A hyperbolic approach to exp_3(S^1)

In this paper we investigate a new geometric method of studying exp_k(S^1), the set of all non-empty subsets of the circle of cardinality at most k. By considering the circle as the boundary of the hyperbolic plane we are able to use its group of iso…

Authors: S. C. F. Rose

A hyperbolic approach to exp_3(S^1)
A h yp erb oli approa h to exp 3 ( S 1 ) S. C. F. Rose No v em b er 20, 2018 Abstrat In this pap er w e in v estigate a new geometri metho d of studying exp k ( S 1 ) , the set of all non-empt y subsets of the irle of ardinalit y at most k . By onsidering the irle as the b oundary of the h yp erb oli plane w e are able to use its group of isometries to determine expliitely the struture of its rst few onguration spaes. W e then study ho w these onguration spaes t together in their union, exp 3 ( S 1 ) , to repro v e an old theorem of Bott as w ell as to oer a new pro of (follo wing that of E. Sh hepin) of the fat that the em b edding exp 1 ( S 1 ) ֒ → exp 3 ( S 1 ) is the trefoil knot. 1 In tro dution and Preliminaries Sine the mid 1900s, the study of nite subsets of top ologial spaes has ropp ed up in one guise or anotherinitially b y Borsuk [Bor49 ℄, later orreted b y Bott [Bot52 ℄ and more reen tly b y Handel [Han00 ℄, T uey [T uf02℄ and Mosto v o y [Mos04 ℄. A few dieren t denitions ha v e b een giv en in the literature (whi h are all easily seen to b e equiv alen t), but the one that w e will use for this pap er is the follo wing. Denition 1.1 Let X b e a top ologial spae, and let exp k ( X ) denote the set of all non-empt y subsets of X of ardinalit y at most k . That is exp k ( X ) := { S ⊆ X | 0 < | S | ≤ k } There is a natural surjetiv e map π : X k ։ exp k ( X ) whi h tak es ( x 1 , . . . , x k ) to { x 1 , . . . , x k } ; w e th us endo w exp k ( X ) with the quotien t top ology indued b y this map. It is of ourse lear that under this top ology , exp 1 ( X ) ∼ = X . There are a n um b er of results that an b e pro v en ab out this spae and its relation to X . First of all, the map X 7→ exp k ( X ) is a homotop y funtor from U , the ategory of top ologial spaes and on tin uous maps, to itself. More preisely , w e ha v e the follo wing theorem. 1 Theorem 1.2 L et X , Y b e top olo gi al sp a es, let f , g : X → Y . If F : X × I → Y is a homotopy fr om f to g , then the map F : exp k ( X ) × I → exp k ( Y )  { x 1 , . . . , x k } , t  7→ { F ( x 1 , t ) , . . . , F ( x k , t ) } is a homotopy fr om exp k ( f ) to exp k ( g ) . F rom whi h it immediately follo ws that Corollary 1.3 The homotopy typ e of exp k ( X ) dep ends only on that of X . There are also natural inlusions exp k ( X ) ֒ → exp m ( X ) for k ≤ m , taking the subset { x 1 , . . . , x k } to { x 1 , . . . , x k } ; th us w e ha v e X ∼ = exp 1 ( X ) ֒ → exp 2 ( X ) ֒ → · · · ֒ → exp k ( X ) ֒ → · · · with ea h exp k ( X ) for X Hausdorem b edded as a losed subset of exp m ( X ) . The pro ofs of these results (as w ell as man y other top ologial and homotop y- theoreti results) are in [Han00 ℄, whi h pro vides a go o d in tro dution to man y of the basi prop erties of exp k ( X ) (whi h he denotes as S ub ( X , k ) ). It should also b e noted that m u h of this is in mark ed on trast to the notion of a onguration spae, whi h is not funtorial (unless w e suitably restrit our ategory); nor are there nie em b eddings as ab o v e. The most famous result in the study of these spaes, ho w ev er, omes from Bott's orretion to Borsuk's initial pap er. That is: Theorem 1.4 The sp a e exp 3 ( S 1 ) is home omorphi to S 3 , the thr e e-spher e. This has b een pro v en so far in a n um b er of dieren t w a ysBott uses an elab orate ut-and-paste st yle argumen t (in eet sho wing that it the union of tori together with a alulation of its fundamen tal group to sho w that it is a simply onneted lens spae), T uey nds a deomp osition of it as a ∆ -omplex (in the sense of [Hat02 ℄) and sho ws that it is a simply onneted Seifert-b ered spae, while Mosto v o y ties it in with a result of Quillen ab out latties in the plane. There are of ourse man y other results ab out similar su h spaes, primarily in [T uf02 ℄ and [KS℄, most notably the follo wing result. Theorem 1.5 The homotopy typ e of exp k ( S 1 ) is that of an o dd dimensional spher e; sp e i al ly, exp 2 k ( S 1 ) ≃ exp 2 k − 1 ( S 1 ) ≃ S 2 k − 1 This is pro v en in [KS ℄ using the notion of trunated pro dut spaesthese an b e onsidered to b e, in a ertain sense, the free Z / 2 set on p oin ts in our spae. More sp eially , these are giv en b y T P n ( X ) := S P n ( X ) / ∼ 2 where S P n ( X ) is the n -th symmetri pro dut of X dened to b e the olletion of unordered n -tuples in X that is, S P n ( X ) = { x 1 + · · · + x n | x i ∈ X } and w e sa y that x 1 + · · · + x k − 2 + 2 x ∼ x 1 + · · · x k − 2 (where w e use the on v en tion of writing an unordered olletion of p oin ts as a sum), top ologized aordingly . The reason that this is useful is that T P n ( S 1 ) ∼ = RP n (see [Mos98 ℄) and so if w e then note the homeomorphism exp k ( X ) / exp k − 1 ( X ) ∼ = T P k ( X ) / T P k − 2 ( X ) this then b eomes exp k ( S 1 ) / exp k − 1 ( S 1 ) ∼ = RP k / RP k − 2 W e are then able to use the long exat sequene of homology groups to sho w that exp k ( S 1 ) is a homology spheresine it is simply onneted it is then homotopi to a sphere (b y a standard argumen t). Moreo v er, the fat that the exp funtor is a homotop y funtor has also b een used in [T uf03a ℄ and [T uf03b ℄ to b egin the determination of the homotop y t yp e of exp k (Σ) for Σ a losed surfae. The idea is that if y ou onsider a puntured surfae, then this is homotopi to a w edge of opies of S 1 and from the understanding of exp k ( S 1 ) T uey is then able to pro v e results ab out exp k (Γ ℓ ) , where Γ ℓ is a graph onsisting of w edges of ℓ irles. F rom this, he uses a Ma y er-Vietoris argumen t, o v ering a surfae with k + 1 opies of X i = Σ \ { p i } (for distint p oin ts p i ), to determine information ab out the homology of the spae exp k (Σ) (this w orks sine T k +1 i =1 X i = Σ \ { p 1 , . . . , p k +1 } , and so these o v er exp k (Σ) ). In this pap er w e in tend to pro vide y et another pro of Theorem 1.4 , b eginning with ertain prop erties of P S L 2 ( R ) . This metho d will generalize and pro vide metho ds of alulation not only of the homotop y t yp e of higher dimensional analogues, but p ossibly ev en their homeomorphism t yp e. The main dierene in this approa h as ompared to previous ones lies in its inheren t geometri nature. This hea vy emphasis on the underlying geometry of the irle (more generally of higher dimensional spheres) and its onnetion to h yp erb oli spae aords us a m u h more sp ei understanding of the top ology of the resulting spae. In on trast, previous metho ds (for higher dimensional analogues) w ere restrited to kno wledge of the homology and homotop y groups of these spaes whi h p ermitted a kno wledge of the homotop y t yp e of these spaes and no more. Sp eially , w e use the top ology of the group of isometries of the h yp erb oli plane H  P S L 2 ( R ) whi h w e note is homeomorphi to H × S 1 via the map T 7→  T ( i ) , dT dz ( i )  (1) Using this and the fat that S 1 = ∂ H , w e then mo d out ertain subgroups whi h p ermits us to determine the homeomorphism t yp e of exp 3 ( S 1 ) as laimed. 3 In this ase, as in previous pro ofs (e.g. [T uf02℄), w e tak e adv an tage of the ma hinery of Seifert bred spaes. It is quite easy to see that exp k ( S 1 ) has an S 1 ation on it giv en b y ζ · { x 1 , . . . , x k } = { ζ x 1 , . . . , ζ x k } and so, giv en that exp 3 ( S 1 ) is a losed 3-manifold (lemma 2.6 ), w e an use w ell kno wn lassiation theorems to determine the homeomorphism t yp e of exp 3 ( S 1 ) . Notation W e will use the notation C k ( X ) := { S ⊆ X | | S | = k } to denote the k -th unordered onguration spae of X . It is of ourse lear that exp k ( X ) = k [ j =1 C j ( X ) (2) The topi of this pap er will largely b e onerned with ho w this union b eha v es top ologially . 2 The analysis of exp 3 ( S 1 ) 2.1 The top ology and geometry of C i ( S 1 ) The main struture of the pro of of Theorem 1.4 is as follo ws. F or an y three p oin ts of S 1 = ∂ H = R ∪ ∞ there is an elemen t of P S L 2 ( R ) whi h tak es the p oin ts to { 0 , 1 , ∞} , preserving yli ordering. This elemen t is not unique; p ost-omp osing it with an y elemen t p erm uting { 0 , 1 , ∞} yields another p ossible  hoie. If w e let Γ b e the subgroup of P S L 2 ( R ) generated b y all elemen ts p erm uting { 0 , 1 , ∞} , then this subgroup ats on P S L 2 ( R ) b y left m ultipliation; if w e quotien t out b y this ation then w e obtain the follo wing result: Lemma 2.1 The sub gr oup of P S L 2 ( R ) whih yli al ly p ermutes (0 , 1 , ∞ ) is simply the yli gr oup Γ = Z / 3 , gener ate d by γ = z − 1 z ; thus C 3 ( S 1 ) ∼ = P S L 2 ( R ) / Γ By similar reasoning w e ha v e that for an y t w o p oin ts of S 1 there is an elemen t of P S L 2 ( R ) taking those p oin ts to { 0 , ∞} ; if w e then let Ξ b e the subgroup of P S L 2 ( R ) whi h xes the set { 0 , ∞} w e similarly ha v e the follo wing: Lemma 2.2 The sub gr oup of P S L 2 ( R ) whih setwise xes { 0 , ∞} is gener ate d by the elements τ = − 1 z and σ λ = λz (for λ ∈ R > 0 ) subje t to the r elations τ σ λ τ = σ − 1 λ = σ λ − 1 (3a) σ λ σ µ = σ λµ (3b) τ 2 = 1 (3) 4 whih le aves us with C 2 ( S 1 ) ∼ = P S L 2 ( R ) / Ξ And of ourse, C 1 ( S 1 ) is simply the irle S 1 . This tells us whi h subgroups w e need to b e mo dding out b y; what w e need to do next is study ho w these subgroups at on P S L 2 ( R ) so that w e ma y understand the top ology of the resulting quotien ts. Prop osition 2.3 C 2 ( S 1 ) , desrib e d as the quotient P S L 2 ( R ) / Ξ ab ove, is home- omorphi to the op en Möbius b and M . Pr o of W e ha v e that Ξ is generated b y τ and the σ λ , sub jet to the relations ab o v e. Note in partiular that b y (3a) it sues to onsider the ations of σ λ and τ separately . W e onsider the ation of σ λ rst. No w w e ha v e b oth ( σ λ ◦ T )( i ) = λ  T ( i )  d ( σ λ ◦ T ) dz ( i ) = λ dT dz ( i ) and so the ation of σ λ on P S L 2 ( R ) ∼ = H × S 1 is giv en b y σ λ · ( z , θ ) = ( λz , θ ) . If w e then quotien t out b y the ation of the subgroup of Ξ generated b y the σ λ 's w e nd P S L 2 ( R ) / h σ λ i ∼ = (0 , π ) × S 1 where the angle φ ∈ (0 , π ) is simply arg( z ) . Mo ving on to the ation of τ , w e note that ( τ ◦ T )( i ) = − 1 T ( i ) d ( τ ◦ T ) dz ( i ) = 1 T 2 ( i ) dT dz ( i ) and so sine up to saling (as an elemen t of (0 , π ) ) − 1 T ( i ) = π − φ , and similarly 1 T 2 ( i ) = − 2 φ , w e nd that P S L 2 ( R ) / Ξ ∼ = (0 , π ) × S 1 / ( φ, θ ) ∼ ( π − φ, θ − 2 φ ) whi h an b e pitorially represen ted as in gure 1 , whene follo ws the onlusion. Q.E.D. W e next mo v e on to the ase of C 3 ( S 1 ) . Prop osition 2.4 C 3 ( S 1 ) , desrib e d as a the quotient P S L 2 ( R ) / Γ ab ove, is home omorphi to the (op en) mo del Seifert br eing with twist 2 π / 3 . 5 θ φ 3 3 2 2 4 4 1 1 ∼ = ∼ = 2 π 0 π Figure 1: The homeomorphism b et w een C 2 ( S 1 ) and M Pr o of Sine γ = 1 − 1 z , w e ha v e immediately that ( γ ◦ T )( i ) = 1 − 1 T ( i ) (4) d ( γ ◦ T ) dz ( i ) = 1 T 2 ( i ) dT dz ( i ) (5) and so γ do es the same to the S 1 o ordinate as τ . No w, in the H o ordinate, it turns out that 1 − 1 z an b e written as R 1 ◦ R 2 where R 1 ( z ) = 1 − z R 2 ( z ) = z | z | 2 and so it is the omp osition of t w o reetions, rst ab out the irle | z | = 1 and then ab out the line ℜ z = 1 2 it is th us a rotation of the angle 4 π 3 ab out the p oin t e π i / 3 . With gure 2 as a fundamen tal domain, and with left and righ t edges iden tied aording to equations (4 ) and (5 ) , w e qui kly see that this is a mo del Seifert-breing as laimed. Q.E.D. 2.2 T op ology of the union exp k ( S 1 ) A t this p oin t w e ha v e a solid grasp as to exatly what the three piees C i ( S 1 ) , i = 1 , 2 , 3 are. Remaining still is to desrib e the top ology of their unionthat is, what happ ens when p oin ts b egin to oalese. W e b egin b y lo oking at exp 2 ( S 1 ) . First, in M ∼ = C 2 ( S 1 ) , w e nd that a pair { p, r } with p > r maps to the elemen t ξ ( z ) = z − p z − r 6 1 − 1 z z 0 + i 0 1 + i 0 e π i/ 3 D × S 1 Figure 2: Choie of F undamen tal Domain in P S L 2 ( R ) (with a sligh t mo diation if p, r = ∞ ), and so using the homeo- morphism from equation (1) w e see rst that ξ ( i ) = i − p i − r dξ dz ( i ) = p − r ( i − r ) 2 and so that as p → r , ξ ( i ) → 1 , while dξ dz ( i ) = p − r ( i − r ) 2 , sine w e an ignore saling, sta ys onstan t. F rom this the follo wing is immediate. Prop osition 2.5 The sp a e exp 2 ( S 1 ) = C 1 ( S 1 ) ∪ C 2 ( S 1 ) is home omorphi to the lose d Möbius b and M ∗ . Q.E.D. W e no w mo v e on to the situation with three p oin ts. First of all, our triple { p, q , r } (with p < q < r , without loss of generalit y) maps to the elemen t of P S L 2 ( R ) giv en b y ξ ( z ) =  q − r q − p  z − p z − r whi h, desrib ed in terms of equation (1) yields ξ ( i ) =  q − r q − p  i − p i − r (6) dξ dz ( i ) =  q − r q − p  p − r ( i − r ) 2 (7) and so as in the ase of t w o p oin ts, the p osition in the S 1 o ordinate only dep ends on a single one of these p oin tsin this ase, r . 7 T o aid in our desription, w e will assume that it is the p oin t q whi h tends to w ards either p or r . That b eing the ase, it should b e noted that as q v aries, the quan tit y q − r q − p v aries b et w een −∞ and 0 . As su h (see equation (6)), b y xing b oth p and r w e trae out a path in a partiular H slie whi h happ ens to b e a straigh t line from the p oin t 0 + i 0 of slop e p − r 1+ pr . Letting q → r (for simpliit y's sak e) w e approa h either 0 + i 0 or 1 + i 0 , dep ending on the sign of p − r 1+ pr (Consider our  hoie of fundamen tal domain). Then the Möbius band is glued on to C 3 ( S 1 ) en tirely at the p oin ts 0 + i 0 and 1 + i 0 . Ho w ev er, the p oin t whi h w e end up at on the Möbius band dep ends on the slop e of the path w e tak e to w ards these p oin tsw e are blo wing up these p oin tsand so w e nd that these p oin ts are in fat separated b y the set of lines passing through them, whi h are then glued to the orresp onding p oin t on the op en Möbius band. But what ab out C 1 ( S 1 ) = ∂ ( M ∗ ) , and what of the edge running from 0 + i 0 to 1 + i 0 ? The rst thing to note is that as the union exp 3 ( S 1 ) m ust b e ompat, an y sequene { p i , q i , r i } whi h tends to that edge m ust neessarily on v erge to an elemen t of C 1 ( S 1 ) in the union. The only question remaining is what that elemen t is. Let { p i , q i , r i } b e a sequene in exp 3 ( S 1 ) whi h on v erges (regarded as a p oin t in the quotien t H × S 1 / Γ ) to some p oin t P = ( λ + i 0 , θ ) where λ ∈ (0 , 1) , θ ∈ [0 , π ) . Cho ose a neigh brouho o d N of P su h that N is ompletely on tained in the fundamen tal domain of gure 2 . As su h, ea h { p i , q i , r i } is ev en tually on tained in this neigh b ourho o d, and th us in our partiular  hoie of fundamen tal domain. Ho w ev er, b y our  hoie of fundamen tal domain there is an expliit ordering no w on these p oin ts, and th us the H slie that an y { p i , q i , r i } =  ( p i , q i , r i )  nds itself in is determined b y a partiular one of these p oin ts, sa y r i . As this on v erges to w ards ( λ + i 0 , θ ) , w e m ust ha v e that r i → θ (as w ell as p i , q i ). That is, the p oin t in C 1 ( S 1 ) that w e on v erge to is simply the p oin t that all of p i , r i , q i are on v erging to. Th us in exp 3 ( S 1 ) , the edge (0 + i 0 , 1 + i 0 ) × { θ } simply ollapses to {∗} × { θ } . 2.3 exp 3 ( S 1 ) and the inlusion exp 1 ( S 1 ) ֒ → exp 3 ( S 1 ) W e will no w pro v e (after a qui k lemma) the main result of this pap er, a stronger v ersion of Theorem 1.4 (pro v en also in [ T uf02℄). Lemma 2.6 The sp a e exp 3 ( S 1 ) is a  omp at 3 -manifold without b oundary. Pr o of Compatness is immediate as exp 3 ( S 1 ) is a quotien t of ( S 1 ) 3 . As for it b eing a manifold, the only plae where this migh t fail is on exp 2 ( S 1 ) ⊂ exp 3 ( S 1 ) , so w e simply need to v erify that ea h p oin t therein has a eulidean neigh b ourho o d. F or p oin ts in C 2 ( S 1 ) this is rather easy . A p oin t in a neigh b ourho o d of { p, q } for p 6 = q will b e in one of the ongurations sho wn in gure 3, and so it is fairly easy to see that there is a neigh b ourho o d of { p, q } whi h is homeomorphi to 8 p q p q Figure 3: A neigh b ourho o d of { p, q } t w o opies of ( − ǫ, ǫ ) × C 2  ( − ǫ, ǫ )  glued along their ommon b oundarywhi h is then homeomorphi to ( − ǫ, ǫ ) 3 as required. F or a p oin t in C 1 ( S 1 ) , it is similarly easy to see that it has a neigh b ourho o d homeomorphi to exp 3  ( − ǫ, ǫ )  whi h onsidered as a quotien t of the spae X = { ( x, y , z ) | − ǫ < x ≤ y ≤ z < ǫ } (See gure 4 with faes A , B inden tied) is also readily seen to b e homeomorphi to a eulidean ball. A B Figure 4: exp 3  ( − ǫ, ǫ )  Q.E.D. Theorem 2.7 The sp a e exp 3 ( S 1 ) is home omorphi to S 3 , and the inlusion S 1 ∼ = exp 1 ( S 1 ) ֒ → exp 3 ( S 1 ) ∼ = S 3 is the tr efoil knot. 9 Pr o of The ma jorit y of this pro of will rely on alulating the fundamen tal groups of exp 3 ( S 1 ) and exp 3 ( S 1 ) \ exp 1 ( S 1 ) , relying on lassiation theorems to sho w the ab o v e result. The main to ol will b e the Seifert-V an Kamp en theorem. F rom the o v ering sho wn in gure 5, the Seifert-V an Kamp en theorem yields the follo wing pushout of groups. π 1 ( A ∩ B ) π 1 ( B ) π 1 ( A ) π 1  exp 3 ( S 1 )  / / i ∗   j ∗   / / where A deformation retrats on to a irle (and so π 1 ( A ) ∼ = h s i ), and B de- formation retrats on to M ∗ ≃ S 1 (hene π 1 ( B ) ∼ = h t i ); th us w e ha v e that π 1  exp 3 ( S 1 )  ∼ = h s, t | R i . It remains to determine what the relations R are. A B M ∗ e π i/ 3 Figure 5: The o v ering used for the Seifert-V an Kamp en theorem No w, A ∩ B is simply the b oundary of C 3 ( S 1 ) ; that is, up to homotop y it is simply a torus T 2 . Th us its fundamen tal group is h a i ⊕ h b i where a is the generator in the S 1 diretion, and b is the meridional generator. W e an expliitely desrib e this homotop y torus in terms of p oin ts on the underlying irle S 1 in the follo wing manner. The longitudinal diretion (ie the one orresp onding to a ab o v e) is giv en, as exp eted, simply b y rotation of p oin ts along S 1 ; as w e are a v oiding the exeptional bre, there is nothing un usual here and w e need a full rotation at an y giv en p oin t to return to the starting p oin t. No w, w e obtain the other generator b (demonstrated in gure 6) simply b y rotating ea h p oin t in a oun ter-lo  kwise manner to the next p oin t along. It is easy to see that this omm utes with a , and that together these t w o paths mak e a torus. 10 Figure 6: The generator b of π 1 ( A ∩ B ) So to determine the relations R , w e rst examine i ∗ ( a ) and j ∗ ( a ) , the simplest of the t w o to deal with. No w, as the generator of π 1 ( A ) is the path along the exeptional bre from θ = 0 to θ = π 3 , it is easy to see that j ∗ ( a ) = s 3 . The exat same reasoning sho ws that i ∗ ( a ) = t 2 , and so w e ha v e the relation that s 3 = t 2 . So for the meridional generator, b , w e ha v e the situation sho wn in gure 7 (f. gure 1) whi h an easily b e seen to b e homotopi to the generator t of π 1 ( B ) ; th us it only remains to see what happ ens to j ∗ ( b ) (sho wn in gure 8 ) to fully understand what π 1  exp 3 ( S 1 )  is. While it w ould b e tempting to suggest that it simply ollapses to a homotopially trivial path, this is not indeed the ase. ≃ i ∗ ( b ) Figure 7: The homotop y lass of i ∗ ( b ) This is easily seen geometrially; if w e p erturb that diagram of gure 6 so that our three p oin ts are equally spaed ab out the irle, then it is easy to see that the desription of the path b is exatly the path whi h generates π 1 ( A ) . Com bining all of this together, w e nd that π 1  exp 3 ( S 1 )  ∼ = h s, t | s 3 = t 2 , s = t i ∼ = 1 11 j ∗ ( b ) e π i/ 3 Figure 8: The homotop y lass of j ∗ ( b ) and so exp 3 ( S 1 ) is simply onneted. F rom [ST80 ℄ it follo ws immediately that as a simply onneted Seifert bred spae, this m ust b e homeomorphi to S 3 . F or brevit y w e will no w dene X := exp 3 ( S 1 ) \ exp 1 ( S 1 ) . No w, for the alulation of π 1 ( X ) the ma jorit y of the details ab o v e still hold throughthe only dierene is that what w as lab elled as B ab o v e (no w to b e denoted B ′ ) no longer deformation retrats on to M ∗ . Claim: π 1 ( B ′ ) ∼ = h t, u | [ t 2 , u ] = 1 i , where t is the generator of π 1 ( M ) and u is simply the image of the meridional generator in B ′ . F rom this laim it follo ws that π 1 ( X ) ∼ = h s, t, u | [ t 2 , u ] = 1 , s 3 = t 2 , s = u i ∼ = h s, t | [ t 2 , s ] = 1 , s 3 = t 2 i ∼ = h s, t | s 3 = t 2 i No w, to see that this implies that the inlusion exp 1 ( S 1 ) ֒ → exp 3 ( S 1 ) is the trefoil knot, w e pro eed as follo ws (This argumen t is due to E. Sh hepin). The rst thing is to note that the en ter of the Möbius bandits exeptional breis unk otted in exp 3 ( S 1 ) . This is due to the fat that π 1  C 3 ( S 1 )  ∼ = Z . Th us if w e onsider a tubular neigh b ourho o d of this subset w e obtain a torus in exp 3 ( S 1 ) and the in tersetion of the b oundary of this torus with the Möbius band is th us a torus knot whi h is isotopi to exp 1 ( S 1 ) . W e an no w use the fundamen tal group to sa y that it is a (2 , 3) torus knot, or a trefoil knot as laimed. Pro of of laim: Let us examine B ′ a little more losely . Figure 9 sho ws a slie of B ′ , separated in to op en sets U, V . No w, U ≃ T 2 , and V ≃ M . Lastly , U ∩ V ≃ S 1 , and so w e end up with the follo wing pushout to alulate π 1 ( B ′ ) : 12 U V Figure 9: Co v ering of B ′ h t i h a i ⊕ h b i h c i π 1 ( B ′ ) / / t 7→ a   t 7→ c 2   / / from whi h it follo ws that π 1 ( B ′ ) ∼ = h a, b, c | [ a, b ] = 1 , c 2 = a i ∼ = h b, c | [ c 2 , b ] = 1 i as laimed; Clearly , c is the generator of π 1 ( M ) , and b is the meridional gener- ator and so the full laim follo ws. Q.E.D. Referenes [Bor49℄ K. Borsuk. On the third symmetri p oteny of the irumferene. F und. Math. , 36:236244, 1949. [Bot52℄ R. Bott. On the third symmetri p oteny of S 1 . F und. Math. , 39:264 268, 1952. [Han00℄ D. Handel. Some homotop y prop erties of spaes of nite subsets of top ologial spaes. Houston J. of Math , 26:747764, 2000. [Hat02℄ A. Hat her. A lgebr ai T op olo gy . Cam bridge Univ ersit y Press, 2002. [KS℄ S. Kallel and D. Sjerv e. Finite subset spaes and a sp etral sequene of biro. [Mos98℄ J. Mosto v o y . Geometry of trunated symmetri pro duts and real ro ots of real p olynomials. Bul l. L ondon Math. So . , 30:159165, 1998. [Mos04℄ J. Mosto v o y . Latties in C and nite subsets of a irle. A mer. Math. Monthly , 111:357360, 2004. 13 [ST80℄ H. Seifert and W. Threlfall. A T extb o ok of T op olo gy , pages 359422. Harourt Brae Jo v ano vi h, 1980. T ranslated from the 1934 German edition. [T uf02℄ C. T uey . Finite subset spaes of S 1 . A lg. & Ge om. 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