Related papers: Strings and the stable cohomology of mapping class…
We prove that the homology of the mapping class groups of non-orientable surfaces stabilizes with the genus of the surface. Combining our result with recent work of Madsen and Weiss, we obtain that the classifying space of the stable…
The main result of this paper amounts to a complete evaluation of the integral cohomological structure of the stable mapping class group. In particular it verifies the conjecture of D.Mumford about the rational cohomology of the stable…
We compute the mod 2 homology of spin mapping class groups in the stable range. In earlier work we computed the stable mod p homology of the oriented mapping class group, and the methods and results here are very similar. The forgetful map…
Some recent progress towards understanding the cohomology of moduli spaces of curves is described. Madsen and Weiss have given a proof of a generalisation of Mumford's conjecture on the stable cohomology of these moduli spaces M_g, and…
Given a semisimple, compact, connected Lie group G with complexification G^c, we show there is a stable range in the homotopy type of the universal moduli space of flat connections on a principal G-bundle on a closed Riemann surface, and…
We prove that group homology of the diffeomorphism group of $\#^g S^n \times S^n$ as a discrete group is independent of $g$ in a range, provided that $n>2$. This answers the high dimensional version of a question posed by Morita about…
The recent proof by Madsen and Weiss of Mumford's conjecture on the stable cohomology of moduli spaces of Riemann surfaces, was a dramatic example of an important stability theorem about the topology of moduli spaces. In this article we…
We show that in closed string topology and in open-closed string topology with one $D$-brane, higher genus stable string operations are trivial. This is a consequence of Harer's stability theorem and related stability results on the…
We study the moduli spaces which classify smooth surfaces along with a complex line bundle. There are homological stability and Madsen--Weiss type results for these spaces (mostly due to Cohen and Madsen), and we discuss the cohomological…
Using basic homotopy constructions, we show that isomorphism classes of string structures on spin bundles are naturally given by certain degree 3 cohomology classes, which we call string classes, on the total space of the bundle. Using a…
We initiate a systematic study on the cohomology rings of the moduli stack $\mathfrak{M}_{d,\chi}$ of semistable one-dimensional sheaves on the projective plane. We introduce a set of tautological relations of geometric origin, including…
We consider mapping class groups \Gamma(M) = pi_0 Diff(M fix \partial M) of smooth compact simply connected oriented 4-manifolds M bounded by a collection of 3-spheres. We show that if M contains CP^2 (with either orientation) as a…
We study the locus of smooth hypersurfaces inside the Hilbert scheme of a smooth projective complex variety. In the spirit of scanning, we construct a map to a continuous section space of a projective bundle, and show that it induces an…
Let G be a compact Lie group. By work of Chataur and Menichi, the homology of the space of free loops in the classifying space of G is known to be the value on the circle in a homological conformal field theory. This means in particular…
The rational cohomology of the moduli space of rank two, odd degree stable bundles over a curve (of genus g > 1) has been studied intensely in recent years and in particular the invariant subring generated by Newstead's generators alpha,…
The homology of configuration spaces of point-particles in manifolds has been studied intensively since the 1970s; in particular it is known to be stable if the underlying manifold is connected and open. Closely related to configuration…
We calculate the homology of the mapping class group in the stable range. The calculation is based on Madsen and Weiss' proof of the "Generalised Mumford Conjecture".
We compute the stable cohomology groups of the mapping class groups of compact orientable surfaces with one boundary, with twisted coefficients given by the homology of the unit tangent bundle of the surface. This stable twisted cohomology…
We define the logarithmic tautological rings of the moduli spaces of Deligne-Mumford stable curves (together with a set of additive generators lifting the decorated strata classes of the standard tautological rings). While these algebras…
String theory has already motivated, suggested, and sometimes well-nigh proved a number of interesting and sometimes unexpected mathematical results, such as mirror symmetry. A careful examination of the behavior of string propagation on…