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Questions tagged [at.algebraic-topology]

Homotopy theory, homological algebra, algebraic treatments of manifolds.

2,301 questions with no upvoted or accepted answers
138 votes
0 answers
13k views

Grothendieck-Teichmüller conjecture

(1) In "Esquisse d'un programme", Grothendieck conjectures Grothendieck-Teichmüller conjecture: the morphism $$ G_{\mathbb{Q}} \longrightarrow Aut(\widehat{T}) $$ is an isomorphism. Here $...
AFK's user avatar
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83 votes
0 answers
3k views

Which finite abelian groups aren't homotopy groups of spheres?

Someone asked me if all finite abelian groups arise as homotopy groups of spheres. I strongly doubted it, and I bet ten bucks that $\mathbb{Z}_5$ is not $\pi_k(S^n)$ for any $n,k$. But I don't know ...
John Baez's user avatar
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62 votes
0 answers
2k views

Are there periodicity phenomena in manifold topology with odd period?

The study of $n$-manifolds has some well-known periodicities in $n$ with period a power of $2$: $n \bmod 2$ is important. Poincaré duality implies that odd-dimensional compact oriented manifolds ...
Qiaochu Yuan's user avatar
50 votes
0 answers
12k views

Atiyah's paper on complex structures on $S^6$

M. Atiyah has posted a preprint on arXiv on the non-existence of complex structure on the sphere $S^6$. https://arxiv.org/abs/1610.09366 It relies on the topological $K$-theory $KR$ and in ...
David C's user avatar
  • 9,832
48 votes
0 answers
17k views

What is the current understanding regarding complex structures on the 6-sphere?

In October 2016, Atiyah famously posted a preprint to the arXiv, "The Non-Existent Complex 6-Sphere" containing a very brief proof $S^6$ admits no complex structure, which I immediately read and ...
jdc's user avatar
  • 2,984
46 votes
0 answers
6k views

Cochains on Eilenberg-MacLane Spaces

Let $p$ be a prime number, let $k$ be a commutative ring in which $p=0$, and let $X = K( {\mathbb Z}/p {\mathbb Z}, n)$ be an Eilenberg-MacLane space. Let $F$ be the free $E_{\infty}$-algebra over $k$ ...
Jacob Lurie's user avatar
  • 17.6k
45 votes
0 answers
2k views

What is the "real" meaning of the $\hat A$ class (or the Todd class)?

In the Atiyah-Singer index theorem as well as in the Grothendieck-Riemann-Roch theorem, one encounters either the $\hat A$-class or the Todd class, depending on the context. I want to focus on the ...
Sebastian Goette's user avatar
41 votes
0 answers
1k views

Is there anything to the obvious analogy between Joyal's combinatorial species and Goodwillie calculus?

Combinatorial species and calculus of functors both take the viewpoint that many interesting functors can be expanded in a kind of Taylor series. Many operations familiar from actual calculus can be ...
Tim Campion's user avatar
  • 62.6k
40 votes
0 answers
1k views

Homotopy type of TOP(4)/PL(4)

It is known (e.g. the Kirby-Siebenmann book) that $\mathrm{TOP}(n)/\mathrm{PL}(n)\simeq K({\mathbb Z}/2,3)$ for $n>4$. I believe it is also known (Freedman-Quinn) that $\mathrm{TOP}(4)/\mathrm{PL}(...
Ricardo Andrade's user avatar
36 votes
0 answers
1k views

Functor that maps to both $KO^n$ and $KO^{-n}$

(my question is also meaningful for complex K-theory, but since Kn(X) is always isomorphic to K-n(X), it's less interesting) I start by recalling the analytic definition of KO-theory: The following ...
André Henriques's user avatar
33 votes
0 answers
2k views

Is there a (discrete) monoid M injecting into its group completion G for which BM is not homotopy equivalent to BG?

For a (discrete) monoid $M$, the classifying space $BM$ is the geometric realization of the nerve of the one object category whose hom-set is $M$. (This definition gives the usual classfiying space ...
Omar Antolín-Camarena's user avatar
33 votes
0 answers
2k views

Is there software to compute the cohomology of an affine variety?

I have some affine varieties whose cohomology (topological, with $\mathbb{C}$ coefficients) I would like to know. They are very nice, they are all of the form $\mathbb{A}^n \setminus \{ f=0 \}$ for ...
David E Speyer's user avatar
32 votes
0 answers
2k views

Microlocal geometry - A theorem of Verdier

(1) In "Geometrie Microlocale", Verdier states the following theorem. Theorem: Let $E$ be a vector space and $F$ a constructible complex on $E$. Then for $\ell$ a linear form on $E$, we have a ...
AFK's user avatar
  • 7,427
31 votes
0 answers
849 views

The central insight in the proof of the existence of a class of Kervaire invariant one in dimension 126

I understand from a helpful earlier MO question that the techniques leading to the celebrated resolution of the Kervaire invariant one problem in the other candidate dimensions yield no insight on ...
jdc's user avatar
  • 2,984
30 votes
0 answers
2k views

Why do Clifford algebras determine $KO$ (and $K$-)-theory?

In the paper "Clifford modules" by Atiyah-Bott-Shapiro, they construct a family of Clifford algebras $C_k$ over the real numbers, so that $C_k$ is the algebra associated to a negative definite form on ...
Akhil Mathew's user avatar
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