arXiv subjects

Ismar Volic

Publications and source records attributed to Ismar Volic.

29 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

arXiv2011

Real Homotopy Theory of Semi-Algebraic Sets

We complete the details of a theory outlined by Kontsevich and Soibelman that associates to a semi-algebraic set a certain graded commutative differential algebra of "semi-algebraic differential forms" in a functorial way. This algebra encodes the real homotopy type of the semi-algebraic set in the spirit of the DeRham algebra of differential forms on a smooth manifold. Its development is needed for Kontsevich's proof of the formality of the little cubes operad.

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arXiv2010

Multivariable manifold calculus of functors

Manifold calculus of functors, due to M. Weiss, studies contravariant functors from the poset of open subsets of a smooth manifold to topological spaces. We introduce "multivariable" manifold calculus of functors which is a generalization of this theory to functors whose domain is a product of categories of open sets. We construct multivariable Taylor approximations to such functors, classify multivariable homogeneous functors, apply this classification to compute the derivatives of a functor, and show what this gives for the space of link maps. We also relate Taylor approximations in single variable calculus to our multivariable ones.

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arXiv2010

On the cohomology of spaces of links and braids via configuration space integrals

We study the cohomology of spaces of string links and braids in $\mathbb{R}^n$ for $n\geq 3$ using configuration space integrals. For $n>3$, these integrals give a chain map from certain diagram complexes to the deRham algebra of differential forms on these spaces. For $n=3$, they produce all finite type invariants of string links and braids.

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arXiv2009

Cosimplicial models for spaces of links

We study the spaces of string links and homotopy string links in an arbitrary manifold using multivariable manifold calculus of functors. We construct multi-cosimplicial models for both spaces and deduce certain convergence properties of the associated Bousfield-Kan homotopy and cohomology spectral sequences when the ambient manifold is a Euclidean space of dimension four or more.

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arXiv2007

Coformality and the rational homotopy groups of spaces of long knots

We show that the Bousfield-Kan spectral sequence which computes the rational homotopy groups of the space of long knots in ${\mathbb R}^d$, where $d\ge 4$, collapses at the $E^2$ page. The main ingredients in the proof are Sinha's cosimplicial model for the space of long knots and a coformality result for the little balls operad.

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arXiv2007

Calculus of functors, operad formality, and rational homology of embedding spaces

Let M be a smooth manifold and V a Euclidean space. Let Ebar(M,V) be the homotopy fiber of the map from Emb(M,V) to Imm(M,V). This paper is about the rational homology of Ebar(M,V). We study it by applying embedding calculus and orthogonal calculus to the bi-functor (M,V) |--> HQ /\Ebar(M,V)_+. Our main theorem states that if the dimension of V is more than twice the embedding dimension of M, the Taylor tower in the sense of orthogonal calculus (henceforward called ``the orthogonal tower'') of this functor splits as a product of its layers. Equivalently, the rational homology spectral sequence associated with the tower collapses at E^1. In the case of knot embeddings, this spectral sequence coincides with the Vassiliev spectral sequence. The main ingredients in the proof are embedding calculus and Kontsevich's theorem on the formality of the little balls operad. We write explicit formulas for the layers in the orthogonal tower of the functor HQ /\Ebar(M,V)_+. The formulas show, in particular, that the (rational) homotopy type of the layers of the orthogonal tower is determined by the (rational) homology type of M. This, together with our rational splitting theorem, implies that under the above assumption on codimension, the rational homology groups of Ebar(M,V) are determined by the rational homology type of M.

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arXiv2007

The rational homology of spaces of long knots in codimension >2

We determine the rational homology of the space of long knots in R^d for $d\geq4$. Our main result is that the Vassiliev spectral sequence computing this rational homology collapses at the E^1 page. As a corollary we get that the homology of long knots (modulo immersions) is the Hochschild homology of the Poisson algebras operad with a bracket of degree d-1, which can be obtained as the homology of an explicit graph complex and is in theory completely computable. Our proof is a combination of a relative version of Kontsevich's formality of the little d-disks operad and of Sinha's cosimplicial model for the space of long knots arising from Goodwillie-Weiss embedding calculus. As another ingredient in our proof, we introduce a generalization of a construction that associates a cosimplicial object to a multiplicative operad. Along the way we also establish some results about the Bousfield-Kan spectral sequences of a truncated cosimplicial space.

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arXiv2006

Calculus of the embedding functor and spaces of knots

We give an overview of how calculus of the embedding functor can be used for the study of long knots and summarize various results connecting the calculus approach to the rational homotopy type of spaces of long knots, collapse of the Vassiliev spectral sequence, Hochschild homology of the Poisson operad, finite type knot invariants, etc. Some open questions and conjectures of interest are given throughout.

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arXiv2005

Configuration space integrals and Taylor towers for spaces of knots

We describe Taylor towers for spaces of knots arising from Goodwillie-Weiss calculus of the embedding functor and extend the configuration space integrals of Bott and Taubes from spaces of knots to the stages of the towers. We show that certain combinations of integrals, indexed by trivalent diagrams, yield cohomology classes of the stages of the tower, just as they do for ordinary knots.

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arXiv2005

A survey of Bott-Taubes integration

It is well known that certain combinations of configuration space integrals defined by Bott and Taubes produce cohomology classes of spaces of knots. The literature surrounding this important fact, however, is somewhat incomplete and lacking in detail. The aim of this paper is to fill in the gaps as well as summarize the importance of these integrals.

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arXiv2005

Finite type knot invariants and calculus of functors

We associate a Taylor tower supplied by calculus of the embedding functor to the space of long knots and study its cohomology spectral sequence. The combinatorics of the spectral sequence along the line of total degree zero leads to chord diagrams with relations as in finite type knot theory. We show that the spectral sequence collapses along this line and that the Taylor tower represents a universal finite type knot invariant.

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