Related papers: An iterated sum formula for a spheroid's homotopy …

We develop a theory of $\times$-homotopy, fundamental groupoids and covering spaces that apply to non-simple graphs, generalizing existing results for simple graphs. We prove that $\times$-homotopies from finite graphs can be decomposed…

Broadly speaking the present is a homotopy complement to the book of Giraud, albeit in a couple of different ways. In the first place there is a representability theorem for maps to a topological champ (a.k.a. stack) and whence an extremely…

Let F be a closed orientable surface. If i,i':F \to R^3 are two regularly homotopic generic immersions, then it has been shown in [N] that all generic regular homotopies between i and i' have the same number mod 2 of quadruple points. We…

We calculate the Wess-Zumino term $\Gamma(g)$ for a harmonic map $g$ of a closed surface to a compact, simply connected, simple Lie group $G$ in terms of the energy and the holonomy of the Chern-Simons line bundle on the moduli space of…

We explicitly calculate the fundamental group of the space $\mathcal F$ of all immersed closed curves on a surface $F$. It is shown that $\pi_n(\mathcal F)=0$, n>1 for $F\neq S^2, RP^2$. It is also proved that $\pi_2(\mathcal F)=\Z$, and…

Let F be a finitely generated discrete group. Given a covering map H to G of Lie groups with G either compact or complex reductive, there is an induced covering map Hom(F, H) to Hom(F, G). We show that when the fundamental group of G is…

Let $\Gamma$ be a connected bridgeless metric graph, and fix a point $v$ of $\Gamma$. We define combinatorial iterated integrals on $\Gamma$ along closed paths at $v$, a unipotent generalization of the usual cycle pairing and the…

Let F be a closed orientable surface. We give an explicit formula for the number mod 2 of quadruple points occurring in any generic regular homotopy between any two regularly homotopic embeddings e,e':F -> R^3. The formula is in terms of…

For a locally finite, connected graph $\Gamma$, let $\operatorname{Map}(\Gamma)$ denote the group of proper homotopy equivalences of $\Gamma$ up to proper homotopy. Excluding sporadic cases, we show $\operatorname{Aut}(S(M_\Gamma)) \cong…

We prove that for each sufficiently complicated orientable surface $S$, there exists an infinite image linear representation $\rho$ of $\pi_1(S)$ such that if $\gamma\in\pi_1(S)$ is freely homotopic to a simple closed curve on $S$, then…

Let $\Gamma$ be the fundamental group of a closed orientable surface of genus at least two. Consider the composition of a uniformly random element of $\mathrm{Hom}(\Gamma,S_n)$ with the $(n-1)$-dimensional irreducible representation of…

For a generic degree d smooth map f: N^n -> M^n we introduce its "transverse fundamental group" \pi(f), which reduces to \pi_1(M) in the case where f is a covering, and in general admits a monodromy homomorphism \pi(f) -> S_{|d|};…

We give a uniform construction that, on input of a recursive presentation $P$ of a group, outputs a recursive presentation of a torsion-free group, isomorphic to $P$ whenever $P$ is itself torsion-free. We use this to re-obtain a known…

We consider the homotopical dynamics on compact orientable surfaces of positive genus g. We establish a sufficient and necessary algebraic criterion for homotopy classes with infinitely many periodic points of maps on such surfaces in terms…

We address the homotopy theory of 2-crossed modules of commutative algebras, which are equivalent to simplicial commutative algebras with Moore complex of length two. In particular, we construct for maps of 2-crossed modules a homotopy…

Based on Morse theory for the energy functional on path spaces we develop a deformation theory for mapping spaces of spheres into orthogonal groups. This is used to show that these mapping spaces are weakly homotopy equivalent, in a stable…

Let $f\colon M\to N$ be a proper map between two aspherical compact orientable 3-manifolds with empty or toroidal boundary. We assume that $N$ is not a closed graph-manifold. Suppose that $f$ induces an epimorphism on fundamental groups. We…

Given a good homology theory E and a topological space X, the E-homology of X is not just an E_{*}-module but also a comodule over the Hopf algebroid (E_{*}, E_{*}E). We establish a framework for studying the homological algebra of…

We prove several positive results regarding representation of homotopy classes of spheres and algebraic groups by regular mappings. Most importantly we show that every mapping from a sphere to an orthogonal or a unitary group is homotopic…

Let $\Gamma$ be a Coxeter graph, let $(W,S)$ be its associated Coxeter system, and let $(A,\Sigma$) be its associated Artin-Tits system. We regard $W$ as a reflection group acting on a real vector space $V$. Let $I$ be the Tits cone, and…