English

A 15-vertex triangulation of the quaternionic projective plane

Algebraic Topology 2024-03-12 v1 Combinatorics Geometric Topology

Abstract

In 1992, Brehm and K\"uhnel constructed a 8-dimensional simplicial complex M158M^8_{15} with 15 vertices as a candidate to be a minimal triangulation of the quaternionic projective plane. They managed to prove that it is a manifold "like a projective plane" in the sense of Eells and Kuiper. However, it was not known until now if this complex is PL homeomorphic (or at least homeomorphic) to HP2\mathbb{H}P^2. This problem was reduced to the computation of the first rational Pontryagin class of this combinatorial manifold. Realizing an algorithm due to Gaifullin, we compute the first Pontryagin class of M158M^8_{15}. As a result, we obtain that it is indeed a minimal triangulation of HP2\mathbb{H}P^2.

Cite

@article{arxiv.1603.05541,
  title  = {A 15-vertex triangulation of the quaternionic projective plane},
  author = {Denis Gorodkov},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1603.05541},
  year   = {2024}
}

Comments

20 pages, 17 PostScript figures, text of program and raw data for the computation is included (see ancillary files)

R2 v1 2026-06-22T13:13:16.775Z