English

A reasonable notion of dimension for singular intersection homology

Algebraic Topology 2025-02-21 v2

Abstract

M. Goresky and R. MacPherson intersection homology is also defined from the singular chain complex of a filtered space by H. King, with a key formula to make selections among singular simplexes. This formula needs a notion of dimension for subspaces SS of a Euclidean simplex, which is usually taken as the smallest dimension of the skeleta containing~SS. Later, P. Gajer employed another dimension based on the dimension of polyhedra containing SS. This last one allows traces of pullbacks of singular strata in the interior of the domain of a singular simplex. In this work, we prove that the two corresponding intersection homologies are isomorphic for Siebenmann's CS sets. In terms of King's paper, this means that polyhedral dimension is a ``reasonable'' dimension. The proof uses a Mayer-Vietoris argument which needs an adaptated subdivision. With the polyhedral dimension, that is a subtle issue. General position arguments are not sufficient and we introduce strong general position. With it, a stability is added to the generic character and we can do an inductive cutting of each singular simplex. This decomposition is realised with pseudo-barycentric subdivisions where the new vertices are not barycentres but close points of them.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2211.06090,
  title  = {A reasonable notion of dimension for singular intersection homology},
  author = {David Chataur and Martintxo Saralegi-Aranguren and Daniel Tanré},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2211.06090},
  year   = {2025}
}

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