the identifi-

∗ are completely canonical. The key observation now is that under cations Ci = C2−i

these identifications, the cellular boundary map ∂ : Ci →Ci−1 becomes the cellular

∗ ∗ since ∂ assigns to a cell the sum of the cells which coboundary map δ : C2−i →C2−i+1

are faces of it, while δ assigns to a cell the sum of the cells of which it is a face. Thus Hi (C; Z2 ) ≈ H 2−i (C ∗ ; Z2 ) , and hence Hi (M; Z2 ) ≈ H 2−i (M; Z2 ) since C and C ∗ are cell structures on the same surface M .

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To refine this argument to Z coefficients the problem of signs must be addressed. After analyzing the situation more closely, one sees that if M is orientable, it is possible to make consistent choices of orientations of all the cells of C and C ∗ so that the boundary maps in C agree with the coboundary maps in C ∗ , and therefore one gets Hi (C; Z) ≈ H 2−i (C ∗ ; Z) , hence Hi (M; Z) ≈ H 2−i (M; Z) . For manifolds of higher dimension the situation is entirely analogous. One would consider dual cell structures C and C ∗ on a closed n manifold M , each i cell of C being dual to a unique (n−i) cell of C ∗ which it intersects in one point ‘transversely.’ For example on the 3 dimensional torus S 1 × S 1 × S 1 one could take the standard cell structure lifting to the decomposition of the universal cover R3 into cubes with vertices at the integer lattice points Z3 , and then the dual cell structure is obtained by translating this by the vector (1/2 , 1/2 , 1/2 ). Each edge in either cell structure then has a dual 2 cell which it pierces orthogonally, and each vertex lies in a dual 3 cell. All the manifolds one commonly meets, for example all differentiable manifolds, have dually paired cell structures with the properties needed to carry out the proof of Poincar´ e duality we have just sketched. However, to construct these cell structures requires a certain amount of manifold theory. To avoid this, and to get a theorem that applies to all manifolds, we will take a completely different approach, using algebraic topology to replace the geometry of dual cell structures.

Orientations and Homology Let us consider the question of how one might define orientability for manifolds. First there is the local question: What is an orientation of Rn ? Whatever an orientation of Rn is, it should have the property that it is preserved under rotations and reversed by reflections. For example, in R2 the notions of ‘clockwise’ and ‘counterclockwise’ certainly have this property, as do ‘right-handed’ and ‘left-handed’ in R3 . We shall take the viewpoint that this property is what characterizes orientations, so anything satisfying the property can be regarded as an orientation. With this in mind, we propose the following as an algebraic-topological definition: An orientation of Rn at a point x is a choice of generator of the infinite cyclic group Hn (Rn , Rn − {x}) , where the absence of a coefficient group from the notation means that we take coefficients in Z . To verify that the characteristic property of orientations is satisfied we use the isomorphisms Hn (Rn , Rn − {x}) ≈ Hn−1 (Rn − {x}) ≈ Hn−1 (S n−1 ) where S n−1 is a sphere centered at x . Since these isomorphisms are natural, and rotations of S n−1 have degree 1 , being homotopic to the identity, while reflections have degree −1 , we see that a rotation ρ of Rn fixing x takes a generator α of Hn (Rn , Rn − {x}) to itself, ρ∗ (α) = α , while a reflection takes α to −α . Note that with this definition, an orientation of Rn at a point x determines an orientation at every other point y via the canonical isomorphisms Hn (Rn , Rn −{x}) ≈ Hn (Rn , Rn − B) ≈ Hn (Rn , Rn − {y}) where B is any ball containing both x and y .

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An advantage of this definition of local orientation is that it can be applied to any n dimensional manifold M : A local orientation of M at a point x is a choice of generator µx of the infinite cyclic group Hn (M, M − {x}) . Notational Convention. In what follows we will very often be looking at homology groups of the form Hn (X, X − A) . To simplify notation we will write Hn (X, X − A) as Hn (X || A) , or more generally Hn (X || A; G) if a coefficient group G needs to be specified. By excision, Hn (X || A) depends only on a neighborhood of the closure of A in X , so it makes sense to view Hn (X || A) as local homology of X at A . Having settled what local orientations at points of a manifold are, a global orientation ought to be ‘a consistent choice of local orientations at all points.’ We make this precise by the following definition. An orientation of an n dimensional manifold M is a function x , µx assigning to each x ∈ M a local orientation µx ∈ Hn (M || x) , satisfying the ‘local consistency’ condition that each x ∈ M has a neighborhood Rn ⊂ M

containing an open ball B of finite radius about x such that all the local orientations µy at points y ∈ B are the images of one generator µB of Hn (M || B) ≈ Hn (Rn || B)

under the natural maps Hn (M || B)→Hn (M || y) . If an orientation exists for M , then M is called orientable. f . For example, Every manifold M has an orientable two-sheeted covering space M 2

RP is covered by S 2 , and the Klein bottle has the torus as a two-sheeted covering space. The general construction goes as follows. As a set, let  f = µx || x ∈ M and µx is a local orientation of M at x M f→M , and we wish to topologize The map µx , x defines a two-to-one surjection M f to make this a covering space projection. Given an open ball B ⊂ Rn ⊂ M of finite M f such that radius and a generator µB ∈ Hn (M || B) , let U (µB ) be the set of all µx ∈ M

x ∈ B and µx is the image of µB under the natural map Hn (M || B)→Hn (M || x) . It is f , and that the easy to check that these sets U (µB ) form a basis for a topology on M

f is orientable since each point f→M is a covering space. The manifold M projection M f has a canonical local orientation given by the element µ f || µx ) corex ∈ Hn (M µx ∈ M f || µx ) ≈ Hn (U (µB ) || µx ) ≈ Hn (B || x) , responding to µx under the isomorphisms Hn (M

and by construction these local orientations satisfy the local consistency condition necessary to define a global orientation.

Proposition 3.25.

f has two components. If M is connected, then M is orientable iff M

In particular, M is orientable if it is simply-connected, or more generally if π1 (M) has no subgroup of index two. The first statement is a formulation of the intuitive notion of nonorientability as being able to go around some closed loop and come back with the opposite orientation, f→M this corresponds to a loop in M that lifts since in terms of the covering space M

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f connecting two distinct points with the same image in M . The existence to a path in M f being connected. of such paths is equivalent to M

Proof: If M

f has either one or two components since it is a two-sheeted is connected, M

covering space of M . If it has two components, they are each mapped homeomorphically to M by the covering projection, so M is orientable, being homeomorphic to f . Conversely, if M is orientable, it has a component of the orientable manifold M exactly two orientations since it is connected, and each of these orientations defines f . The last statement of the proposition follows since connected a component of M two-sheeted covering spaces of M correspond to index-two subgroups of π1 (M) , by the classification of covering spaces.

u t

f→M can be embedded in a larger covering space MZ →M The covering space M where MZ consists of all elements αx ∈ Hn (M || x) as x ranges over M . As before, we topologize MZ via the basis of sets U (αB ) consisting of αx ’s with x ∈ B and αx the image of an element αB ∈ Hn (M || B) under the map Hn (M || B)→Hn (M || x) . The

covering space MZ →M is infinite-sheeted since for fixed x ∈ M , the αx ’s range over the infinite cyclic group Hn (M || x) . Restricting αx to be zero, we get a copy M0 of M f , k = 1, 2, ··· , in MZ . The rest of MZ consists of an infinite sequence of copies Mk of M where Mk consists of the αx ’s that are k times either generator of Hn (M || x) .

A continuous map M →MZ of the form x , αx ∈ Hn (M || x) is called a section

of the covering space. An orientation of M is the same thing as a section x such that µx is a generator of Hn (M || x) for each x .

, µx

One can generalize the definition of orientation by replacing the coefficient group Z by any commutative ring R with identity. Then an R orientation of M assigns to each x ∈ M a generator of Hn (M || x; R) ≈ R , subject to the corresponding local consistency condition, where a ‘generator’ of R is an element u such that Ru = R . Since we assume R has an identity element, this is equivalent to saying that u is a unit, an invertible element of R . The definition of the covering space MZ generalizes

immediately to a covering space MR →M , and an R orientation is a section of this covering space whose value at each x ∈ M is a generator of Hn (M || x; R) . The structure of MR is easy to describe. In view of the canonical isomorphism Hn (M || x; R) ≈ Hn (M || x) ⊗ R , each r ∈ R determines a subcovering space Mr of MR consisting of the points ±µx ⊗ r ∈ Hn (M || x; R) for µx a generator of Hn (M || x) . If

r has order 2 in R then r = −r so Mr is just a copy of M , and otherwise Mr is f . The covering space MR is the union of these isomorphic to the two-sheeted cover M Mr ’s, which are disjoint except for the equality Mr = M−r . In particular we see that an orientable manifold is R orientable for all R , while a nonorientable manifold is R orientable iff R contains a unit of order 2 , which is equivalent to having 2 = 0 in R . Thus every manifold is Z2 orientable. In practice this means that the two most important cases are R = Z and R = Z2 . In what follows

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the reader should keep these two cases foremost in mind, but we will usually state results for a general R . The orientability of a closed manifold is reflected in the structure of its homology, according to the following result.

Theorem 3.26.

Let M be a closed connected n manifold. Then : (a) If M is R orientable, the map Hn (M; R)→Hn (M || x; R) ≈ R is an isomorphism for all x ∈ M .

(b) If M is not R orientable, the map Hn (M; R)→Hn (M || x; R) ≈ R is injective with image { r ∈ R | 2r = 0 } for all x ∈ M . (c) Hi (M; R) = 0 for i > n . In particular, Hn (M; Z) is Z or 0 depending on whether M is orientable or not, and in either case Hn (M; Z2 ) = Z2 . An element of Hn (M; R) whose image in Hn (M || x; R) is a generator for all x is called a fundamental class for M with coefficients in R . By the theorem, a fundamental class exists if M is closed and R orientable. To show that the converse is also true, let µ ∈ Hn (M; R) be a fundamental class and let µx denote its image in Hn (M || x; R) .

The function x , µx is then an R orientation since the map Hn (M; R)→Hn (M || x; R) factors through Hn (M || B; R) for B any open ball in M containing x . Furthermore, M must be compact since µx can only be nonzero for x in the image of a cycle representing µ , and this image is compact. In view of these remarks a fundamental class could also be called an orientation class for M . The theorem will follow fairly easily from a more technical statement:

Lemma 3.27.

Let M be a manifold of dimension n and let A ⊂ M be a compact

subset. Then :

(a) If x , αx is a section of the covering space MR →M , then there is a unique class αA ∈ Hn (M || A; R) whose image in Hn (M || x; R) is αx for all x ∈ A .

(b) Hi (M || A; R) = 0 for i > n . To deduce the theorem from this, choose A = M , a compact set by assumption. Part (c) of the theorem is immediate from (b) of the lemma. To obtain (a) and (b) of the theorem, let ΓR (M) be the set of sections of MR →M . The sum of two sections is a

section, and a scalar multiple of a section is a section, so ΓR (M) is an R module. There

is a homomorphism Hn (M; R)→ΓR (M) sending a class α to the section x , αx , where αx is the image of α under the map Hn (M; R)→Hn (M || x; R) . Part (a) of the lemma asserts that this homomorphism is an isomorphism. If M is connected, each

section is uniquely determined by its value at one point, so statements (a) and (b) of the theorem are apparent from the earlier discussion of the structure of MR .

Proof of 3.27:

u t

The coefficient ring R will play no special role in the argument so we

shall omit it from the notation. We break the proof up into four steps.

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(1) First we observe that if the lemma is true for compact sets A , B , and A ∩ B , then it is true for A ∪ B . To see this, consider the Mayer–Vietoris sequence 0

Φ Ψ Hn (M || A) ⊕ Hn (M || B) --→ Hn (M || A ∩ B) → - Hn (M || A ∪ B) --→

Here the zero on the left comes from the assumption that Hn+1 (M || A ∩ B) = 0 . The map Φ is Φ(α) = (α, −α) and Ψ is Ψ (α, β) = α + β , where we omit notation for maps on homology induced by inclusion. The terms Hi (M || A ∪ B) farther to the left in this sequence are sandwiched between groups that are zero by assumption, so Hi (M || A ∪ B) = 0 for i > n . This gives (b). For the existence half of (a), if x , αx is a section, the hypothesis gives unique classes αA ∈ Hn (M || A) , αB ∈ Hn (M || B) , and αA∩B ∈ Hn (M || A ∩ B) having image αx for all x in A , B , or A ∩ B respectively. The images of αA and αB in Hn (M || A ∩ B) satisfy the defining property of αA∩B , hence must equal αA∩B . Exactness of the sequence then implies that (αA , −αB ) = Φ(αA∪B ) for some αA∪B ∈ Hn (M || A ∪ B) . This means that αA∪B maps to αA and αB , so αA∪B has image αx for all x ∈ A ∪ B since αA and αB have this property. To see that αA∪B is unique, observe that if a class α ∈ Hn (M || A ∪ B) has image zero in Hn (M || x) for all x ∈ A ∪ B , then its images in Hn (M || A) and Hn (M || B) have the same property, hence are zero by hypothesis, so α itself must be zero since Φ is injective. Uniqueness of αA∪B follows by applying this observation to the difference between two choices for αA∪B . (2) Next we reduce to the case M = Rn . A compact set A ⊂ M can be written as the union of finitely many compact sets A1 , ··· , Am each contained in an open Rn ⊂ M . We apply the result in (1) to A1 ∪ ··· ∪ Am−1 and Am . The intersection of these two sets is (A1 ∩ Am ) ∪ ··· ∪ (Am−1 ∩ Am ) , a union of m − 1 compact sets each contained in an open Rn ⊂ M . By induction on m this gives a reduction to the case m = 1 . When m = 1 , excision allows us to replace M by the neighborhood Rn ⊂ M . (3) When M = Rn and A is a union of convex compact sets A1 , ··· , Am , an inductive argument as in (2) reduces to the case that A itself is convex. When A is convex the result is evident since the map Hi (Rn || A)→Hi (Rn || x) is an isomorphism for any x ∈ A , as both Rn − A and Rn − {x} deformation retract onto a sphere centered at x .

(4) For an arbitrary compact set A ⊂ Rn let α ∈ Hi (Rn || A) be represented by a relative cycle z , and let C ⊂ Rn − A be the union of the images of the singular simplices in ∂z . Since C is compact, it has a positive distance δ from A . We can cover A by finitely many closed balls of radius less than δ centered at points of A . Let K be the union of these balls, so K is disjoint from C . The relative cycle z defines an element αK ∈ Hi (Rn || K) mapping to the given α ∈ Hi (Rn || A) . If i > n then by (3) we have Hi (Rn || K) = 0 , so αK = 0 , which implies α = 0 and hence Hi (Rn || A) = 0 . If i = n and αx is zero in Hn (Rn || x) for all x ∈ A , then in fact this holds for all x ∈ K , where αx in this case means the image of αK . This is because K is a union of balls

B meeting A and Hn (Rn || B)→Hn (Rn || x) is an isomorphism for all x ∈ B . Since

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αx = 0 for all x ∈ K , (3) then says that αK is zero, hence also α . This finishes the uniqueness statement in (a). The existence statement is easy since we can let αA be the image of the element αB associated to any ball B ⊃ A .

u t

For a closed n manifold having the structure of a ∆ complex there is a more explicit construction for a fundamental class. Consider the case of Z coefficients. In simplicial homology a fundamental class must be represented by some linear comP bination i ki σi of the n simplices σi of M . The condition that the fundamental class maps to a generator of Hn (M || x; Z) for points x in the interiors of the σi ’s P means that each coefficient ki must be ±1 . The ki ’s must also be such that i ki σi is a cycle. This implies that if σi and σj share a common (n − 1) dimensional face, then ki determines kj and vice versa. Analyzing the situation more closely, one can P show that a choice of signs for the ki ’s making i ki σi a cycle is possible iff M is P orientable, and if such a choice is possible, then the cycle i ki σi defines a fundaP mental class. With Z2 coefficients there is no issue of signs, and i σi always defines a fundamental class. Some information about Hn−1 (M) can also be squeezed out of the preceding theorem:

Corollary

3.28. If M is a closed connected n manifold, the torsion subgroup of

Hn−1 (M; Z) is trivial if M is orientable and Z2 if M is nonorientable.

Proof:

This is an application of the universal coefficient theorem for homology, using

the fact that the homology groups of M are finitely generated, from Corollaries A.8 and A.9 in the Appendix. In the orientable case, if Hn−1 (M; Z) contained torsion, then for some prime p , Hn (M; Zp ) would be larger than the Zp coming from Hn (M; Z) . In the nonorientable case, Hn (M; Zm ) is either Z2 or 0 depending on whether m is even or odd. This forces the torsion subgroup of Hn−1 (M; Z) to be Z2 .

u t

The reader who is familiar with Bockstein homomorphisms, which are discussed in §3.E, will recognize that the Z2 in Hn−1 (M; Z) in the nonorientable case is the image of the Bockstein homomorphism Hn (M; Z2 )→Hn−1 (M; Z) coming from the short

exact sequence of coefficient groups 0→Z→Z→Z2 →0 .

The structure of Hn (M; G) and Hn−1 (M; G) for a closed connected n manifold M can be explained very nicely in terms of cellular homology when M has a CW structure with a single n cell, which is the case for a large number of manifolds. Note that there can be no cells of higher dimension since a cell of maximal dimension produces nontrivial local homology in that dimension. Consider the cellular boundary map d : Cn (M)→Cn−1 (M) with Z coefficients. Since M has a single n cell we have Cn (M) = Z . If M is orientable, d must be zero since Hn (M; Z) = Z . Then since d is zero, Hn−1 (M; Z) must be free. On the other hand, if M is nonorientable then d

Poincar´ e Duality

Section 3.3

239

must take a generator of Cn (M) to twice a generator α of a Z summand of Cn−1 (M) , in order for Hn (M; Zp ) to be zero for odd primes p and Z2 for p = 2 . The cellular chain α must be a cycle since 2α is a boundary and hence a cycle. It follows that the torsion subgroup of Hn−1 (M; Z) must be a Z2 generated by α . Concerning the homology of noncompact manifolds there is the following general statement.

Proposition 3.29.

If M is a connected noncompact n manifold, then Hi (M; R) = 0

for i ≥ n .

Proof:

Represent an element of Hi (M; R) by a cycle z . This has compact image in M ,

so there is an open set U ⊂ M containing the image of z and having compact closure U ⊂ M . Let V = M − U . Part of the long exact sequence of the triple (M, U ∪ V , V ) fits into a commutative diagram

≈

− − − → Hi ( M , V ; R ) → − − −

→ − − −

Hi +1( M , U ∪ V ; R ) − − − → Hi ( U ∪ V , V ; R )

Hi ( U ; R ) − −−−−−→ Hi ( M ; R) When i > n , the two groups on either side of Hi (U ∪ V , V ; R) are zero by Lemma 3.27 since U ∪ V and V are the complements of compact sets in M . Hence Hi (U ; R) = 0 , so z is a boundary in U and therefore in M , and we conclude that Hi (M; R) = 0 .

When i = n , the class [z] ∈ Hn (M; R) defines a section x , [z]x of MR . Since M

is connected, this section is determined by its value at a single point, so [z]x will be zero for all x if it is zero for some x , which it must be since z has compact image and M is noncompact. By Lemma 3.27, z then represents zero in Hn (M, V ; R) , hence also in Hn (U; R) since the first term in the upper row of the diagram above is zero when i = n , by Lemma 3.27 again. So [z] = 0 in Hn (M; R) , and therefore Hn (M; R) = 0 since [z] was an arbitrary element of this group.

u t

The Duality Theorem The form of Poincar´ e duality we will prove asserts that for an R orientable closed

n manifold, a certain naturally defined map H k (M; R)→Hn−k (M; R) is an isomorphism. The definition of this map will be in terms of a more general construction called cap product, which has close connections with cup product. For an arbitrary space X and coefficient ring R , define an R bilinear cap product a : Ck (X; R)× C ` (X; R)→Ck−` (X; R) for k ≥ ` by setting
σ a ϕ = ϕ σ || [v0 , ··· , v` ] σ || [v` , ··· , vk ] for σ : ∆k →X and ϕ ∈ C ` (X; R) . To see that this induces a cap product in homology

240

Chapter 3

Cohomology

and cohomology we use the formula ∂(σ a ϕ) = (−1)` (∂σ a ϕ − σ a δϕ) which is checked by a calculation: ∂σ a ϕ =

` X


bi , ··· , v`+1 ] σ ||[v`+1 , ··· , vk ] (−1)i ϕ σ ||[v0 , ··· , v

i=0

+

k X


bi , ··· , vk ] (−1)i ϕ σ ||[v0 , ··· , v` ] σ ||[v` , ··· , v

i = `+1

σ a δϕ =

`+1 X


bi , ··· , v`+1 ] σ ||[v`+1 , ··· , vk ] (−1)i ϕ σ ||[v0 , ··· , v

i=0

∂(σ a ϕ) =

k X


bi , ··· , vk ] (−1)i−` ϕ σ ||[v0 , ··· , v` ] σ ||[v` , ··· , v

i=`

From the relation ∂(σ a ϕ) = ±(∂σ a ϕ − σ a δϕ) it follows that the cap product of a cycle σ and a cocycle ϕ is a cycle. Further, if ∂σ = 0 then ∂(σ a ϕ) = ±(σ a δϕ) , so the cap product of a cycle and a coboundary is a boundary. And if δϕ = 0 then ∂(σ a ϕ) = ±(∂σ a ϕ) , so the cap product of a boundary and a cocycle is a boundary. These facts imply that there is an induced cap product Hk (X; R)× H ` (X; R)

------a -----→ Hk−` (X; R)

which is R linear in each variable. Using the same formulas, one checks that cap product has the relative forms

------a -----→ Hk−` (X, A; R) a ` Hk (X, A; R)× H (X, A; R) -----------→ Hk−` (X; R) Hk (X, A; R)× H ` (X; R)

For example, in the second case the cap product Ck (X; R)× C ` (X; R)→Ck−` (X; R)

restricts to zero on the submodule Ck (A; R)× C ` (X, A; R) , so there is an induced cap product Ck (X, A; R)× C ` (X, A; R)→Ck−` (X; R) . The formula for ∂(σ a ϕ) still holds,

so we can pass to homology and cohomology groups. There is also a more general relative cap product Hk (X, A ∪ B; R)× H ` (X, A; R)

------a -----→ Hk−` (X, B; R),

defined when A and B are open sets in X , using the fact that Hk (X, A ∪ B; R) can be computed using the chain groups Cn (X, A + B; R) = Cn (X; R)/Cn (A + B; R) , as in the derivation of relative Mayer–Vietoris sequences in §2.2. Cap product satisfies a naturality property that is a little more awkward to state than the corresponding result for cup product since both covariant and contravariant functors are involved. Given a map f : X →Y , the relevant induced maps on homology and cohomology fit into the diagram shown below. It does not quite make sense

Poincar´ e Duality to say this diagram commutes, but the spirit of

241

− − − →

→ − − −

` Hk ( X ) × H ( X ) − −−→ Hk - ` ( X )

− − − →

commutativity is contained in the formula
f∗ (α) a ϕ = f∗ α a f ∗ (ϕ)

Section 3.3

f∗

f∗

f∗

Hk ( Y ) × H ( Y ) − −−→ Hk - ` ( Y ) `

which is obtained by substituting f σ for σ in the definition of cap product: f σ a ϕ =
ϕ f σ || [v0 , ··· , v` ] f σ || [v` , ··· , vk ] . There are evident relative versions as well. Now we can state Poincar´ e duality for closed manifolds:

Theorem 3.30 (Poincar´e Duality).

If M is a closed R orientable n manifold with

fundamental class [M] ∈ Hn (M; R) , then the map D : H k (M; R) fined by D(α) = [M] a α is an isomorphism for all k .

→ - Hn−k (M; R)

de-

Recall that a fundamental class for M is an element of Hn (M; R) whose image in Hn (M || x; R) is a generator for each x ∈ M . The existence of such a class was shown in Theorem 3.26.

Example

3.31: Surfaces. Let M be the closed orientable surface of genus g , ob-

tained as usual from a 4g gon by identifying pairs of edges according to the word −1 −1 −1 a1 b1 a−1 1 b1 ··· ag bg ag bg . A ∆ complex structure on M is obtained by coning off

the 4g gon to its center, as indicated in the figure for the case g = 2 .

a2

We can compute cap products

b2

α2

using simplicial homology and cohomology since cap products are defined for simplicial homology and cohomology by exactly the same formula as for singular

a2

homology and cohomology, so the isomorphism between the simplicial and singular theories respects cap products. A fundamental class [M] generating

β2 b2

H2 (M) is represented by the 2 cycle formed by the

+ + _ _ _ _ + +

α1

b1 β1 a1

b1

a1

sum of all 4g 2 simplices with the signs indicated. The edges ai and bi form a basis for H1 (M) . Under the isomorphism H 1 (M) ≈ Hom(H1 (M), Z) , the cohomology class αi corresponding to ai assigns the value 1 to ai and 0 to the other basis elements. This class αi is represented by the cocycle ϕi assigning the value 1 to the 1 simplices meeting the arc labeled αi in the figure and 0 to the other 1 simplices. Similarly we have a class βi corresponding to bi , represented by the cocycle ψi assigning the value 1 to the 1 simplices meeting the arc βi and 0 to the other 1 simplices. Applying the definition of cap product, we have [M] a ϕi = bi and [M] a ψi = −ai since in both cases there is just one 2 simplex [v0 , v1 , v2 ] where ϕi or ψi is nonzero on the edge e dual of αi and −ai is the Poincar´ e dual of βi . If [v0 , v1 ] . Thus bi is the Poincar´ we interpret Poincar´ e duality entirely in terms of homology, identifying αi with its e duals of each Hom-dual ai and βi with bi , then the classes ai and bi are Poincar´ other, up to sign at least. Geometrically, Poincar´ e duality is reflected in the fact that the loops αi and bi are homotopic, as are the loops βi and ai .

242

Chapter 3

Cohomology

The closed nonorientable surface N of genus g

a3

can be treated in the same way if we use Z2 coef-

a3

ficients. We view N as obtained from a 2g gon by

α3

a2

identifying consecutive pairs of edges according to the word a21 ··· a2g . We have classes αi ∈ H 1 (N; Z2 ) rep-

a4

α2

α4

a2

resented by cocycles ϕi assigning the value 1 to the edges meeting the arc αi . Then [N] a ϕi = ai , so ai is the Poincar´ e dual of αi . In terms of homology, ai is the Hom-dual of αi , so ai is its own Poincar´ e dual.

a4

α1

a1

a1

e dual loops αi . Geometrically, the loops ai on N are homotopic to their Poincar´ Our proof of Poincar´ e duality, like the construction of fundamental classes, will be by an inductive argument using Mayer–Vietoris sequences. The induction step requires a version of Poincar´ e duality for open subsets of M , which are noncompact and can satisfy Poincar´ e duality only when a different kind of cohomology called cohomology with compact supports is used.

Cohomology with Compact Supports Before giving the general definition, let us look at the conceptually simpler notion of simplicial cohomology with compact supports. Here one starts with a ∆ complex X which is locally compact. This is equivalent to saying that every point has a neighborhood that meets only finitely many simplices. Consider the subgroup ∆ic (X; G) of the simplicial cochain group ∆i (X; G) consisting of cochains that are compactly supported in the sense that they take nonzero values on only finitely many simplices. The coboundary of such a cochain ϕ can have a nonzero value only on those (i+1) simplices having a face on which ϕ is nonzero, and there are only finitely many such simplices by the local compactness assumption, so δϕ lies in ∆i+1 c (X; G) . Thus we have a subcomplex of the simplicial cochain complex. The cohomology groups for this subcomplex will be denoted temporarily by Hci (X; G) .

Example

3.32. Let us compute these cohomology groups when X = R with the

∆ complex structure having vertices at the integer points. For a simplicial 0 cochain to be a cocycle it must take the same value on all vertices, but then if the cochain lies in ∆0c (X) it must be identically zero. Thus Hc0 (R; G) = 0 . However, Hc1 (R; G) is nonzero. Namely, consider the map Σ : ∆1c (R; G)→G sending each cochain to the sum

of its values on all the 1 simplices. Note that Σ is not defined on all of ∆1 (X) , just

on ∆1c (X) . The map Σ vanishes on coboundaries, so it induces a map Hc1 (R; G)→G .

This is surjective since every element of ∆1c (X) is a cocycle. It is an easy exercise to verify that it is also injective, so Hc1 (R; G) ≈ G . Compactly supported cellular cohomology for a locally compact CW complex could be defined in a similar fashion, using cellular cochains that are nonzero on

Poincar´ e Duality

Section 3.3

243

only finitely many cells. However, what we really need is singular cohomology with compact supports for spaces without any simplicial or cellular structure. The quickest definition of this is the following. Let Cci (X; G) be the subgroup of C i (X; G) consisting

of cochains ϕ : Ci (X)→G for which there exists a compact set K = Kϕ ⊂ X such that ϕ is zero on all chains in X − K . Note that δϕ is then also zero on chains in X − K , so δϕ lies in Cci+1 (X; G) and the Cci (X; G) ’s for varying i form a subcomplex of the singular cochain complex of X . The cohomology groups Hci (X; G) of this subcomplex are the cohomology groups with compact supports. Cochains in Cci (X; G) have compact support in only a rather weak sense. A stronger and perhaps more natural condition would have been to require cochains to be nonzero only on singular simplices contained in some compact set, depending on the cochain. However, cochains satisfying this condition do not in general form a subcomplex of the singular cochain complex. For example, if X = R and ϕ is a 0 cochain assigning a nonzero value to one point of R and zero to all other points, then δϕ assigns a nonzero value to arbitrarily large 1 simplices. It will be quite useful to have an alternative definition of Hci (X; G) in terms of algebraic limits, which enter the picture in the following way. The cochain group Cci (X; G) is the union of its subgroups C i (X, X − K; G) as K ranges over compact subsets of X . Each inclusion K

>L

induces inclusions C i (X, X − K; G) > C i (X, X − L; G) for

all i , so there are induced maps H i (X, X − K; G)→H i (X, X − L; G) . These need not

be injective, but one might still hope that Hci (X; G) is somehow describable in terms of the system of groups H i (X, X − K; G) for varying K . This is indeed the case, and it is algebraic limits that provide the description. Suppose one has abelian groups Gα indexed by some partially ordered index set I having the property that for each pair α, β ∈ I there exists γ ∈ I with α ≤ γ and β ≤ γ . Such an I is called a directed set. Suppose also that for each pair α ≤ β one has a homomorphism fαβ : Gα →Gβ , such that fαα = 11 for each α , and if α ≤ β ≤ γ

then fαγ is the composition of fαβ and fβγ . Given this data, which is called a directed system of groups, there are two equivalent ways of defining the direct limit group L lim Gα . The shorter definition is that lim Gα is the quotient of the direct sum α Gα --→ --→ by the subgroup generated by all elements of the form a − fαβ (a) for a ∈ Gα , where L α Gα . The other definition, which is often

we are viewing each Gα as a subgroup of

more convenient to work with, runs as follows. Define an equivalence relation on the ` set α Gα by a ∼ b if fαγ (a) = fβγ (b) for some γ , where a ∈ Gα and b ∈ Gβ . This is clearly reflexive and symmetric, and transitivity follows from the directed set property. It could also be described as the equivalence relation generated by setting a ∼ fαβ (a) . Any two equivalence classes [a] and [b] have representatives a0 and

b0 lying in the same Gγ , so define [a] + [b] = [a0 + b0 ] . One checks this is welldefined and gives an abelian group structure to the set of equivalence classes. It is easy to check further that the map sending an equivalence class [a] to the coset of a

Chapter 3

244

Cohomology

P P in lim --→ Gα is a homomorphism, with an inverse induced by the map i ai , i [ai ] for ai ∈ Gαi . Thus we can identify lim Gα with the group of equivalence classes [a] .

--→

A useful consequence of this is that if we have a subset J ⊂ I with the property that for each α ∈ I there exists a β ∈ J with α ≤ β , then lim Gα is the same whether

--→

we compute it with α varying over I or just over J . In particular, if I has a maximal element γ , we can take J = {γ} and then lim Gα = Gγ .

--→

Suppose now that we have a space X expressed as the union of a collection of subspaces Xα forming a directed set with respect to the inclusion relation. Then the groups Hi (Xα ; G) for fixed i and G form a directed system, using the homo-

morphisms induced by inclusions. The natural maps Hi (Xα ; G)→Hi (X; G) induce a homomorphism lim --→ Hi (Xα ; G)→Hi (X; G) .

Proposition 3.33.

If a space X is the union of a directed set of subspaces Xα with

the property that each compact set in X is contained in some Xα , then the natural map lim --→ Hi (Xα ; G)→Hi (X; G) is an isomorphism for all i and G .

Proof:

For surjectivity, represent a cycle in X by a finite sum of singular simplices.

The union of the images of these singular simplices is compact in X , hence lies in some Xα , so the map lim Hi (Xα ; G)→Hi (X; G) is surjective. Injectivity is similar: If

--→

a cycle in some Xα is a boundary in X , compactness implies it is a boundary in some u t Xβ ⊃ Xα , hence represents zero in lim Hi (Xα ; G) .

--→

Now we can give the alternative definition of cohomology with compact supports in terms of direct limits. For a space X , the compact subsets K ⊂ X form a directed set under inclusion since the union of two compact sets is compact. To each compact K ⊂ X we associate the group H i (X, X − K; G) , with a fixed i and coefficient group G , and to each inclusion K ⊂ L of compact sets we associate the natural homomorphism H i (X, X −K; G)→H i (X, X −L; G) . The resulting limit group lim H i (X, X −K; G) is then

--→

equal to Hci (X; G) since each element of this limit group is represented by a cocycle in C i (X, X − K; G) for some compact K , and such a cocycle is zero in lim H i (X, X − K; G)

--→

iff it is the coboundary of a cochain in C i−1 (X, X − L; G) for some compact L ⊃ K . Note that if X is compact, then Hci (X; G) = H i (X; G) since there is a unique maximal compact set K ⊂ X , namely X itself. This is also immediate from the original definition since Cci (X; G) = C i (X; G) if X is compact. i n n 3.34: Hc∗ (Rn ; G) . To compute lim --→ H (R , R − K; G) it suffices to let K range over balls Bk of integer radius k centered at the origin since every compact set

Example

is contained in such a ball. Since H i (Rn , Rn − Bk ; G) is nonzero only for i = n , when

it is G , and the maps H n (Rn , Rn − Bk ; G)→H n (Rn , Rn − Bk+1 ; G) are isomorphisms,

we deduce that Hci (Rn ; G) = 0 for i ≠ n and Hcn (Rn ; G) ≈ G .

This example shows that cohomology with compact supports is not an invariant of homotopy type. This can be traced to difficulties with induced maps. For example,

Poincar´ e Duality

Section 3.3

245

the constant map from Rn to a point does not induce a map on cohomology with compact supports. The maps which do induce maps on Hc∗ are the proper maps, those for which the inverse image of each compact set is compact. In the proof of Poincar´ e duality, however, we will need induced maps of a different sort going in the opposite direction from what is usual for cohomology, maps Hci (U ; G)→Hci (V ; G) associated to inclusions U i

>V

of open sets in the fixed manifold M .

The group H (X, X−K; G) for K compact depends only on a neighborhood of K in X by excision, assuming X is Hausdorff so that K is closed. As convenient shorthand notation we will write this group as H i (X || K; G) , in analogy with the similar notation used earlier for local homology. One can think of cohomology with compact supports as the limit of these ‘local cohomology groups at compact subsets.’

Duality for Noncompact Manifolds For M an R orientable n manifold, possibly noncompact, we can define a dual-

ity map DM : Hck (M; R)→Hn−k (M; R) by a limiting process in the following way. For compact sets K ⊂ L ⊂ M we have a diagram

i∗

→ − − −

− − − →

k Hn ( M | L ; R ) × H ( M | L ; R ) −

i∗

k Hn ( M | K; R ) × H ( M | K; R )

−−−−→ Hn - k ( M ; R) −−−−−→

where Hn (M || A; R) = Hn (M, M − A; R) and H k (M || A; R) = H k (M, M − A; R) . By Lemma 3.27 there are unique elements µK ∈ Hn (M || K; R) and µL ∈ Hn (M || L; R) restricting to a given orientation of M at each point of K and L , respectively. From the uniqueness we have i∗ (µL ) = µK . The naturality of cap product implies that i∗ (µL ) a x = µL a i∗ (x) for all x ∈ H k (M || K; R) , so µK a x = µL a i∗ (x) . Therefore, letting K vary over compact sets in M , the homomorphisms H k (M || K; R)→Hn−k (M; R) , x , µK a x , induce in the limit a duality homomorphism DM : Hck (M; R)→Hn−k (M; R) .

Since Hc∗ (M; R) = H ∗ (M; R) if M is compact, the following theorem generalizes

Poincar´ e duality for closed manifolds:

Theorem

3.35. The duality map DM : Hck (M; R)→Hn−k (M; R) is an isomorphism

for all k whenever M is an R oriented n manifold. The proof will not be difficult once we establish a technical result stated in the next lemma, concerning the commutativity of a certain diagram. Commutativity statements of this sort are usually routine to prove, but this one seems to be an exception. The reader who consults other books for alternative expositions will find somewhat uneven treatments of this technical point, and the proof we give is also not as simple as one would like. The coefficient ring R will be fixed throughout the proof, and for simplicity we will omit it from the notation for homology and cohomology.

Chapter 3

246

Lemma 3.36.

Cohomology

If M is the union of two open sets U and V , then there is a diagram

of Mayer–Vietoris sequences, commutative up to sign :

DU ⊕ - DV

DU ∩V

− − − − − →

− − − − − →

− − − − − →

− − − − − →

... − − − → Hck ( U ∩V ) − − − − − → Hck ( U ) ⊕ Hck ( V ) − − − − − → Hck ( M ) − − − − − → Hck +1( U ∩V ) − − − → ... DM

DU ∩V

... − − → Hn - k ( U ∩V ) − − → Hn - k ( U ) ⊕ Hn - k( V ) − − → Hn - k( M ) − − − → Hn - k - 1( U ∩V ) − − → ... Proof:

Compact sets K ⊂ U and L ⊂ V give rise to the Mayer–Vietoris sequence in

the upper row of the following diagram, whose lower row is also a Mayer–Vietoris sequence.

≈

≈

k k H ( U |K ) ⊕ H ( V | L )

k H ( U ∩V | K ∩ L )

µK∩L

µK

⊕ - µL

− − − − − − − − − − − − − − − →

− − − − − → − − − − − →

− − − − − → − − − − − →

... − − − − − → Hk( M |K∩L ) − − − − − → Hk( M |K ) ⊕ Hk( M | L ) − − − − − →Hk(M |K ∪L ) − − − − − → ... µ K∪ L

... − − − − − → Hn - k ( U ∩V ) − − −− − − − − − − → Hn - k ( U ) ⊕ Hn - k( V ) − − − − − − − − − − − − − → Hn - k( M ) − − − − − − − − − → ... The two maps labeled isomorphisms come from excision. Assuming this diagram commutes, consider passing to the limit over compact sets K ⊂ U and L ⊂ V . Since each compact set in U ∩V is contained in an intersection K ∩L of compact sets K ⊂ U and L ⊂ V , and similarly for U ∪ V , the diagram induces a limit diagram having the form stated in the lemma. The first row of this limit diagram is exact since a direct limit of exact sequences is exact; this is an exercise at the end of the section, and follows easily from the definition of direct limits. It remains to consider the commutativity of the preceding diagram involving K and L . In the two squares shown, not involving boundary or coboundary maps, it is a triviality to check commutativity at the level of cycles and cocycles. Less trivial is the third square, which we rewrite in the following way: k H (M |K ∪L )

δ

µK∩L

µ K∪ L

(∗)

Hn - k ( M )

− − − − − − →

− − − − − − →

≈ − − − − → H k +1( U ∩ V | K ∩ L ) − − − − − → H k +1( M | K ∩ L ) −

− − − − − − − − − − − − − − − − − − − − − − − − − − − − − − − − − − − − − − − − − → Hn - k - 1( U ∩V ) ∂

Letting A = M −K and B = M −L , the map δ is the coboundary map in the Mayer– Vietoris sequence obtained from the short exact sequence of cochain complexes 0

→ - C ∗ (M, A + B) → - C ∗ (M, A) ⊕ C ∗ (M, B) → - C ∗ (M, A ∩ B) → - 0

where C ∗ (M, A + B) consists of cochains on M vanishing on chains in A and chains in B . To evaluate the Mayer–Vietoris coboundary map δ on a cohomology class represented by a cocycle ϕ ∈ C ∗ (M, A ∩ B) , the first step is to write ϕ = ϕA − ϕB

Poincar´ e Duality

Section 3.3

247

for ϕA ∈ C ∗ (M, A) and ϕB ∈ C ∗ (M, B) . Then δ[ϕ] is represented by the cocy-

cle δϕA = δϕB ∈ C ∗ (M, A + B) , where the equality δϕA = δϕB comes from the fact that ϕ is a cocycle, so δϕ = δϕA − δϕB = 0 . Similarly, the boundary map ∂

in the homology Mayer–Vietoris sequence is obtained by representing an element of Hi (M) by a cycle z that is a sum of chains zU ∈ Ci (U ) and zV ∈ Ci (V ) , and then ∂[z] = [∂zU ] . Via barycentric subdivision, the class µK∪L can be represented by a chain α that is a sum αU−L + αU∩V + αV −K of chains in U − L , U ∩ V , and V − K , respectively, since these three open sets cover M . The chain αU∩V represents µK∩L since the other two

V

U K αU _L

chains αU−L and αV −K lie in the

L αV _K

αU∩V

complement of K ∩ L , hence vanish in Hn (M || K ∩ L) ≈ Hn (U ∩ V || K ∩ L) . Similarly, αU −L + αU ∩V represents µK . In the square (∗) let ϕ be a cocycle representing an element of H k (M || K ∪ L) . Under δ this maps to the cohomology class of δϕA . Continuing on to Hn−k−1 (U ∩ V ) we obtain αU∩V a δϕA , which is in the same homology class as ∂αU ∩V a ϕA since ∂(αU∩V a ϕA ) = (−1)k (∂αU ∩V a ϕA − αU ∩V a δϕA ) and αU∩V a ϕA is a chain in U ∩ V . Going around the square (∗) the other way, ϕ maps first to α a ϕ . To apply the Mayer–Vietoris boundary map ∂ to this, we first write α a ϕ as a sum of a chain in U and a chain in V : α a ϕ = (αU −L a ϕ) + (αU ∩V a ϕ + αV −K a ϕ) Then we take the boundary of the first of these two chains, obtaining the homology class [∂(αU−L a ϕ)] ∈ Hn−k−1 (U ∩ V ) . To compare this with [∂αU ∩V a ϕA ] , we have ∂(αU−L a ϕ) = (−1)k ∂αU−L a ϕ = (−1)k ∂αU−L a ϕA

since δϕ = 0 since ∂αU −L a ϕB = 0 ,

ϕB being

zero on chains in B = M − L = (−1)k+1 ∂αU ∩V a ϕA where this last equality comes from the fact that ∂(αU −L + αU ∩V ) a ϕA = 0 since ∂(αU−L + αU∩V ) is a chain in U − K by the earlier observation that αU −L + αU ∩V represents µK , and ϕA vanishes on chains in A = M − K . Thus the square (∗) commutes up to a sign depending only on k .

Proof of Poincar´e Duality:

u t

There are two inductive steps, finite and infinite:

(A) If M is the union of open sets U and V and if DU , DV , and DU ∩V are isomorphisms, then so is DM . Via the five-lemma, this is immediate from the preceding lemma.

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(B) If M is the union of a sequence of open sets U1 ⊂ U2 ⊂ ··· and each duality map

DUi : Hck (Ui )→Hn−k (Ui ) is an isomorphism, then so is DM . To show this we notice first that by excision, Hck (Ui ) can be regarded as the limit of the groups H k (M || K) as K

ranges over compact subsets of Ui . Then there are natural maps Hck (Ui )→Hck (Ui+1 )

since the second of these groups is a limit over a larger collection of K ’s. Thus we can form lim Hck (Ui ) which is obviously isomorphic to Hck (M) since the compact sets in M

--→

are just the compact sets in all the Ui ’s. By Proposition 3.33, Hn−k (M) ≈ lim --→ Hn−k (Ui ) .

The map DM is thus the limit of the isomorphisms DUi , hence is an isomorphism.

Now after all these preliminaries we can prove the theorem in three easy steps: (1) The case M = Rn can be proved by regarding Rn as the interior of ∆n , and

then the map DM can be identified with the map H k (∆n , ∂∆n )→Hn−k (∆n ) given

by cap product with a unit times the generator [∆n ] ∈ Hn (∆n , ∂∆n ) defined by the identity map of ∆n , which is a relative cycle. The only nontrivial value of k is k = n , when the cap product map is an isomorphism since a generator of H n (∆n , ∂∆n ) ≈ Hom(Hn (∆n , ∂∆n ), R) is represented by a cocycle ϕ taking the value 1 on ∆n , so by the definition of cap product, ∆n a ϕ is the last vertex of ∆n , representing a generator of H0 (∆n ) . (2) More generally, DM is an isomorphism for M an arbitrary open set in Rn . To see this, first write M as a countable union of nonempty bounded convex open sets Ui , S for example open balls, and let Vi = j CPn induces an isomorphism on H i for i ≤ 2n−2 ,

so by induction on n , H 2i (CPn ; Z) is generated by αi for i < n . By the corollary, there is an integer m such that the product α ` mαn−1 = mαn generates H 2n (CPn ; Z) . This can only happen if m = ±1 , and therefore H ∗ (CPn ; Z) ≈ Z[α]/(αn+1 ) . The same argument shows H ∗ (HPn ; Z) ≈ Z[α]/(αn+1 ) with |α| = 4 . For RPn one can use the same argument with Z2 coefficients to deduce that H ∗ (RPn ; Z2 ) ≈ Z2 [α]/(αn+1 ) with |α| = 1 . The cup product structure in infinite-dimensional projective spaces follows from the finite-dimensional case, as we saw in the proof of Theorem 3.12. Could there be a closed manifold whose cohomology is additively isomorphic to that of CPn but with a different cup product structure? For n = 2 the answer is no since duality implies that the square of a generator of H 2 must be a generator of

Poincar´ e Duality

Section 3.3

251

H 4 . For n = 3 , duality says that the product of generators of H 2 and H 4 must be a generator of H 6 , but nothing is said about the square of a generator of H 2 . Indeed, for S 2 × S 4 , whose cohomology has the same additive structure as CP3 , the square of the generator of H 2 (S 2 × S 4 ; Z) is zero since it is the pullback of a generator of H 2 (S 2 ; Z) under the projection S 2 × S 4 →S 2 , and in H ∗ (S 2 ; Z) the square of the generator of H 2

is zero. More generally, an exercise for §4.D describes closed 6 manifolds having the same cohomology groups as CP3 but where the square of the generator of H 2 is an arbitrary multiple of a generator of H 4 .

Example 3.41: Lens Spaces.

Cup products in lens spaces can be computed in the same

way as in projective spaces. For a lens space L2n+1 of dimension 2n + 1 with fundamental group Zm , we computed Hi (L2n+1 ; Z) in Example 2.43 to be Z for i = 0 and 2n + 1 , Zm for odd i < 2n + 1 , and 0 otherwise. In particular, this implies that L2n+1 is orientable, which can also be deduced from the fact that L2n+1 is the orbit space of an action of Zm on S 2n+1 by orientation-preserving homeomorphisms, using an exercise at the end of this section. By the universal coefficient theorem, H i (L2n+1 ; Zm ) is Zm for each i ≤ 2n+1 . Let α ∈ H 1 (L2n+1 ; Zm ) and β ∈ H 2 (L2n+1 ; Zm ) be generators. The statement we wish to prove is: j

2n+1

H (L

; Zm ) is generated by

(

βi αβi

for j = 2i for j = 2i + 1

By induction on n we may assume this holds for j ≤ 2n−1 since we have a lens space L2n−1 ⊂ L2n+1 with this inclusion inducing an isomorphism on H j for j ≤ 2n − 1 , as one sees by comparing the cellular chain complexes for L2n−1 and L2n+1 . The preceding corollary does not apply directly for Zm coefficients with arbitrary m , but its proof does since the maps h : H i (L2n+1 ; Zm )→Hom(Hi (L2n+1 ; Zm ), Zm ) are isomor-

phisms. We conclude that β ` kαβn−1 generates H 2n+1 (L2n+1 ; Zm ) for some integer k . We must have k relatively prime to m , otherwise the product β ` kαβn−1 = kαβn would have order less than m and so could not generate H 2n+1 (L2n+1 ; Zm ) . Then since k is relatively prime to m , αβn is also a generator of H 2n+1 (L2n+1 ; Zm ) . From this it follows that βn must generate H 2n (L2n+1 ; Zm ) , otherwise it would have order less than m and so therefore would αβn . The rest of the cup product structure on H ∗ (L2n+1 ; Zm ) is determined once α2 is expressed as a multiple of β . When m is odd, the commutativity formula for cup product implies α2 = 0 . When m is even, commutativity implies only that α2 is either zero or the unique element of H 2 (L2n+1 ; Zm ) ≈ Zm of order two. In fact it is the latter possibility which holds, since the 2 skeleton L2 is the circle L1 with a 2 cell attached by a map of degree m , and we computed the cup product structure in this 2 complex in Example 3.9. It does not seem to be possible to deduce the nontriviality e duality alone, except when m = 2 . of α2 from Poincar´ The cup product structure for an infinite-dimensional lens space L∞ follows from

the finite-dimensional case since the restriction map H j (L∞ ; Zm )→H j (L2n+1 ; Zm ) is

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an isomorphism for j ≤ 2n + 1 . As with RPn , the ring structure in H ∗ (L2n+1 ; Z) is determined by the ring structure in H ∗ (L2n+1 ; Zm ) , and likewise for L∞ , where

one has the slightly simpler structure H ∗ (L∞ ; Z) ≈ Z[α]/(mα) with |α| = 2 . The

case of L2n+1 is obtained from this by setting αn+1 = 0 and adjoining the extra Z ≈ H 2n+1 (L2n+1 ; Z) . A different derivation of the cup product structure in lens spaces is given in Example 3E.2. Using the ad hoc notation Hfkr ee (M) for H k (M) modulo its torsion subgroup, the preceding proposition implies that for a closed orientable manifold M of dimension 2n , the middle-dimensional cup product pairing Hfnr ee (M)× Hfnr ee (M)→Z is a

nonsingular bilinear form on Hfnr ee (M) . This form is symmetric or skew-symmetric according to whether n is even or odd. The algebra in the skew-symmetric case is rather simple: With a suitable choice of basis, the matrix of a skew-symmetric nonsingular bilinear form over Z can be put into the standard form consisting of 2× 2 blocks 0 −1
1 0 along the diagonal and zeros elsewhere, according to an algebra exercise at the end of the section. In particular, the rank of H n (M 2n ) must be even when n is odd. We are already familiar with these facts in the case n = 1 by the explicit computations of cup products for surfaces in §3.2. The symmetric case is much more interesting algebraically. There are only finitely many isomorphism classes of symmetric nonsingular bilinear forms over Z of a fixed rank, but this ‘finitely many’ grows rather rapidly, for example it is more than 80 million for rank 32; see [Serre 1973] for an exposition of this beautiful chapter of number theory. It is known that for each even n ≥ 2 , every symmetric nonsingular form actually occurs as the cup product pairing in some closed manifold M 2n . One can even take M 2n to be simply-connected and have the bare minimum of homology: Z ’s in dimensions 0 and 2n and a Zk in dimension n . For n = 2 there are at most two nonhomeomorphic simply-connected closed 4 manifolds with the same bilinear form. Namely, there are two manifolds with the same form if the square α ` α of some α ∈ H 2 (M 4 ) is an odd multiple of a generator of H 4 (M 4 ) , for example for CP2 , and otherwise the M 4 is unique, for example for S 4 or S 2 × S 2 ; see [Freedman & Quinn 1990]. In §4.C we take the first step in this direction by proving a classical result of J. H. C. Whitehead that the homotopy type of a simply-connected closed 4 manifold is uniquely determined by its cup product structure.

Other Forms of Duality Generalizing the definition of a manifold, an n manifold with boundary is a Hausdorff space M in which each point has an open neighborhood homeomorphic n either to Rn or to the half-space Rn + = { (x1 , ··· , xn ) ∈ R | xn ≥ 0 } . If a point

x ∈ M corresponds under such a homeomorphism to a point (x1 , ··· , xn ) ∈ Rn + with n xn = 0 , then by excision we have Hn (M, M − {x}; Z) ≈ Hn (Rn + , R+ − {0}; Z) = 0 ,

Poincar´ e Duality

Section 3.3

253

whereas if x corresponds to a point (x1 , ··· , xn ) ∈ Rn + with xn > 0 or to a point of Rn , then Hn (M, M − {x}; Z) ≈ Hn (Rn , Rn − {0}; Z) ≈ Z . Thus the points x with Hn (M, M − {x}; Z) = 0 form a well-defined subspace, called the boundary of M and n−1 and ∂D n = S n−1 . It is evident that ∂M is an denoted ∂M . For example, ∂Rn + = R

(n − 1) dimensional manifold with empty boundary. If M is a manifold with boundary, then a collar neighborhood of ∂M in M is an open neighborhood homeomorphic to ∂M × [0, 1) by a homeomorphism taking ∂M to ∂M × {0} .

Proposition 3.42.

If M is a compact manifold with boundary, then ∂M has a collar

neighborhood.

Proof:

Let M 0 be M with an external collar attached, the quotient of the disjoint

union of M and ∂M × [0, 1] in which x ∈ ∂M is identified with (x, 0) ∈ ∂M × [0, 1] . It will suffice to construct a homeomorphism h : M →M 0 since ∂M 0 clearly has a collar

neighborhood. Since M is compact, so is the closed subspace ∂M . This implies that we can

choose a finite number of continuous functions ϕi : ∂M →[0, 1] such that the sets Vi = ϕi−1 (0, 1] form an open cover of ∂M and each Vi has closure contained in an

open set Ui ⊂ M homeomorphic to the half-space Rn + . After dividing each ϕi by P P ϕ we may assume ϕ = 1 . j j i i Let ψk = ϕ1 + ··· + ϕk and let Mk ⊂ M 0 be the union of M with the points (x, t) ∈ ∂M × [0, 1] with t ≤ ψk (x) . By definition ψ0 = 0 and M0 = M . We construct a homeomorphism hk : Mk−1 →Mk as follows. The homeomorphism Uk ≈ Rn + gives

a collar neighborhood ∂Uk × [−1, 0] of ∂Uk in Uk , with x ∈ ∂Uk corresponding to (x, 0) ∈ ∂Uk × [−1, 0] . Via the external collar ∂M × [0, 1] we then have an embedding ∂Uk × [−1, 1] ⊂ M 0 . We define hk to be the identity outside this ∂Uk × [−1, 1] ,

and for x ∈ ∂Uk we let hk stretch the segment {x}× [−1, ψk−1 (x)] linearly onto {x}× [−1, ψk (x)] . The composition of all the hk ’s then gives a homeomorphism M ≈ M 0 , finishing the proof.

u t

More generally, collars can be constructed for the boundaries of paracompact manifolds in the same way. A compact manifold M with boundary is defined to be R orientable if M − ∂M is R orientable as a manifold without boundary. If ∂M × [0, 1) is a collar neighborhood of ∂M in M then Hi (M, ∂M; R) is naturally isomorphic to Hi (M − ∂M, ∂M × (0, ε); R) , so when M is R orientable, Lemma 3.27 gives a relative fundamental class [M] in Hn (M, ∂M; R) restricting to a given orientation at each point of M − ∂M . It will not be difficult to deduce the following generalization of Poincar´ e duality to manifolds with boundary from the version we have already proved for noncompact manifolds:

Chapter 3

254

Theorem 3.43.

Cohomology

Suppose M is a compact R orientable n manifold whose boundary

∂M is decomposed as the union of two compact (n−1) dimensional manifolds A and B with a common boundary ∂A = ∂B = A ∩ B . Then cap product with a fundamental

class [M] ∈ Hn (M, ∂M; R) gives isomorphisms DM : H k (M, A; R)→Hn−k (M, B; R) for all k . The possibility that A , B , or A ∩ B is empty is not excluded. The cases A = ∅

and B = ∅ are sometimes called Lefschetz duality.

Proof:

The cap product map DM : H k (M, A; R)→Hn−k (M, B; R) is defined since the

existence of collar neighborhoods of A ∩ B in A and B and ∂M in M implies that A and B are deformation retracts of open neighborhoods U and V in M such that U ∪ V deformation retracts onto A ∪ B = ∂M and U ∩ V deformation retracts onto A ∩ B. The case B = ∅ is proved by applying Theorem 3.35 to M −∂M . Via a collar neighborhood of ∂M we see that H k (M, ∂M; R) ≈ Hck (M − ∂M; R) , and there are obvious isomorphisms Hn−k (M; R) ≈ Hn−k (M − ∂M; R) . The general case reduces to the case B = ∅ by applying the five-lemma to the following diagram, where coefficients in R are implicit: ≈

k

H ( B , ∂B ) [B ]

− − − − − − − − − − − − − →

[M ]

− − − − → − − → −

[M ]

− − − − − − − − − − − − − →

− − − − − − − − − − − − − →

... − − − → H k ( M, ∂M ) − − − − − → H k ( M, A ) − − − − − → H k ( ∂M, A ) − − − − − → H k +1( M, ∂M ) − − − → ... [M ]

... − − − → Hn - k ( M ) − − − − − − − → Hn - k ( M, B ) − − − − − − − → Hn - k - 1( B ) − − − − − − − − → Hn - k - 1( M ) − − − − − → ... For commutativity of the middle square one needs to check that the boundary map Hn (M, ∂M)→Hn−1 (∂M) sends a fundamental class for M to a fundamental class for ∂M . We leave this as an exercise at the end of the section.

u t

Next we turn to Alexander duality:

Theorem 3.44.

If K is a compact, locally contractible, nonempty, proper subspace e i (S n − K; Z) ≈ H e n−i−1 (K; Z) for all i . of S n , then H The special case that K is a sphere or disk was treated by more elementary means

in Proposition 2B.1. As remarked there, it is interesting that the homology of S n − K does not depend on the way that K is embedded in S n . There can be local pathologies as in the case of the Alexander horned sphere, or global complications as with knotted circles in S 3 , but these have no effect on the homology of the complement. The only requirement is that K is not too bad a space itself. An example where the theorem fails without the local contractibility assumption is the ‘quasi-circle,’ defined in an exercise for §1.3. This compact subspace K ⊂ R2 can be regarded as a subspace of

Poincar´ e Duality

Section 3.3

255

e 0 (S 2 − K; Z) ≈ Z since S 2 − K has two S 2 by adding a point at infinity. Then we have H 1 e (K; Z) = 0 since K is simply-connected. path-components, but H

Proof:

We will obtain the desired isomorphism when i ≠ 0 as the composition of five

isomorphisms Hi (S n − K) ≈ Hcn−i (S n − K) n−i n ≈ lim --→ H (S − K, U − K) n−i n ≈ lim --→ H (S , U )

e n−i−1 (U ) ≈ lim --→ H

if i ≠ 0

e n−i−1 (K) ≈H

where coefficients in Z will be implicit throughout the proof, and the direct limits are taken with respect to open neighborhoods U of K . The first isomorphism is Poincar´ e duality. The second is the definition of cohomology with compact supports. The third is excision. The fourth comes from the long exact sequences of the pairs (S n , U ) . For the final isomorphism, an easy special case is when K has a neighborhood that is a

mapping cylinder of some map X →K , as in the ‘letter examples’ at the beginning of Chapter 0, since in this case we can compute the direct limit using neighborhoods U which are segments of the mapping cylinder that deformation retract to K . To obtain the last isomorphism in the general case we need to quote Theorem A.7 in the Appendix, which says that K is a retract of some neighborhood U0 in S n since K is locally contractible. In computing the direct limits we can then restrict attention to open sets U ⊂ U0 , which all retract to K by restricting the retraction of U0 . This ∗ ∗ implies that the natural restriction map lim --→ H (U )→H (K) is surjective since we can pull back each element of H ∗ (K) to the direct limit via the retractions U →K . ∗ ∗ To see injectivity of the map lim --→ H (U )→H (K) , we first show that each neighborhood U ⊂ U0 of K contains a neighborhood V such that the inclusion V

>U

is

homotopic to the retraction V →K ⊂ U . Namely, regarding U as a subspace of an Rn ⊂ S n , the linear homotopy U × I →Rn from the identity to the retraction U →K

takes K × I to K , hence takes V × I to U for some neighborhood V of K , by compactness of I . Since the inclusion V

>U

is homotopic to the retraction V →K ⊂ U , the

restriction H ∗ (U)→H ∗ (V ) factors through H ∗ (K) , and therefore if an element of

H ∗ (U) restricts to zero in H ∗ (K) , it restricts to zero in H ∗ (V ) . This implies that the ∗ ∗ map lim --→ H (U)→H (K) is injective.

The only difficulty in the case i = 0 is that the fourth of the five isomorphisms

above does not hold, and instead we have only a short exact sequence 0

→ - He n−i−1 (U ) → - H n−i (S n , U ) → - He n−i (S n ) → - 0

To get around this little problem, observe that all the groups involved in the first three of the five isomorphisms map naturally to the corresponding groups with K and U empty. Then if we take the kernels of these maps we get an isomorphism

Chapter 3

256

Cohomology

e 0 (S n − K) ≈ lim H e n (U) , and we have seen that the latter group is isomorphic to H --→ n e (K) . t u H

Corollary 3.45.

If X ⊂ Rn is compact and locally contractible then Hi (X; Z) is 0 for

i ≥ n and torsionfree for i = n − 1 and n − 2 . For example, a closed nonorientable n manifold M cannot be embedded as a subspace of Rn+1 since Hn−1 (M; Z) contains a Z2 subgroup, by Corollary 3.28. Thus the Klein bottle cannot be embedded in R3 . More generally, the 2 dimensional complex Xm,n studied in Example 1.24, the quotient spaces of S 1 × I under the identifications (z, 0) ∼ (e2π i/m z, 0) and (z, 1) ∼ (e2π i/n z, 1) , cannot be embedded in R3 if m and n are not relatively prime, since H1 (Xm,n Z) is Z× Zd where d is the greatest common divisor of m and n . The Klein bottle is the case m = n = 2 . Viewing X as a subspace of the one-point compactification S n , Alexander e n−i−1 (S n − X; Z) . The latter group is zero e i (X; Z) ≈ H duality gives isomorphisms H

Proof:

for i ≥ n and torsionfree for i = n − 1 , so the result follows from the universal u t

coefficient theorem since X has finitely generated homology groups.

Here is another kind of duality which generalizes the calculation of the local homology groups Hi (Rn , Rn − {x}; Z) :

Proposition 3.46.

If K is a compact, locally contractible subspace of an orientable

n manifold M , then there are isomorphisms Hi (M, M − K; Z) ≈ H n−i (K; Z) for all i .

Proof:

Let U be an open neighborhood of K in M and let V be the complement of

a compact set in M . We assume U ∩ V = ∅ . Then cap product with fundamental classes gives a commutative diagram with exact rows

− − →

− − →

− − →

... − − − − − − − → Hi ( M, M - K ) ≈ Hi ( U, U - K ) − − → ... − − − − − − → Hi ( M - K ) − − − − − − − − − → Hi ( M ) − ... − − − − − → H n - i ( U ∪ V, V ) ≈ H n - i ( U ) − − − − − → ... − − → H n - i ( M, U ∪ V ) − − − → H n - i ( M, V ) − Passing to the direct limit over decreasing U ⊃ K and V , the first two vertical arrows become the Poincar´ e duality isomorphisms Hi (M − K) ≈ Hcn−i (M − K) and Hi (M) ≈ Hcn−i (M) . The five-lemma then gives an isomorphism Hi (M, M − K) ≈ lim H n−i (U ) .

--→

The latter group will be isomorphic to H n−i (K) by the argument in the proof of Theorem 3.44, provided that K is a retract of some neighborhood in M . To obtain such a retraction we can first construct a map M

> Rk

that is an embedding near the com-

pact set K , for some large k , by the method of Corollary A.9 in the Appendix. Then a neighborhood of K in Rk retracts onto K by Theorem A.7 in the Appendix, so the restriction of this retraction to a neighborhood of K in M finishes the job.

u t

There is a way of extending Alexander duality and the duality in the preceding proposition to compact sets K that are not locally contractible, by replacing the sin-

Poincar´ e Duality

Section 3.3

257

ˇ gular cohomology of K with another kind of cohomology called Cech cohomology. This is defined in the following way. To each open cover U = {Uα } of a given space X we can associate a simplicial complex N(U) called the nerve of U . This has a vertex vα for each Uα , and a set of k + 1 vertices spans a k simplex whenever the k + 1 corresponding Uα ’s have nonempty intersection. When another cover V = {Vβ } is a refinement of U , so each Vβ is contained in some Uα , then these inclusions induce a

simplicial map N(V)→N(U) that is well-defined up to homotopy. We can then form i the direct limit lim --→ H (N(U); G) with respect to finer and finer open covers U . This ˇ ˇ i (X; G) . For a full exposilimit group is by definition the Cech cohomology group H tion of this cohomology theory see [Eilenberg & Steenrod 1952]. With an analogous ˇ definition of relative groups, Cech cohomology turns out to satisfy the same axioms as

singular cohomology, and indeed a stronger form of excision: a map (X, A)→(Y , B) ˇ that restricts to a homeomorphism X − A→Y − B induces isomorphisms on Cech ˇ cohomology groups. For spaces homotopy equivalent to CW complexes, Cech cohomology coincides with singular cohomology, but for spaces with local complexities it often behaves more reasonably. For example, if X is the subspace of R3 consisting of the spheres of radius 1/n and center (1/n , 0, 0) for n = 1, 2, ··· , then contrary to what one might expect, H 3 (X; Z) is nonzero, as shown in [Barratt & Milnor 1962]. But ˇ 2 (X; Z) = Z∞ , the direct sum of countably many copies of Z . ˇ 3 (X; Z) = 0 and H H ˇ Oddly enough, the corresponding Cech homology groups defined using inverse limits are not so well-behaved. This is because the exactness axiom fails due to the algebraic fact that an inverse limit of exact sequences need not be exact, as a direct limit would be; see §3.F. However, there is a way around this problem using a more refined definition. This is Steenrod homology theory, which the reader can find out about in [Milnor 1995].

Exercises 1. Show that there exist nonorientable 1 dimensional manifolds if the Hausdorff condition is dropped from the definition of a manifold. 2. Show that deleting a point from a manifold of dimension greater than 1 does not affect orientability of the manifold. 3. Show that every covering space of an orientable manifold is an orientable manifold. 4. Given a covering space action of a group G on an orientable manifold M by orientation-preserving homeomorphisms, show that M/G is also orientable. 5. Show that M × N is orientable iff M and N are both orientable. 6. Given two disjoint connected n manifolds M1 and M2 , a connected n manifold M1 ]M2 , their connected sum, can be constructed by deleting the interiors of closed n balls B1 ⊂ M1 and B2 ⊂ M2 and identifying the resulting boundary spheres ∂B1 and ∂B2 via some homeomorphism between them. (Assume that each Bi embeds nicely in a larger ball in Mi .)

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Chapter 3

Cohomology

(a) Show that if M1 and M2 are closed then there are isomorphisms Hi (M1 ]M2 ; Z) ≈ Hi (M1 ; Z) ⊕ Hi (M2 ; Z) for 0 < i < n , with one exception: If both M1 and M2 are nonorientable, then Hn−1 (M1 ]M2 ; Z) is obtained from Hn−1 (M1 ; Z) ⊕ Hn−1 (M2 ; Z) by replacing one of the two Z2 summands by a Z summand. [Euler characteristics may help in the exceptional case.] (b) Show that χ (M1 ]M2 ) = χ (M1 ) + χ (M2 ) − χ (S n ) if M1 and M2 are closed. 7. For a map f : M →N between connected closed orientable n manifolds with fundamental classes [M] and [N] , the degree of f is defined to be the integer d such that f∗ ([M]) = d[N] , so the sign of the degree depends on the choice of fundamental classes. Show that for any connected closed orientable n manifold M there is a

degree 1 map M →S n .

8. For a map f : M →N between connected closed orientable n manifolds, suppose

there is a ball B ⊂ N such that f −1 (B) is the disjoint union of balls Bi each mapped P homeomorphically by f onto B . Show the degree of f is i εi where εi is +1 or −1

according to whether f : Bi →B preserves or reverses local orientations induced from given fundamental classes [M] and [N] . 9. Show that a p sheeted covering space projection M →N has degree ±p , when M and N are connected closed orientable manifolds. 10. Show that for a degree 1 map f : M →N of connected closed orientable manifolds,

the induced map f∗ : π1 M →π1 N is surjective, hence also f∗ : H1 (M)→H1 (N) . [Lift e →N corresponding to the subgroup Im f∗ ⊂ π1 N , then f to the covering space N consider the two cases that this covering is finite-sheeted or infinite-sheeted.]

11. If Mg denotes the closed orientable surface of genus g , show that degree 1 maps Mg →Mh exist iff g ≥ h .

12. As an algebraic application of the preceding problem, show that in a free group F with basis x1 , ··· , x2k , the product of commutators [x1 , x2 ] ··· [x2k−1 , x2k ] is not equal to a product of fewer than k commutators [vi , wi ] of elements vi , wi ∈ F . [Recall that the 2 cell of Mk is attached by the product [x1 , x2 ] ··· [x2k−1 , x2k ] . From a relation [x1 , x2 ] ··· [x2k−1 , x2k ] = [v1 , w1 ] ··· [vj , wj ] in F , construct a degree 1 map Mj →Mk .]

13. Let Mh0 ⊂ Mg be a compact subsurface of genus h with one boundary circle, so

Mh0 is homeomorphic to Mh with an open disk removed. Show there is no retraction

Mg →Mh0 if h > g/2 . [Apply the previous problem, using the fact that Mg − Mh0 has genus g − h .] 14. Let X be the shrinking wedge of circles in Example 1.25, the subspace of R2 consisting of the circles of radius 1/n and center (1/n , 0) for n = 1, 2, ··· .

(a) If fn : I →X is the loop based at the origin winding once around the n th circle, show that the infinite product of commutators [f1 , f2 ][f3 , f4 ] ··· defines a loop in X that is nontrivial in H1 (X) . [Use Exercise 12.]

Poincar´ e Duality

Section 3.3

259

(b) If we view X as the wedge sum of the subspaces A and B consisting of the oddnumbered and even-numbered circles, respectively, use the same loop to show that the map H1 (X)→H1 (A) ⊕ H1 (B) induced by the retractions of X onto A and B is not an isomorphism. 15. For an n manifold M and a compact subspace A ⊂ M , show that Hn (M, M −A; R) is isomorphic to the group ΓR (A) of sections of the covering space MR →M over A ,

that is, maps A→MR whose composition with MR →M is the identity.

16. Show that (α a ϕ) a ψ = α a (ϕ ` ψ) for all α ∈ Ck (X; R) , ϕ ∈ C ` (X; R) , and

ψ ∈ C m (X; R) . Deduce that cap product makes H∗ (X; R) a right H ∗ (X; R) module.

17. Show that a direct limit of exact sequences is exact. More generally, show that homology commutes with direct limits: If {Cα , fαβ } is a directed system of chain

lim complexes, with the maps fαβ : Cα →Cβ chain maps, then Hn (lim --→ Cα ) = --→ Hn (Cα ) .

18. Show that a direct limit lim --→ Gα of torsionfree abelian groups Gα is torsionfree. More generally, show that any finitely generated subgroup of lim --→ Gα is realized as a subgroup of some Gα .

19. Show that a direct limit of countable abelian groups over a countable indexing set is countable. Apply this to show that if X is an open set in Rn then Hi (X; Z) is countable for all i . 20. Show that Hc0 (X; G) = 0 if X is path-connected and noncompact. 21. For a space X , let X + be the one-point compactification. If the added point, denoted ∞ , has a neighborhood in X + that is a cone with ∞ the cone point, show that the evident map Hcn (X; G)→H n (X + , ∞; G) is an isomorphism for all n . [Question:

Does this result hold when X = Z× R ?] 22. Show that Hcn (X × R; G) ≈ Hcn−1 (X; G) for all n . 23. Show that for a locally compact ∆ complex X the simplicial and singular cohomology groups Hci (X; G) are isomorphic. This can be done by showing that ∆ic (X; G) is the union of its subgroups ∆i (X, A; G) as A ranges over subcomplexes of X that contain all but finitely many simplices, and likewise Cci (X; G) is the union of its subgroups C i (X, A; G) for the same family of subcomplexes A . 24. Let M be a closed connected 3 manifold, and write H1 (M; Z) as Zr ⊕ F , the direct sum of a free abelian group of rank r and a finite group F . Show that H2 (M; Z) is Zr if M is orientable and Zr −1 ⊕ Z2 if M is nonorientable. In particular, r ≥ 1 when

M is nonorientable. Using Exercise 6, construct examples showing there are no other restrictions on the homology groups of closed 3 manifolds. [In the nonorientable case consider the manifold N obtained from S 2 × I by identifying S 2 × {0} with S 2 × {1} via a reflection of S 2 .] 25. Show that if a closed orientable manifold M of dimension 2k has Hk−1 (M; Z) torsionfree, then Hk (M; Z) is also torsionfree.

260

Chapter 3

Cohomology

26. Compute the cup product structure in H ∗ (S 2 × S 8 ]S 4 × S 6 ; Z) , and in particular show that the only nontrivial cup products are those dictated by Poincar´ e duality. [See Exercise 6. The result has an evident generalization to connected sums of S i × S n−i ’s for fixed n and varying i .] 27. Show that after a suitable change of basis, a skew-symmetric nonsingular bilinear 0 −1
form over Z can be represented by a matrix consisting of 2× 2 blocks 1 0 along the diagonal and zeros elsewhere. [For the matrix of a bilinear form, the following operation can be realized by a change of basis: Add an integer multiple of the i th row to the j th row and add the same integer multiple of the i th column to the j th column. Use this to fix up each column in turn. Note that a skew-symmetric matrix must have zeros on the diagonal.] 28. Show that a nonsingular symmetric or skew-symmetric bilinear pairing over a field F , of the form F n × F n →F , cannot be identically zero when restricted to all pairs of vectors v, w in a k dimensional subspace V ⊂ F n if k > n/2 .

29. Use the preceding problem to show that if the closed orientable surface Mg of genus g retracts onto a graph X ⊂ Mg , then H1 (X) has rank at most g . Deduce an alternative proof of Exercise 13 from this, and construct a retraction of Mg onto a wedge sum of k circles for each k ≤ g . 30. Show that the boundary of an R orientable manifold is also R orientable. 31. Show that if M is a compact R orientable n manifold, then the boundary map

Hn (M, ∂M; R)→Hn−1 (∂M; R) sends a fundamental class for (M, ∂M) to a fundamental class for ∂M . 32. Show that a compact manifold does not retract onto its boundary. 33. Show that if M is a compact contractible n manifold then ∂M is a homology

(n − 1) sphere, that is, Hi (∂M; Z) ≈ Hi (S n−1 ; Z) for all i . 34. For a compact manifold M verify that the following diagram relating Poincar´ e duality for M and ∂M is commutative, up to sign at least:

H

k-1

[M ]

− − − − →

[M ]

− − − − →

[∂M ]

− − − − →

− − − − →

( ∂M ; R ) − − − − − → H k ( M, ∂M ; R ) − − − − − → H k ( M; R ) − − − − − − − − → H k ( ∂M ; R ) [∂M ]

Hn - k ( ∂M ; R ) − − − − − − − → Hn - k ( M ; R ) − − − − → Hn - k ( M, ∂M ; R ) − − − − → Hn - k - 1( ∂M ; R ) 35. If M is a noncompact R orientable n manifold with boundary ∂M having a collar neighborhood in M , show that there are Poincar´ e duality isomorphisms Hck (M; R) ≈ Hn−k (M, ∂M; R) for all k , using the five-lemma and the following diagram:

DM

− − − − →

DM

− − − − →

D∂M

− − − − →

− − − − →

... − − → Hck - 1( ∂M ; R ) − − − − → Hck ( M, ∂M ; R ) − − − − → H ck ( M; R ) − − − − − − − → H ck ( ∂M ; R ) − − − − → ... D∂M

. .. − − − → Hn - k ( ∂M ; R ) − − − − → Hn - k ( M ; R ) − − − → Hn - k ( M, ∂M ; R ) − − →Hn - k - 1( ∂M ; R ) − →...

Universal Coefficients for Homology

Section 3.A

261

The main goal in this section is an algebraic formula for computing homology with arbitrary coefficients in terms of homology with Z coefficients. The theory parallels rather closely the universal coefficient theorem for cohomology in §3.1. The first step is to formulate the definition of homology with coefficients in terms of tensor products. The chain group Cn (X; G) as defined in §2.2 consists of the finite P formal sums i gi σi with gi ∈ G and σi : ∆n →X . This means that Cn (X; G) is a direct sum of copies of G , with one copy for each singular n simplex in X . More generally, the relative chain group Cn (X, A; G) = Cn (X; G)/Cn (A; G) is also a direct sum of copies of G , one for each singular n simplex in X not contained in A . From the basic properties of tensor products listed in the discussion of the K¨ unneth formula in §3.2 it follows that Cn (X, A; G) is naturally isomorphic to Cn (X, A) ⊗ G , via the P P correspondence i gi σi , i σi ⊗ gi . Under this isomorphism the boundary map Cn (X, A; G)→Cn−1 (X, A; G) becomes the map ∂ ⊗ 11 : Cn (X, A) ⊗ G→Cn−1 (X, A) ⊗ G

where ∂ : Cn (X, A)→Cn−1 (X, A) is the usual boundary map for Z coefficients. Thus we have the following algebraic problem: Given a chain complex ···

→ - Cn --∂→ Cn−1 → - ··· of free abelian groups Cn , n

is it possible to compute the homology groups Hn (C; G) of the associated chain complex ···

n⊗

11 --→ Cn ⊗ G ---∂----------→ - Cn−1 ⊗ G --→ ··· just in terms of G and

the homology groups Hn (C) of the original complex? To approach this problem, the idea will be to compare the chain complex C with two simpler subcomplexes, the subcomplexes consisting of the cycles and the boundaries in C , and see what happens upon tensoring all three complexes with G . Let Zn = Ker ∂n ⊂ Cn and Bn = Im ∂n+1 ⊂ Cn . The restrictions of ∂n to these two subgroups are zero, so they can be regarded as subcomplexes Z and B of C with trivial boundary maps. Thus we have a short exact sequence of chain complexes consisting of the commutative diagrams ∂n

∂n ∂n - 1

− − − − − →

∂n

− − − − − →

(i)

− − − − − →

0− − − − → Zn −−−−→ Cn −−−−→ B n - 1 − − − − →0 ∂n - 1

− − − → Zn - 1 −−− −→ Cn - 1 −−−−→ B n - 2 − − − − →0 0−

The rows in this diagram split since each Bn is free, being a subgroup of the free group Cn . Thus Cn ≈ Zn ⊕ Bn−1 , but the chain complex C is not the direct sum of the chain complexes Z and B since the latter have trivial boundary maps but the boundary maps in C may be nontrivial. Now tensor with G to get a commutative diagram

Chapter 3

262

Cohomology ∂ n ⊗11

∂ n⊗11

(ii)

∂ n ⊗11

∂ n - 1 ⊗11

− − − − − →

−−−−−→ Cn ⊗ G −−−−−−→ B n - 1 ⊗ G − − − − − →0 − − − − − →

− − − − − →

0− − −−→ Zn ⊗ G

∂ n - 1 ⊗11

− − − → Zn - 1 ⊗ G − − −−−→ Cn - 1⊗ G −−−−−−→ B n - 2 ⊗ G − − − − − →0 0−

The rows are exact since the rows in (i) split and tensor products satisfy (A ⊕ B) ⊗ G ≈ A ⊗ G ⊕ B ⊗ G , so the rows in (ii) are split exact sequences too. Thus we have a short exact sequence of chain complexes 0→Z ⊗ G→C ⊗ G→B ⊗ G→0 . Since the boundary

maps are trivial in Z ⊗ G and B ⊗ G , the associated long exact sequence of homology groups has the form

→ - Bn ⊗ G → - Zn ⊗ G → - Hn (C; G) → - Bn−1 ⊗ G → - Zn−1 ⊗ G → - ··· The ‘boundary’ maps Bn ⊗ G→Zn ⊗ G in this sequence are simply the maps in ⊗ 11 where in : Bn →Zn is the inclusion. This is evident from the definition of the boundary ···

(iii)

map in a long exact sequence of homology groups: In diagram (ii) one takes an element of Bn−1 ⊗ G , pulls it back via (∂n ⊗ 11)−1 to Cn ⊗ G , then applies ∂n ⊗ 11 to get into Cn−1 ⊗ G , then pulls back to Zn−1 ⊗ G . The long exact sequence (iii) can be broken up into short exact sequences (iv)

0

→ - Coker(in ⊗ 11) → - Hn (C; G) → - Ker(in−1 ⊗ 11) → - 0

where Coker(in ⊗ 11) = (Zn ⊗ G)/ Im(in ⊗ 11) . The next lemma shows this cokernel is just Hn (C) ⊗ G .

Lemma 3A.1. If the sequence of abelian groups j ⊗ 11 i ⊗ 11 so is A ⊗ G ---------→ B ⊗ G --------→ - C ⊗ G --→ 0 . Proof:

A

i B --→ C --→ 0 --→ j

is exact, then

Certainly the compositions of two successive maps in the latter sequence are

zero. Also, j ⊗ 11 is clearly surjective since j is. To check exactness at B ⊗ G it suffices to show that the map B ⊗ G/ Im(i ⊗ 11)→C ⊗ G induced by j ⊗ 11 is an isomorphism,

which we do by constructing its inverse. Define a map ϕ : C × G→B ⊗ G/ Im(i ⊗ 11) by ϕ(c, g) = b ⊗ g where j(b) = c . This ϕ is well-defined since if j(b) = j(b0 ) = c

then b − b = i(a) for some a ∈ A by exactness, so b ⊗ g − b0 ⊗ g = (b − b0 ) ⊗ g = i(a) ⊗ g ∈ Im(i ⊗ 11) . Since ϕ is a homomorphism in each variable separately, it

induces a homomorphism C ⊗ G→B ⊗ G/ Im(i ⊗ 11) . This is clearly an inverse to the

map B ⊗ G/ Im(i ⊗ 11)→C ⊗ G .

u t

It remains to understand Ker(in−1 ⊗ 11) , or equivalently Ker(in ⊗ 11) . The situation is that tensoring the short exact sequence (v)

0

---→ - Bn ----i-→ - Zn ---→ - Hn (C) ---→ - 0 n

with G produces a sequence which becomes exact only by insertion of the extra term Ker(in ⊗ 11) : (vi)

0

n⊗

11 Zn ⊗ G --→ Hn (C) ⊗ G → → - Ker(in ⊗ 11) --→ Bn ⊗ G ---i---------→ - 0

Universal Coefficients for Homology

Section 3.A

263

What we will show is that Ker(in ⊗ 11) does not really depend on Bn and Zn but only on their quotient Hn (C) , and of course G . The sequence (v) is a free resolution of Hn (C) , where as in §3.1 a free resolution of an abelian group H is an exact sequence ···

--→ F2 -----→ - F1 -----→ - F0 -----→ - H --→ 0 f2

f1

f0

with each Fn free. Tensoring a free resolution of this form with a fixed group G produces a chain complex ···

f1 ⊗ 11

f0 ⊗ 11

--→ F1 ⊗ G ------------→ F0 ⊗ G ------------→ H ⊗ G --→ 0

By the preceding lemma this is exact at F0 ⊗ G and H ⊗ G , but to the left of these two terms it may not be exact. For the moment let us write Hn (F ⊗ G) for the homology group Ker(fn ⊗ 11)/ Im(fn+1 ⊗ 11) .

Lemma 3A.2.

For any two free resolutions F and F 0 of H there are canonical iso-

morphisms Hn (F ⊗ G) ≈ Hn (F 0 ⊗ G) for all n .

Proof:

We will use Lemma 3.1(a). In the situation described there we have two free

resolutions F and F 0 with a chain map between them. If we tensor the two free resolutions with G we obtain chain complexes F ⊗ G and F 0 ⊗ G with the maps αn ⊗ 11 forming a chain map between them. Passing to homology, this chain map induces homomorphisms α∗ : Hn (F ⊗ G)→Hn (F 0 ⊗ G) which are independent of the choice of

αn ’s since if αn and α0n are chain homotopic via a chain homotopy λn then αn ⊗ 11

and α0n ⊗ 11 are chain homotopic via λn ⊗ 11 . For a composition H

α H 0 --→ H 00 --→ β

with free resolutions F , F 0 , and F 00 of these

three groups also given, the induced homomorphisms satisfy (βα)∗ = β∗ α∗ since

we can choose for the chain map F →F 00 the composition of chain maps F →F 0 →F 00 . In particular, if we take α to be an isomorphism, with β its inverse and F 00 = F ,

then β∗ α∗ = (βα)∗ = 11∗ = 11 , and similarly with β and α reversed. So α∗ is an isomorphism if α is an isomorphism. Specializing further, taking α to be the identity but with two different free resolutions F and F 0 , we get a canonical isomorphism 0 11∗ : Hn (F ⊗ G)→Hn (F ⊗ G) .

u t

The group Hn (F ⊗ G) , which depends only on H and G , is denoted Torn (H, G) .

Since a free resolution 0→F1 →F0 →H →0 always exists, as noted in §3.1, it follows that Torn (H, G) = 0 for n > 1 . Usually Tor1 (H, G) is written simply as Tor(H, G) . As we shall see later, Tor(H, G) provides a measure of the common torsion of H and G , hence the name ‘ Tor .’ Is there a group Tor0 (H, G) ? With the definition given above it would be zero since

Lemma 3A.1 implies that F1 ⊗ G→F0 ⊗ G→H ⊗ G→0 is exact. It is probably better

to modify the definition of Hn (F ⊗ G) to be the homology groups of the sequence

Chapter 3

264

Cohomology

··· →F1 ⊗ G→F0 ⊗ G→0 , omitting the term H ⊗ G which can be regarded as a kind of augmentation. With this revised definition, Lemma 3A.1 then gives an isomorphism Tor0 (H, G) ≈ H ⊗ G . We should remark that Tor(H, G) is a functor of both G and H : Homomorphisms

α : H →H 0 and β : G→G0 induce homomorphisms α∗ : Tor(H, G)→Tor(H 0 , G) and β∗ : Tor(H, G)→Tor(H, G0 ) , satisfying (αα0 )∗ = α∗ α0∗ , (ββ0 )∗ = β∗ β0∗ , and 11∗ = 11 .

The induced map α∗ was constructed in the proof of Lemma 3A.2, while for β the construction of β∗ is obvious. Before going into calculations of Tor(H, G) let us finish analyzing the earlier exact sequence (iv). Recall that we have a chain complex C of free abelian groups, with homology groups denoted Hn (C) , and tensoring C with G gives another complex C ⊗ G whose homology groups are denoted Hn (C; G) . The following result is known as the universal coefficient theorem for homology since it describes homology with arbitrary coefficients in terms of homology with the ‘universal’ coefficient group Z .

Theorem 3A.3.

If C is a chain complex of free abelian groups, then there are natural

short exact sequences 0

→ - Hn (C) ⊗ G → - Hn (C; G) → - Tor(Hn−1 (C), G) → - 0

for all n and all G , and these sequences split, though not naturally. Naturality means that a chain map C →C 0 induces a map between the corresponding short exact sequences, with commuting squares.

Proof:

The exact sequence in question is (iv) since we have shown that we can identify

Coker(in ⊗ 11) with Hn (C) ⊗ G and Ker in−1 with Tor(Hn−1 (C), G) . Verifying the naturality of this sequence is a mental exercise in definition-checking, left to the reader. The splitting is obtained as follows. We observed earlier that the short exact sequence 0→Zn →Cn →Bn−1 →0 splits, so there is a projection p : Cn →Zn restricting to the identity on Zn . The map p gives an extension of the quotient map Zn →Hn (C)

to a homomorphism Cn →Hn (C) . Letting n vary, we then have a chain map C →H(C) where the groups Hn (C) are regarded as a chain complex with trivial boundary maps, so the chain map condition is automatic. Now tensor with G to get a chain map

C ⊗ G→H(C) ⊗ G . Taking homology groups, we then have induced homomorphisms

Hn (C; G)→Hn (C) ⊗ G since the boundary maps in the chain complex H(C) ⊗ G are

trivial. The homomorphisms Hn (C; G)→Hn (C) ⊗ G give the desired splitting since at the level of chains they are the identity on cycles in C , by the definition of p .

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Corollary 3A.4. For each pair of spaces (X, A) there are split exact sequences 0→ - Hn (X, A) ⊗ G → - Hn (X, A; G) → - Tor(Hn−1 (X, A), G) → - 0 u for all n , and these sequences are natural with respect to maps (X, A)→(Y , B) . t The splitting is not natural, for if it were, a map X →Y that induced trivial maps Hn (X)→Hn (Y ) and Hn−1 (X)→Hn−1 (Y ) would have to induce the trivial map

Universal Coefficients for Homology

Section 3.A

265

Hn (X; G)→Hn (Y ; G) for all G , but in Example 2.51 we saw an instance where this

fails, namely the quotient map M(Zm , n)→S n+1 with G = Zm . The basic tools for computing Tor are given by:

Proposition 3A.5. (1) Tor(A, B) ≈ Tor(B, A) . L L (2) Tor( i Ai , B) ≈ i Tor(Ai , B) . (3) Tor(A, B) = 0 if A or B is free, or more generally torsionfree. (4) Tor(A, B) ≈ Tor(T (A), B) where T (A) is the torsion subgroup of A . (5) Tor(Zn , A) ≈ Ker(A

n A) . --→

(6) For each short exact sequence 0→B →C →D →0 there is a naturally associated exact sequence

0→Tor(A, B)→Tor(A, C)→Tor(A, D)→A ⊗ B →A ⊗ C →A ⊗ D →0 L Proof: Statement (2) is easy since one can choose as a free resolution of i Ai the direct sum of free resolutions of the Ai ’s. Also easy is (5), which comes from tensoring the free resolution 0→Z

n Z→Zn →0 with A . --→

For (3), if A is free, it has a free resolution with Fn = 0 for n ≥ 1 , so Tor(A, B) = 0 for all B . On the other hand, if B is free, then tensoring a free resolution of A with B preserves exactness, since tensoring a sequence with a direct sum of Z ’s produces just a direct sum of copies of the given sequence. So Tor(A, B) = 0 in this case too. The generalization to torsionfree A or B will be given below.

For (6), choose a free resolution 0→F1 →F0 →A→0 and tensor with the given

short exact sequence to get a commutative diagram

0− − − − → F0 ⊗ B

− − − − → F0 ⊗ C −− −−→ F0 ⊗ D − − − − →0

− →

− →

− − − − → F1 ⊗ C −− −−→ F1 ⊗ D − − − − →0

− →

0− − − − → F1 ⊗ B

The rows are exact since tensoring with a free group preserves exactness. Extending the three columns by zeros above and below, we then have a short exact sequence of chain complexes whose associated long exact sequence of homology groups is the desired six-term exact sequence. To prove (1) we apply (6) to a free resolution 0→F1 →F0 →B →0 . Since Tor(A, F1 ) and Tor(A, F0 ) vanish by the part of (3) which we have proved, the six-term sequence in (6) reduces to the first row of the following diagram: ≈

− − →

≈

− →

− − →

0− − − − − → Tor ( A, B ) − − − − − → A ⊗ F1 − − − − − →A ⊗ F 0 − − − − − →A ⊗ B − − − − − →0 ≈

0− − − − − → Tor ( B, A ) − − − − − → F1 ⊗ A − − − − − → F0 ⊗ A − − − − − →B ⊗A − − − − − →0 The second row comes from the definition of Tor(B, A) . The vertical isomorphisms come from the natural commutativity of tensor product. Since the squares commute, there is induced a map Tor(A, B)→Tor(B, A) , which is an isomorphism by the fivelemma.

Chapter 3

266

Cohomology

Now we can prove the statement (3) in the torsionfree case. For a free resolution we wish to show that ϕ ⊗ 11 : F1 ⊗ B →F0 ⊗ B is injective P if B is torsionfree. Suppose i xi ⊗ bi lies in the kernel of ϕ ⊗ 11 . This means that P i ϕ(xi ) ⊗ bi can be reduced to 0 by a finite number of applications of the defining 0

→ - F1 --→ F0 → - A→ - 0 ϕ

relations for tensor products. Only a finite number of elements of B are involved in P this process. These lie in a finitely generated subgroup B0 ⊂ B , so i xi ⊗ bi lies in

the kernel of ϕ ⊗ 11 : F1 ⊗ B0 →F0 ⊗ B0 . This kernel is zero since Tor(A, B0 ) = 0 , as B0 is finitely generated and torsionfree, hence free.

Finally, we can obtain statement (4) by applying (6) to the short exact sequence 0→T (A)→A→A/T (A)→0 since A/T (A) is torsionfree.

u t

In particular, (5) gives Tor(Zm , Zn ) ≈ Zq where q is the greatest common divisor of m and n . Thus Tor(Zm , Zn ) is isomorphic to Zm ⊗ Zn , though somewhat by accident. Combining this isomorphism with (2) and (3) we see that for finitely generated A and B , Tor(A, B) is isomorphic to the tensor product of the torsion subgroups of A and B , or roughly speaking, the common torsion of A and B . This is one reason for the ‘ Tor ’ designation, further justification being (3) and (4). Homology calculations are often simplified by taking coefficients in a field, usually Q or Zp for p prime. In general this gives less information than taking Z coefficients, but still some of the essential features are retained, as the following result indicates:

Corollary

3A.6. (a) Hn (X; Q) ≈ Hn (X; Z) ⊗ Q , so when Hn (X; Z) is finitely gen-

erated, the dimension of Hn (X; Q) as a vector space over Q equals the rank of Hn (X; Z) . (b) If Hn (X; Z) and Hn−1 (X; Z) are finitely generated, then for p prime, Hn (X; Zp ) consists of (i) a Zp summand for each Z summand of Hn (X; Z) , (ii) a Zp summand for each Zpk summand in Hn (X; Z) , k ≥ 1 , (iii) a Zp summand for each Zpk summand in Hn−1 (X; Z) , k ≥ 1 .

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Even in the case of nonfinitely generated homology groups, field coefficients still give good qualitative information:

Corollary 3A.7.

e n (X; Z) = 0 for all n iff H e n (X; Q) = 0 and H e n (X; Zp ) = 0 for (a) H

all n and all primes p .

(b) A map f : X →Y induces isomorphisms on homology with Z coefficients iff it induces isomorphisms on homology with Q and Zp coefficients for all primes p .

Proof:

Statement (b) follows from (a) by passing to the mapping cone of f . The

universal coefficient theorem gives the ‘only if’ half of (a). For the ‘if’ implication it suffices to show that if an abelian group A is such that A ⊗ Q = 0 and Tor(A, Zp ) = 0

Universal Coefficients for Homology

Section 3.A

for all primes p , then A = 0 . For the short exact sequences 0→Z

267

--→ Z→Zp →0 and p

0→Z→Q→Q/Z→0 , the six-term exact sequences in (6) of the proposition become

→ - Tor(A, Zp ) → - A --→ A → - A⊗ Zp → - 0 0→ - Tor(A, Q/Z) → - A→ - A⊗ Q → - A⊗ Q/Z → - 0 0

p

If Tor(A, Zp ) = 0 for all p , then exactness of the first sequence implies that A

--→ A p

is injective for all p , so A is torsionfree. Then Tor(A, Q/Z) = 0 by (3) or (4) of the

proposition, so the second sequence implies that A→A ⊗ Q is injective, hence A = 0 if A ⊗ Q = 0 .

u t

The algebra by means of which the Tor functor is derived from tensor products has a very natural generalization in which abelian groups are replaced by modules over a fixed ring R with identity, using the definition of tensor product of R modules given in §3.2. Free resolutions of R modules are defined in the same way as for abelian groups, using free R modules, which are direct sums of copies of R . Lemmas 3A.1 and 3A.2 carry over to this context without change, and so one has functors TorR n (A, B) . However, it need not be true that TorR n (A, B) = 0 for n > 1 . The reason this was true when R = Z was that subgroups of free groups are free, but submodules of free R modules need not be free in general. If R is a principal ideal domain, submodules of free R modules are free, so in this case the rest of the algebra, in particular the universal coefficient theorem, goes through without change. When R is a field F , every

module is free and TorFn (A, B) = 0 for n > 0 via the free resolution 0→A→A→0 .

Thus Hn (C ⊗F G) ≈ Hn (C) ⊗F G if F is a field.

Exercises 1. Use the universal coefficient theorem to show that if H∗ (X; Z) is finitely generated, P so the Euler characteristic χ (X) = n (−1)n rank Hn (X; Z) is defined, then for any P coefficient field F we have χ (X) = n (−1)n dim Hn (X; F ) . 2. Show that Tor(A, Q/Z) is isomorphic to the torsion subgroup of A . Deduce that A is torsionfree iff Tor(A, B) = 0 for all B . e n (X; Q) and H e n (X; Zp ) are zero for all n and all primes p , then 3. Show that if H e n (X; G) = 0 for all G and n . e n (X; Z) = 0 for all n , and hence H H lim ⊗ ⊗ 4. Show that ⊗ and Tor commute with direct limits: (lim --→ Aα ) B = --→(Aα B) and Tor(lim Aα , B) = lim Tor(Aα , B) .

--→

--→

5. From the fact that Tor(A, B) = 0 if A is free, deduce that Tor(A, B) = 0 if A is torsionfree by applying the previous problem to the directed system of finitely generated subgroups Aα of A . 6. Show that Tor(A, B) is always a torsion group, and that Tor(A, B) contains an element of order n iff both A and B contain elements of order n .

268

Chapter 3

Cohomology

K¨ unneth formulas describe the homology or cohomology of a product space in terms of the homology or cohomology of the factors. In nice cases these formulas take the form H∗ (X × Y ; R) ≈ H∗ (X; R) ⊗ H∗ (Y ; R) or H ∗ (X × Y ; R) ≈ H ∗ (X; R) ⊗ H ∗ (Y ; R) for a coefficient ring R . For the case of cohomology, such a formula was given in Theorem 3.16, with hypotheses of finite generation and freeness on the cohomology of one factor. To obtain a completely general formula without these hypotheses it turns out that homology is more natural than cohomology, and the main aim in this section is to derive the general K¨ unneth formula for homology. The new feature of the general case is that an extra Tor term is needed to describe the full homology of a product.

The Cross Product in Homology A major component of the K¨ unneth formula is a cross product map Hi (X; R)× Hj (Y ; R)

------×---→ - Hi+j (X × Y ; R)

There are two ways to define this. One is a direct definition for singular homology, involving explicit simplicial formulas. More enlightening, however, is the definition in terms of cellular homology. This necessitates assuming X and Y are CW complexes, but this hypothesis can later be removed by the technique of CW approximation in §4.1. We shall focus therefore on the cellular definition, leaving the simplicial definition to later in this section for those who are curious to see how it goes. The key ingredient in the definition of the cellular cross product will be the fact that the cellular boundary map satisfies d(ei × ej ) = dei × ej + (−1)i ei × dej . Implicit in the right side of this formula is the convention of treating the symbol × as a bilinear operation on cellular chains. With this convention we can then say more generally that d(a× b) = da× b + (−1)i a× db whenever a is a cellular i chain and b is a cellular j chain. From this formula it is obvious that the cross product of two cycles is a cycle. Also, the product of a boundary and a cycle is a boundary since da× b = d(a× b) if db = 0 , and similarly a× db = (−1)i d(a× b) if da = 0 . Hence

there is an induced bilinear map Hi (X; R)× Hj (Y ; R)→Hi+j (X × Y ; R) , which is by definition the cross product in cellular homology. Since it is bilinear, it could also be viewed as a homomorphism Hi (X; R) ⊗R Hj (Y ; R)→Hi+j (X × Y ; R) . In either form, this cross product turns out to be independent of the cell structures on X and Y . Our task then is to express the boundary maps in the cellular chain complex C∗ (X × Y ) for X × Y in terms of the boundary maps in the cellular chain complexes C∗ (X) and C∗ (Y ) . For simplicity we consider homology with Z coefficients here, but the same formula for arbitrary coefficients follows immediately from this special case. With Z coefficients, the cellular chain group Ci (X) is free with basis the i cells of X , but there is a sign ambiguity for the basis element corresponding to each cell ei ,

The General K¨ unneth Formula

Section 3.B

269

namely the choice of a generator for the Z summand of Hi (X i , X i−1 ) corresponding to ei . Only when i = 0 is this choice canonical. We refer to these choices as ‘choosing orientations for the cells.’ A choice of such orientations allows cellular i chains to be written unambiguously as linear combinations of i cells. The formula d(ei × ej ) = dei × ej +(−1)i ei × dej is not completely canonical since it contains the sign (−1)i but not (−1)j . Evidently there is some distinction being made between the two factors of ei × ej . Since the signs arise from orientations, we need to make explicit how an orientation of cells ei and ej determines an orientation of ei × ej . Via characteristic maps, orientations can be obtained from orientations of the domain disks of the characteristic maps. It will be convenient to choose these i domains to be cubes since the product of two cubes is again a cube. Thus for a cell eα

we take a characteristic map Φα : I i →X where I i is the product of i intervals [0, 1] . An orientation of I i is a generator of Hi (I i , ∂I i ) , and the image of this generator under

i . We can identify Hi (I i , ∂I i ) with Hi (I i , I i − {x}) for Φα∗ gives an orientation of eα

any point x in the interior of I i , and then an orientation is determined by a linear

embedding ∆i →I i with x chosen in the interior of the image of this embedding. The embedding is determined by its sequence of vertices v0 , ··· , vi . The vectors v1 −v0 , ··· , vi −v0 are linearly independent in I i , thought of as the unit cube in Ri , so an orientation in our sense is equivalent to an orientation in the sense of linear algebra, that is, an equivalence class of ordered bases, two ordered bases being equivalent if they differ by a linear transformation of positive determinant. (An ordered basis can be continuously deformed to an orthonormal basis, by the Gram–Schmidt process, and two orthonormal bases are related either by a rotation or a rotation followed by a reflection, according to the sign of the determinant of the transformation taking one to the other.) With this in mind, we adopt the convention that an orientation of I i × I j = I i+j is obtained by choosing an ordered basis consisting of an ordered basis for I i followed by an ordered basis for I j . Notice that reversing the orientation for either I i or I j then reverses the orientation for I i+j , so all that really matters is the order of the two factors of I i × I j .

Proposition 3B.1.

The boundary map in the cellular chain complex C∗ (X × Y ) is

determined by the boundary maps in the cellular chain complexes C∗ (X) and C∗ (Y ) via the formula d(ei × ej ) = dei × ej + (−1)i ei × dej .

Proof: Let us first consider the special case of the cube I n . with two vertices and one edge, so the i

th

We give I the CW structure

copy of I has a 1 cell ei and 0 cells 0i and

1i , with dei = 1i − 0i . The n cell in the product I n is e1 × ··· × en , and we claim that the boundary of this cell is given by the formula (∗)

d(e1 × ··· × en ) =

X (−1)i+1 e1 × ··· × dei × ··· × en i

Chapter 3

270

Cohomology

This formula is correct modulo the signs of the individual terms e1 × ··· × 0i × ··· × en and e1 × ··· × 1i × ··· × en since these are exactly the (n − 1) cells in the boundary sphere ∂I n of I n . To obtain the signs in (∗) , note that switching the two ends of an I factor of I n produces a reflection of ∂I n , as does a transposition of two adjacent I factors. Since reflections have degree −1 , this implies that (∗) is correct up to an overall sign. This final sign can be determined by looking at any term, say the term 01 × e2 × ··· × en , which has a minus sign in (∗) . To check that this is right, consider the n simplex [v0 , ··· , vn ] with v0 at the origin and vk the unit vector along the k th coordinate axis for k > 0 . This simplex defines the ‘positive’ orientation of I n as described earlier, and in the usual formula for its boundary the face [v0 , v2 , ··· , vn ] , which defines the positive orientation for the face 01 × e2 × ··· × en of I n , has a minus sign. If we write I n = I i × I j with i + j = n and we set ei = e1 × ··· × ei and ej = ei+1 × ··· × en , then the formula (∗) becomes d(ei × ej ) = dei × ej + (−1)i ei × dej . We will use naturality to reduce the general case of the boundary formula to this special case. When dealing with cellular homology, the maps f : X →Y that induce

chain maps f∗ : C∗ (X)→C∗ (Y ) of the cellular chain complexes are the cellular maps, taking X n to Y n for all n , hence (X n , X n−1 ) to (Y n , Y n−1 ) . The naturality statement

we want is then:

Lemma 3B.2. For cellular maps f : X →Z and g : Y →W , the cellular chain maps f∗ : C∗ (X)→C∗ (Z) , g∗ : C∗ (Y )→C∗ (W ) , and (f × g)∗ : C∗ (X × Y )→C∗ (Z × W ) are related by the formula (f × g)∗ = f∗ × g∗ . P i The relation (f × g)∗ = f∗ × g∗ means that if f∗ (eα ) = γ mαγ eγi and if P P j j j j i × eβ ) = γδ mαγ nβδ (eγi × eδ ) . The coefficient g∗ (eβ ) = δ nβδ eδ , then (f × g)∗ (eα

Proof:

mαγ is the degree of the composition fαγ : S i →X i /X i−1 →Z i /Z i−1 →S i where the

i and eγi , and the first and third maps are induced by characteristic maps for the cells eα

middle map is induced by the cellular map f . With the natural choices of basepoints in these quotient spaces, fαγ is basepoint-preserving. The nβδ ’s are obtained similarly

from maps gβδ : S j →S j . For f × g , the map (f × g)αβ,γδ : S i+j →S i+j whose degree j

j

i × eβ ) is obtained from the product map is the coefficient of eγi × eδ in (f × g)∗ (eα

fαγ × gβδ : S i × S j →S i × S j by collapsing the (i + j − 1) skeleton of S i × S j to a point.

In other words, (f × g)αβ,γδ is the smash product map fαγ ∧ gβδ . What we need to show is the formula deg(f ∧ g) = deg(f ) deg(g) for basepoint-preserving maps f : S i →S i and g : S j →S j .

Since f ∧ g is the composition of f ∧ 11 and 11 ∧ g , it suffices to show that deg(f ∧ 11) = deg(f ) and deg(11∧g) = deg(g) . We do this by relating smash products to suspension. The smash product X ∧S 1 can be viewed as X × I/(X × ∂I ∪{x0 }× I) , so it is the reduced suspension ΣX , the quotient of the ordinary suspension SX obtained by collapsing the segment {x0 }× I to a point. If X is a CW complex with x0 a 0 cell,

The General K¨ unneth Formula

Section 3.B

271

the quotient map SX →X ∧S 1 induces an isomorphism on homology since it collapses

a contractible subcomplex to a point. Taking X = S i , we

Sf

f∧

− − − →

induced commutative diagram of homology groups Hi+1 we deduce that Sf and f ∧ 11 have the same degree. Since

i S (S ) − −−−→ S ( S i )

− − − →

have the commutative diagram at the right, and from the

i 1 11 i 1 S ∧S S ∧S − −−−→

suspension preserves degree by Proposition 2.33, we conclude that deg(f ∧ 11) = deg(f ) . The 11 in this formula is the identity map on S 1 , and by iteration we obtain the same result for 11 the identity map on S j since S j is the smash product of j copies of S 1 . This implies also that deg(11 ∧ g) = deg(g) since a permutation of

coordinates in S i+j does not affect the degree of maps S i+j →S i+j .

u t

Now to finish the proof of the proposition, let Φ : I i →X i and Ψ : I j →Y j be charj

i ⊂ X and eβ ⊂ Y . The restriction of Φ to ∂I i is the atacteristic maps of cells eα

taching map of

i . eα

We may perform a preliminary homotopy of this attaching map

∂I i →X i−1 to make it cellular. There is no need to appeal to the cellular approximation theorem to do this since a direct argument is easy: First deform the attaching map so that it sends all but one face of I i to a point, which is possible since the union of these faces is contractible, then do a further deformation so that the image point of this union of faces is a 0 cell. A homotopy of the attaching map ∂I i →X i−1 does

i i , since deα is determined by the induced map not affect the cellular boundary deα

Hi−1 (∂I i )→Hi−1 (X i−1 )→Hi−1 (X i−1 , X i−2 ) . So we may assume Φ is cellular, and like-

wise Ψ , hence also Φ× Ψ . The map of cellular chain complexes induced by a cellular map between CW complexes is a chain map, commuting with the cellular boundary maps. j

i , Ψ∗ (ej ) = eβ , If ei is the i cell of I i and ej the j cell of I j , then Φ∗ (ei ) = eα j

i × eβ , hence and (Φ× Ψ )∗ (ei × ej ) = eα




j

i × eβ ) = d (Φ× Ψ )∗ (ei × ej ) d(eα

= (Φ× Ψ )∗ d(ei × ej ) i

since (Φ× Ψ )∗ is a chain map

= (Φ× Ψ )∗ (de × e + (−1)i ei × dej ) i

j

j

by the special case

= Φ∗ (de )× Ψ∗ (e ) + (−1) Φ∗ (e )× Ψ∗ (dej )

by the lemma

= dΦ∗ (ei )× Ψ∗ (ej ) + (−1)i Φ∗ (ei )× dΨ∗ (ej )

since Φ∗ and Ψ∗ are chain maps

j

i

i

j

i i × eβ + (−1)i eα × deβ = deα

which completes the proof of the proposition.

Example

u t

3B.3. Consider X × S k where we give S k its usual CW structure with two

cells. The boundary formula in C∗ (X × S k ) takes the form d(a× b) = da× b since d = 0 in C∗ (S k ) . So the chain complex C∗ (X × S k ) is just the direct sum of two copies of the chain complex C∗ (X) , one of the copies having its dimension shifted

272

Chapter 3

Cohomology

upward by k . Hence Hn (X × S k ; Z) ≈ Hn (X; Z) ⊕ Hn−k (X; Z) for all n . In particular, we see that all the homology classes in X × S k are cross products of homology classes in X and S k .

Example 3B.4.

More subtle things can happen when X and Y both have torsion in

their homology. To take the simplest case, let X be S 1 with a cell e2 attached by a

map S 1 →S 1 of degree m , so H1 (X; Z) ≈ Zm and Hi (X; Z) = 0 for i > 1 . Similarly,

let Y be obtained from S 1 by attaching a 2 cell by a map of degree n . Thus X and Y each have CW structures with three cells and so X × Y

m

and Y in the vertical direction. The arrows denote the nonzero cellular boundary maps. For example the two arrows leaving the dot in the upper right corner indi-

-n

− − − − →

n

diagram at the right, with X in the horizontal direction

→ − − − −

− − − − →

− − − − →

e2

has nine cells. These are indicated by the dots in the

e1

→ − − − −

e0

m → − − − −

e0

cate that ∂(e2 × e2 ) = m(e1 × e2 ) + n(e2 × e1 ) . Obviously

e1

m

n

e2

H1 (X × Y ; Z) is Zm ⊕ Zn . In dimension 2 , Ker ∂ is generated by e1 × e1 , and the image of the boundary map from dimension 3 consists of the multiples (`m − kn)(e1 × e1 ) . These form a cyclic group generated by q(e1 × e1 ) where q is the greatest common divisor of m and n , so H2 (X × Y ; Z) ≈ Zq . In dimension 3 the cycles are the multiples of (m/q)(e1 × e2 ) + (n/q)(e2 × e1 ) , and the smallest such multiple that is a boundary is q[(m/q)(e1 × e2 ) + (n/q)(e2 × e1 )] = m(e1 × e2 ) + n(e2 × e1 ) , so H3 (X × Y ; Z) ≈ Zq . Since X and Y have no homology above dimension 1 , this 3 dimensional homology of X × Y cannot be realized by cross products. As the general theory will show,
H2 (X × Y ; Z) is H1 (X; Z) ⊗ H1 (Y ; Z) and H3 (X × Y ; Z) is Tor(H1 X; Z), H1 (Y ; Z) . This example generalizes easily to higher dimensions, with X = S i ∪ ei+1 and Y = S j ∪ ej+1 , the attaching maps having degrees m and n , respectively. Essentially the same calculation shows that X × Y has both Hi+j and Hi+j+1 isomorphic to Zq . We should say a few words about why the cross product is independent of CW structures. For this we will need a fact proved in the next chapter in Theorem 4.8, that every map between CW complexes is homotopic to a cellular map. As we mentioned earlier, a cellular map induces a chain map between cellular chain complexes. It is easy to see from the equivalence between cellular and singular homology that the map on cellular homology induced by a cellular map is the same as the map induced on singular homology. Now suppose we have cellular maps f : X →Z and g : Y →W . Then Lemma 3B.2 implies that we have a commutative diagram ×

f∗ × g∗

− − − − − →

− − − − − →

Hi ( X ; Z ) × Hj ( Y ; Z ) − −−−−→ Hi +j ( X × Y ; Z ) ( f × g )∗

×

Hi ( Z ; Z ) × Hj ( W ; Z ) − −−−−→ Hi +j ( Z × W ; Z ) Now take Z and W to be the same spaces as X and Y but with different CW structures, and let f and g be cellular maps homotopic to the identity. The vertical maps in the

The General K¨ unneth Formula

Section 3.B

273

diagram are then the identity, and commutativity of the diagram says that the cross products defined using the different CW structures coincide. Cross product is obviously bilinear, or in other words, distributive. It is not hard to check that it is also associative. What about commutativity? If T : X × Y →Y × X is transposition of the factors, then we can ask whether T∗ (a× b) equals b× a . The only effect transposing the factors has on the definition of cross product is in the convention for orienting a product I i × I j by taking an ordered basis in the first factor followed by an ordered basis in the second factor. Switching the two factors can be achieved by moving each of the i coordinates of I i past each of the coordinates of I j . This is a total of ij transpositions of adjacent coordinates, each realizable by a reflection, so a sign of (−1)ij is introduced. Thus the correct formula is T∗ (a× b) = (−1)ij b× a for a ∈ Hi (X) and b ∈ Hj (Y ) .

The Algebraic K¨ unneth Formula By adding together the various cross products we obtain a map
L i Hi (X; Z) ⊗ Hn−i (Y ; Z) ----→ Hn (X × Y ; Z) and it is natural to ask whether this is an isomorphism. Example 3B.4 above shows that this is not always the case, though it is true in Example 3B.3. Our main goal in what follows is to show that the map is always injective, and that its cokernel is
L i Tor Hi (X; Z), Hn−i−1 (Y ; Z) . More generally, we consider other coefficients besides Z and show in particular that with field coefficients the map is an isomorphism. For CW complexes X and Y , the relationship between the cellular chain complexes C∗ (X) , C∗ (Y ) , and C∗ (X × Y ) can be expressed nicely in terms of tensor products. Since the n cells of X × Y are the products of i cells of X with (n − i) cells of Y ,
L i j i j i Ci (X) ⊗ Cn−i (Y ) , with e × e corresponding to e ⊗ e . Un-

we have Cn (X × Y ) ≈

der this identification the boundary formula of Proposition 3B.1 becomes d(ei ⊗ ej ) = dei ⊗ ej + (−1)i ei ⊗ dej . Our task now is purely algebraic, to compute the homology of the chain complex C∗ (X × Y ) from the homology of C∗ (X) and C∗ (Y ) .

Suppose we are given chain complexes C and C 0 of abelian groups Cn and Cn0 ,

or more generally R modules over a commutative ring R . The tensor product chain L 0 ) , with boundary maps complex C ⊗R C 0 is then defined by (C ⊗R C 0 )n = i (Ci ⊗R Cn−i 0 . The sign (−1)i given by ∂(c ⊗ c 0 ) = ∂c ⊗ c 0 + (−1)i c ⊗ ∂c 0 for c ∈ Ci and c 0 ∈ Cn−i

guarantees that ∂ 2 = 0 in C ⊗R C 0 , since

∂ 2 (c ⊗ c 0 ) = ∂ ∂c ⊗ c 0 + (−1)i c ⊗ ∂c 0




= ∂ 2 c ⊗ c 0 + (−1)i−1 ∂c ⊗ ∂c 0 + (−1)i ∂c ⊗ ∂c 0 + c ⊗ ∂ 2 c 0 = 0 From the boundary formula ∂(c ⊗ c 0 ) = ∂c ⊗ c 0 + (−1)i c ⊗ ∂c 0 it follows that the tensor product of cycles is a cycle, and the tensor product of a cycle and a boundary, in either order, is a boundary, just as for the cross product defined earlier. So there is induced a natural map on homology groups Hi (C) ⊗R Hn−i (C 0 )→Hn (C ⊗R C 0 ) . Summing over i

Chapter 3

274

then gives a map

Cohomology

L i




Hi (C) ⊗R Hn−i (C 0 )

→Hn (C ⊗R C 0 ) . This figures in the following

algebraic version of the K¨ unneth formula:

Theorem 3B.5.

If R is a principal ideal domain and the R modules Ci are free, then

for each n there is a natural short exact sequence 0→

L i




Hi (C) ⊗R Hn−i (C 0 )

→Hn (C ⊗R C 0 )→

L i




TorR (Hi (C), Hn−i−1 (C 0 )

→0

and this sequence splits. This is a generalization of the universal coefficient theorem for homology, which is the case that C 0 consists of just the coefficient group G in dimension zero. The proof will also be a natural generalization of the proof of the universal coefficient theorem.

Proof:

First we do the special case that the boundary maps in C are all zero, so

Hi (C) = Ci . In this case ∂(c ⊗ c 0 ) = (−1)i c ⊗ ∂c 0 and the chain complex C ⊗R C 0 is

simply the direct sum of the complexes Ci ⊗R C 0 , each of which is a direct sum of copies

of C 0 since Ci is free. Hence Hn (Ci ⊗R C 0 ) ≈ Ci ⊗R Hn−i (C 0 ) = Hi (C) ⊗R Hn−i (C 0 ) .
L Summing over i yields an isomorphism Hn (C ⊗R C 0 ) ≈ i Hi (C) ⊗R Hn−i (C 0 ) , which is the statement of the theorem since there are no Tor terms, Hi (C) = Ci being free.

In the general case, let Zi ⊂ Ci and Bi ⊂ Ci denote kernel and image of the boundary homomorphisms for C . These give subchain complexes Z and B of C with trivial boundary maps. We have a short exact sequence of chain complexes 0→Z →C →B →0 made up of the short exact sequences 0→Zi →Ci

∂ Bi−1 →0 --→

each of which splits since Bi−1 is free, being a submodule of Ci−1 which is free by

assumption. Because of the splitting, when we tensor 0→Z →C →B →0 with C 0

we obtain another short exact sequence of chain complexes, and hence a long exact sequence in homology ···

→ - Hn (Z ⊗R C 0 ) → - Hn (C ⊗R C 0 ) → - Hn−1 (B ⊗R C 0 ) → - Hn−1 (Z ⊗R C 0 ) → - ···

where we have Hn−1 (B ⊗R C 0 ) instead of the expected Hn (B ⊗R C 0 ) since ∂ : C →B decreases dimension by one. Checking definitions, one sees that the ‘boundary’ map Hn−1 (B ⊗R C 0 )→Hn−1 (Z ⊗R C 0 ) in the preceding long exact sequence is just the map induced by the natural map B ⊗R C 0 →Z ⊗R C 0 coming from the inclusion B ⊂ Z .

Since Z and B are chain complexes with trivial boundary maps, the special case at the beginning of the proof converts the preceding exact sequence into ···

i --→ n

L i




Zi ⊗R Hn−i (C 0 )

→ - Hn (C ⊗R C 0 ) → -

L i


in−1 Bi ⊗R Hn−i−1 (C 0 ) -----→ L 0
i Zi ⊗R Hn−i−1 (C )

So we have short exact sequences 0

→ - Coker in → - Hn (C ⊗R C 0 ) → - Ker in−1 → - 0

→ - ···

The General K¨ unneth Formula

Section 3.B

275


L 0
Zi ⊗R Hn−i (C 0 ) / Im in , and this equals i Hi (C) ⊗R Hn−i (C ) L 0
by Lemma 3A.1. It remains to identify Ker in−1 with i TorR Hi (C), Hn−i (C ) . where Coker in =

L

i

By the definition of Tor , tensoring the free resolution 0→Bi →Zi →Hi (C)→0

with Hn−i (C 0 ) yields an exact sequence
0→ - TorR Hi (C), Hn−i (C 0 ) → - Bi ⊗R Hn−i (C 0 )

Hence, summing over i , Ker in =

L

i TorR

→ - Zi ⊗R Hn−i (C 0 ) → -

Hi (C)⊗R Hn−i (C 0 )
Hi (C), Hn−i (C 0 ) .

→ - 0

Naturality should be obvious, and we leave it for the reader to fill in the details. We will show that the short exact sequence in the statement of the theorem splits assuming that both C and C 0 are free. This suffices for our applications. For the extra argument needed to show splitting when C 0 is not free, see the exposition in [Hilton & Stammbach 1970].


L The splitting is via a homomorphism Hn (C ⊗R C 0 )→ i Hi (C) ⊗R Hn−i (C 0 ) con-

structed in the following way. As already noted, the sequence 0→Zi →Ci →Bi−1 →0

splits, so the quotient maps Zi →Hi (C) extend to homomorphisms Ci →Hi (C) . Sim-

ilarly we obtain Cj0 →Hj (C 0 ) if C 0 is free. Viewing the sequences of homology groups Hi (C) and Hj (C 0 ) as chain complexes H(C) and H(C 0 ) with trivial boundary maps,

we thus have chain maps C →H(C) and C 0 →H(C 0 ) , whose tensor product is a chain

map C ⊗R C 0 →H(C) ⊗R H(C 0 ) . The induced map on homology for this last chain map is the desired splitting map since the chain complex H(C) ⊗R H(C 0 ) equals its own u t

homology, the boundary maps being trivial.

The Topological K¨ unneth Formula Now we can apply the preceding algebra to obtain the topological statement we are looking for:

Theorem 3B.6.

If X and Y are CW complexes and R is a principal ideal domain,

then there are natural short exact sequences
L 0→ - i Hi (X; R)⊗R Hn−i (Y ; R) → - Hn (X × Y ; R) →
L i TorR Hi (X; R), Hn−i−1 (Y ; R)

→ - 0

and these sequences split. Naturality means that maps X →X 0 and Y →Y 0 induce a map from the short

exact sequence for X × Y to the corresponding short exact sequence for X 0 × Y 0 , with commuting squares. The splitting is not natural, however, as an exercise at the end of this section demonstrates.

Proof:

When dealing with products of CW complexes there is always the bothersome

fact that the compactly generated CW topology may not be the same as the product topology. However, in the present context this is not a real problem. Since the two

Chapter 3

276

Cohomology

topologies have the same compact sets, they have the same singular simplices and hence the same singular homology groups. Let C = C∗ (X; R) and C 0 = C∗ (Y ; R) , the cellular chain complexes with coeffi-

unneth cients in R . Then C ⊗R C 0 = C∗ (X × Y ; R) by Proposition 3B.1, so the algebraic K¨

formula gives the desired short exact sequences. Their naturality follows from naturality in the algebraic K¨ unneth formula, since we can homotope arbitrary maps X →X 0

and Y →Y 0 to be cellular by Theorem 4.8, assuring that they induce chain maps of u t

cellular chain complexes.

With field coefficients the K¨ unneth formula simplifies because the Tor terms are always zero over a field:

Corollary 3B.7. map h :

L

i

If F is a field and X and Y are CW complexes, then the cross product
Hi (X; F ) ⊗F Hn−i (Y ; F ) → u - Hn (X × Y ; F ) is an isomorphism for all n . t

There is also a relative version of the K¨ unneth formula for CW pairs (X, A) and (Y , B) . This is a split short exact sequence
L 0→ - i Hi (X, A; R)⊗R Hn−i (Y , B; R) → - Hn (X × Y , A× Y ∪ X × B; R) →
L i TorR Hi (X, A; R), Hn−i−1 (Y , B; R)

→ - 0

for R a principal ideal domain. This too follows from the algebraic K¨ unneth formula since the isomorphism of cellular chain complexes C∗ (X × Y ) ≈ C∗ (X) ⊗ C∗ (Y ) passes down to a quotient isomorphism C∗ (X × Y )/C∗ (A× Y ∪ X × B) ≈ C∗ (X)/C∗ (A) ⊗ C∗ (Y )/C∗ (B) since bases for these three relative cellular chain complexes correspond bijectively with the cells of (X − A)× (Y − B) , X − A , and Y − B , respectively. As a special case, suppose A and B are basepoints x0 ∈ X and y0 ∈ Y . Then the subcomplex A× Y ∪ X × B can be identified with the wedge sum X ∨ Y and the quotient X × Y /X ∨ Y is the smash product X ∧ Y . Thus we have a reduced K¨ unneth formula 0

→ -

L i




e i (X; R)⊗R H e n−i (Y ; R) H

→ - He n (X ∧ Y ; R) → L

i TorR




e i (X; R), H e n−i−1 (Y ; R) H

→ - 0

If we take Y = S k for example, then X ∧ S k is the k fold reduced suspension of X , e n+k (X ∧ S k ; R) . e n (X; R) ≈ H and we obtain isomorphisms H The K¨ unneth formula and the universal coefficient theorem can be combined to L
give a more concise formula Hn (X × Y ; R) ≈ i Hi X; Hn−i (Y ; R) . The naturality of this isomorphism is somewhat problematic, however, since it uses the splittings in the K¨ unneth formula and universal coefficient theorem. With a little more algebra the formula can be shown to hold more generally for an arbitrary coefficient group G in place of R ; see [Hilton & Wylie 1967], p. 227.

The General K¨ unneth Formula

Section 3.B

277

L


e n−i (Y ; R) . As a spee X; H e n (X; G) ≈ cial case, when Y is a Moore space M(G, k) we obtain isomorphisms H e n+k (X ∧ M(G, k); Z) . Again naturality is an issue, but in this case there is a natural H e n (X ∧ Y ; R) ≈ There is an analogous formula H

i Hi

isomorphism obtainable by applying Theorem 4.59 in §4.3, after verifying that the e n+k (X ∧ M(G, k); Z) define a reduced homology theory, which is functors hn (X) = H e n+k (X∧M(G, k); Z) says that homology with e n (X; G) ≈ H not hard. The isomorphism H arbitrary coefficients can be obtained from homology with Z coefficients by a topological construction as well as by the algebra of tensor products. For general homology theories this formula can be used as a definition of homology with coefficients. One might wonder about a cohomology version of the K¨ unneth formula. Taking coefficients in a field F and using the natural isomorphism Hom(A ⊗ B, C) ≈
Hom A, Hom(B, C) , the K¨ unneth formula for homology and the universal coefficient theorem give isomorphisms

L H n (X × Y ; F ) ≈ HomF (Hn (X × Y ; F ), F ) ≈ i HomF (Hi (X; F )⊗Hn−i (Y ; F ), F )
L ≈ i HomF Hi (X; F ), HomF (Hn−i (Y ; F ), F )
L ≈ i HomF Hi (X; F ), H n−i (Y ; F )
L ≈ i H i X; H n−i (Y ; F ) L
More generally, there are isomorphisms H n (X × Y ; G) ≈ i H i X; H n−i (Y ; G) for any

coefficient group G ; see [Hilton & Wylie 1967], p. 227. However, in practice it usually suffices to apply the K¨ unneth formula for homology and the universal coefficient theorem for cohomology separately. Also, Theorem 3.16 shows that with stronger hypotheses one can draw stronger conclusions using cup products.

The Simplicial Cross Product Let us sketch how the cross product Hm (X; R) ⊗ Hn (Y ; R)→Hm+n (X × Y ; R) can be defined directly in terms of singular homology. What one wants is a cross product at the level of singular chains, Cm (X; R) ⊗ Cn (Y ; R)→Cm+n (X × Y ; R) . If we are

given singular simplices f : ∆m →X and g : ∆n →Y , then we have the product map

f × g : ∆m × ∆n →X × Y , and the idea is to subdivide ∆m × ∆n into simplices of dimen-

sion m + n and then take the sum of the restrictions of f × g to these simplices, with appropriate signs. In the special cases that m or n is 1 we have already seen how to subdivide m

∆ × ∆n into simplices when we constructed prism operators in §2.1. The generalization to ∆m × ∆n is not completely obvious, however. Label the vertices of ∆m as v0 , v1 , ··· , vm and the vertices of ∆n as w0 , w1 , ··· , wn . Think of the pairs (i, j) with 0 ≤ i ≤ m and 0 ≤ j ≤ n as the vertices of an m× n rectangular grid in R2 . Let σ be a path formed by a sequence of m + n horizontal and vertical edges in this grid starting at (0, 0) and ending at (m, n) , always moving either to the right or upward.

To such a path σ we associate a linear map `σ : ∆m+n →∆m × ∆n sending the k th

vertex of ∆m+n to (vik , wjk ) where (ik , jk ) is the k th vertex of the edgepath σ . Then

278

Chapter 3

Cohomology

we define a simplicial cross product Cm (X; R) ⊗ Cn (Y ; R) by the formula f ×g =

-----×-→ - Cm+n (X × Y ; R)

X (−1)|σ | (f × g)`σ σ

where |σ | is the number of squares in the grid lying below the path σ . Note that the symbol ‘ × ’ means different things on the two sides of the equation. From this definition it is a calculation to show that ∂(f × g) = ∂f × g+(−1)m f × ∂g . This implies that the cross product of two cycles is a cycle, and the cross product of a cycle and a boundary is a boundary, so there is an induced cross product in singular homology. One can see that the images of the maps `σ give a simplicial structure on ∆m × ∆n in the following way. We can view ∆m as the subspace of Rm defined by the inequalities 0 ≤ x1 ≤ ··· ≤ xm ≤ 1 , with the vertex vi as the point having coordinates m − i zeros followed by i ones. Similarly we have ∆n ⊂ Rn with coordinates 0 ≤ y1 ≤ ··· ≤ yn ≤ 1 . The product ∆m × ∆n then consists of (m + n) tuples (x1 , ··· , xm , y1 , ··· , yn ) satisfying both sets of inequalities. The combined inequalities 0 ≤ x1 ≤ ··· ≤ xm ≤ y1 ≤ ··· ≤ yn ≤ 1 define a simplex ∆m+n in ∆m × ∆n , and every other point of ∆m × ∆n satisfies a similar set of inequalities obtained from 0 ≤ x1 ≤ ··· ≤ xm ≤ y1 ≤ ··· ≤ yn ≤ 1 by a permutation of the variables ‘shuffling’ the yj ’s into the xi ’s. Each such shuffle corresponds to an edgepath σ consisting of a rightward edge for each xi and an upward edge for each yj in the shuffled seindexed quence. Thus we have ∆m × ∆n expressed as the union of simplices ∆m+n σ by the edgepaths σ . One can check that these simplices fit together nicely to form a ∆ complex structure on ∆m × ∆n , which is also a simplicial complex structure. See [Eilenberg & Steenrod 1952], p. 68. In fact this construction is sufficiently natural to make the product of any two ∆ complexes into a ∆ complex.

The Cohomology Cross Product In §3.2 we defined a cross product H k (X; R)× H ` (Y ; R)

-----×-→ - H k+` (X × Y ; R)

in terms of the cup product. Let us now describe the alternative approach in which the cross product is defined directly via cellular cohomology, and then cup product is defined in terms of this cross product. The cellular definition of cohomology cross product is very much like the definition in homology. Given CW complexes X and Y , define a cross product of cellular cochains ϕ ∈ C k (X; R) and ψ ∈ C ` (Y ; R) by setting k k × eβ` ) = ϕ(eα )ψ(eβ` ) (ϕ× ψ)(eα

and letting ϕ× ψ take the value 0 on (k + `) cells of X × Y which are not the product of a k cell of X with an ` cell of Y . Another way of saying this is to use the convention

The General K¨ unneth Formula

Section 3.B

279

that a cellular cochain in C k (X; R) takes the value 0 on cells of dimension different m m × eβn ) = ϕ(eα )ψ(eβn ) for all m and n . from k , and then we can let (ϕ× ψ)(eα

The cellular coboundary formula δ(ϕ× ψ) = δϕ× ψ + (−1)k ϕ× δψ for cellular cochains ϕ ∈ C k (X; R) and ψ ∈ C ` (Y ; R) follows easily from the corresponding boundary formula in Proposition 3B.1, namely




m m δ(ϕ× ψ)(eα × eβn ) = (ϕ× ψ) ∂(eα × eβn )

m m = (ϕ× ψ)(∂eα × eβn + (−1)m eα × ∂eβn ) m m )ψ(eβn ) + (−1)m ϕ(eα )δψ(eβn ) = δϕ(eα m × eβn ) = (δϕ× ψ + (−1)k ϕ× δψ)(eα

where the coefficient (−1)m in the next-to-last line can be replaced by (−1)k since m ) = 0 unless k = m . From the formula δ(ϕ× ψ) = δϕ× ψ + (−1)k ϕ× δψ ϕ(eα

it follows just as for homology and for cup product that there is an induced cross product in cellular cohomology. To show this agrees with the earlier definition, we can first reduce to the case that X has trivial (k − 1) skeleton and Y has trivial (` − 1) skeleton via the commutative diagram ×

− − − →

−−−−−→ H k + `( X/X k - 1 × Y/ Y ` - 1 ; R ) − − − →

k ` k -1 ` -1 H ( X/X ; R ) × H ( Y/ Y ; R )

×

k ` k+` H ( X ; R ) × H ( Y ; R ) −−−−−−−−−−−−→ H ( X × Y ; R )

The left-hand vertical map is surjective, so by commutativity, if the two definitions of cross product agree in the upper row, they agree in the lower row. Next, assuming X k−1 and Y `−1 are trivial, consider the commutative diagram ×

×

− − − →

− − − →

k ` k+` H ( X ; R ) × H ( Y ; R ) −−−−−→ H ( X × Y ; R ) k k ` ` H (X ; R) × H (Y ; R) − −−−−→ H k + `( X k × Y ` ; R )

The vertical maps here are injective, X k × Y ` being the (k + `) skeleton of X × Y , so W it suffices to see that the two definitions agree in the lower row. We have X k = α Sαk W and Y ` = β Sβ` , so by restriction to these wedge summands the question is reduced finally to the case of a product Sαk × Sβ` . In this case, taking R = Z , we showed in

Theorem 3.16 that the cross product in question is the map Z× Z→Z sending (1, 1)

to ±1 , with the original definition of cross product. The same is obviously true using the cellular cross product. So for R = Z the two cross products agree up to sign, and it follows that this is also true for arbitrary R . We leave it to the reader to sort out the matter of signs. To relate cross product to cup product we use the diagonal map ∆ : X →X × X ,

x , (x, x) . If we are given a definition of cross product, we can define cup product as the composition H k (X; R)× H ` (X; R)

∗

-----×-→ - H k+` (X × X; R) ------∆---→ - H k+` (X; R)

280

Chapter 3

Cohomology

This agrees with the original definition of cup product since we have ∆∗ (a× b) =


∆∗ p1∗ (a) ` p2∗ (b) = ∆∗ p1∗ (a) ` ∆∗ p2∗ (b) = a ` b , as both compositions p1 ∆ and p2 ∆ are the identity map of X . Unfortunately, the definition of cellular cross product cannot be combined with ∆ to give a definition of cup product at the level of cellular cochains. This is because ∆ is not a cellular map, so it does not induce a map of cellular cochains. It is possible to homotope ∆ to a cellular map by Theorem 4.8, but this involves arbitrary choices. For example, the diagonal of a square can be pushed across either adjacent triangle. In particular cases one might hope to understand the geometry well enough to compute an explicit cellular approximation to the diagonal map, but usually other techniques for computing cup products are preferable. The cohomology cross product satisfies the same commutativity relation as for homology, namely T ∗ (a× b) = (−1)k` b× a for T : X × Y →Y × X the transposition

map, a ∈ H k (Y ; R) , and b ∈ H ` (X; R) . The proof is the same as for homology. Taking X = Y and noting that T ∆ = ∆ , we obtain a new proof of the commutativity

property of cup product.

Exercises 1. Compute the groups Hi (RPm × RPn ; G) and H i (RPm × RPn ; G) for G = Z and Z2 via the cellular chain and cochain complexes. [See Example 3B.4.] 2. Let C and C 0 be chain complexes, and let I be the chain complex consisting of Z in dimension 1 and Z× Z in dimension 0 , with the boundary map taking a generator e in dimension 1 to the difference v1 − v0 of generators vi of the two Z ’s in

dimension 0 . Show that a chain map f : I ⊗ C →C 0 is precisely the same as a chain homotopy between the two chain maps fi : C →C 0 , c , f (vi ⊗ c) , i = 0, 1 . [The chain

homotopy is h(c) = f (e ⊗ c) .]

3. Show that the splitting in the topological K¨ unneth formula cannot be natural by considering the map f × 11 : M(Zm , n)× M(Zm , n)→S n+1 × M(Zm , n) where f collapses

the n skeleton of M(Zm , n) = S n ∪ en+1 to a point.

4. Show that the cross product of fundamental classes for closed R orientable manifolds M and N is a fundamental class for M × N . 5. Show that slant products

→ - Hn−j (X; R), n H (X × Y ; R)× Hj (Y ; R) → - H n−j (X; R),

Hn (X × Y ; R)× H j (Y ; R)

(ei × ej , ϕ) , ϕ(ej )ei




(ϕ, ej ) , ei , ϕ(ei × ej )

can be defined via the indicated cellular formulas. [These ‘products’ are in some ways more like division than multiplication, and this is reflected in the common notation a/b for them, or a\b when the order of the factors is reversed. The first of the two slant products is related to cap product in the same way that the cohomology cross product is related to cup product.]

H–Spaces and Hopf Algebras

Section 3.C

281

Of the three axioms for a group, it would seem that the least subtle is the existence of an identity element. However, we shall see in this section that when topology is added to the picture, the identity axiom becomes much more potent. To give a name to the objects we will be considering, define a space X to be an H–space, ‘H’ standing for ‘Hopf,’ if there is a continuous multiplication map µ : X × X →X and an ‘identity’

element e ∈ X such that the two maps X →X given by x , µ(x, e) and x , µ(e, x)

are homotopic to the identity through maps (X, e)→(X, e) . In particular, this implies that µ(e, e) = e . In terms of generality, this definition represents something of a middle ground. One could weaken the definition by dropping the condition that the homotopies preserve the basepoint e , or one could strengthen it by requiring that e be a strict identity, without any homotopies. An exercise at the end of the section is to show the three possible definitions are equivalent if X is a CW complex. An advantage of allowing homotopies in the definition is that a space homotopy equivalent in the basepointed sense to an H–space is again an H–space. Imposing basepoint conditions is fairly standard in homotopy theory, and is usually not a serious restriction. The most classical examples of H–spaces are topological groups, spaces X with

a group structure such that both the multiplication map X × X →X and the inversion

map X →X , x , x −1 , are continuous. For example, the group GLn (R) of invertible n× n matrices with real entries is a topological group when topologized as a subspace

of the n2 dimensional vector space Mn (R) of all n× n matrices over R . It is an open subspace since the invertible matrices are those with nonzero determinant, and the determinant function Mn (R)→R is continuous. Matrix multiplication is certainly continuous, being defined by simple algebraic formulas, and it is not hard to see that matrix inversion is also continuous if one thinks for example of the classical adjoint formula for the inverse matrix. Likewise GLn (C) is a topological group, as is the quaternionic analog GLn (H) , though in the latter case one needs a somewhat different justification since determinants of quaternionic matrices do not have the good properties one would like. Since these groups GLn over R , C , and H are open subsets of Euclidean spaces, they are examples of Lie groups, which can be defined as topological groups which are also manifolds. The GLn groups are noncompact, being open subsets of Euclidean spaces, but they have the homotopy types of compact Lie groups O(n) , U (n) , and Sp(n) . This is explained in §3.D for GLn (R) , and the other two cases are similar. Among the simplest H–spaces from a topological viewpoint are the unit spheres S

1

in C , S 3 in the quaternions H , and S 7 in the octonions O . These are H–spaces

since the multiplications in these division algebras are continuous, being defined by

282

Chapter 3

Cohomology

polynomial formulas, and are norm-preserving, |ab| = |a||b| , hence restrict to multiplications on the unit spheres, and the identity element of the division algebra lies in the unit sphere in each case. Both S 1 and S 3 are Lie groups since the multiplications in C and H are associative and inverses exist since aa = |a|2 = 1 if |a| = 1 . However, S 7 is not a group since multiplication of octonions is not associative. Of course S 0 = {±1} is also a topological group, trivially. A famous theorem of J. F. Adams asserts that S 0 , S 1 , S 3 , and S 7 are the only spheres that are H–spaces; see §4.B for a fuller discussion. Let us describe now some associative H–spaces where inverses fail to exist. Multiplication of polynomials provides an H–space structure on CP∞ in the following way. A nonzero polynomial a0 + a1 z + ··· + an zn with coefficients ai ∈ C corresponds to a point (a0 , ··· , an , 0, ···) ∈ C∞ − {0} . Multiplication of two such polynomials

determines a multiplication C∞ − {0}× C∞ − {0}→C∞ − {0} which is associative, commutative, and has an identity element (1, 0, ···) . Since C is commutative we can factor out by scalar multiplication by nonzero constants and get an induced product CP∞ × CP∞ →CP∞ with the same properties. Thus CP∞ is an associative, commutative H–space with a strict identity. Instead of factoring out by all nonzero scalars, we could factor out only by scalars of the form ρe2π ik/q with ρ an arbitrary positive real, k an arbitrary integer, and q a fixed positive integer. The quotient of C∞ − {0} under this identification, an infinite-dimensional lens space L∞ with π1 (L∞ ) ≈ Zq , is therefore

also an associative, commutative H–space. This includes RP∞ in particular.

The spaces J(X) defined in §3.2 are also H–spaces, with the multiplication given by (x1 , ··· , xm )(y1 , ··· , yn ) = (x1 , ··· , xm , y1 , ··· , yn ) , which is associative and has an identity element (e) where e is the basepoint of X . One could describe J(X) as the free associative H–space generated by X . There is also a commutative analog of J(X) called the infinite symmetric product SP (X) defined in the following way. Let SPn (X) be the quotient space of the n fold product X n obtained by identifying all n tuples (x1 , ··· , xn ) that differ only by a permutation of their coordi-

nates. The inclusion X n > X n+1 , (x1 , ··· , xn ) , (x1 , ··· , xn , e) induces an inclusion

SPn (X) > SPn+1 (X) , and SP (X) is defined to be the union of this increasing sequence of SPn (X) ’s, with the weak topology. Alternatively, SP (X) is the quotient of J(X) obtained by identifying points that differ only by permutation of coordinates. The H–space structure on J(X) induces an H–space structure on SP (X) which is commutative in addition to being associative and having a strict identity. The spaces SP (X) are studied in more detail in §4.K. The goal of this section will be to describe the extra structure which the multiplication in an H–space gives to its homology and cohomology. This is of particular interest since many of the most important spaces in algebraic topology turn out to be H–spaces.

H–Spaces and Hopf Algebras

Section 3.C

283

Hopf Algebras Let us look at cohomology first. Choosing a commutative ring R as coefficient ring, we can regard the cohomology ring H ∗ (X; R) of a space X as an algebra over R rather than merely a ring. Suppose X is an H–space satisfying two conditions: (1) X is path-connected, hence H 0 (X; R) ≈ R . (2) H n (X; R) is a finitely generated free R module for each n , so the cross product H ∗ (X; R) ⊗R H ∗ (X; R)→H ∗ (X × X; R) is an isomorphism.

The multiplication µ : X × X →X induces a map µ ∗ : H ∗ (X; R)→H ∗ (X × X; R) , and when we combine this with the cross product isomorphism in (2) we get a map H ∗ (X; R)

-----∆-→ - H ∗ (X; R) ⊗R H ∗ (X; R)

which is an algebra homomorphism since both µ ∗ and the cross product isomorphism are algebra homomorphisms. The key property of ∆ turns out to be that for any α ∈ H n (X; R) , n > 0 , we have ∆(α) = α ⊗ 1 + 1 ⊗ α +

X

α0i ⊗ α00 n−i

where |α0j | = j = |α00 j|

0 0 . The H–space property says that µi ' 11 , so P ∆ = 11 . This implies that the component of ∆(α) in H n (X; R) ⊗R H 0 (X; R) is α ⊗ 1 . A similar argument shows the component in H 0 (X; R) ⊗R H n (X; R) is 1 ⊗ α .

We can summarize this situation by saying that H ∗ (X; R) is a Hopf algebra, that L n over a commutative base ring R , satisfying the is, a graded algebra A = n≥0 A following two conditions: (1) There is an identity element 1 ∈ A0 such that the map R →A0 , r

, r · 1 , is an

isomorphism; one says A is connected.

(2) There is a diagonal or coproduct ∆ : A→A ⊗ A , a homomorphism of graded alP n gebras satisfying ∆(α) = α ⊗ 1 + 1 ⊗ α + 0 0 , and j α0j , α00 j ∈A .

Here and in what follows we take ⊗ to mean ⊗R . The multiplication in A ⊗ A is given by the standard formula (α ⊗ β)(γ ⊗ δ) = (−1)jk (αγ ⊗ βδ) where β ∈ Aj and γ ∈ Ak . For a general Hopf algebra the multiplication is not assumed to be either associative or commutative (in the graded sense), though in the example of H ∗ (X; R) for X an H–space the algebra structure is of course associative and commutative.

284

Chapter 3

Example

Cohomology

3C.1. One of the simplest Hopf algebras is a polynomial ring R[α] . The

coproduct ∆(α) must equal α ⊗ 1 + 1 ⊗ α since the only elements of R[α] of lower dimension than α are the elements of R in dimension zero, so the terms α0i and α00 n−i P in the coproduct formula ∆(α) = α ⊗ 1 + 1 ⊗ α + 0 0 , since the P coproduct in ΓZp [α] is given by ∆(αk ) = i αi ⊗ αk−i . Now let us show that there is an algebra isomorphism

ΓZp [α] ≈

N i≥0

p

Zp [αpi ]/(αpi )

Since ΓZp [α] = ΓZ [α] ⊗ Zp , this is equivalent to: (∗)

n

n

k 1 The element α1 0 αn p ··· αp k in ΓZ [α] is divisible by p iff ni ≥ p for some i .

n

n

k k 1 The product α1 0 αn p ··· αp k equals mαn for n = n0 + n1 p + ··· + nk p and some

integer m . The question is whether p divides m . We will show: (∗∗)

αn αpk is divisible by p iff nk = p − 1 , assuming that ni < p for each i .

This implies (∗) by an inductive argument in which we build up the product in (∗) by repeated multiplication on the right by terms αpi .

H–Spaces and Hopf Algebras To prove (∗∗) we recall that αn αpk =



n+p k n

Section 3.C

287

 αn+pk . The mod p value of this

binomial coefficient can be computed using Lemma 3C.6 below. Assuming that ni < p k for each i and that nk +1 < p , the p adic representations    of n+p and n differ only k n+p nk +1 = n = nk + 1 . This conclusion in the coefficient of p k , so mod p we have n k

also holds if nk + 1 = p , when the p adic representations of n + p k and n differ also in the coefficient of p k+1 . The statement (∗∗) then follows.

Lemma 3C.6. k=

P

i

  If p is a prime, then

n k

≡

Q ni  i ki

mod p where n =

P i

ni p i and

ki p i with 0 ≤ ni < p and 0 ≤ ki < p are the p adic representations of n

and k .   Here the convention is that

Proof:

n k

= 0 if n < k , and

  n 0

= 1 for all n ≥ 0 .

In Zp [x] there is an identity (1 + x)p = 1 + x p since p clearly divides

p!/k!(p − k)! for 0 < k < p . By induction it follows that (1 + x) P if n = i ni p i is the p adic representation of n then:

pi

= 1+x

pi

  p k

=

. Hence

2

(1 + x)n = (1 + x)n0 (1 + x p )n1 (1 + x p )n2 ···     i h   n n n0 x p−1 = 1 + 10 x + 20 x 2 + ··· + p−1 h       i n1 × 1 + n11 x p + n21 x 2p + ··· + p−1 x (p−1)p h   2     i 2 2 n2 × 1 + n12 x p + n22 x 2p + ··· + p−1 x (p−1)p × ··· When this is  multiplied out, one sees that no terms combine, and the coefficient of Q n P u t x k is just i kii where k = i ki p i is the p adic representation of k .

Pontryagin Product Another special feature of H–spaces is that their homology groups have a product operation, called the Pontryagin product. For an H–space X with multiplication µ : X × X →X , this is the composition H∗ (X; R) ⊗ H∗ (X; R)

-----×-→ - H∗ (X × X; R) ------→ - H∗ (X; R) µ∗

where the first map is the cross product defined in §3.B. Thus the Pontryagin product consists of bilinear maps Hi (X; R)× Hj (X; R)→Hi+j (X; R) . Unlike cup product, the

Pontryagin product is not in general associative unless the multiplication µ is associative or at least associative up to homotopy, in the sense that the maps X × X × X →X ,

(x, y, z) , µ(x, µ(y, z)) and (x, y, z) , µ(µ(x, y), z) are homotopic. Fortunately most H–spaces one meets in practice satisfy this associativity property. Nor is the Pontryagin product generally commutative, even in the graded sense, unless µ is commutative or homotopy-commutative, which is relatively rare for H–spaces. We will give examples shortly where the Pontryagin product is not commutative.

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288

Cohomology

In case X is a CW complex and µ is a cellular map the Pontryagin product can be computed using cellular homology via the cellular chain map Ci (X; R)× Cj (X; R)

-----×-→ - Ci+j (X × X; R) ------→ - Ci+j (X; R) µ∗

where the cross product map sends generators corresponding to cells ei and ej to the generator corresponding to the product cell ei × ej , and then µ∗ is applied to this product cell.

Example 3C.7. cell e

in

Let us compute the Pontryagin product for J(S n ) . Here there is one

for each i ≥ 0 , and µ takes the product cell ein × ejn homeomorphically onto

the cell e(i+j)n . This means that H∗ (J(S n ); Z) is simply the polynomial ring Z[x] on an n dimensional generator x . This holds for n odd as well as for n even, so the Pontryagin product need not satisfy the same general commutativity relation as cup product. In this example the Pontryagin product structure is simpler than the cup product structure, though for some H–spaces it is the other way round. In applications it is often convenient to have the choice of which product structure to use. This calculation immediately generalizes to J(X) where X is any connected CW complex whose cellular boundary maps are all trivial. The cellular boundary maps in the product X m of m copies of X are then trivial by induction on m using Proposition 3B.1, and therefore the cellular boundary maps in J(X) are all trivial since the quotient map X m →Jm (X) is cellular and each cell of Jm (X) is the homeomorphic

image of a cell of X m . Thus H∗ (J(X); Z) is free with additive basis the products en1 × ··· × enk of positive-dimensional cells of X , and the multiplicative structure is that of polynomials in noncommuting variables corresponding to the positivedimensional cells of X . Another way to describe H∗ (J(X); Z) in this example is as the tensor algebra

e ∗ (X; Z) , where for a graded R module M that is trivial in dimension zero, like TH the reduced homology of a path-connected space, the tensor algebra T M is the direct sum of the n fold tensor products of M with itself for all n ≥ 1 , together with a copy of R in dimension zero, with the obvious multiplication coming from tensor product and scalar multiplication. Generalizing the preceding example, we have:

Proposition 3C.8.

If X is a connected CW complex with H∗ (X; R) a free R module,

e ∗ (X; R) . then H∗ (J(X); R) is isomorphic to the tensor algebra T H

This can be paraphrased as saying that the homology of the free H–space generated by a space with free homology is the free algebra generated by the homology of the space.
e ∗ (X)→H∗ J(X) be the homomorphism With coefficients in R , let ϕ : T H e ∗ (X)⊗n is the composition whose restriction to the n fold tensor product H

× e ∗ (X)⊗n > H∗ (X)⊗n --→ H∗ (X n ) → H - H∗ Jn (X) → - H∗ J(X)

Proof:

H–Spaces and Hopf Algebras

Section 3.C

289

where the next-to-last map is induced by the quotient map X n →Jn (X) . It is clear that ϕ is a ring homomorphism since the product in J(X) is induced from the natural

map X m × X n →X m+n . To show that ϕ is an isomorphism, consider the following commutative diagram of short exact sequences:

0

∼

∼

∼

ϕ

− − − →

ϕ

− − − →

− − − →

− − − − → Tn - 1H∗( X ) − − − − − − → Tn H∗( X ) −−−−→ H∗( X ) ⊗n − − − − →0 × ≈

∼ 0− − − − → H∗( Jn ( X ) ) − − − − → H∗( Jn - 1( X ) ) − − − − → H∗( X ∧n ) − − − − →0 e ∗ (X)⊗k for e ∗ (X) denotes the direct sum of the products H In the upper row, Tm H k ≤ m , so this row is exact. The second row is the homology exact sequence for
the pair Jn (X), Jn−1 (X) , with quotient Jn (X)/Jn−1 (X) the n fold smash product

X ∧n . This long exact sequence breaks up into short exact sequences as indicated, by commutativity of the right-hand square and the fact that the right-hand vertical map is an isomorphism by the K¨ unneth formula, using the hypothesis that H∗ (X) is free

over the given coefficient ring. By induction on n and the five-lemma we deduce from
e ∗ (X)→H∗ Jn (X) is an isomorphism for all n . Letting n the diagram that ϕ : Tn H
e ∗ (X)→H∗ J(X) is an isomorphism since in any go to ∞ , this implies that ϕ : T H e ∗ (X) is independent of n when n is sufficiently large, and the given dimension Tn H
u t same is true of H∗ Jn (X) by the second row of the diagram.

Dual Hopf Algebras There is a close connection between the Pontryagin product in homology and the Hopf algebra structure on cohomology. Suppose that X is an H–space such that, with coefficients in a field R , the vector spaces Hn (X; R) are finite-dimensional for all n . Alternatively, we could take R = Z and assume Hn (X; Z) is finitely generated and free for all n . In either case we have H n (X; R) = HomR (Hn (X; R), R) , and as a consequence the Pontryagin product H∗ (X; R) ⊗ H∗ (X; R)→H∗ (X; R) and the

coproduct ∆ : H ∗ (X; R)→H ∗ (X; R) ⊗ H ∗ (X; R) are dual to each other, both being induced by the H–space product µ : X × X →X . Therefore the coproduct in cohomol-

ogy determines the Pontryagin product in homology, and vice versa. Specifically, the component ∆ij : H i+j (X; R)→H i (X; R) ⊗ H j (X; R) of ∆ is dual to the product Hi (X; R) ⊗ Hj (X; R)→Hi+j (X; R) .

Example

3C.9. Consider J(S n ) with n even, so H ∗ (J(S n ); Z) is the divided poly-

nomial algebra ΓZ [α] . In Example 3C.5 we derived the coproduct formula ∆(αk ) = P n i αi ⊗ αk−i . Thus ∆ij takes αi+j to αi ⊗ αj , so if xi is the generator of Hin (J(S ); Z) dual to αi , then xi xj = xi+j . This says that H∗ (J(S n ); Z) is the polynomial ring Z[x] . We showed this in Example 3C.7 using the cell structure of J(S n ) , but the present proof deduces it purely algebraically from the cup product structure. Now we wish to show that the relation between H ∗ (X; R) and H∗ (X; R) is perfectly symmetric: They are dual Hopf algebras. This is a purely algebraic fact:

Chapter 3

290

Proposition

Cohomology

3C.10. Let A be a Hopf algebra over R that is a finitely generated

free R module in each dimension. Then the product π : A ⊗ A→A and coproduct

∆ : A→A ⊗ A have duals π ∗ : A∗ →A∗ ⊗ A∗ and ∆∗ : A∗ ⊗ A∗ →A∗ that give A∗ the structure of a Hopf algebra.

Proof:

This will be apparent if we reinterpret the Hopf algebra structure on A for-

mally as a pair of graded R module homomorphisms π : A ⊗ A→A and ∆ : A→A ⊗ A

together with an element 1 ∈ A0 satisfying: (1) The two compositions A

i π π A and A --→ A ⊗ A --→ A are the identity, --→ A ⊗ A --→ i`

r

where i` (a) = a ⊗ 1 and ir (a) = 1 ⊗ a . This says that 1 is a two-sided identity for the multiplication in A . (2) The two compositions A

∆ ∆ A ⊗ A --→ A and A --→ A ⊗ A --→ A are the identity, --→ p`

pr

where p` (a ⊗ 1) = a , p` (a ⊗ b) = 0 if b ∈ Aj with j > 0 , pr (1 ⊗ a) = a , and pr (a ⊗ b) = 0 if a ∈ Aj with j > 0 . This is just the coproduct formula ∆(a) = P a ⊗ 1 + 1 ⊗ a + 0 0 . In fact, the Hopf N p algebra i≥0 Zp [αp i ]/(αp i ) is its own dual, according to one of the exercises below, but the dual of ΓZp [α] is Zp [α] .

Exercises 1. Suppose that X is a CW complex with basepoint e ∈ X a 0 cell. Show that X is an

H–space if there is a map µ : X × X →X such that the maps X →X , x , µ(x, e) and

x , µ(e, x) , are homotopic to the identity. [Sometimes this is taken as the definition of an H–space, rather than the more restrictive condition in the definition we have given.] With the same hypotheses, show also that µ can be homotoped so that e is a strict two-sided identity. 2. Show that a retract of an H–space is an H–space if it contains the identity element. 3. Show that in a homotopy-associative H–space whose set of path-components is a group with respect to the multiplication induced by the H–space structure, all the pathcomponents must be homotopy equivalent. [Homotopy-associative means associative up to homotopy.] 4. Show that an H–space or topological group structure on a path-connected, locally path-connected space can be lifted to such a structure on its universal cover. [For the group SO(n) considered in the next section, the universal cover for n > 2 is a 2 sheeted cover, a group called Spin(n) .] 5. Show that if (X, e) is an H–space then π1 (X, e) is abelian. [Compare the usual
composition f g of loops with the product µ f (t), g(t) coming from the H–space multiplication µ .] 6. Show that S n is an H–space iff the attaching map of the 2n cell of J2 (S n ) is homotopically trivial. 7. What are the primitive elements of the Hopf algebra Zp [x] for p prime? 8. Show that the tensor product of two Hopf algebras is a Hopf algebra. 9. Apply the theorems of Hopf and Borel to show that for an H–space X that is a e ∗ (X; Z) ≠ 0 , the Euler characteristic χ (X) is 0 . connected finite CW complex with H 10. Let X be a path-connected H–space with H ∗ (X; R) free and finitely generated in each dimension.

For maps f , g : X →X , the product f g : X →X is defined by

(f g)(x) = f (x)g(x) , using the H–space product.

292

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(a) Show that (f g)∗ (α) = f ∗ (α) + g ∗ (α) for primitive elements α ∈ H ∗ (X; R) . (b) Deduce that the k th power map x , x k induces the map α , kα on primitive elements α . In particular the quaternionic kth power map S 3 →S 3 has degree k .

(c) Show that every polynomial an x n bn + ··· + a1 xb1 + a0 of nonzero degree with coefficients in H has a root in H . [See Theorem 1.8.] 11. If T n is the n dimensional torus, the product of n circles, show that the Pontryagin ring H∗ (T n ; Z) is the exterior algebra ΛZ [x1 , ··· , xn ] with |xi | = 1 . 12. Compute the Pontryagin product structure in H∗ (L; Zp ) where L is an infinite-

dimensional lens space S ∞ /Zp , for p an odd prime, using the coproduct in H ∗ (L; Zp ) . 13. Verify that the Hopf algebras ΛR [α] and Zp [α]/(αp ) are self-dual.

14. Show that the coproduct in the Hopf algebra H∗ (X; R) dual to H ∗ (X; R) is induced by the diagonal map X →X × X , x , (x, x) .

15. Suppose that X is a path-connected H–space such that H ∗ (X; Z) is free and finitely generated in each dimension, and H ∗ (X; Q) is a polynomial ring Q[α] . Show that the Pontryagin ring H∗ (X; Z) is commutative and associative, with a structure uniquely determined by the ring H ∗ (X; Z) .

16. Classify algebraically the Hopf algebras A over Z such that An is free for each n and A ⊗ Q ≈ Q[α] . In particular, determine which Hopf algebras A ⊗ Zp arise from such A ’s.

After the general discussion of homological and cohomological properties of H–spaces in the preceding section, we turn now to a family of quite interesting and subtle examples, the orthogonal groups O(n) . We will compute their homology and cohomology by constructing very nice CW structures on them, and the results illustrate the general structure theorems of the last section quite well. After dealing with the orthogonal groups we then describe the straightforward generalization to Stiefel manifolds, which are also fairly basic objects in algebraic and geometric topology. The orthogonal group O(n) can be defined as the group of isometries of Rn fixing the origin. Equivalently, this is the group of n× n matrices A with entries in R such that AAt = I , where At is the transpose of A . From this viewpoint, O(n) is 2

topologized as a subspace of Rn , with coordinates the n2 entries of an n× n matrix. Since the columns of a matrix in O(n) are unit vectors, O(n) can also be regarded as a subspace of the product of n copies of S n−1 . It is a closed subspace since the conditions that columns be orthogonal are defined by polynomial equations. Hence

The Cohomology of SO(n)

Section 3.D

293

O(n) is compact. The map O(n)× O(n)→O(n) given by matrix multiplication is

continuous since it is defined by polynomials. The inversion map A , A−1 = At is clearly continuous, so O(n) is a topological group, and in particular an H–space. The determinant map O(n)→{±1} is a surjective homomorphism, so its kernel SO(n) , the ‘special orthogonal group,’ is a subgroup of index two. The two cosets SO(n) and O(n) − SO(n) are homeomorphic to each other since for fixed B ∈ O(n) of determinant −1 , the maps A , AB and A , AB −1 are inverse homeomorphisms

between these two cosets. The subgroup SO(n) is a union of components of O(n)

since the image of the map O(n)→{±1} is discrete. In fact, SO(n) is path-connected since by linear algebra, each A ∈ SO(n) is a rotation, a composition of rotations in a family of orthogonal 2 dimensional subspaces of Rn , with the identity map on the

subspace orthogonal to all these planes, and such a rotation can obviously be joined to the identity by a path of rotations of the same planes through decreasing angles. Another reason why SO(n) is connected is that it has a CW structure with a single 0 cell, as we show in Proposition 3D.1. An exercise at the end of the section is to show that a topological group with a CW structure is an orientable manifold, so SO(n) is a closed orientable manifold. From the CW structure it follows that its dimension is n(n − 1)/2 . These facts can also be proved using fiber bundles. The group O(n) is a subgroup of GLn (R) , the ‘general linear group’ of all invertible n× n matrices with entries in R , discussed near the beginning of §3.C. The Gram– Schmidt orthogonalization process applied to the columns of matrices in GLn (R) pro-

vides a retraction r : GLn (R)→O(n) , continuity of r being evident from the explicit formulas for the Gram–Schmidt process. By inserting appropriate scalar factors into these formulas it is easy to see that O(n) is in fact a deformation retract of GLn (R) . Using a bit more linear algebra, namely the polar decomposition, it is possible to show that GLn (R) is actually homeomorphic to O(n)× Rk for k = n(n + 1)/2 . The topological structure of SO(n) for small values of n can be described in terms of more familiar spaces: SO(1) is a point. SO(2) , the rotations of R2 , is both homeomorphic and isomorphic as a group to S 1 , thought of as the unit complex numbers. SO(3) is homeomorphic to RP3 . To see this, let ϕ : D 3 →SO(3) send a nonzero vector x to the rotation through angle |x|π about the axis formed by the line through the origin in the direction of x . An orientation convention such as the ‘right-hand rule’ is needed to make this unambiguous. By continuity, ϕ then sends 0 to the identity. Antipodal points of S 2 = ∂D 3 are sent to the same rotation through angle π , so ϕ induces a map ϕ : RP3 →SO(3) , regarding RP3

as D 3 with antipodal boundary points identified. The map ϕ is clearly injective

since the axis of a nontrivial rotation is uniquely determined as its fixed point set, and ϕ is surjective since by easy linear algebra each nonidentity element

Chapter 3

294

Cohomology

of SO(3) is a rotation about some axis. It follows that ϕ is a homeomorphism RP3 ≈ SO(3) . SO(4) is homeomorphic to S 3 × SO(3) . Identifying R4 with the quaternions H

and S 3 with the group of unit quaternions, the quaternion multiplication v , vw

for fixed w ∈ S 3 defines an isometry ρw ∈ O(4) since |vw| = |v||w| = |v| if |w| = 1 . Points of O(4) are 4 tuples (v1 , ··· , v4 ) of orthonormal vectors vi ∈ H = R4 , and we view O(3) as the subspace with v1 = 1 . A homeomorphism
S 3 × O(3)→O(4) is defined by sending v, (1, v2 , v3 , v4 ) to (v, v2 v, v3 v, v4 v) =
ρv (1, v2 , v3 , v4 ) , with inverse (v, v2 , v3 , v4 ) , v, (1, v2 v −1 , v3 v −1 , v4 v −1 ) =
v, ρv −1 (v, v2 , v3 , v4 ) . Restricting to identity components, we obtain a homeomorphism S 3 × SO(3) ≈ SO(4) . This is not a group isomorphism, however. It can be shown, though we will not digress to do so here, that the homomorphism ψ : S 3 × S 3 →SO(4) sending a pair (u, v) of unit quaternions to the isometry w

, uwv −1

of H is surjective with kernel Z2 = {±(1, 1)} , and that ψ is a

covering space projection, representing S 3 × S 3 as a 2 sheeted cover of SO(4) , the universal cover. Restricting ψ to the diagonal S 3 = {(u, u)} ⊂ S 3 × S 3 gives

the universal cover S 3 →SO(3) , so SO(3) is isomorphic to the quotient group of S 3 by the normal subgroup {±1} .

Using octonions one can construct in the same way a homeomorphism SO(8) ≈ S 7 × SO(7) . But in all other cases SO(n) is only a ‘twisted product’ of SO(n − 1) and S n−1 ; see Example 4.55 and the discussion following Corollary 4D.3.

Cell Structure Our first task is to construct a CW structure on SO(n) . This will come with a very

nice cellular map ρ : RPn−1 × RPn−2 × ··· × RP1 →SO(n) . To simplify notation we will

write P i for RPi .

To each nonzero vector v ∈ Rn we can associate the reflection r (v) ∈ O(n) across the hyperplane consisting of all vectors orthogonal to v . Since r (v) is a reflection, it has determinant −1 , so to get an element of SO(n) we consider the composition ρ(v) = r (v)r (e1 ) where e1 is the first standard basis vector (1, 0, ··· , 0) . Since ρ(v) depends only on the line spanned by v , ρ defines a map P n−1 →SO(n) .

This map is injective since it is the composition of v , r (v) , which is obviously an injection of P n−1 into O(n)−SO(n) , with the homeomorphism O(n)−SO(n)→SO(n)

given by right-multiplication by r (e1 ) . Since ρ is injective and P n−1 is compact Hausdorff, we may think of ρ as embedding P n−1 as a subspace of SO(n) . More generally, for a sequence I = (i1 , ··· , im ) with each ij < n , we define a

map ρ : P I = P i1 × ··· × P im →SO(n) by letting ρ(v1 , ··· , vm ) be the composition ρ(v1 ) ··· ρ(vm ) . If ϕi : D i →P i is the standard characteristic map for the i cell of

P i , restricting to the 2 sheeted covering projection ∂D i →P i−1 , then the product ϕI : D I →P I of the appropriate ϕij ’s is a characteristic map for the top-dimensional

The Cohomology of SO(n)

Section 3.D

295

cell of P I . We will be especially interested in the sequences I = (i1 , ··· , im ) satisfying n > i1 > ··· > im > 0 . These sequences will be called admissible, as will the sequence consisting of a single 0 .

Proposition 3D.1.

The maps ρϕI : D I →SO(n) , for I ranging over all admissible

sequences, are the characteristic maps of a CW structure on SO(n) for which the

map ρ : P n−1 × P n−2 × ··· × P 1 →SO(n) is cellular.

In particular, there is a single 0 cell e0 = {11} , so SO(n) is path-connected. The other cells eI = ei1 ··· eim are products, via the group operation in SO(n) , of the cells ei ⊂ P n−1 ⊂ SO(n) .

Proof:

According to Proposition A.2 in the Appendix, there are three things to show

in order to obtain the CW structure: (1) For each decreasing sequence I , ρϕI is a homeomorphism from the interior of D I onto its image. (2) The resulting image cells eI are all disjoint and cover SO(n) . (3) For each eI , ρϕI (∂D I ) is contained in a union of cells of lower dimension than eI . To begin the verification of these properties, define p : SO(n)→S n−1 by evaluation

at the vector en = (0, ··· , 0, 1) , p(α) = α(en ) . Isometries in P n−2 ⊂ P n−1 ⊂ SO(n) fix en , so p(P n−2 ) = {en } . We claim that p is a homeomorphism from P n−1 − P n−2 onto S n−1 − {en } . This can be seen as follows. Thinking of a point in P n−1 as a vector v ,

en θ

the map p takes this to ρ(v)(en ) = r (v)r (e1 )(en ) , which equals r (v)(en ) since en is in the hyperplane orthogonal to e1 . From the picture at the right it is then clear that p simply stretches the lower half of each meridian circle in S n−1 onto

θ

- en

θ

p(v) v

the whole meridian circle, doubling the angle up from the south pole, so P n−1 − P n−2 , represented by vectors whose last coordinate is negative, is taken homeomorphically onto S n−1 − {en } . The next statement is that the map


h : P n−1 × SO(n − 1), P n−2 × SO(n − 1)

→


SO(n), SO(n − 1) ,

h(v, α) = ρ(v)α

is a homeomorphism from (P n−1 − P n−2 )× SO(n − 1) onto SO(n) − SO(n − 1) . Here we view SO(n − 1) as the subgroup of SO(n) fixing the vector en . To construct an inverse to this homeomorphism, let β ∈ SO(n) − SO(n − 1) be given. Then β(en ) ≠ en so by the preceding paragraph there is a unique vβ ∈ P n−1 − P n−2 with ρ(vβ )(en ) = β(en ) , and vβ depends continuously on β since β(en ) does. The com-

position αβ = ρ(vβ )−1 β then fixes en , hence lies in SO(n − 1) . Since ρ(vβ )αβ = β , the map β , (vβ , αβ ) is an inverse to h on SO(n) − SO(n − 1) .

Statements (1) and (2) can now be proved by induction on n . The map ρ takes P n−2 to SO(n − 1) , so we may assume inductively that the maps ρϕI for I ranging

296

Chapter 3

Cohomology

over admissible sequences with first term i1 < n − 1 are the characteristic maps for a CW structure on SO(n − 1) , with cells the corresponding products eI . The admissible sequences I with i1 = n − 1 then give disjoint cells eI covering SO(n) − SO(n − 1) by what was shown in the previous paragraph. So (1) and (2) hold for SO(n) . To prove (3) it suffices to show there is an inclusion P i P i ⊂ P i P i−1 in SO(n)

since for an admissible sequence I , the map ρ : P I →SO(n) takes the boundary of the top-dimensional cell of P I to the image of products P J with J obtained from

I by decreasing one term ij by 1 , yielding a sequence which is admissible except perhaps for having two successive terms equal. As a preliminary to showing that
P i P i ⊂ P i P i−1 , observe that for α ∈ O(n) we have r α(v) = αr (v)α−1 . Hence ρ(v)ρ(w) = r (v)r (e1 )r (w)r (e1 ) = r (v)r (w 0 ) where w 0 = r (e1 )w . Thus to show P i P i ⊂ P i P i−1 it suffices to find for each pair v, w ∈ Ri+1 a pair x ∈ Ri+1 , y ∈ Ri with r (v)r (w) = r (x)r (y) . Let V ⊂ Ri+1 be a 2 dimensional subspace containing v and w . Since V ∩ Ri is at least 1 dimensional, we can choose a unit vector y ∈ V ∩ Ri . Let α ∈ O(i + 1) take

V to R2 and y to e1 . Then the conjugate αr (v)r (w)α−1 = r α(v) r α(w) lies in SO(2) , hence has the form ρ(z) = r (z)r (e1 ) for some z ∈ R2 by statement (2) for n = 2 . Therefore

r (v)r (w) = α−1 r (z)r (e1 )α = r α−1 (z) r α−1 (e1 ) = r (x)r (y) for x = α−1 (z) ∈ Ri+1 and y ∈ Ri .

It remains to show that the map ρ : P n−1 × P n−2 × ··· × P 1 →SO(n) is cellular.

This follows from the inclusions P i P i ⊂ P i P i−1 derived above, together with another family of inclusions P i P j ⊂ P j P i for i < j . To prove the latter we have the formulas ρ(v)ρ(w) = r (v)r (w 0 )

where w 0 = r (e1 )w, as earlier

= r (v)r (w 0 )r (v)r (v)

from r α(v) = αr (v)α−1 = r r (v)w 0 r (v)

= r r (v)r (e1 )w r (v) = r ρ(v)w r (v)
where v 0 = r (e1 )v, hence v = r (e1 )v 0 = ρ ρ(v)w ρ(v 0 ) In particular, taking v ∈ Ri+1 and w ∈ Rj+1 with i < j , we have ρ(v)w ∈ Rj+1 , and
u t the product ρ(v)ρ(w) ∈ P i P j equals the product ρ ρ(v)w ρ(v 0 ) ∈ P j P i .

Mod 2 Homology and Cohomology Each cell of SO(n) is the homeomorphic image of a cell in P n−1 × P n−2 × ··· × P 1 ,

so the cellular chain map induced by ρ : P n−1 × P n−2 × ··· × P 1 →SO(n) is surjective. It follows that with Z2 coefficients the cellular boundary maps for SO(n) are all trivial since this is true in P i and hence in P n−1 × P n−2 × ··· × P 1 by Proposition 3B.1. Thus H∗ (SO(n); Z2 ) has a Z2 summand for each cell of SO(n) . One can rephrase this

The Cohomology of SO(n)

Section 3.D

297

as saying that there are isomorphisms Hi (SO(n); Z2 ) ≈ Hi (S n−1 × S n−2 × ··· × S 1 ; Z2 ) for all i since this product of spheres also has cells in one-to-one correspondence with admissible sequences. The full structure of the Z2 homology and cohomology rings is given by:

Theorem 3D.2.

(a) H ∗ (SO(n); Z2 ) ≈

the smallest power of 2 such that

N

p |βi i |

i odd

p

Z2 [βi ]/(βi i ) where |βi | = i and pi is

≥ n.

(b) The Pontryagin ring H∗ (SO(n); Z2 ) is the exterior algebra ΛZ2 [e1 , ··· , en−1 ] . Here ei denotes the cellular homology class of the cell ei ⊂ P n−1 ⊂ SO(n) , and βi is the dual class to ei , represented by the cellular cochain assigning the value 1 to the cell ei and 0 to all other i cells.

Proof:

As we noted above, ρ induces a surjection on cellular chains. Since the cellular

boundary maps with Z2 coefficients are trivial for both P n−1 × ··· × P 1 and SO(n) ,

it follows that ρ∗ is surjective on H∗ (−; Z2 ) and ρ ∗ is injective on H ∗ (−; Z2 ) . We

know that H ∗ (P n−1 × ··· × P 1 ; Z2 ) is the polynomial ring Z2 [α1 , ··· , αn−1 ] truncated = 0 . For βi ∈ H i (SO(n); Z2 ) the dual class to ei , we have by the relations αi+1 i P ρ ∗ (βi ) = j αij , the class assigning 1 to each i cell in a factor P j of P n−1 × ··· × P 1 and 0 to all other i cells, which are products of lower-dimensional cells and hence map to cells in SO(n) disjoint from ei . First we will show that the monomials βI = βi1 ··· βim corresponding to admissi-

ble sequences I are linearly independent in H ∗ (SO(n); Z2 ) , hence are a vector space P basis. Since ρ ∗ is injective, we may identify each βi with its image j αij in the trun-

cated polynomial ring Z2 [α1 , ··· , αn−1 ]/(α21 , ··· , αn n−1 ) . Suppose we have a linear P relation I bI βI = 0 with bI ∈ Z2 and I ranging over the admissible sequences. Since each βI is a product of distinct βi ’s, we can write the relation in the form xβ1 + y = 0 where neither x nor y has β1 as a factor. Since α1 occurs only in the term β1 of xβ1 + y , where it has exponent 1 , we have xβ1 + y = xα1 + z where neither x nor z involves α1 . The relation xα1 + z = 0 in Z2 [α1 , ··· , αn−1 ]/(α21 , ··· , αn n−1 ) then implies x = 0 . Thus we may assume the original relation does not involve β1 . Now we repeat the argument for β2 . Write the relation in the form xβ2 + y = 0 where neither x nor y involves β2 or β1 . The variable α2 now occurs only in the term β2 of xβ2 + y , where it has exponent 2 , so we have xβ2 + y = xα22 + z where x and z do not involve α1 or α2 . Then xα22 + z = 0 implies x = 0 and we have a relation involving neither β1 nor β2 . Continuing inductively, we eventually deduce that all P coefficients bI in the original relation I bI βI = 0 must be zero. P i
2 = Observe now that β2i = β2i if 2i < n and β2i = 0 if 2i ≥ n , since j αj P 2i 2 α . The quotient Q of the algebra Z [β , β , ···] by the relations β = β and i j j 2 1 2 2i βj = 0 for j ≥ n then maps onto H ∗ (SO(n); Z2 ) . This map Q→H ∗ (SO(n); Z2 )

is also injective since the relations defining Q allow every element of Q to be represented as a linear combination of admissible monomials βI , and the admissible

298

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monomials are linearly independent in H ∗ (SO(n); Z2 ) . The algebra Q can also be described as the tensor product in statement (a) of the theorem since the relations β2i = β2i allow admissible monomials to be written uniquely as monomials in powers p

of the βi ’s with i odd, and the relation βj = 0 for j ≥ n becomes βipi = βi i = 0 where j = ipi with i odd and pi a power of 2 . For a given i , this relation holds iff p

ipi ≥ n , or in other words, iff |βi i | ≥ n . This finishes the proof of (a).

For part (b), note first that the group multiplication SO(n)× SO(n)→SO(n) is

cellular in view of the inclusions P i P i ⊂ P i P i−1 and P i P j ⊂ P j P i for i < j . So we can compute Pontryagin products at the cellular level. We know that there is at least an additive isomorphism H∗ (SO(n); Z2 ) ≈ ΛZ2 [e1 , ··· , en−1 ] since the products eI = ei1 ··· eim with I admissible form a basis for H∗ (SO(n); Z2 ) . The inclusion P i P i ⊂ P i P i−1 then implies that the Pontryagin product (ei )2 is 0 . It remains only to see the commutativity relation ei ej = ej ei . The inclusion P i P j ⊂ P j P i for i < j was obtained from the formula ρ(v)ρ(w) = ρ(ρ(v)w)ρ(v 0 ) for v ∈ Ri+1 , w ∈ Rj+1 ,

and v 0 = r (e1 )v . The map f : P i × P j →P j × P i , f (v, w) = (ρ(v)w, v 0 ) , is a homeo-

morphism since it is the composition of homeomorphisms (v, w) , (v, ρ(v)w) ,

(v 0 , ρ(v)w) , (ρ(v)w, v 0 ) . The first of these maps takes ei × ej homeomorphically

onto itself since ρ(v)(ej ) = ej if i < j . Obviously the second map also takes ei × ej

homeomorphically onto itself, while the third map simply transposes the two factors. Thus f restricts to a homeomorphism from ei × ej onto ej × ei , and therefore ei ej = ej ei in H∗ (SO(n); Z2 ) .

u t

The cup product and Pontryagin product structures in this theorem may seem at first glance to be unrelated, but in fact the relationship is fairly direct. As we saw in the previous section, the dual of a polynomial algebra Z2 [x] is a divided polynomial algebra ΓZ2 [α] , and with Z2 coefficients the latter is an exterior algebra ΛZ2 [α0 , α1 , ···] n

where |αi | = 2i |x| . If we truncate the polynomial algebra by a relation x 2

= 0,

then this just eliminates the generators αi for i ≥ n . In view of this, if it were the

case that the generators βi for the algebra H ∗ (SO(n); Z2 ) happened to be primitive,

then H ∗ (SO(n); Z2 ) would be isomorphic as a Hopf algebra to the tensor product of p

the single-generator Hopf algebras Z2 [βi ]/(βi i ) , i = 1, 3, ··· , hence the dual algebra H∗ (SO(n); Z2 ) would be the tensor product of the corresponding truncated divided polynomial algebras, in other words an exterior algebra as just explained. This is in fact the structure of H∗ (SO(n); Z2 ) , so since the Pontryagin product in H∗ (SO(n); Z2 )

determines the coproduct in H ∗ (SO(n); Z2 ) uniquely, it follows that the βi ’s must indeed be primitive. It is not difficult to give a direct argument that each βi is primitive. The coprod-

uct ∆ : H ∗ (SO(n); Z2 )→H ∗ (SO(n); Z2 ) ⊗ H ∗ (SO(n); Z2 ) is induced by the group mul-

tiplication µ : SO(n)× SO(n)→SO(n) . We need to show that the value of ∆(βi ) on eI ⊗ eJ , which we denote h∆(βi ), eI ⊗ eJ i , is the same as the value hβi ⊗ 1+1 ⊗ βi , eI ⊗ eJ i

The Cohomology of SO(n)

Section 3.D

299

for all cells eI and eJ whose dimensions add up to i . Since ∆ = µ ∗ , we have h∆(βi ), eI ⊗ eJ i = hβi , µ∗ (eI ⊗ eJ )i . Because µ is the multiplication map, µ(eI × eJ ) is contained in P I P J , and if we use the relations P j P j ⊂ P j P j−1 and P j P k ⊂ P k P j for j < k to rearrange the factors P j of P I P J so that their dimensions are in decreasing order, then the only way we will end up with a term P i is if we start with P I P J equal to P i P 0 or P 0 P i . Thus hβi , µ∗ (eI ⊗ eJ )i = 0 unless eI ⊗ eJ equals ei ⊗ e0 or e0 ⊗ ei . Hence ∆(βi ) contains no other terms besides βi ⊗ 1 + 1 ⊗ βi , and βi is primitive.

Integer Homology and Cohomology With Z coefficients the homology and cohomology of SO(n) turns out to be a good bit more complicated than with Z2 coefficients. One can see a little of this complexity already for small values of n , where the homeomorphisms SO(3) ≈ RP3 and SO(4) ≈ S 3 × RP3 would allow one to compute the additive structure as a direct sum of a certain number of Z ’s and Z2 ’s. For larger values of n the additive structure is qualitatively the same:

Proposition 3D.3. Proof:

H∗ (SO(n); Z) is a direct sum of Z ’s and Z2 ’s.

We compute the cellular chain complex of SO(n) , showing that it splits as a

tensor product of simpler complexes. For a cell ei ⊂ P n−1 ⊂ SO(n) the cellular boundary dei is 2ei−1 for even i > 0 and 0 for odd i . To compute the cellular boundary of a cell ei1 ··· eim we can pull it back to a cell ei1 × ··· × eim of P n−1 × ··· × P 1 whose P cellular boundary, by Proposition 3B.1, is j (−1)σj ei1 × ··· × deij × ··· × eim where P σj = i1 + ··· + ij−1 . Hence d(ei1 ··· eim ) = j (−1)σj ei1 ··· deij ··· eim , where it is un-

derstood that ei1 ··· deij ··· eim is zero if ij = ij+1 + 1 since P ij −1 P ij −1 ⊂ P ij −1 P ij −2 , in a lower-dimensional skeleton.


To split the cellular chain complex C∗ SO(n) as a tensor product of smaller
chain complexes, let C 2i be the subcomplex of C∗ SO(n) with basis the cells e0 , e2i , e2i−1 , and e2i e2i−1 . This is a subcomplex since de2i−1 = 0 , de2i = 2e2i−1 , and, in P 2i × P 2i−1 , d(e2i × e2i−1 ) = de2i × e2i−1 + e2i × de2i−1 = 2e2i−1 × e2i−1 , hence d(e2i e2i−1 ) = 0 since P 2i−1 P 2i−1 ⊂ P 2i−1 P 2i−2 . The claim is that there are chain complex isomorphisms


C∗ SO(2k + 1) ≈ C 2 ⊗C 4 ⊗ ··· ⊗C 2k
C∗ SO(2k + 2) ≈ C 2 ⊗C 4 ⊗ ··· ⊗C 2k ⊗C 2k+1

where C 2k+1 has basis e0 and e2k+1 . Certainly these isomorphisms hold for the chain groups themselves, so it is only a matter of checking that the boundary maps agree.
For the case of C∗ SO(2k + 1) this can be seen by induction on k , as the reader can
easily verify. Then the case of C∗ SO(2k + 2) reduces to the first case by a similar argument. Since H∗ (C 2i ) consists of Z ’s in dimensions 0 and 4i − 1 and a Z2 in dimension 2i − 1 , while H∗ (C 2k+1 ) consists of Z ’s in dimensions 0 and 2k + 1 , we conclude

Chapter 3

300

Cohomology

from the algebraic K¨ unneth formula that H∗ (SO(n); Z) is a direct sum of Z ’s and u t

Z2 ’s.

Note that the calculation shows that SO(2k) and SO(2k − 1)× S 2k−1 have isomorphic homology groups in all dimensions. In view of the preceding proposition, one can get rather complete information about H∗ (SO(n); Z) by considering the natural maps to H∗ (SO(n); Z2 ) and to the quotient of H∗ (SO(n); Z) by its torsion subgroup. Let us denote this quotient by f r ee (SO(n); Z) . The same strategy applies equally well to cohomology, and the uniH∗ f r ee (SO(n); Z) . versal coefficient theorem gives an isomorphism Hf∗r ee (SO(n); Z) ≈ H∗

f r ee (SO(n); Z) The proof of the proposition shows that the additive structure of H∗

is fairly simple: f r ee (SO(2k + 1); Z) ≈ H∗ (S 3 × S 7 × ··· × S 4k−1 ) H∗ f r ee (SO(2k + 2); Z) ≈ H∗ (S 3 × S 7 × ··· × S 4k−1 × S 2k+1 ) H∗

The multiplicative structure is also as simple as it could be:

Proposition 3D.4.

f r ee The Pontryagin ring H∗ (SO(n); Z) is an exterior algebra,

f r ee (SO(2k + 1); Z) ≈ ΛZ [a3 , a7 , ··· , a4k−1 ] H∗ f r ee (SO(2k H∗

where |ai | = i

+ 2); Z) ≈ ΛZ [a3 , a7 , ··· , a4k−1 , a2k+1 ]

The generators ai are primitive, so the dual Hopf algebra Hf∗r ee (SO(n); Z) is an exterior algebra on the dual generators αi .

Proof:

As in the case of Z2 coefficients we can work at the level of cellular chains

since the multiplication in SO(n) is cellular. Consider first the case n = 2k + 1 . Let E i be the cycle e2i e2i−1 generating a Z summand of H∗ (SO(n); Z) . By what we have shown above, the products E i1 ··· E im with i1 > ··· > im form an additive f r ee (SO(n); Z) , so we need only verify that the multiplication is as in basis for H∗

an exterior algebra on the classes E i . The map f in the proof of Proposition 3D.2 gives a homeomorphism ei × ej ≈ ej × ei if i < j , and this homeomorphism has local degree (−1)ij+1 since it is the composition (v, w) , (v, ρ(v)w) , (v 0 , ρ(v)w) ,

(ρ(v)w, v 0 ) of homeomorphisms with local degrees +1, −1 , and (−1)ij . Applying

this four times to commute E i E j = e2i e2i−1 e2j e2j−1 to E j E i = e2j e2j−1 e2i e2i−1 , three of the four applications give a sign of −1 and the fourth gives a +1 , so we conclude that E i E j = −E j E i if i < j . When i = j we have (E i )2 = 0 since e2i e2i−1 e2i e2i−1 = e2i e2i e2i−1 e2i−1 , which lies in a lower-dimensional skeleton because of the relation P 2i P 2i ⊂ P 2i P 2i−1 . Thus we have shown that H∗ (SO(2k + 1); Z) contains ΛZ [E 1 , ··· , E k ] as a subalgebra. The same reasoning shows that H∗ (SO(2k + 2); Z) contains the subalgebra ΛZ [E 1 , ··· , E k , e2k+1 ] . These exterior subalgebras account for all the nontorsion in f r ee (SO(n); Z) is as stated. H∗ (SO(n); Z) , so the product structure in H∗

The Cohomology of SO(n)

Section 3.D

301

f r ee Now we show that the generators E i and e2k+1 are primitive in H∗ (SO(n); Z) .

Looking at the formula for the boundary maps in the cellular chain complex of SO(n) , we see that this chain complex is the direct sum of the subcomplexes C(m) with basis the m fold products ei1 ··· eim with i1 > ··· > im > 0 . We allow m = 0 here, with C(0) having basis the 0 cell of SO(n) . The direct sum C(0) ⊕ ··· ⊕ C(m) is the cellular chain complex of the subcomplex of SO(n) consisting of cells that are products of m or fewer cells ei . In particular, taking m = 2 we have a subcomplex X ⊂ SO(n) whose homology, mod torsion, consists of the Z in dimension zero and the Z ’s generated by the cells E i , together with the cell e2k+1 when n = 2k + 2 . The

inclusion X > SO(n) induces a commutative diagram free

∆

free

( SO ( n) ; Z ) − − − − − → H∗

free

free

( X; Z)

free

( SO ( n) ; Z )

( X ; Z ) ⊗ H∗

− − →

free

H∗

∆

( X; Z) − − − − − − − − − − − − − − − − → H∗

− − →

H∗

( SO ( n) ; Z ) ⊗ H∗

f r ee where the lower ∆ is the coproduct in H∗ (SO(n); Z) and the upper ∆ is its ana-

unneth formula. The log for X , coming from the diagonal map X →X × X and the K¨ i classes E in the lower left group pull back to elements we label Eei in the upper left f r ee (X; Z) vanishes in even positive group. Since these have odd dimension and H∗ i dimensions, the images ∆(Ee ) can have no components a ⊗ b with both a and b

positive-dimensional. The same is therefore true for ∆(E i ) by commutativity of the diagram, so the classes E i are primitive. This argument also works for e2k+1 when n = 2k + 2 . f r ee (SO(n); Z) are primitive, this algeSince the exterior algebra generators of H∗

bra splits as a Hopf algebra into a tensor product of single-generator exterior algebras ΛZ [ai ] . The dual Hopf algebra Hf∗r ee (SO(n); Z) therefore splits as the tensor product of the dual exterior algebras ΛZ [αi ] , hence Hf∗r ee (SO(n); Z) is also an exterior

algebra.

u t

The exact ring structure of H ∗ (SO(n); Z) can be deduced from these results via Bockstein homomorphisms, as we show in Example 3E.7, though the process is somewhat laborious and the answer not very neat.

Stiefel Manifolds Consider the Stiefel manifold Vn,k , whose points are the orthonormal k frames in Rn , that is, orthonormal k tuples of vectors. Thus Vn,k is a subset of the product of k copies of S n−1 , and it is given the subspace topology. As special cases, Vn,n = O(n) and Vn,1 = S n−1 . Also, Vn,2 can be identified with the space of unit tangent vectors to S n−1 since a vector v at the point x ∈ S n−1 is tangent to S n−1 iff it is orthogonal to x . We can also identify Vn,n−1 with SO(n) since there is a unique way of extending an orthonormal (n − 1) frame to a positively oriented orthonormal n frame.

302

Chapter 3

Cohomology

There is a natural projection p : O(n)→Vn,k sending α ∈ O(n) to the k frame consisting of the last k columns of α , which are the images under α of the last k standard basis vectors in Rn . This projection is onto, and the preimages of points are precisely the cosets αO(n − k) , where we embed O(n − k) in O(n) as the orthogonal transformations of the first n − k coordinates of Rn . Thus Vn,k can be viewed as the space O(n)/O(n − k) of such cosets, with the quotient topology from O(n) . This is the same as the previously defined topology on Vn,k since the projection O(n)→Vn,k is a surjection of compact Hausdorff spaces. When k < n the projection p : SO(n)→Vn,k is surjective, and Vn,k can also be viewed as the coset space SO(n)/SO(n−k) . We can use this to induce a CW structure on Vn,k from the CW structure on SO(n) . The cells are the sets of cosets of the form eI SO(n − k) = ei1 ··· eim SO(n − k) for n > i1 > ··· > im ≥ n − k , together with the coset SO(n − k) itself as a 0 cell of Vn,k . These sets of cosets are unions of cells of SO(n) since SO(n−k) consists of the cells eJ = ej1 ··· ej` with n−k > j1 > ··· > j` . This implies that Vn,k is the disjoint union of its cells, and the boundary of each cell is contained in cells of lower dimension, so we do have a CW structure. Since the projection SO(n)→Vn,k is a cellular map, the structure of the cellular chain complex of Vn,k can easily be deduced from that of SO(n) . For example, the cellular chain complex of V2k+1,2 is just the complex C 2k defined earlier, while for V2k,2 the cellular boundary maps are all trivial. Hence the nonzero homology groups of Vn,2 are

 Hi (V2k+1,2 ; Z) = Hi (V2k,2 ; Z) = Z

Z Z2

for i = 0, 4k − 1 for i = 2k − 1 for i = 0, 2k − 2, 2k − 1, 4k − 3

Thus SO(n) has the same homology and cohomology groups as the product space V3,2 × V5,2 × ··· × V2k+1,2 when n = 2k+1 , or as V3,2 × V5,2 × ··· × V2k+1,2 × S 2k+1 when n = 2k + 2 . However, our calculations show that SO(n) is distinguished from these products by its cup product structure with Z2 coefficients, at least when n ≥ 5 , since β41 is nonzero in H 4 (SO(n); Z2 ) if n ≥ 5 , while for the product spaces the nontrivial element of H 1 (−; Z2 ) must lie in the factor V3,2 , and H 4 (V3,2 ; Z2 ) = 0 . When n = 4 we have SO(4) homeomorphic to SO(3)× S 3 = V3,2 × S 3 as we noted at the beginning of this section. Also SO(3) = V3,2 and SO(2) = S 1 .

Exercises 1. Show that a topological group that has a CW structure is an orientable manifold. [Consider the homeomorphisms x , xg for a fixed group element g .] 2. Using the CW structure on SO(n) , show that π1 SO(n) ≈ Z2 for n ≥ 3 . Find a loop representing a generator, and describe how twice this loop is nullhomotopic. 3. Compute the Pontryagin ring structure in H∗ (SO(5); Z) .

Bockstein Homomorphisms

Section 3.E

303

Homology and cohomology with coefficients in a field, particularly Zp with p prime, often have more structure and are easier to compute than with Z coefficients. Of course, passing from Z to Zp coefficients can involve a certain loss of information, a blurring of finer distinctions. For example, a Zpn in integer homology becomes a pair of Zp ’s in Zp homology or cohomology, so the exponent n is lost with Zp coefficients. In this section we introduce Bockstein homomorphisms, which in many interesting cases allow one to recover Z coefficient information from Zp coefficients. Bockstein homomorphisms also provide a small piece of extra internal structure to Zp homology or cohomology itself, which can be quite useful. We will concentrate on cohomology in order to have cup products available, but the basic constructions work equally well for homology. If we take a short exact sequence 0→G→H →K →0 of abelian groups and apply the covariant functor Hom(Cn (X), −) , we obtain 0

→ - C n (X; G) → - C n (X; H) → - C n (X; K) → - 0

which is exact since Cn (X) is free. Letting n vary, we have a short exact sequence of chain complexes, so there is an associated long exact sequence ···

→ - H n (X; G) → - H n (X; H) → - H n (X; K) → - H n+1 (X; G) → - ···

whose ‘boundary’ map H n (X; K)→H n+1 (X; G) is called a Bockstein homomorphism. We shall be interested primarily in the Bockstein β : H n (X; Zm )→H n+1 (X; Zm ) as-

sociated to the coefficient sequence 0→Zm

m Zm → --→ - Zm →0 , especially when m is 2

prime, but for the moment we do not need this assumption. Closely related to β is the m e : H n (X; Z )→H n+1 (X; Z) associated to 0→Z --→ Z→ Bockstein β - Z →0 . From the m

m

natural map of the latter short exact sequence onto the former one, we obtain the ree where ρ : H ∗ (X; Z)→H ∗ (X; Z ) is the homomorphism induced by lationship β = ρ β m

the map Z→Zm reducing coefficients mod m . Thus we have a commutative triangle e. in the following diagram, whose upper row is the exact sequence containing β ρ

∼ β

n H ( X; Z ) − − − − − → H n( X ; Z m ) − − − − − → H n + 1( X ; Z ) − − − − − → H n + 1( X ; Z )

H

Example

− − − →

− − − − − − − − β →

m

ρ

n +1

( X; Zm)

3E.1. Let X be a K(Zm , 1) , for example RP∞ when m = 2 or an infinite-

dimensional lens space with fundamental group Zm for arbitrary m . From the homology calculations in Examples 2.42 and 2.43 together with the universal coefficient theorem or cellular cohomology we have H n (X; Zm ) ≈ Zm for all n . Let us show that β : H n (X; Zm )→H n+1 (X; Zm ) is an isomorphism for n odd and zero for n even. If

n is odd the vertical map ρ in the diagram above is surjective for X = K(Zm , 1) , as

304

Chapter 3

Cohomology

e since the map m is trivial, so β is surjective, hence an isomorphism. On the is β e = 0 by other hand, when n is even the first map ρ in the diagram is surjective, so β exactness, hence β = 0 . A useful fact about β is that it satisfies the derivation property β(a ` b) = β(a) ` b + (−1)|a| a ` β(b)

(∗)

which comes from the corresponding formula for ordinary coboundary. Namely, let e be lifts of these to e and ψ ϕ and ψ be Zm cocycles representing a and b , and let ϕ Zm2 cochains. Concretely, one can view ϕ and ψ as functions on singular simplices e can be taken to be the same e and ψ with values in {0, 1, ··· , m − 1} , and then ϕ e = mη functions, but with {0, 1, ··· , m − 1} regarded as a subset of Zm2 . Then δϕ e and δψ = mµ for Zp cocycles η and µ representing β(a) and β(b) . Taking cup e is a Zm2 cochain lifting the Zm cocycle ϕ ` ψ , and e `ψ products, ϕ e = mη ` ψ e = δϕ e ±ϕ e ±ϕ e ` ψ) e `ψ e ` δψ e ` mµ = m η ` ψ ± ϕ ` µ δ(ϕ




where the sign ± is (−1)|a| . Hence η ` ψ + (−1)|a| ϕ ` µ represents β(a ` b) , giving the formula (∗) .

Example

3E.2: Cup Products in Lens Spaces. The cup product structure for lens

spaces was computed in Example 3.41 via Poincar´ e duality, but using Bocksteins we can deduce it from the cup product structure in CP∞ , which was computed in Theorem 3.12 without Poincar´ e duality. Consider first the infinite-dimensional lens space L = S ∞ /Zm where Zm acts on the unit sphere S ∞ in C∞ by scalar multiplication, so the action is generated by the rotation v

The quotient map S ∞ →CP∞

factors through

Looking at the cell structure

, e2π i/m v . L , so we have a projection L→CP∞ .

on L described in Example 2.43, we see that each even-dimensional cell of L projects homeomorphically onto the corresponding cell of CP∞ . Namely, the 2n cell of L is the homeomorphic image of the 2n cell in S 2n+1 ⊂ Cn+1 formed by the points P cos θ(z1 , ··· , zn , 0) + sin θ(0, ··· , 0, 1) with i zi2 = 1 and 0 < θ ≤ π , and the same

is true for the 2n cell of CP∞ . From cellular cohomology it then follows that the map L→CP∞ induces isomorphisms on even-dimensional cohomology with Zm co-

efficients. Since H ∗ (CP∞ ; Zm ) is a polynomial ring, we deduce that if y ∈ H 2 (L; Zm ) is a generator, then y k generates H 2k (L; Zm ) for all k . By Example 3E.1 there is a generator x ∈ H 1 (L; Zm ) with β(x) = y . The product formula (∗) gives β(xy k ) = β(x)y k − xβ(y k ) = y k+1 . Thus β takes xy k

to a generator, hence xy k must be a generator of H 2k+1 (L; Zm ) . This completely

determines the cup product structure in H ∗ (L; Zm ) if m is odd since the commutativity property of cup product implies that x 2 = 0 in this case. The result is that H ∗ (L; Zm ) ≈ ΛZm [x] ⊗ Zm [y] for odd m . When m is even this statement needs to be modified slightly by inserting the relation that x 2 is the unique element of order

Bockstein Homomorphisms

Section 3.E

305

2 in H 2 (L; Zm ) ≈ Zm , as we showed in Example 3.9 by an explicit calculation in the 2 skeleton of L . The cup product structure in finite-dimensional lens spaces follows from this since a finite-dimensional lens space embeds as a skeleton in an infinite-dimensional lens space, and the homotopy type of an infinite-dimensional lens space is determined by its fundamental group since it is a K(π , 1) . It follows that the cup product structure on a lens space S 2n+1 /Zm with Zm coefficients is obtained from the preceding calculation by truncating via the relation y n+1 = 0 . e β e = 0 since βρ e = 0 in the long exact e implies that β2 = ρ βρ The relation β = ρ β 2 n e . Because β = 0 , the groups H (X; Z ) form a chain complex sequence containing β m

with the Bockstein homomorphisms β as the ‘boundary’ maps. We can then form the associated Bockstein cohomology groups Ker β/ Im β , which we denote BH n (X; Zm ) in dimension n . The most interesting case is when m is a prime p , so we shall assume this from now on.

Proposition 3E.3.

If Hn (X; Z) is finitely generated for all n , then the Bockstein co-

homology groups BH n (X; Zp ) are determined by the following rules : (a) Each Z summand of H n (X; Z) contributes a Zp summand to BH n (X; Zp ) . (b) Each Zpk summand of H n (X; Z) with k > 1 contributes Zp summands to both BH n−1 (X; Zp ) and BH n (X; Zp ) . (c) A Zp summand of H n (X; Z) gives Zp summands of H n−1 (X; Zp ) and H n (X; Zp ) with β an isomorphism between these two summands, hence there is no contribution to BH ∗ (X; Zp ) .

Proof:

We will use the algebraic notion of minimal chain complexes. Suppose that C

is a chain complex of free abelian groups for which the homology groups Hn (C) are finitely generated for each n . Choose a splitting of each Hn (C) as a direct sum of cyclic groups. There are countably many of these cyclic groups, so we can list them as G1 , G2 , ··· . For each Gi choose a generator gi and define a corresponding chain complex M(gi ) by the following prescription. If gi has infinite order in Gi ⊂ Hni (C) , let M(gi ) consist of just a Z in dimension ni , with generator zi . On the other hand, if gi has finite order k in Hni (C) , let M(gi ) consist of Z ’s in dimensions ni and ni + 1 , generated by xi and yi respectively, with ∂yi = kxi . Let M be the direct sum of the chain complexes M(gi ) . Define a chain map σ : M →C by sending zi and xi to cycles

ζi and ξi representing the corresponding homology classes gi , and yi to a chain ηi with ∂ηi = kξi . The chain map σ induces an isomorphism on homology, hence also on cohomology with any coefficients, by Corollary 3.4. The dual cochain complex M ∗ obtained by applying Hom(−, Z) splits as the direct sum of the dual complexes M ∗ (gi ) . So in cohomology with Z coefficients the dual basis element zi∗ generates

a Z summand in dimension ni , while yi∗ generates a Zk summand in dimension ni + 1 since δxi∗ = kyi∗ . With Zp coefficients, p prime, zi∗ gives a Zp summand of

Chapter 3

306

Cohomology

H ni (M; Zp ) , while xi∗ and yi∗ give Zp summands of H ni (M; Zp ) and H ni +1 (M; Zp ) if p divides k and otherwise they give nothing. The map σ induces an isomorphism between the associated Bockstein long exact sequences of cohomology groups, with commuting squares, so we can use M ∗ to e , and we can do the calculation separately on each summand M ∗ (g ) . compute β and β i

e are zero on y ∗ and z∗ . When p divides k we have the class Obviously β and β i i

xi∗ ∈ H ni (M; Zp ) , and from the definition of Bockstein homomorphisms it follows e ∗ ) = (k/p)y ∗ ∈ H ni +1 (M; Z) and β(x ∗ ) = (k/p)y ∗ ∈ H ni +1 (M; Z ) . The that β(x p i i i i latter element is nonzero iff k is not divisible by p 2 .

Corollary 3E.4.

u t

In the situation of the preceding proposition, H ∗ (X; Z) contains no

elements of order p 2 iff the dimension of BH n (X; Zp ) as a vector space over Zp

equals the rank of H n (X; Z) for all n . In this case ρ : H ∗ (X; Z)→H ∗ (X; Zp ) is injec-

tive on the p torsion, and the image of this p torsion under ρ is equal to Im β .

Proof:

The first statement is evident from the proposition. The injectivity of ρ on

p torsion is in fact equivalent to there being no elements of order p 2 . The equality e = ρ(Ker m) in the commutative Im ρ = Im β follows from the fact that Im β = ρ(Im β) diagram near the beginning of this section, and the fact that for m = p the kernel of m is exactly the p torsion when there are no elements of order p 2 .

Example 3E.5.

u t

Let us use Bocksteins to compute H ∗ (RP∞ × RP∞ ; Z) . This could in-

stead be done by first computing the homology via the general K¨ unneth formula, then applying the universal coefficient theorem, but with Bocksteins we will only need the simpler K¨ unneth formula for field coefficients in Theorem 3.16. The cup product structure in H ∗ (RP∞ × RP∞ ; Z) will also be easy to determine via Bocksteins. e ∗ (RP∞ × RP∞ ; Zp ) = 0 by e ∗ (RP∞ ; Zp ) = 0 , hence H For p an odd prime we have H e ∗ (RP∞ × RP∞ ; Z) Theorem 3.16. The universal coefficient theorem then implies that H consists entirely of elements of order a power of 2 . From Example 3E.1 we know that Bockstein homomorphisms in H ∗ (RP∞ ; Z2 ) ≈ Z2 [x] are given by β(x 2k−1 ) = x 2k and

β(x 2k ) = 0 . In H ∗ (RP∞ × RP∞ ; Z2 ) ≈ Z2 [x, y] we can then compute β via the product formula β(x m y n ) = (βx m )y n + x m (βy n ) . The answer can be represented graphically by the figure to the right. Here the dot, diamond, or circle

y6 y5

in the (m, n) position represents the monomial

y4

x m y n and line segments indicate nontrivial Bock-

y3

steins. For example, the lower left square records

y2

the formulas β(xy) = x 2 y + xy 2 , β(x 2 y) = x 2 y 2 = β(xy 2 ) , and β(x 2 y 2 ) = 0 . Thus in this square we see that Ker β = Im β , with generators the ‘diagonal’ sum x 2 y + xy 2 and x 2 y 2 . The

y 1 1

x

x2 x3 x 4 x5 x6

Bockstein Homomorphisms

Section 3.E

307

same thing happens in all the other squares, so it is apparent that Ker β = Im β except for the zero-dimensional class ‘ 1 .’ By the preceding corollary this says that all e ∗ (RP∞ × RP∞ ; Z) have order 2 . Furthermore, Im β consists nontrivial elements of H of the subring Z2 [x 2 , y 2 ] , indicated by the circles in the figure, together with the multiples of x 2 y + xy 2 by elements of Z2 [x 2 , y 2 ] . It follows that there is a ring isomorphism H ∗ (RP∞ × RP∞ ; Z) ≈ Z[λ, µ, ν]/(2λ, 2µ, 2ν, ν 2 + λ2 µ + λµ 2 ) where ρ(λ) = x 2 , ρ(µ) = y 2 , ρ(ν) = x 2 y + xy 2 , and the relation ν 2 + λ2 µ + λµ 2 = 0 holds since (x 2 y + xy 2 )2 = x 4 y 2 + x 2 y 4 . This calculation illustrates the general principle that cup product structures with Z coefficients tend to be considerably more complicated than with field coefficients. One can see even more striking evidence of this by computing H ∗ (RP∞ × RP∞ × RP∞ ; Z) by the same technique.

Example

3E.6. Let us construct finite CW complexes X1 , X2 , and Y such that the

rings H ∗ (X1 ; Z) and H ∗ (X2 ; Z) are isomorphic but H ∗ (X1 × Y ; Z) and H ∗ (X2 × Y ; Z)

are isomorphic only as groups, not as rings. According to Theorem 3.16 this can happen only if all three of X1 , X2 , and Y have torsion in their Z cohomology. The space X1 is obtained from S 2 × S 2 by attaching a 3 cell e3 to the second S 2 factor by a map of degree 2 . Thus X1 has a CW structure with cells e0 , e12 , e22 , e3 , e4 with e3 attached to the 2 sphere e0 ∪ e22 . The space X2 is obtained from S 2 ∨ S 2 ∨ S 4 by attaching a 3 cell to the second S 2 summand by a map of degree 2 , so it has a CW structure with the same collection of five cells, the only difference being that in X2 the 4 cell is attached trivially. For the space Y we choose a Moore space M(Z2 , 2) , with cells labeled f 0 , f 2 , f 3 , the 3 cell being attached by a map of degree 2 . From cellular cohomology we see that both H ∗ (X1 ; Z) and H ∗ (X2 ; Z) consist of Z ’s in dimensions 0 , 2 , and 4 , and a Z2 in dimension 3 . In both cases all cup products of positive-dimensional classes are zero since for dimension reasons the only possible nontrivial product is the square of the 2 dimensional class, but this is zero as one sees by restricting to the subcomplex S 2 × S 2 or S 2 ∨ S 2 ∨ S 4 . For the space Y we have H ∗ (Y ; Z) consisting of a Z in dimension 0 and a Z2 in dimension 3 , so the cup product structure here is trivial as well. With Z2 coefficients the cellular cochain complexes for Xi , Y , and Xi × Y are all trivial, so we can identify the cells with a basis for Z2 cohomology. In Xi and Y the only nontrivial Z2 Bocksteins are β(e22 ) = e3 and β(f 2 ) = f 3 . The Bocksteins in Xi × Y can then be computed using the product formula for β , which applies to cross product as well as cup product since cross product is defined in terms of cup product. The results are shown in the following table, where an arrow denotes a nontrivial Bockstein.

308

Chapter 3

e0 × f

0

e 12 × f e

2 2

Cohomology

0

e3 × f

0

−−−−→ 0 3 − 0 e ×f ×f → − − − − −

e0 × f

2

e4 × f

0

e 12 × f

3

e4 × f

− − → e4 × f 3

2

→ − − − − − 2 e ×f e 3 × f 2− − → e3 × f 3 → → − − − − − − − − − − 2 3 e 22 × f 2− e f − → 2× 2 1

The two arrows from e22 × f 2 mean that β(e22 × f 2 ) = e3 × f 2 + e22 × f 3 . It is evident

that BH ∗ (Xi × Y ; Z2 ) consists of Z2 ’s in dimensions 0 , 2 , and 4 , so Proposition 3E.3 implies that the nontorsion in H ∗ (Xi × Y ; Z) consists of Z ’s in these dimensions. Furthermore, by Corollary 3E.4 the 2 torsion in H ∗ (Xi × Y ; Z) corresponds to the image

of β and consists of Z2 × Z2 ’s in dimensions 3 and 5 together with Z2 ’s in dimensions 6 and 7 . In particular, there is a Z2 corresponding to e3 × f 2 +e22 × f 3 in dimension 5 . There is no p torsion for odd primes p since H ∗ (Xi × Y ; Zp ) ≈ H ∗ (Xi ; Zp ) ⊗ H ∗ (Y ; Zp )

is nonzero only in even dimensions. We can see now that with Z coefficients, the cup product H 2 × H 5 →H 7 is nontriv-

ial for X1 × Y but trivial for X2 × Y . For in H ∗ (Xi × Y ; Z2 ) we have, using the relation (a× b) ` (c × d) = (a ` c)× (b ` d) which follows immediately from the definition of cross product, (1) e12 × f 0 ` e12 × f 3 = (e12 ` e12 )× (f 0 ` f 3 ) = 0 since e12 ` e12 = 0 (2) e12 × f 0 ` (e3 × f 2 + e22 × f 3 ) = (e12 ` e3 )× (f 0 ` f 2 ) + (e12 ` e22 )× (f 0 ` f 3 ) = (e12 ` e22 )× f 3 since e12 ` e3 = 0 and in H 7 (Xi × Y ; Z2 ) ≈ H 7 (Xi × Y ; Z) we have (e12 ` e22 )× f 3 = e4 × f 3 ≠ 0 for i = 1 but (e12 ` e22 )× f 3 = 0× f 3 = 0 for i = 2 . Thus the cohomology ring of a product space is not always determined by the cohomology rings of the factors.

Example 3E.7.

Bockstein homomorphisms can be used to get a more complete pic-

ture of the structure of H ∗ (SO(n); Z) than we obtained in the preceding section. Continuing the notation employed there, we know from the calculation for RP∞ in
P 2i
P P Example 3E.1 that β j α2i−1 = j α2i = 0 , hence β(β2i−1 ) = β2i j αj j j and β and β(β2i ) = 0 . Taking the case n = 5 as an example, we have H ∗ (SO(5); Z2 ) ≈

Z2 [β1 , β3 ]/(β81 , β23 ) . The upper part of the table at the top of the next page shows the nontrivial Bocksteins. Once again two arrows from an element mean ‘sum,’ for example β(β1 β3 ) = β(β1 )β3 + β1 β(β3 ) = β2 β3 + β1 β4 = β21 β3 + β51 . This Bockstein data allows us to calculate H i (SO(5); Z) modulo odd torsion, with the results indicated in the remainder of the table, where the vertical arrows denote the map ρ . As we showed in Proposition 3D.3, there is no odd torsion, so this in fact gives the full calculation of H i (SO(5); Z) .

Bockstein Homomorphisms

β1 − − →β1

5 7 β1 − β1 − − → β 16 → → → −− β 2β −−− β 3 β −−− β 4β −−→ − β 3 − β 1 β 3− → 1 3 → 1 3 1 3− 3

x =y

xy

β1

5 β1

+

2

3

x y, z

7

Z

x y=y

β1

β1

7

β1 β3

Z2

0

2

7

6

2 β1β3

6

4

β1 + β1 β3

3

yz

6

β1 β3

− − − →

4

3

β1 + β3

Z2 × Z

Z2 3

5

− − − →

x

Z2

β1 β3 − →β 1 β 3

→ − − −−−→

y

2

− − − →

− − − → 2

β1

Z2

→ −

x

1

Z

− − − →

Z2

0

4

− − − →

Z

309

β1 − − − → β1

2

1

Section 3.E

7

β1 β3

It is interesting that the generator y ∈ H 3 (SO(5); Z) ≈ Z has y 2 nontrivial, since this implies that the ring structures of H ∗ (SO(5); Z) and H ∗ (RP7 × S 3 ; Z) are not isomorphic, even though the cohomology groups and the Z2 cohomology rings of these two spaces are the same. An exercise at the end of the section is to show that in fact SO(5) is not homotopy equivalent to the product of any two CW complexes with nontrivial cohomology. A natural way to describe H ∗ (SO(5); Z) would be as a quotient of a free graded commutative associative algebra F [x, y, z] over Z with |x| = 2 , |y| = 3 , and |z| = 7 . Elements of F [x, y, z] are representable as polynomials p(x, y, z) , subject only to the relations imposed by commutativity. In particular, since y and z are odd-dimensional we have yz = −zy , and y 2 and z2 are nonzero elements of order 2 in F [x, y, z] . Any monomial containing y 2 or z2 as a factor also has order 2 . In these terms, the calculation of H ∗ (SO(5); Z) can be written H ∗ (SO(5); Z) ≈ F [x, y, z]/(2x, x 4 , y 4 , z2 , xz, x 3 − y 2 ) The next figure shows the nontrivial Bocksteins for H ∗ (SO(7); Z2 ) . Here the numbers across the top indicate dimension, stopping with 21 , the dimension of SO(7) . The labels on the dots refer to the basis of products of distinct βi ’s. For example, the dot labeled 135 is β1 β3 β5 . 0

1

2

3

4

5

6

∅

1

2

3

4

14

123

12

13

23

24

7

8

9

124

134 35

234 36

10 11 12

13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 13456

2356 12356

5

34 16

1234 56

6

136 15

25

125

145

12456

123456 23456

12345 12346

345 235

456

245

126 135

236 356 1246

1256 1356 1456 2456 3456 1345 2345

1235 1236 46

45

26

156 1245

146

346 1346 2346

246

236

The left-right symmetry of the figure displays Poincar´ e duality quite graphically. Note that the corresponding diagram for SO(5) , drawn in a slightly different way from

Chapter 3

310

Cohomology

the preceding figure, occurs in the upper left corner as the subdiagram with labels 1 through 4 . This subdiagram has the symmetry of Poincar´ e duality as well. From the diagram one can with some effort work out the cup product structure in H ∗ (SO(7); Z) , but the answer is rather complicated, just as the diagram is: F [x, y, z, v, w]/(2x, 2v, x 4 , y 4 , z2 , v 2 , w 2 ,xz, vz, vw, y 2 w, x 3 y 2 v, y 2 z − x 3 v, xw − y 2 v − x 3 v) where x , y , z , v , w have dimensions 2 , 3 , 7 , 7 , 11 , respectively. It is curious that the relation x 3 = y 2 in H ∗ (SO(5); Z) no longer holds in H ∗ (SO(7); Z) .

Exercises 1. Show that H ∗ (K(Zm , 1); Zk ) is isomorphic as a ring to H ∗ (K(Zm , 1); Zm ) ⊗ Zk if k divides m . In particular, if m/k is even, this is ΛZk [x] ⊗ Zk [y] . 2. In this problem we will derive one half of the classification of lens spaces up 0 ) then to homotopy equivalence, by showing that if Lm (`1 , ··· , `n ) ' Lm (`10 , ··· , `n 0 n k mod m for some integer k . The converse is Exercise 29 `1 ··· `n ≡ ±`10 ··· `n

for §4.2. (a) Let L = Lm (`1 , ··· , `n ) and let Z∗ m be the multiplicative group of invertible elen−1 = tz where x is a generator ments of Zm . Define t ∈ Z∗ m by the equation xy

of H 1 (L; Zm ) , y = β(x) , and z ∈ H 2n−1 (L; Zm ) is the image of a generator of ∗ n H 2n−1 (L; Z) . Show that the image τ(L) of t in the quotient group Z∗ m /±(Zm )

depends only on the homotopy type of L .

(b) Given nonzero integers k1 , ··· , kn , define a map fe : S 2n−1 →S 2n−1 sending the unit vector (r1 eiθ1 , ··· , rn eiθn ) in Cn to (r1 eik1 θ1 , ··· , rn eikn θn ) . Show: (i) fe has degree k ··· k . 1

n

0 ) provided that (ii) fe induces a quotient map f : L→L0 for L0 = Lm (`10 , ··· , `n

kj `j ≡ `j0 mod m for each j .

(iii) f induces an isomorphism on π1 , hence on H 1 (−; Zm ) . (iv) f has degree k1 ··· kn , i.e., f∗ is multiplication by k1 ··· kn on H2n−1 (−; Z) .

(c) Using the f in (b), show that τ(L) = k1 ··· kn τ(L0 ) .

0 0 n ) , then `1 ··· `n ≡ ±`10 ··· `n k (d) Deduce that if Lm (`1 , ··· , `n ) ' Lm (`10 , ··· , `n

mod m for some integer k . 3. Let X be the smash product of k copies of a Moore space M(Zp , n) with p

prime. Compute the Bockstein homomorphisms in H ∗ (X; Zp ) and use this to de-

scribe H ∗ (X; Z) .

4. Using the cup product structure in H ∗ (SO(5); Z) , show that SO(5) is not homotopy equivalent to the product of any two CW complexes with nontrivial cohomology.

Limits and Ext

Section 3.F

311

It often happens that one has a CW complex X expressed as a union of an increasing sequence of subcomplexes X0 ⊂ X1 ⊂ X2 ⊂ ··· . For example, Xi could be the i skeleton of X , or the Xi ’s could be finite complexes whose union is X . In situations of this sort, Proposition 3.33 says that Hn (X; G) is the direct limit lim Hn (Xi ; G) .

--→

Our goal in this section is to show this holds more generally for any homology theory, and to derive the corresponding formula for cohomology theories, which is a bit more complicated even for ordinary cohomology with Z coefficients. For ordinary homology and cohomology the results apply somewhat more generally than just to CW complexes, since if a space X is the union of an increasing sequence of subspaces Xi with the property that each compact set in X is contained in some Xi , then the singular complex of X is the union of the singular complexes of the Xi ’s, and so this gives a reduction to the CW case. Passing to limits can often result in nonfinitely generated homology and cohomology groups. At the end of this section we describe some of the rather subtle behavior of Ext for nonfinitely generated groups.

Direct and Inverse Limits As a special case of the general definition in §3.3, the direct limit lim --→ Gi of a α1 α2 ··· is defined sequence of homomorphisms of abelian groups G1 ----→ G2 ----→ G3 -→ L to be the quotient of the direct sum i Gi by the subgroup consisting of elements of the form (g1 , g2 − α1 (g1 ), g3 − α2 (g2 ), ···) . It is easy to see from this definition that every element of lim Gi is represented by an element gi ∈ Gi for some i , and two

--→

such representatives gi ∈ Gi and gj ∈ Gj define the same element of lim --→ Gi iff they have the same image in some Gk under the appropriate composition of α` ’s. If all S the αi ’s are injective and are viewed as inclusions of subgroups, lim Gi is just i Gi .

--→ Example 3F.1. For a prime p , consider the sequence Z --→ Z --→ Z → - ··· with all G can be identified with the subgroup Z[1/p] maps multiplication by p . Then lim --→ i p

p

of Q consisting of rational numbers with denominator a power of p . More generally,

we can realize any subgroup of Q as the direct limit of a sequence Z

→ - Z→ - Z→ - ···

with an appropriate choice of maps. For example, if the n th map is multiplication by n , then the direct limit is Q itself.

Example 3F.2.

The sequence of injections Zp

--→ Zp --→ Zp → - ··· , with p

p

2

3

p prime,

has direct limit a group we denote Zp∞ . This is isomorphic to Z[1/p]/Z , the subgroup of Q/Z represented by fractions with denominator a power of p . In fact Q/Z is isomorphic to the direct sum of the subgroups Z[1/p]/Z ≈ Zp∞ for all primes p . It is not hard to determine all the subgroups of Q/Z and see that each one can be realized as a direct limit of finite cyclic groups with injective maps between them. Conversely, every such direct limit is isomorphic to a subgroup of Q/Z .

Chapter 3

312

Cohomology

We can realize these algebraic examples topologically by the following construction. The mapping telescope of a sequence of maps X0

----→ X1 ----→ X2 -→ - ··· f0

f1

is the union of the mapping cylinders Mfi with the copies of Xi in Mfi and Mfi−1 identified for all i . Thus the mapping telescope is the quotient space of the disjoint ` union i (Xi × [i, i + 1]) in which each point (xi , i + 1) ∈ Xi × [i, i + 1] is identified with (fi (xi ), i + 1) ∈ Xi+1 × [i + 1, i + 2] . In the mapping telescope T , let Ti be the union of

X0

X1

X2

X3

the first i mapping cylinders. This deformation retracts onto Xi by deformation retracting each mapping cylinder onto its right end in turn. If the maps fi are cellular, each mapping cylinder is a CW complex and the telescope T is the increasing union of the subcomplexes Ti ' Xi . Then Proposition 3.33, or Theorem 3F.8 below, implies that Hn (T ; G) ≈ lim --→ Hn (Xi ; G) .

Example 3F.3.

Suppose each fi is a map S n →S n of degree p for a fixed prime p .

Then Hn (T ) is the direct limit of the sequence Z --→ Z --→ Z → - ··· considered in e k (T ) = 0 for k ≠ n , so T is a Moore space M(Z[1/p], n) . Example 3F.1 above, and H p

Example 3F.4.

p

In the preceding example, if we attach a cell en+1 to the first S n in T

via the identity map of S n , we obtain a space X which is a Moore space M(Zp∞ , n) since X is the union of its subspaces Xi = Ti ∪ en+1 , which are M(Zpi , n) ’s, and the inclusion Xi ⊂ Xi+1 induces the inclusion Zpi ⊂ Zpi+1 on Hn . Generalizing these two examples, we can obtain Moore spaces M(G, n) for arbi-

trary subgroups G of Q or Q/Z by choosing maps fi : S n →S n of suitable degrees.

The behavior of cohomology groups is more complicated. If X is the increasing union of subcomplexes Xi , then the cohomology groups H n (Xi ; G) , for fixed n and G , form a sequence of homomorphisms ···

--→ - G2 ---α--→ - G1 ---α--→ - G0 2

1

lim Gi is defined Given such a sequence of group homomorphisms, the inverse limit ←-Q to be the subgroup of i Gi consisting of sequences (gi ) with αi (gi ) = gi−1 for all i . There is a natural map λ : H n (X; G)→ lim H n (Xi ; G) sending an element of H n (X; G)

←--

to its sequence of images in H n (Xi ; G) under the maps H n (X; G)→H n (Xi ; G) induced

by inclusion. One might hope that λ is an isomorphism, but this is not true in general, as we shall see. However, for some choices of G it is:

Proposition 3F.5.

If the CW complex X is the union of an increasing sequence of sublim H n (Xi ; G) complexes Xi and if G is one of the fields Q or Zp , then λ : H n (X; G)→ ←--

is an isomorphism for all n .

Proof:

First we have an easy algebraic fact: Given a sequence of homomorphisms α2 1 G2 --→ G3 → --α→ - ··· , then Hom(lim Gi , G) = lim Hom(Gi , G)

of abelian groups G1

--→

←--

Limits and Ext

Section 3.F

313

for any G . Namely, it follows from the definition of lim --→ Gi that a homomorphism lim ϕ : --→ Gi →G is the same thing as a sequence of homomorphisms ϕi : Gi →G with ϕi = ϕi+1 αi for all i . Such a sequence (ϕi ) is exactly an element of lim Hom(Gi , G) .

←--

Now if G is a field Q or Zp we have H n (X; G) = Hom(Hn (X; G), G) = Hom(lim --→ Hn (Xi ; G), G) lim Hom(Hn (Xi ; G), G) = ←--

u t

lim H n (Xi ; G) = ←--

Let us analyze what happens for cohomology with an arbitrary coefficient group, or more generally for any cohomology theory. Given a sequence of homomorphisms of abelian groups ···

--→ - G2 ---α--→ - G1 ---α--→ - G0 2

1

Q Q define a map δ : i Gi → i Gi by δ(··· , gi , ···) = (··· , gi − αi+1 (gi+1 ), ···) , so that lim Gi is the kernel of δ . Denoting the cokernel of δ by lim1 Gi , we have then an exact

←-sequence

←--

0

lim Gi → → - ←--

Q

i Gi

δ --→

Q

i Gi

lim1 Gi → → - ←-- 0

This may be compared with the corresponding situation for the direct limit of a sequence G1

---α-→ G2 ---α-→ G3 -→ - ··· . In this case one has a short exact sequence 1

2

0

→ -

L

i Gi

δ --→

L

i Gi

→ - lim - 0 --→ Gi →

where δ(··· , gi , ···) = (··· , gi −αi−1 (gi−1 ), ···) , so δ is injective and there is no term lim1 Gi analogous to lim1 Gi . --→ ←-Here are a few simple observations about lim and lim1 :

←--

←--

lim Gi ≈ G0 and lim1 Gi = 0 . In fact, If all the αi ’s are isomorphisms then ←-←-Q 1 lim ←-- Gi = 0 if each αi is surjective, for to realize a given element (hi ) ∈ i Gi as δ(gi ) we can take g0 = 0 and then solve α1 (g1 ) = −h0 , α2 (g2 ) = g1 − h1 , ··· . If all the αi ’s are zero then lim Gi = lim1 Gi = 0 .

←--

←--

Deleting a finite number of terms from the end of the sequence ··· →G1 →G0 does not affect lim Gi or lim1 Gi . More generally, lim Gi and lim1 Gi are un-

←--

←--

←--

←--

changed if we replace the sequence ··· →G1 →G0 by a subsequence, with the appropriate compositions of αj ’s as the maps.

Example

3F.6. Consider the sequence of natural surjections ··· →Zp3 →Zp2 →Zp

with p a prime. The inverse limit of this sequence is a famous object in number theory, b p . It is actually a commutative called the p adic integers. Our notation for it will be Z

ring, not just a group, since the projections Zpi+1 →Zpi are ring homomorphisms, but b p are infinite we will be interested only in the additive group structure. Elements of Z sequences (··· , a2 , a1 ) with ai ∈ Zpi such that ai is the mod p i reduction of ai+1 .

314

Chapter 3

Cohomology

b p is uncountable. For each choice of ai there are exactly p choices for ai+1 , so Z b There is a natural inclusion Z ⊂ Zp as the constant sequences ai = n ∈ Z . It is easy b p is torsionfree by checking that it has no elements of prime order. to see that Z

b p has a unique represenb p . An element of Z There is another way of looking at Z

tation as a sequence (··· , a2 , a1 ) of integers ai with 0 ≤ ai < p i for each i . We can write each ai uniquely in the form bi−1 p i−1 + ··· + b1 p + b0 with 0 ≤ bj < p . The fact that ai+1 reduces mod p i to ai means that the numbers bj depend only on the b p , so we can view the elements of Z b p as the ‘base p infinite element (··· , a2 , a1 ) ∈ Z numbers’ ··· b1 b0 with 0 ≤ bi < p for all i , with the familiar rule for addition in base p notation. The finite expressions bn ··· b1 b0 represent the nonnegative integers, but negative integers have infinite expansions. For example, −1 has bi = p − 1 for all i , as one can see by adding 1 to this number. lim1 Zpi = 0 . The next example shows Since the maps Zpi+1 →Zpi are surjective, ←-how p adic integers can also give rise to a nonvanishing lim1 term.

←--

Example 3F.7.

Consider the sequence ···

→ - Z --→ Z --→ Z for p p

p

prime. In this case

the inverse limit is zero since a nonzero integer can only be divided by p finitely often. Q Q lim1 term is the cokernel of the map δ : ∞ Z→ ∞ Z given by δ(y1 , y2 , ···) = The ←-b p /Z→ Coker δ sending a p adic (y1 − py2 , y2 − py3 , ···) . We claim that the map Z number ··· b1 b0 as in the preceding example to (b0 , b1 , ···) is an isomorphism. To see this, note that the image of δ consists of the sums y1 (1, 0, ···)+y2 (−p, 1, 0, ···)+ y3 (0, −p, 1, 0, ···) + ··· . The terms after y1 (1, 0, ···) give exactly the relations that hold among the p adic numbers ··· b1 b0 , and in particular allow one to reduce an arbitrary sequence (b0 , b1 , ···) to a unique sequence with 0 ≤ bi < p for all i . The

bp . term y1 (1, 0, ···) corresponds to the subgroup Z ⊂ Z We come now to the main result of this section:

Theorem 3F.8.

For a CW complex X which is the union of an increasing sequence

of subcomplexes X0 ⊂ X1 ⊂ ··· there is an exact sequence 0

λ lim1 hn−1 (Xi ) → lim n → - ←-- hn (X) --→ - 0 ←-- h (Xi ) →

where h∗ is any reduced or unreduced cohomology theory. For any homology theory h∗ , reduced or unreduced, the natural maps lim hn (Xi )→hn (X) are isomorphisms.

--→

Proof: Let T

be the mapping telescope of the inclusion sequence X0 > X1 > ··· . This

is a subcomplex of X × [0, ∞) when [0, ∞) is given the CW structure with the integer points as 0 cells. We have T ' X since T is a deformation retract of X × [0, ∞) , as we showed in the proof of Lemma 2.34 in the special case that Xi is the i skeleton of X , but the argument works just as well for arbitrary subcomplexes Xi . Let T1 ⊂ T be the union of the products Xi × [i, i + 1] for i odd, and let T2 be ` the corresponding union for i even. Thus T1 ∩ T2 = i Xi and T1 ∪ T2 = T . For an

unreduced cohomology theory h∗ we have then a Mayer–Vietoris sequence

Limits and Ext

Section 3.F

315

hn - 1( T1 ) ⊕ hn - 1( T2 ) − → hn - 1( T1 ∩ T2 ) − → hn ( T ) − → hn ( T1 ) ⊕ hn ( T2 ) − → hn ( T1 ∩ T2 ) ≈

≈

≈

≈

≈

∏i hn - 1( X i ) − − − − − →∏i hn - 1( Xi ) − − → hn ( X ) − − − − − →∏i hn ( Xi ) − − − − − →∏i hn ( Xi ) ϕ

ϕ

The maps ϕ making the diagram commute are given by the formula ϕ(··· , gi , ···) = (··· , (−1)i−1 (gi − ρ(gi+1 )), ···) , the ρ ’s being the appropriate restriction maps. This differs from δ only in the sign of its even coordinates, so if we change the isomorQ phism hk (T1 ∩ T2 ) ≈ i hk (Xi ) by inserting a minus sign in the even coordinates, we can replace ϕ by δ in the second row of the diagram. This row then yields a short ex-

act sequence 0→ Coker δ→hn (X; G)→ Ker δ→0 , finishing the proof for unreduced cohomology. The same argument works for reduced cohomology if we use the reduced telescope obtained from T by collapsing {x0 }× [0, ∞) to a point, for x0 a basepoint ` W i Xi rather than i Xi , and the rest of the argument

0 cell of X0 . Then T1 ∩ T2 =

goes through unchanged. The proof also applies for homology theories, with direct products replaced by direct sums in the second row of the diagram. As we noted u t earlier, Ker δ = 0 in the direct limit case, and Coker δ = lim --→ .

Example 3F.9.

As in Example 3F.3, consider the mapping telescope T for the sequence

of degree p maps S n →S n → ··· . Letting Ti be the union of the first i mapping cylin-

ders in the telescope, the inclusions T1 > T2 > ··· induce on H n (−; Z) the sequence p ··· → - Z --→ Z in Example 3F.7. From the theorem we deduce that H n+1 (T ; Z) ≈ Zb p /Z

e k (T ; Z) = 0 for k ≠ n+1 . Thus we have the rather strange situation that the CW and H complex T is the union of subcomplexes Ti each having cohomology consisting only

of a Z in dimension n , but T itself has no cohomology in dimension n and instead b p /Z in dimension n + 1 . This contrasts sharply with has a huge uncountable group Z what happens for homology, where the groups Hn (Ti ) ≈ Z fit together nicely to give Hn (T ) ≈ Z[1/p] .

Example

3F.10. A more reasonable behavior is exhibited if we consider the space

X = M(Zp∞ , n) in Example 3F.4 expressed as the union of its subspaces Xi . By the universal coefficient theorem, the reduced cohomology of Xi with Z coefficients con-

sists of a Zpi = Ext(Zpi , Z) in dimension n + 1 . The inclusion Xi > Xi+1 induces the

inclusion Zpi > Zpi+1 on Hn , and on Ext this induced map is a surjection Zpi+1 →Zpi as one can see by looking at the diagram of free resolutions on the left:

0

pi

i

p

− − − →Z − − − − − →Z − − − − − → Zp − →0 i +1

0→ − − − Ext ( Zpi , Z ) → − − − − − Hom ( Z , Z ) → − − −

→ − −

p i +1

p

− − →

0

− − →

− − → 11

→ − −

− − − →Z − − − − − →Z − − − − − → Zp − − − →0

...

11

0→ − − Ext ( Zp i +1, Z ) → − − − − − − Hom ( Z , Z ) →

...

Applying Hom(−, Z) to this diagram, we get the diagram on the right, with exact rows, and the left-hand vertical map is a surjection since the vertical map to the right of it is surjective. Thus the sequence ··· →H n+1 (X2 ; Z)→H n+1 (X1 ; Z) is the

316

Chapter 3

Cohomology

b p , the p adic integers, sequence in Example 3F.6, and we deduce that H n+1 (X; Z) ≈ Z k e and H (X; Z) = 0 for k ≠ n + 1 . This example can be related to the

0− → Hn ( S n ) − →Hn ( T ) − → Hn ( X ) − →0 = =

= =

= =

preceding one. If we view X as the map-

Z

Z[1/p ]

Zp∞

ping cone of the inclusion S n > T of one end of the telescope, then the long exact

bp Z

= =

Z

= =

groups for the pair (T , S n ) reduce to the

0− → H n( S n ) − →H n + 1( X ) − → H n + 1( T ) − →0 = =

sequences of homology and cohomology

bp/ Z Z

short exact sequences at the right. From these examples and the universal coefficient theorem we obtain isomorb p and Ext(Z[1/p], Z) ≈ Z b p /Z . These can also be derived phisms Ext(Zp∞ , Z) ≈ Z directly from the definition of Ext . A free resolution of Zp∞ is 0

→ - Z∞ --→ Z∞ → - Zp → - 0 ϕ

∞

where Z∞ is the direct sum of an infinite number of Z ’s, the sequences (x1 , x2 , ···) of integers all but finitely many of which are zero, and ϕ sends (x1 , x2 , ···) to (px1 − x2 , px2 − x3 , ···) . We can view ϕ as the linear map corresponding to the infinite matrix with p ’s on the diagonal, −1 ’s just above the diagonal, and 0 ’s everywhere else. Clearly Ker ϕ = 0 since integers cannot be divided by p infinitely often. The image of ϕ is generated by the vectors (p, 0, ···), (−1, p, 0, ···), (0, −1, p, 0, ···), ··· so Coker ϕ ≈ Zp∞ . Dualizing by taking Hom(−, Z) , we have Hom(Z∞ , Z) the infinite di-

rect product of Z ’s, and ϕ∗ (y1 , y2 , ···) = (py1 , py2 −y1 , py3 −y2 , ···) , corresponding to the transpose of the matrix of ϕ . By definition, Ext(Zp∞ , Z) = Coker ϕ∗ . The

image of ϕ∗ consists of the infinite sums y1 (p, −1, 0 ···) + y2 (0, p, −1, 0, ···) + ··· , b p by rewriting a sequence (z1 , z2 , ···) as the so Coker ϕ∗ can be identified with Z p adic number ··· z2 z1 . b p /Z is quite similar. A free resolution of The calculation Ext(Z[1/p], Z) ≈ Z Z[1/p] can be obtained from the free resolution of Zp∞ by omitting the first column of the matrix of ϕ and, for convenience, changing sign. This gives the formula ϕ(x1 , x2 , ···) = (x1 , x2 − px1 , x3 − px2 , ···) , with the image of ϕ generated by the elements (1, −p, 0, ···) , (0, 1, −p, 0, ···), ··· . The dual map ϕ∗ is given by

ϕ∗ (y1 , y2 , ···) = (y1 − py2 , y2 − py3 , ···) , and this has image consisting of the sums y1 (1, 0 ···) + y2 (−p, 1, 0, ···) + y3 (0, −p, 1, 0, ···) + ··· , so we get Ext(Z[1/p], Z) = b p /Z . Note that ϕ∗ is exactly the map δ in Example 3F.7. Coker ϕ∗ ≈ Z It is interesting to note also that the map ϕ : Z∞ →Z∞ in the two cases Zp∞ and

Z[1/p] is precisely the cellular boundary map Hn+1 (X n+1 , X n )→Hn (X n , X n−1 ) for the Moore space M(Zp∞ , n) or M(Z[1/p], n) constructed as the mapping telescope

of the sequence of degree p maps S n →S n → ··· , with a cell en+1 attached to the

first S n in the case of Zp∞ .

Limits and Ext

Section 3.F

317

More About Ext The functors Hom and Ext behave fairly simply for finitely generated groups, when cohomology and homology are essentially the same except for a dimension shift in the torsion. But matters are more complicated in the nonfinitely generated case. A useful tool for getting a handle on this complication is the following:

Proposition 3F.11. Given an abelian group G and a short exact sequence of abelian groups 0→A→B →C →0 , there are exact sequences 0→Hom(G, A)→Hom(G, B)→Hom(G, C)→Ext(G, A)→Ext(G, B)→Ext(G, C)→0 0→Hom(C, G)→Hom(B, G)→Hom(A, G)→Ext(C, G)→Ext(B, G)→Ext(A, G)→0

Proof:

A free resolution 0→F1 →F0 →G→0 gives rise to a commutative diagram

− →

− →

− →

0− − − → Hom ( F0 , A ) − − − − → Hom ( F0 , B ) − − − − → Hom ( F0 , C ) − − − →0 0− − − → Hom ( F1, A ) − − − − → Hom ( F1, B ) − − − − → Hom ( F 1, C ) − − − →0 Since F0 and F1 are free, the two rows are exact, as they are simply direct products

of copies of the exact sequence 0→A→B →C →0 , in view of the general fact that Q L Hom( i Gi , H) = i Hom(Gi , H) . Enlarging the diagram by zeros above and below, it becomes a short exact sequence of chain complexes, and the associated long exact sequence of homology groups is the first of the

0

→ − → − → − → −

construct the commutative diagram at the right,

0

→ − → − → − → −

To obtain the other exact sequence we will

0

→ − → − → − → −

two six-term exact sequences in the proposition.

0

0

0

0− − − → F1 − − − → F10− − − → F 100− − − →0

where the columns are free resolutions and the

0− − − → F0 − − − → F00− − − → F 000− − − →0

rows are exact. To start, let F0 →A and F000 →C

0− − − →A − − − →B

be surjections from free abelian groups onto A and C . Then let F00 = F0 ⊕ F000 , with the obvious

maps in the second row, inclusion and projection. The map

F00

→B

− − − →C − − − →0

is defined on the

summand F0 to make the lower left square commute, and on the summand F000 it is

defined by sending basis elements of F000 to elements of B mapping to the images of these basis elements in C , so the lower right square also commutes. Now we have the bottom two rows of the diagram, and we can regard these two rows as a short exact sequence of two-term chain complexes. The associated long exact sequence of homology groups has six terms, the first three being the kernels of the three vertical maps to A , B , and C , and the last three being the cokernels of these maps. Since the vertical maps to A and C are surjective, the fourth and sixth of the six homology groups vanish, hence also the fifth, which says the vertical map to B is surjective. The first three of the original six homology groups form a short exact sequence, and we let this be the top row of the diagram, formed by the kernels of the vertical maps to A , B , and C . These kernels are subgroups of free abelian groups, hence are also free.

318

Chapter 3

Cohomology

Thus the three columns are free resolutions. The upper two squares automatically commute, so the construction of the diagram is complete. The first two rows of the diagram split by freeness, so applying Hom(−, G) yields a diagram

− →

− →

− →

0− − − − − → Hom ( F000, G ) − − − − − → Hom ( F00, G ) − − − − − → Hom ( F0 , G ) − − − − − →0 0− − − − − → Hom ( F100, G ) − − − − − → Hom ( F10, G ) − − − − − → Hom ( F1, G ) − − − − − →0 with exact rows. Again viewing this as a short exact sequence of chain complexes, the associated long exact sequence of homology groups is the second six-term exact u t

sequence in the statement of the proposition.

The second sequence in the proposition says in particular that an injection A→B

induces a surjection Ext(B, C)→Ext(A, C) for any C . For example, if A has torsion, this says Ext(A, Z) is nonzero since it maps onto Ext(Zn , Z) ≈ Zn for some n > 1 . b p earlier in this section shows that torsion in A does The calculation Ext(Zp∞ , Z) ≈ Z not necessarily yield torsion in Ext(A, Z) , however. Also useful are the formulas L

Ext(

i Ai , B)

≈

Q

i Ext(Ai , B)

Ext(A,

L

i Bi )

≈

L

i Ext(A, Bi )

L whose proofs we leave as exercises. For example, since Q/Z = p Zp ∞ we obtain Q b p . Then from the exact b p from the calculation Ext(Zp∞ , Z) ≈ Z Ext(Q/Z, Z) ≈ p Z Q b p )/Z using the second exact sequence 0→Z→Q→Q/Z→0 we get Ext(Q, Z) ≈ ( p Z sequence in the proposition. In these examples the groups Ext(A, Z) are rather large, and the next result says this is part of a general pattern:

Proposition 3F.12.

If A is not finitely generated then either Hom(A, Z) or Ext(A, Z)

is uncountable. Hence if Hn (X; Z) is not finitely generated then either H n (X; Z) or H n+1 (X; Z) is uncountable. Both possibilities can occur, as we see from the examples Hom( bp . and Ext(Zp∞ , Z) ≈ Z

L

∞ Z, Z)

≈

Q

∞Z

This proposition has some interesting topological consequences. First, it implies e ∗ (X; Z) = 0 , since the case of finitely e ∗ (X; Z) = 0 , then H that if a space X has H generated homology groups follows from our earlier results. And second, it says that one cannot always construct a space X with prescribed cohomology groups H n (X; Z) , as one can for homology. For example there is no space whose only nonvanishing e n (X; Z) is a countable nonfinitely generated group such as Q or Q/Z . Even in the H finitely generated case the dimension n = 1 is somewhat special since the group H 1 (X; Z) ≈ Hom(H1 (X), Z) is always torsionfree.

Limits and Ext

Proof:

Consider the map A

Section 3.F

319

--→ A , a , pa , multiplication by the positive integer p . p

Denote the kernel, image, and cokernel of this map by p A , pA , and Ap , respectively.

The short exact sequences 0→p A→A→pA→0 and 0→pA→A→Ap →0 give two six-term exact sequences involving Hom(−, Z) and Ext(−, Z) . The parts of these exact sequences we need are 0

≈ Hom(A, Z) → → - Hom(pA, Z) --→ - Hom(p A, Z) = 0 Hom(pA, Z) → - Ext(Ap , Z) → - Ext(A, Z)

where the term Hom(p A, Z) in the first sequence is zero since p A is a torsion group. Now let p be a prime, so Ap is a vector space over Zp . If this vector space is infinite-dimensional, it is an infinite direct sum of Zp ’s and Ext(Ap , Z) is the direct product of an infinite numbers of Zp ’s, hence uncountable. Exactness of the second sequence above then implies that one of the two adjacent terms Ext(A, Z) or Hom(pA, Z) ≈ Hom(A, Z) must be uncountable, so we are done when Ap is infinite. At the other extreme is the possibility that Ap = 0 . This means that A = pA , so every element of A is divisible by p . Hence if A is nontrivial, it then contains a subgroup isomorphic to either Z[1/p] or Zp∞ . We have seen that Ext(Z[1/p], Z) ≈ b p , an uncountable group in either case. As noted earlier, an b p /Z and Ext(Zp∞ , Z) ≈ Z Z inclusion B > A induces a surjection Ext(A, Z)→Ext(B, Z) , so it follows that Ext(A, Z)

is uncountable when Ap = 0 and A ≠ 0 .

The remaining case that Ap is a finite direct sum of Zp ’s will be reduced to the case Ap = 0 . Choose finitely many elements of A whose images in Ap are a set of generators, and let B ⊂ A be the subgroup generated by these elements. Thus the map Bp →Ap induced by the inclusion B

>A

is surjective. The func-

tor A , Ap is the same as A , A ⊗ Zp , so exactness of B →A→A/B →0 implies

exactness of Bp →Ap →(A/B)p →0 , and hence (A/B)p = 0 . If A is not finitely generated, A/B is nonzero, so the preceding case implies that Ext(A/B, Z) is uncountable. This implies that Ext(A, Z) is also uncountable via the exact sequence

Hom(B, Z)→Ext(A/B, Z)→Ext(A, Z) , since Hom(B, Z) is finitely generated and there-

fore countable.

u t

From this proposition one might conjecture that cohomology groups with Z coefficients are either finitely generated or uncountable. As was explained in §3.1, the functor Ext generalizes to a sequence of functors Extn R for modules over a ring R . In this generality the six-term sequences of Proposition 3F.11 become long exact sequences of Extn R groups associated to short exact sequences of R modules. These are derived in a similar fashion, by constructing short exact sequences of free resolutions. There are also analogous long exact sequences for the functors TorR n , specializing to six-term sequences when R = Z . These sixterm sequences are perhaps less useful than their Ext analogs, however, since Tor is

320

Chapter 3

Cohomology

less mysterious than Ext for nonfinitely generated groups, as it commutes with direct limits, according to an exercise for §3.A.

Exercises 1. Given maps fi : Xi →Xi+1 for integers i < 0 , show that the ‘reverse mapping telescope’ obtained by glueing together the mapping cylinders of the fi ’s in the obvious

way deformation retracts onto X0 . Similarly, if maps fi : Xi →Xi+1 are given for all

i ∈ Z , show that the resulting ‘double mapping telescope’ deformation retracts onto any of the ordinary mapping telescopes contained in it, the union of the mapping cylinders of the fi ’s for i greater than a given number n . lim1 Gi = 0 if the sequence ··· --→ 2. Show that ←-- G2 -----→ -2 G1 -----→ -1 G0 satisfies the Mittag–Leffler condition that for each i the images of the maps Gi+n →Gi are indeα

α

pendent of n for sufficiently large n . 3. Show that Ext(A, Q) = 0 for all A . [Consider the homology with Q coefficients of a Moore space M(A, n) .] 4. An abelian group G is defined to be divisible if the map G

n G, --→

g

, ng , is

surjective for all n > 1 . Show that a group is divisible iff it is a quotient of a direct sum of Q ’s. Deduce from the previous problem that if G is divisible then Ext(A, G) = 0 for all A . 5. Show that Ext(A, Z) is isomorphic to the cokernel of Hom(A, Q)→Hom(A, Q/Z) ,

the map induced by the quotient map Q→Q/Z . Use this to get another proof that b p for p prime. Ext(Zp∞ , Z) ≈ Z 6. Show that Ext(Zp∞ , Zp ) ≈ Zp . 7. Show that for a short exact sequence of abelian groups 0→A→B →C →0 , a Moore

space M(C, n) can be realized as a quotient M(B, n)/M(A, n) . Applying the long exact
sequence of cohomology for the pair M(B, n), M(A, n) with any coefficient group G , deduce an exact sequence 0→Hom(C, G)→Hom(B, G)→Hom(A, G)→Ext(C, G)→Ext(B, G)→Ext(A, G)→0 8. Show that for a Moore space M(G, n) the Bockstein long exact sequence in cohomology associated to the short exact sequence of coefficient groups 0→A→B →C →0 reduces to an exact sequence 0→Hom(G, A)→Hom(G, B)→Hom(G, C)→Ext(G, A)→Ext(G, B)→Ext(G, C)→0 9. For an abelian group A let p : A→A be multiplication by p , and let

pA

= Ker p ,

pA = Im p , and Ap = Coker p as in the proof of Proposition 3F.12. Show that the sixterm exact sequences involving Hom(−, Z) and Ext(−, Z) associated to the short exact sequences 0→p A→A→pA→0 and 0→pA→A→Ap →0 can be spliced together

to yield the exact sequence across the top of the following diagram

Transfer Homomorphisms

Section 3.G

321

p

)− Hom ( pA, Z ) − − − → Ext ( A p , Z ) − − − → Ext ( A, Z− − − − → Ext ( A, Z ) − − − → Ext ( p A, Z ) − − − →0 − − →

→ − − −

≈

Ext ( pA,− Z − − →)

0− − → Hom ( pA, Z ) − − − → Hom ( A , Z ) − − − →0

→ − −

0

where the map labeled ‘ p ’ is multiplication by p . Use this to show: (a) Ext(A, Z) is divisible iff A is torsionfree. (b) Ext(A, Z) is torsionfree if A is divisible, and the converse holds if Hom(A, Z) = 0 .

There is a simple construction called ‘transfer’ that provides very useful information about homology and cohomology of finite-sheeted covering spaces. After giving the definition and proving a few elementary properties, we will use the transfer in the construction of a number of spaces whose Zp cohomology is a polynomial ring. e →X be an n sheeted covering space, for some finite n . In addition Let π : X e →Ck (X) there is also a homomorto the induced map on singular chains π] : Ck (X)

e which assigns to a singular simplex phism in the opposite direction τ : Ck (X)→Ck (X) k k e . This is obviously a chain map, e : ∆ →X σ : ∆ →X the sum of the n distinct lifts σ commuting with boundary homomorphisms, so it induces transfer homomorphisms e G) and τ ∗ : H k (X; e G)→H k (X; G) for any coefficient group G . τ∗ : Hk (X; G)→Hk (X; We focus on cohomology in what follows, but similar statements hold for homology as well. The composition π] τ is clearly multiplication by n , hence τ ∗ π ∗ = n . This e G) consists of torsion has the consequence that the kernel of π ∗ : H k (X; G)→H k (X;

elements of order dividing n , since π ∗ (α) = 0 implies τ ∗ π ∗ (α) = nα = 0 . Thus the e must be ‘larger’ than that of X except possibly for torsion of order cohomology of X dividing n . This can be a genuine exception as one sees from the examples of S m

covering RPm and lens spaces. More generally, if S m →X is any n sheeted covering e ∗ (X; Z) consists entirely of torsion space, then the relation τ ∗ π ∗ = n implies that H elements of order dividing n , apart from a possible Z in dimension m . (Since X is a closed manifold, its homology groups are finitely generated by Corollaries A.8 and A.9 in the Appendix.) By studying the other composition π ∗ τ ∗ we will prove: e →X be an n sheeted covering space defined by an acLet π : X e . Then with coefficients in a field F whose characteristic is 0 tion of a group Γ on X e F ) is injective with image or a prime not dividing n , the map π ∗ : H k (X; F )→H k (X;

Proposition 3G.1.

e F )Γ consisting of classes α such that γ ∗ (α) = α for all γ ∈ Γ . the subgroup H ∗ (X;

Chapter 3

322

Proof:

Cohomology

We have already seen that elements of the kernel of π ∗ have finite order

dividing n , so π ∗ is injective for the coefficient fields we are considering here. It remains to describe the image of π ∗ . Note first that τπ] sends a singular simplex P e to the sum of all its images under the Γ action. Hence π ∗ τ ∗ (α) = γ∈Γ γ ∗ (α) ∆ k →X P e F ) . If α is fixed under the action of Γ on H k (X; e F ) , the sum γ∈Γ γ ∗ (α) for α ∈ H k (X; equals nα , so if the coefficient field F has characteristic 0 or a prime not dividing n , we can write α = π ∗ τ ∗ (α/n) and thus α lies in the image of π ∗ . Conversely, since π γ = π for all γ ∈ Γ , we have γ ∗ π ∗ (α) = π ∗ (α) for all α , and so the image of π ∗ e F )Γ . is contained in H ∗ (X; u t e the n sheeted cover corresponding Let X = S 1 ∨ S k , k > 1 , with X e is a circle with n S k ’s attached at equally to the index n subgroup of π1 (X) , so X

Example 3G.2.

spaced points around the circle. The deck transformation group Zn acts by rotating the circle, permuting the S k ’s cyclically. Hence for any coefficient group G , the ine G)Zn is all of H 0 and H 1 , plus a copy of G in dimension variant cohomology H ∗ (X; k , the cellular cohomology classes assigning the same element of G to each S k . Thus e G)Zn is exactly the image of π ∗ for i = 0 and k , while the image of π ∗ in H i (X; e G) . Whether this equals H 1 (X; e G)Zn or not dedimension 1 is the subgroup nH 1 (X; pends on G . For G = Q or Zp with p not dividing n , we have equality, but not for G = Z or Zp with p dividing n . In this last case the map π ∗ is not injective on H 1 .

Spaces with Polynomial mod p Cohomology An interesting special case of the general problem of realizing graded commutative rings as cup product rings of spaces is the case of polynomial rings Zp [x1 , ··· , xn ] over the coefficient field Zp , p prime. The basic question here is, which sets of numbers d1 , ··· , dn are realizable as the dimensions |xi | of the generators xi ? From §3.2

we have the examples of products of CP∞ ’s and HP∞ ’s with di ’s equal to 2 or 4 , for

arbitrary p , and when p = 2 we can also take RP∞ ’s with di ’s equal to 1 .

As an application of transfer homomorphisms we will construct some examples with larger di ’s. In the case of polynomials in one variable, it turns out that these examples realize everything that can be realized. But for two or more variables, more sophisticated techniques are necessary to realize all the realizable cases; see the end of this section for further remarks on this. The construction can be outlined as follows. Start with a space Y already known to have polynomial cohomology H ∗ (Y ; Zp ) = Zp [y1 , ··· , yn ] , and suppose there is an action of a finite group Γ on Y . A simple trick called the Borel construction shows that without loss of generality we may assume the action is free, defining a covering space Y →Y /Γ . Then by Proposition 3G.1 above, if p does not divide the order of Γ , H ∗ (Y /Γ ; Zp ) is isomorphic to the subring of Zp [y1 , ··· , yn ] consisting of polynomials

that are invariant under the induced action of Γ on H ∗ (Y ; Zp ) . And in some cases this subring is itself a polynomial ring.

Transfer Homomorphisms

Section 3.G

323

For example, if Y is the product of n copies of CP∞ then the symmetric group Σn acts on Y by permuting the factors, with the induced action on H ∗ (Y ; Zp ) ≈ Zp [y1 , ··· , yn ] permuting the yi ’s. A standard theorem in algebra says that the invariant polynomials form a polynomial ring Zp [σ1 , ··· , σn ] where σi is the i th elementary symmetric polynomial, the sum of all products of i distinct yj ’s. Thus σi is a homogeneous polynomial of degree i . The order of Σn is n! so the condition that p not divide the order of Γ amounts to p > n . Thus we realize the polynomial ring Zp [x1 , ··· , xn ] with |xi | = 2i , provided that p > n . This example is less than optimal since there happens to be another space, the Grassmann manifold of n dimensional linear subspaces of C∞ , whose cohomology with any coefficient ring R is R[x1 , ··· , xn ] with |xi | = 2i , as we show in §4.D, so the restriction p > n is not really necessary. To get further examples the idea is to replace CP∞ by a space with the same Zp cohomology but with ‘more symmetry,’ allowing for larger groups Γ to act. The constructions will be made using K(π , 1) spaces, which were introduced in §1.B. For a group π we constructed there a ∆ complex Bπ with contractible universal cover

Eπ . The construction is functorial: A homomorphism ϕ : π →π 0 induces a map

Bϕ : Bπ →Bπ 0 , Bϕ([g1 | ··· |gn ]) = [ϕ(g1 )| ··· |ϕ(gn )] , satisfying the functor properties B(ϕψ) = BϕBψ and B 11 = 11 . In particular, if Γ is a group of automorphisms of π , then Γ acts on Bπ . The other ingredient we shall need is the Borel construction, which converts an action of a group Γ on a space Y into a free action of Γ on a homotopy equivalent space Y 0 . Namely, take Y 0 = Y × EΓ with the diagonal action of Γ , γ(y, z) = (γy, γz) where Γ acts on EΓ as deck transformations. The diagonal action is free, in fact a covering space action, since this is true for the action in the second coordinate. The orbit space of this diagonal action is denoted Y ×Γ EΓ .

Example

3G.3. Let π = Zp and let Γ be the full automorphism group Aut(Zp ) .

Automorphisms of Zp have the form x

, mx

for (m, p) = 1 , so Γ is the multi-

plicative group of invertible elements in the field Zp . By elementary field theory this is a cyclic group, of order p − 1 . The preceding constructions then give a covering space K(Zp , 1)→K(Zp , 1)/Γ with H ∗ (K(Zp , 1)/Γ ; Zp ) ≈ H ∗ (K(Zp , 1); Zp )Γ . We may

assume we are in the nontrivial case p > 2 . From the calculation of the cup product structure of lens spaces in Example 3.41 or Example 3E.2 we have H ∗ (K(Zp , 1); Zp ) ≈ ΛZp [α] ⊗ Zp [β] with |α| = 1 and |β| = 2 , and we need to figure out how Γ acts on this cohomology ring. Let γ ∈ Γ be a generator, say γ(x) = mx . The induced action of γ on π1 K(Zp , 1) is also multiplication by m since we have taken K(Zp , 1) = BZp × EΓ and γ takes an edge loop [g] in BZp to [γ(g)] = [mg] . Hence γ acts on H1 (K(Zp , 1); Z) by multiplication by m . It follows that γ(α) = mα and γ(β) = mβ since H 1 (K(Zp , 1); Zp ) ≈ Hom(H1 (K(Zp , 1)), Zp ) and H 2 (K(Zp , 1); Zp ) ≈ Ext(H1 (K(Zp , 1)), Zp ) , and it is a gen-

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eral fact, following easily from the definitions, that multiplication by an integer m in an abelian group H induces multiplication by m in Hom(H, G) and Ext(H, G) . Thus γ(βk ) = mk βk and γ(αβk ) = mk+1 αβk . Since m was chosen to be a generator of the multiplicative group of invertible elements of Zp , it follows that the

only elements of H ∗ (K(Zp , 1); Zp ) fixed by γ , hence by Γ , are the scalar multiples of βi(p−1) and αβi(p−1)−1 . Thus H ∗ (K(Zp , 1); Zp )Γ = ΛZp [αβp−2 ] ⊗ Zp [βp−1 ] , so we have

produced a space whose Zp cohomology ring is ΛZp [x2p−3 ] ⊗ Zp [y2p−2 ] , subscripts indicating dimension.

Example 3G.4.

As an easy generalization of the preceding example, replace the group

Γ there by a subgroup of Aut(Zp ) of order d , where d is any divisor of p − 1 . The new Γ is generated by the automorphism x

, m(p−1)/d x ,

and the same analysis

shows that we obtain a space with Zp cohomology ΛZp [x2d−1 ] ⊗ Zp [y2d ] , subscripts again denoting dimension. For a given choice of d the condition that d divides p − 1 says p ≡ 1 mod d , which is satisfied by infinitely many p ’s, according to a classical theorem of Dirichlet.

Example 3G.5.

The two preceding examples can be modified so as to eliminate the

exterior algebra factors, by replacing Zp by Zp∞ , the union of the increasing sequence

Zp ⊂ Zp2 ⊂ Zp3 ⊂ ··· . The first step is to show that H ∗ (K(Zp∞ , 1); Zp ) ≈ Zp [β] with e ∗ (K(Zpi , 1); Z) consists of Zpi ’s in odd dimensions. The in|β| = 2 . We know that H

clusion Zpi > Zpi+1 induces a map K(Zpi , 1)→K(Zpi+1 , 1) that is unique up to homotopy. We can take this map to be a p sheeted covering space since the covering space of a K(Zpi+1 , 1) corresponding to the unique index p subgroup of π1 K(Zpi+1 , 1) is a K(Zpi , 1) . The homology transfer formula π∗ τ∗ = p shows that the image of the induced map Hn (K(Zpi , 1); Z)→Hn (K(Zpi+1 , 1); Z) for n odd contains the multiples of

p , hence this map is the inclusion Zpi >Zpi+1 . We can use the universal coefficient the-

orem to compute the induced map H ∗ (K(Zpi+1 , 1); Zp )→H ∗ (K(Zpi , 1); Zp ) . Namely,

the inclusion Zpi

> Zp

i+1

induces the trivial map Hom(Zpi+1 , Zp )→Hom(Zpi , Zp ) , so

on odd-dimensional cohomology the induced map is trivial. On the other hand, the induced map on even-dimensional cohomology is an isomorphism since the map of free resolutions

pi

p i +1

p

− − →

11

− − →

− − →

0− − − →Z − − − − − →Z− − − − − → Zpi

− − − →0

p

0− − − →Z − − − − − →Z− − − − − → Z p i +1 − →0 dualizes to

0→ − − − − − Hom ( Z , Z p ) − − − Ext ( Zpi , Z p ) → − − − Hom ( Z , Z p ) → 0

→ − −

→ − −

→ − −

11

0→ − − − Ext ( Zp i +1, Zp ) → − − − − − Hom ( Z , Z p ) − − − Hom ( Z , Z p ) → 0

Since Zp∞ is the union of the increasing sequence of subgroups Zpi , the space BZp∞ is the union of the increasing sequence of subcomplexes BZpi . We can therefore apply

Transfer Homomorphisms

Section 3.G

325

Proposition 3F.5 to conclude that H ∗ (K(Zp∞ , 1); Zp ) is zero in odd dimensions, while

in even dimensions the map H ∗ (K(Zp∞ , 1); Zp )→H ∗ (K(Zp , 1); Zp ) induced by the

inclusion Zp > Zp∞ is an isomorphism. Thus H ∗ (K(Zp∞ , 1); Zp ) ≈ Zp [β] as claimed.

Next we show that the map Aut(Zp∞ )→Aut(Zp ) obtained by restriction to the

subgroup Zp ⊂ Zp∞ is a split surjection. Automorphisms of Zpi are the maps x , mx

for (m, p) = 1 , so the restriction map Aut(Zpi+1 )→Aut(Zpi ) is surjective. Since lim Aut(Zpi ) , the restriction map Aut(Zp∞ )→Aut(Zp ) is also surjecAut(Zp∞ ) = ←--

tive. The order of Aut(Zpi ) , the multiplicative group of invertible elements of Zpi , is

p i − p i−1 = p i−1 (p − 1) and p − 1 is relatively prime to p i−1 , so the abelian group Aut(Zpi ) contains a subgroup of order p − 1 . This subgroup maps onto the cyclic group Aut(Zp ) of the same order, so Aut(Zpi )→Aut(Zp ) is a split surjection, hence

so is Aut(Zp∞ )→Aut(Zp ) .

Thus we have an action of Γ = Aut(Zp ) on BZp∞ extending its natural action on BZp . The Borel construction then gives an inclusion BZp ×Γ EΓ

> BZp

∞

×Γ EΓ

inducing an isomorphism of H ∗ (BZp∞ ×Γ EΓ ; Zp ) onto the even-dimensional part of H ∗ (BZp ×Γ EΓ ; Zp ) , a polynomial algebra Zp [y2p−2 ] . Similarly, if d is any divisor of

p − 1 , then taking Γ to be the subgroup of Aut(Zp ) of order d yields a space with Zp cohomology the polynomial ring Zp [y2d ] .

Example 3G.6.

Now we enlarge the preceding example by taking products and bring-

ing in the permutation group to produce a space with Zp cohomology the polynomial ring Zp [y2d , y4d , ··· , y2nd ] where d is any divisor of p − 1 and p > n . Let X be the product of n copies of BZp∞ and let Γ be the group of homeomorphisms of X generated by permutations of the factors together with the actions of Zd in each factor constructed in the preceding example. We can view Γ as a group of n× n matrices with entries in Zp , the matrices obtained by replacing some of the 1 ’s in a permutation matrix by elements of Zp of multiplicative order a divisor of

d . Thus there is a split short exact sequence 0→(Zd )n →Γ →Σn →0 , and the order

of Γ is dn n! . The product space X has H ∗ (X; Zp ) ≈ Zp [β1 , ··· , βn ] with |βi | = 2 ,

so H ∗ (X ×Γ EΓ ; Zp ) ≈ Zp [β1 , ··· , βn ]Γ provided that p does not divide the order of Γ , which means p > n . For a polynomial to be invariant under the Zd action in each factor it must be a polynomial in the powers βd i , and to be invariant under permutations of the variables it must be a symmetric polynomial in these powers. Since symmetric polynomials are exactly the polynomials in the elementary symmetric functions, the polynomials in the βi ’s invariant under Γ form a polynomial ring Zp [y2d , y4d , ··· , y2nd ] with y2k the sum of all products of k distinct powers βd i .

Example

3G.7. As a further variant on the preceding example, choose a divisor q

of d and replace Γ by its subgroup consisting of matrices for which the product of the q th powers of the nonzero entries is 1 . This has the effect of enlarging the ring of polynomials invariant under the action, and it can be shown that the invariant

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Chapter 3

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polynomials form a polynomial ring Zp [y2d , y4d , ··· , y2(n−1)d , y2nq ] , with the last Q q generator y2nd replaced by y2nq = i βi . For example, if n = 2 and q = 1 we obtain d Zp [y4 , y2d ] with y4 = β1 β2 and y2d = βd 1 + β2 . The group Γ in this case happens to

be isomorphic to the dihedral group of order 2d .

General Remarks The problem of realizing graded polynomial rings Zp [y] in one variable as cup product rings of spaces was discussed in §3.2, and Example 3G.5 provides the remaining examples, showing that |y| can be any even divisor of 2(p − 1) . In more variables the problem of realizing Zp [y1 , ··· , yn ] with specified dimensions |yi | is more difficult, but has been solved for odd primes p . Here is a sketch of the answer. Assuming that p is odd, the dimensions |yi | are even. Call the number di = |yi |/2 the degree of yi . In the examples above this was in fact the degree of yi as a polynomial in the 2 dimensional classes βj invariant under the action of Γ . It was proved in [Dwyer, Miller, & Wilkerson 1992] that every realizable polynomial algebra Zp [y1 , ··· , yn ] is the ring of invariant polynomials Zp [β1 , ··· , βn ]Γ for an action of some finite group Γ on Zp [β1 , ··· , βn ] , where |βi | = 2 . The basic examples, whose products yield all realizable polynomial algebras, can be divided into two categories. First there are classifying spaces of Lie groups, each of which realizes a polynomial algebra for all but finitely many primes p . These are listed in the following table. Lie group 1

S SU(n) Sp(n) SO(2k) G2 F4 E6 E7 E8

degrees

primes

1 2, 3, ··· , n 2, 4, ··· , 2n 2, 4, ··· , 2k − 2, k 2, 6 2, 6, 8, 12 2, 5, 6, 8, 9, 12 2, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14 2, 8, 12, 14, 18, 20, 24, 30

all all all p>2 p>2 p>3 p>3 p>3 p>5

The remaining examples have to be constructed by hand. They form two infinite families plus 30 sporadic exceptions shown in the table on the next page. The first row is the examples we have constructed, though our construction needed the extra condition that p not divide the order of the group Γ . For all entries in both tables the order of Γ , the group such that Zp [y1 , ··· , yn ] = Zp [β1 , ··· , βn ]Γ , turns out to equal the product of the degrees. When p does not divide this order, the method we used for the first row can also be applied to give examples for all the other rows. In some cases the congruence conditions on p , which are needed in order for Γ to be a subgroup of Aut(Zn p ) = GLn (Zp ) , automatically imply that p does not divide the order of Γ . But when this is not the case a different construction of a space with the

Local Coefficients

Section 3.H

327

desired cohomology is needed. To find out more about this the reader can begin by consulting [Kane 1988] and [Notbohm 1999]. degrees

primes

d, 2d, ··· , (n − 1)d, nq with q |d 2, d

p ≡ 1 mod d p ≡ −1 mod d

degrees

primes

4, 6 6, 12 4, 12 12, 12 8, 12 8, 24 12, 24 24, 24 6, 8 8, 12 6, 24 12, 24 20, 30 20, 60 30, 60

p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p

≡ 1 mod 3 ≡ 1 mod 3 ≡ 1 mod 12 ≡ 1 mod 12 ≡ 1 mod 4 ≡ 1 mod 8 ≡ 1 mod 12 ≡ 1 mod 24 ≡ 1, 3 mod 8 ≡ 1 mod 8 ≡ 1, 19 mod 24 ≡ 1 mod 24 ≡ 1 mod 5 ≡ 1 mod 20 ≡ 1 mod 15

degrees

primes

60, 60 12, 30 12, 60 12, 20 2, 6, 10 4, 6, 14 6, 9, 12 6, 12, 18 6, 12, 30 4, 8, 12, 20 2, 12, 20, 30 8, 12, 20, 24 12, 18, 24, 30 4, 6, 10, 12, 18 6, 12, 18, 24, 30, 42

p p p p p p p p p p p p p p p

≡ 1 mod 60 ≡ 1, 4 mod 15 ≡ 1, 49 mod 60 ≡ 1, 9 mod 20 ≡ 1, 4 mod 5 ≡ 1, 2, 4 mod 7 ≡ 1 mod 3 ≡ 1 mod 3 ≡ 1, 4 mod 15 ≡ 1 mod 4 ≡ 1, 4 mod 5 ≡ 1 mod 4 ≡ 1 mod 3 ≡ 1 mod 3 ≡ 1 mod 3

For the prime 2 the realization problem is still not completely solved. The known examples are listed in the short table at the right, where again we give only the irreducible examples, which generate others by taking products. All but the last entry in the table arise from classifying spaces of Lie groups, as described in §4.D. The construction for the last entry is in [Dwyer & Wilkerson 1993].

Lie group

degrees

O(1) SO(n) SU (n) Sp(n) —

1 2, 3, ··· , n 4, 6, ··· , 2n 4, 8, ··· , 4n 8, 12, 14, 15

Homology and cohomology with local coefficients are fancier versions of ordinary homology and cohomology that can be defined for nonsimply-connected spaces. In various situations these more refined homology and cohomology theories arise naturally and inevitably. For example, the only way to extend Poincar´ e duality with Z coefficients to nonorientable manifolds is to use local coefficients. In the overall scheme of algebraic topology, however, the role played by local coefficients is fairly small. Local coefficients bring an extra level of complication that one tries to avoid whenever possible. With this in mind, the goal of this section will not be to give a full exposition but rather just to sketch the main ideas, leaving the technical details for the interested reader to fill in.

328

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The plan for th