English

KSp-characteristic classes determine Spin$^h$ cobordism

Algebraic Topology 2026-02-25 v2

Abstract

A classic result of Anderson, Brown, and Peterson states that the cobordism spectrum MSpin (respectively, MSpinc^c) splits as a sum of Eilenberg--Mac Lane spectra and connective covers of real K-theory (respectively, complex K-theory) at 2. We develop a theory of symplectic K-theory classes and use these to build an explicit splitting for MSpinh^h in terms of Eilenberg--Mac Lane spectra and spectra related to symplectic K-theory. This allows us to determine the Spinh^h cobordism groups systematically. We also prove that two Spinh^h-manifolds are cobordant if and only if their underlying unoriented manifolds are cobordant and their KSp-characteristic numbers agree.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2312.08209,
  title  = {KSp-characteristic classes determine Spin$^h$ cobordism},
  author = {Jonathan Buchanan and Stephen McKean},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2312.08209},
  year   = {2026}
}

Comments

73 pages, 5 figures. Final version, but comments still welcome!

R2 v1 2026-06-28T13:49:48.107Z