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12 votes
1 answer
772 views

Manifolds with nonwhere vanishing closed one forms

I am trying to find examples of closed manifolds $M$ admitting a nowhere vanishing closed one form. I am wondering if there are any examples beyond $N\times S^1$.
ZZY's user avatar
  • 707
8 votes
2 answers
523 views

Non-trivial examples of Stably diffeomorphic 4-manifolds

I am looking for some non-trivial examples of (smooth) 4-mflds $M,N$ such that $M$ and $N$ are STABLY diffeomorphic. I.e. $$M\sharp_n (S^2\times S^2) \cong N \sharp_r (S^2\times S^2)$$ for $r,n$ not ...
Luigi M's user avatar
  • 503
40 votes
10 answers
4k views

Phenomena of gerbes

What is your favourite example of Gerbes? I would like to know Where do we find Gerbes in "nature"? The examples could vary from String theory to Galois theory. For example my favourite examples of ...
tttbase's user avatar
  • 1,680
7 votes
0 answers
432 views

Is there a list of examples of orthogonal spectra?

Schwede's symmetric spectra book project provides point-set models of many important spectra as symmetric spectra, including (in §I.1) the sphere spectrum, Eilenberg-Mac Lane spectra, several Thom ...
Arun Debray's user avatar
  • 6,726
5 votes
1 answer
140 views

Example request: seriously deficient homogeneous spaces

In a previous post, I cite a dimension condition commonly satisfied by homogeneous spaces and claim that a counterexample must have deficiency at least $3$. For convenience, I reproduce the definition ...
jdc's user avatar
  • 2,974
16 votes
5 answers
1k views

What are examples when the equality of some invariants is good enough in algebraic topology?

As far as my understanding goes, most of the tools of algebraic topology (homotopy groups, homology groups, cup product, cohomology operations, Hopf invariant, signature, characteristic classes, knot ...
3 votes
2 answers
432 views

Example s.t. the unbased loop-space is not $\Omega X \times X$

For a connected pointed CW-complex $X$, let us write (as usual) $\Omega X$ for the space of based loops at $X$. I am looking for an example where the space $\Omega' X$ of all (unbased) loops in $X$ is ...
Jens Reinhold's user avatar
9 votes
3 answers
2k views

Need examples of homotopy orbit and fixed points

I am no expert in equivariant homotopy theory. Let's say, I am planing to give a talk on homotopy fixed points and orbits. My audience will be graduate students who are doing algebraic topology or ...
Prasit's user avatar
  • 2,013
1 vote
1 answer
343 views

Examples of nontrivial local systems in Decomposition Theorem

There is a proper map $f: X \rightarrow Y$ of projective varieties. The Decomposition Theorem of Beilinson–Bernstein–Deligne-Gabber states that $$Rf∗IC_X \cong \oplus_a IC_{\bar{Y_a}}(L_a)[shifts]$...
Qiao's user avatar
  • 1,649
2 votes
1 answer
380 views

Vanishing Cech cohomology

Let $X$ be a manifold such that $dim(X)=n$. It is well-know that if $\mathcal{F}$ is a coherent sheaf $H^m(X,\mathcal{F})=0$ for all $m >n$ (where I denote with $H(-)$ Cech cohomology). But is ...
Oscar1778's user avatar
  • 243
28 votes
1 answer
2k views

Example of 4-manifold with $\pi_1=\mathbb Q$

This might be well known for algebraic topologist. So I am looking for an explicit example of a 4 dimensional manifold with fundamental group isomorphic to the rationals $\mathbb Q$.
J. GE's user avatar
  • 2,573
25 votes
1 answer
5k views

Example of fiber bundle that is not a fibration

It is well-known that a fiber bundle under some mild hypothesis is a fibration, but I don't know any examples of fiber bundles which aren't (Hurewicz) fibrations (they should be weird examples, I ...
Xxxx's user avatar
  • 253
11 votes
4 answers
4k views

A map inducing isomorphisms on homology but not on homotopy

As a consequence of the Whitehead theorem, Spanier's Algebraic Topology book has on 7.6.25 the following theorem: A weak homotopy equivalence induces isomorphisms of the corresponding integral ...
Shlomi A's user avatar
  • 563
3 votes
1 answer
443 views

When is the Freudenthal compactification an ANR?

Let $X$ be a locally compact metric ANR (or, if preferred, a locally compact simplicial complex). If needed, assume that $X$ has finitely many ends or is of finite dimension. My question is: What are ...
Michał Kukieła's user avatar
6 votes
1 answer
442 views

A counter example in obstruction theory

Let $K$ denote a simplicial complex and $Y$ a path-connected topological space. Let us also denote by $K^n$ the $n$-skeleton of $K$. I would like to have an example for the following situation or a ...
KotelKanim's user avatar
  • 2,007
19 votes
2 answers
2k views

A simplicial complex which is not collapsible, but whose barycentric subdivision is

Does anyone know of a simplicial complex which is not collapsible but whose barycentric subdivision is? Every collapsible complex is necessarily contractible, and subdivision preserves the ...
Andy Soffer's user avatar
18 votes
1 answer
1k views

What are "good" examples of string manifolds?

Based on this mathoverlow question, I would like to have a similar list for the case of string manifolds. An $n$-dim. Riemannian manifold $M$ is said to be string, if the classifying map of its bundle ...
70 votes
28 answers
7k views

Examples where it's useful to know that a mathematical object belongs to some family of objects

For an expository piece I'm writing, it would be useful to have good examples of the following phenomenon: (1) ${\cal X}$ is a parameterized family of somethings. (Varieties, schemes, manifolds, ...
111 votes
6 answers
10k views

Counterexamples in algebraic topology?

In this thread Books you would like to read (if somebody would just write them...), I expressed my desire for a book with the title "(Counter)examples in Algebraic Topology". My reason for doing so ...
6 votes
2 answers
895 views

Simple examples of equivariant homology and bordism

I'm looking for simple examples of calculations of equivariant homology and of equivariant bordism. I have a finite group G acting on an CW-complex X. I would like to calculate the equivariant ...
Daniel Moskovich's user avatar
46 votes
5 answers
3k views

‘Naturally occurring’ $K(\pi, n)$ spaces, for $n \geq 2$

[edited!] Given a group $\pi$ and an integer $n>1$, what are examples of Eilenberg–MacLane spaces $K(\pi, n)$ that can be constructed as "known" manifolds? (Or if not a manifold, say some ...
Romeo's user avatar
  • 2,704
44 votes
13 answers
8k views

Motivating the de Rham theorem

In grad school I learned the isomorphism between de Rham cohomology and singular cohomology from a course that used Warner's book Foundations of Differentiable Manifolds and Lie Groups. One thing ...
Timothy Chow's user avatar
  • 76.9k
1 vote
1 answer
661 views

An example of a space which is locally relatively contractible but not contractible?

A space $X$ is called locally contractible it it has a basis of neighbourhoods which are themselves contractible spaces. CW complexes and manifolds are locally contractible. On the other hand, the ...
David Roberts's user avatar
  • 33.2k
15 votes
6 answers
5k views

Fundamental group of the line with the double origin.

In the simplest cases, the fundamental group serves as a measure of the number of 2-dimensional "holes" in a space. It is interesting to know whether they capture the following type of "hole". This ...
Akela's user avatar
  • 3,529
5 votes
2 answers
828 views

What is an example of a non-regular, totally path-disconnected Hausdorff space?

I need this for a counterexample: the multiplication in the fundamental group $\pi_1(\Sigma X_+)$, when it is equipped with the topology inherited from $\Omega \Sigma X_+$, fails to be continuous for ...
David Roberts's user avatar
  • 33.2k
31 votes
3 answers
4k views

Algebras over the little disks operad

Hello, The so-called "recognition principle" of Boardman-Vogt and May leaves me unsatisfied. My problem is the following: The "recognition principle" says that every "group-like" algebra over the ...
Oblomov's user avatar
  • 2,459
13 votes
2 answers
2k views

Request: A Serre fibration that is not a Dold fibration

A Serre fibration has the homotopy lifting property with respect to the maps $[0,1]^n \times \{0\} \to [0,1]^{n+1}$. A Dold fibration $E \to B$ has the weak covering homotopy property: lifts with ...
David Roberts's user avatar
  • 33.2k
1 vote
0 answers
1k views

Again about Bing's house with two rooms [duplicate]

Possible Duplicate: How to show that the “bing’s house with two rooms” is contractible? I don't know why my question is closed? here, I make my question clearly, when "hollowing ...
gylns's user avatar
  • 187
3 votes
1 answer
4k views

How to show that the "bing's house with two rooms" is contractible? [closed]

I can't image this, Someone can give a clear illustration?
gylns's user avatar
  • 187
38 votes
4 answers
4k views

What manifolds are bounded by RP^odd?

Real projective spaces $\mathbb{R}P^n$ have $\mathbb{Z}/2$ cohomology rings $\mathbb{Z}/2[x]/(x^{n+1})$ and total Stiefel-Whitney class $(1+x)^{n+1}$ which is $1$ when $n$ is odd, so it follows that ...
Pierre Weil's user avatar
27 votes
6 answers
4k views

Failure of smoothing theory for topological 4-manifolds

Smoothing theory fails for topological 4-manifolds, in that a smooth structure on a topological 4-manifold $M$ is not equivalent to a vector bundle structure on the tangent microbundle of $M$. Is ...
John Francis's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
883 views

Simple applications of Atiyah-Bott localization

I am looking for some simple and concrete -- but still non-trivial and illustrative -- applications of Atiyah-Bott localization in the context of equivariant cohomology. Do you know any good ones?
Kevin H. Lin's user avatar
  • 20.6k
36 votes
3 answers
3k views

Are there pairs of highly connected finite CW-complexes with the same homotopy groups?

Fix an integer n. Can you find two finite CW-complexes X and Y which * are both n connected, * are not homotopy equivalent, yet * $\pi_q X \approx \pi_q Y$ for all $q$. In Are there two non-...
Charles Rezk's user avatar
  • 26.5k
32 votes
5 answers
4k views

Some intuition behind the five lemma?

Slightly simplified, the five lemma states that if we have a commutative diagram (in, say, an abelian category) $$\require{AMScd} \begin{CD} A_1 @>>> A_2 @>>> A_3 @>>> A_4 @...
Armin Straub's user avatar
  • 1,372