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HW 4

This document contains solutions to homework problems in algebraic topology. It discusses properties of short exact sequences, homology groups of spaces with subsets removed, the fundamental group of the real numbers with rational numbers removed, fixed points of maps between spheres and projective spaces, and constructing a chain homotopy.

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4K views

HW 4

This document contains solutions to homework problems in algebraic topology. It discusses properties of short exact sequences, homology groups of spaces with subsets removed, the fundamental group of the real numbers with rational numbers removed, fixed points of maps between spheres and projective spaces, and constructing a chain homotopy.

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api-3796896
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© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
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Math 215a Homework #4 solutions

1. Hatcher 2.1.14. Let’s do the last part first. I claim that if A is an


abelian group, then there exists a short exact sequence
0 −→ Z −→ A −→ Zn −→ 0
iff A ' Z ⊕ Zm where m is a positive integer dividing n. To see this,
suppose first that such an exact sequence exists. Let x ∈ A be the
image of a generator of Z. Let y ∈ A map to a generator of Zn . Then
ny maps to 0 ∈ Zn , so ny = kx for some integer k. It follows that the
map Z2 → A sending (1, 0) 7→ x and (0, 1) 7→ y induces an isomorphism
Z2
A' .
Z{(−k, n)}
We can find a change of basis of Z2 sending (−k, n) to (0, m) where m
is the greatest common divisor of k and n. So the right hand side of
the above equation is isomorphic to Z ⊕ Zm , and by definition m is a
divisor of n. Conversely, if n = md, then we can define a short exact
sequence
f g
0 −→ Z −→ Z ⊕ Zm −→ Zn −→ 0
by f (1) := (d, −1) and g(a, b) := a + bd.
By a similar but slightly more complicated argument, if A is an abelian
group, then there exists a short exact sequence
0 −→ Zpm −→ A −→ Zpn −→ 0
iff A ' Zpa ⊕ Zpb where a and b are nonnegative integers such that
a ≥ max(m, n) and a + b = m + n.
2. Hatcher 2.1.17(b). It follows easily from the long exact sequence that
Hi (X, A) = Hi (X, B) = 0 for i 6= 1, 2. From the long exact sequence
of the pair (X, A), we obtain an exact sequence
0 → H2 (X) → H2 (X, A) → H1 (A) → H1 (X) → H1 (X, A) → 0.
Since A separates X, it follows that H1 (A) maps to zero1 in H1 (X).
By the exact sequence, H2 (X, A) ' Z2 and H1 (X, A) ' Z 2g .
1
One way to see this using what we know so far is to consider the Mayer-Vietoris
sequence relating the homology of X to the homology of the left and right halves and the
homology of A.

1
Likewise, there is an exact sequence
0 → H2 (X) → H2 (X, B) → H1 (B) → H1 (X) → H1 (X, B) → 0.
In this case, one can choose identifications H1 (B) ' Z and H1 (X) '
Z2g so that the map H1 (B) → H1 (X) sends2 1 7→ (1, 0, . . . , 0). It
then follows from the exact sequence that H1 (X, B) ' Z2g−1 and
H2 (X, B) ' Z.
3. Hatcher 2.1.18. To compute H1 (R, Q), we use the long exact sequence
∗ i
0 = H1 (R) −→ H1 (R, Q) −→ H0 (Q) −→ H0 (R)
where i : Q → R is the inclusion map. It follows from this exact
sequence that H1 (R, Q) = Ker(i∗ ). Now H0 (Q) = ⊕Q Z. Moreover if
σq denotes the 0-simplex mapping to q ∈ Q, then
i∗ σq = 1 ∈ Z = H0 (R).
So the kernel of i∗ consists of finite integer linear combinations of σq ’s
with total coefficient zero. A basis for this is given by
{σ0 − σq | q ∈ Q \ {0}}.

4. Hatcher 2.1.27.
(a) This follows by applying the five-lemma to the diagram
Hn (A) −−−→ Hn (X) −−−→ Hn (X, A) −−−→ Hn−1 (A) −−−→ Hn−1 (X)
    
' '  ' '
y y y y y
Hn (B) −−−→ Hn (Y ) −−−→ Hn (Y, B) −−−→ Hn−1 (B) −−−→ Hn−1 (Y ).

(b) If g : (Dn , Dn \ {0}) → (Dn , S n−1 ), let g1 : Dn \ {0} → S n−1


denote the restriction. Since g is continuous at 0, it follows that
g maps all of Dn to S n−1 . Hence g1 induces 0 on H e n−1 , since the
n n−1
map g1 factors through D . Since Hn−1 (S ) 6= 0, it follows that
e
g1 does not induce an isomorphism on reduced homology, so g1
cannot be a homotopy equivalence.
2
One way to show this is to identify X with the quotient of a 4g-gon so that B corre-
sponds to one of the edges. We will see a more general way to prove this after introducing
the intersection pairing.

2
5. Hatcher 2.2.2. Let f : S 2n → S 2n . If f (x) 6= x for all x, then f is
homotopic to the antipodal map, so deg(f ) = (−1)2n+1 . If f (x) 6= −x
for all x, then f is homotopic to the identity, so deg(f ) = 1. Since
(−1)2n+1 6= 1, these possibilities are mutually exclusive, so there must
exist x ∈ S 2n with f (x) = x or f (x) = −x.
Next let f : RP2n → RP2n . Since S 2n is the universal covering space
of RP2n , it follows from the Lifting Criterion that f lifts to a map
RP2n → S 2n . We can then pull this back to a map fe : S 2n → S 2n , so
that the diagram
fe
S 2n −−−→ S 2n
 
 
y y
f
RP2n −−−→ RP2n
commutes, i.e. f ([x]) = [fe(x)] ∈ RP2n for all x ∈ S 2n . By the previous
paragraph, there exists x ∈ S 2n such that fe(x) = ±x, which means
that f ([x]) = [x].
 
0 −1
Taking the direct sum of n copies of the 2 × 2 matrix gives
1 0
a linear map R2n → R2n with no real eigenvalue, and hence a map
RP2n−1 → RP2n−1 with no fixed point.

6. Extra problem.

(a) The proof that ∂T = T ∂ is a straightforward matter of comparing


signs.
(b) We will construct a natural chain homotopy K : C∗ (X) → C∗+1 (X)
such that
∂K + K∂ = 1 − T. (1)
Let In ∈ Cn (∆n ) denote the identity map of the standard n-
simplex ∆n . It is enough to define KIn ∈ Cn+1 (∆n ) such that

∂(KIn ) = In − T In − K∂In . (2)

If we have solved equation (2), then for σ : ∆n → X we can define

Kσ := σ# KIn ,

3
and equation (1) will hold.
We solve equation (2) by induction on n. Since Hn+1 (∆n ) = 0,
a solution KIn to equation (2) exists iff the right hand side is a
cycle. To check this, we compute

∂(In − T In − K∂In ) = ∂In − ∂T In − ∂K∂In


= ∂In − ∂T In − (1 − T − K∂)∂In
= −∂T In + T ∂In
= 0.

(This argument, and similar arguments which we did in class, can


be formalized as the “acyclic models theorem”.)

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