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Markus Banagl

Publications and source records attributed to Markus Banagl.

26 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
arXiv2013

Refined intersection homology on non-Witt spaces

We develop a generalization to non-Witt spaces of the intersection homology theory of Goresky-MacPherson. The second author has described the self-dual sheaves compatible with intersection homology, and the other authors have described a generalization of Cheeger's L2 de Rham cohomology. In this paper we extend both of these cohomologies by describing all sheaf complexes in the derived category of constructible sheaves that are compatible with middle perversity intersection cohomology, though not necessarily self-dual. On Thom-Mather stratified spaces this refined intersection cohomology theory coincides with the analytic de Rham theory.

math.GT↗
arXiv2013

Positive Topological Quantum Field Theories

We propose a new notion of positivity for topological field theories (TFTs), based on S. Eilenberg's concept of completeness for semirings. We show that a complete ground semiring, a system of fields on manifolds and a system of action functionals on these fields determine a positive TFT. The main feature of such a theory is a semiring-valued topologically invariant state sum that satisfies a gluing formula. The abstract framework has been carefully designed to cover a wide range of phenomena. For instance, we derive Polya's counting theory in combinatorics from state sum identities in a suitable positive TFT. Several other concrete examples are discussed, among them Novikov signatures of fiber bundles over spacetimes and arithmetic functions in number theory. In the future, we will employ the framework presented here in constructing a new differential topological invariant that detects exotic smooth structures on spheres.

math.QA↗
arXiv2012

Intersection spaces, perverse sheaves and type IIB string theory

The method of intersection spaces associates rational Poincaré complexes to singular stratified spaces. For a conifold transition, the resulting cohomology theory yields the correct count of all present massless 3-branes in type IIB string theory, while intersection cohomology yields the correct count of massless 2-branes in type IIA theory. For complex projective hypersurfaces with an isolated singularity, we show that the cohomology of intersection spaces is the hypercohomology of a perverse sheaf, the intersection space complex, on the hypersurface. Moreover, the intersection space complex underlies a mixed Hodge module, so its hypercohomology groups carry canonical mixed Hodge structures. For a large class of singularities, e.g., weighted homogeneous ones, global Poincaré duality is induced by a more refined Verdier self-duality isomorphism for this perverse sheaf. For such singularities, we prove furthermore that the pushforward of the constant sheaf of a nearby smooth deformation under the specialization map to the singular space splits off the intersection space complex as a direct summand. The complementary summand is the contribution of the singularity. Thus, we obtain for such hypersurfaces a mirror statement of the Beilinson-Bernstein-Deligne decomposition of the pushforward of the constant sheaf under an algebraic resolution map into the intersection sheaf plus contributions from the singularities.

math.AG↗
arXiv2011

Isometric Group Actions and the Cohomology of Flat Fiber Bundles

Using methods originating in the theory of intersection spaces, specifically a de Rham type description of the real cohomology of these spaces by a complex of global differential forms, we show that the Leray-Serre spectral sequence with real coefficients of a flat fiber bundle of smooth manifolds collapses if the fiber is Riemannian and the structure group acts isometrically. The proof is largely topological and does not need a metric on the base or total space. We use this result to show further that if the fundamental group of a smooth aspherical manifold acts isometrically on a Riemannian manifold, then the equivariant real cohomology of the Riemannian manifold can be computed as a direct sum over the cohomology of the group with coefficients in the (generally twisted) cohomology modules of the manifold. Our results have consequences for the Euler class of flat sphere bundles. Several examples are discussed in detail, for instance an action of a free abelian group on a flag manifold.

math.AT↗
arXiv2011

Foliated Stratified Spaces and a De Rham Complex Describing Intersection Space Cohomology

The method of intersection spaces associates cell-complexes depending on a perversity to certain types of stratified pseudomanifolds in such a way that Poincaré duality holds between the ordinary rational cohomology groups of the cell-complexes associated to complementary perversities. The cohomology of these intersection spaces defines a cohomology theory HI for singular spaces, which is not isomorphic to intersection cohomology IH. Mirror symmetry tends to interchange IH and HI. The theory IH can be tied to type IIA string theory, while HI can be tied to IIB theory. For pseudomanifolds with stratification depth 1 and flat link bundles, the present paper provides a de Rham-theoretic description of the theory HI by a complex of global smooth differential forms on the top stratum. We prove that the wedge product of forms introduces a perversity-internal cup product on HI, for every perversity. Flat link bundles arise for example in foliated stratified spaces and in reductive Borel-Serre compactifications of locally symmetric spaces. A precise topological definition of the notion of a stratified foliation is given.

math.AT↗
arXiv2011

Deformation of Singularities and the Homology of Intersection Spaces

While intersection cohomology is stable under small resolutions, both ordinary and intersection cohomology are unstable under smooth deformation of singularities. For complex projective algebraic hypersurfaces with an isolated singularity, we show that the first author's cohomology of intersection spaces is stable under smooth deformations in all degrees except possibly the middle, and in the middle degree precisely when the monodromy action on the cohomology of the Milnor fiber is trivial. In many situations, the isomorphism is shown to be a ring homomorphism induced by a continuous map. This is used to show that the rational cohomology of intersection spaces can be endowed with a mixed Hodge structure compatible with Deligne's mixed Hodge structure on the ordinary cohomology of the singular hypersurface.

math.AT↗
arXiv2003

Generalized Arf invariants in algebraic L-theory

The difference between the quadratic L-groups L_*(A) and the symmetric L-groups L^*(A) of a ring with involution A is detected by generalized Arf invariants. The special case A=Z[x] gives a complete set of invariants for the Cappell UNil-groups UNil_*(Z;Z,Z) for the infinite dihedral group D_{\infty}=Z_2*Z_2, extending the results of Connolly and Ranicki (math.AT/0304016) and Connolly and Davis.

math.AT↗