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Lecture 9: Tangential structures
We begin with some examples of tangential structures on a smooth manifold. In fact, despite the name—which is appropriate to our application to bordism—these are structures on arbitrary real vector bundles over topological spaces; the name comes from the application to the tangent bundle of a smooth manifold. Common examples may be phrased as a reduction of structure group of the tangent bundle. The general definition allows for more exotic possibilities. We move from a geometric description—and an extensive discussion of orientations and spin structures—to a more abstract topological definition. Note there are both stable and unstable tangential structures. The stable version is what is usually studied in classical bordism theory; the unstable version is relevant to the modern developments, such as the cobordism hypothesis. I suggest you think through this lecture first for a single tangential structure: orientations.
Orientations revisited
(9.1) Existence and uniqueness. Let V → M be a real vector bundle of rank n over a manifold M. (In this whole discussion you can replace a manifold by a metrizable topological space.) In Lecture 2 we constructed an associated double cover o(V ) → M , the orientation double cover of the vector bundle V → M. An orientation of the vector bundle is a section of o(V ) → M. There is an existence and uniqueness exercise.
Exercise 9.2. The obstruction to existence is the isomorphism class of the orientation double cover: orientations exists if and only if o(V ) → M is trivializable. Show that this isomorphism class is an element of H^1 (M ; Z/ 2 Z). If this class vanishes, show that the set of orientations is a torsor for H^0 (M ; Z/ 2 Z), the group of locally constant maps M → Z/ 2 Z. Of course, this can be identified with the set of maps π 0 M → Z/ 2 Z.
Remark 9.3. The isomorphism class of o(V ) → M is the first Stiefel-Whitney class w 1 (V ) ∈ H^1 (M ; Z/ 2 Z). The Stiefel-Whitney classes are characteristic classes of real vector bundles. They live in the cohomology algebra H•(BO; Z/ 2 Z).
(9.4) Recollection of frame bundles. Recall from (6.38) that to the vector bundle V → M is associated a principal GLn(R)-bundle B(V ) → M of bases, often called the frame bundle of V → M. If we endow V → M with a metric, then we can take orthonormal frames and so construct a principal O(n)-bundle of frames BO(V ) → M.
Exercise 9.5. Recall the determinant homomorphism
(9.6) GLn(R) −−det−→ R^6 =0.
Let GL+ n (R) ⊂ GLn(R) denote the subgroup det−^1 (R>^0 ). Then GL+ n (R) acts freely on B(V ). Identify the quotient with o(V ). What is the analogous statement for orthonormal frames?
Bordism: Old and New (M392C, Fall ’12), Dan Freed, October 2, 2012 1
2 D. S. Freed
(9.7) Reduction of structure group. Let H, G be Lie groups and ρ : H → G a homomorphism. (For the discussion of orientations this is the inclusion GL+ n (R) ֒→ GLn(R).)
Definition 9.8.
(i) Let Q → M be a principal H-bundle. The associated principal G-bundle Qρ → M is the quotient
(9.9) Qρ = (Q × G)/H,
where H acts freely on the right of Q × G by
(9.10) (q, g) · h = (q · h, ρ(h)−^1 g), q ∈ Q, g ∈ G, h ∈ H.
(ii) Let P → M be a principal G-bundle. Then a reduction to H is a pair (Q, θ) consisting of a principal H-bundle Q → M and an isomorphism
(9.11) Qρ θ^ P
M
of principal G-bundles.
Exercise 9.12.
(i) What is the G-action on Qρ? (ii) Define an isomorphism of reductions. (iii) Suppose V → M is a real vector bundle of rank n with metric. Let ρ : O(n) ֒→ GLn(R) be the inclusion. What is BO(V )ρ? (iv) Assume that ρ is an inclusion. Show that Q ⊂ Qρ and, using θ, we can identify a reduction to H as a sub-fiber bundle Q ⊂ P. Assuming that H is a closed Lie subgroup, show that reductions are in 1:1 correspondence with sections of the G/H bundle P/H → M.
(9.13) Orientations as reductions of structure group. The definitions conspire to show that an orientation of a real rank n vector bundle V → M is a reduction of structure group of B(V ) → M to the group GL+ n (R) ֒→ GLn(R). In particular, this follows by combining Exercise 9.5 and Exercise 9.12(iv) together with the definition of an orientation.
Spin structures
(9.14) The spin group. Let SO(n) ⊂ O(n) be the subgroup of orthogonal matrices of determinant one. In low dimensions these are familiar groups. The group SO(1) is trivial: it just has the identity
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of unitary transformations of Cn^ into orthogonal transformations of R^2 n. In fact, the image lies in SO(2n), which follows since complex linear transformations preserve the natural orientation of Cn^ = R^2 n. (Alternatively, U (n) is connected, so the image of (9.23) is a connected subgroup of O(2n).) Define U˜ (n) to be the pullback Lie group
(9.24) U˜ (n) Spin(2n)
U (n) SO(2n)
It is the unique connected double cover of U (n). (The fundamental group of U (n) is infinite cyclic for all n.)
(9.25) Spin structures on a complex vector bundle. Let E → M be a rank n complex vector bundle. There is an underlying rank 2n real vector bundle ER → M. As manifolds ER = E and the projection map is the same. What is different is that we forget some of the structure of E → M , namely we forget scalar multiplication by
−1 and only remember the real scalar multiplication. Choose a hermitian metric on E → M , a contractible choice which carries no topological information. Then there is an associated principal U (n) bundle BU (E) → M , the unitary bundle of frames.
Definition 9.26. A spin structure on E → M is a reduction of BU (E) → M along U˜ (n) → U (n).
This is not really a definition, but rather a consequence of (9.24).
Exercise 9.27. Recast Definition 9.26 as a theorem and prove that theorem. (Hint:... is a spin structure on ER → M... ).
Proposition 9.28. Let E → M be a complex vector bundle which admits a spin structure. Then there exists ˜c ∈ H^2 (M ; Z) such that 2 c = c 1 (E).
Corollary 9.29. The manifold CPn^ does not admit a spin structure if n is even.
For according to Proposition 7.51 we have c 1 (CPn) = (n + 1)y, where y ∈ H^2 (CPn; Z) is the generator. I outline the proof of Proposition 9.28 in the following exercise, the first part of which should have been part of the lecture on Chern classes.
Exercise 9.30.
(i) Let E → M be a complex vector bundle of rank n. Define the associated determinant line bundle Det E → M. One method is to use complex exterior algebra, analogous to Exercise 2.6(i) in the real case. Another is to use principal bundles and the determinant homomorphism det : GLn(C) → C×. (ii) Use the splitting principle (7.42) to prove that c 1 (Det E) = c 1 (E).
Bordism: Old and New (Lecture 9) 5
(iii) Construct the top homomorphism in the commutative diagram of Lie group homomorphisms
(9.31) U˜ (n) T
U (n) det^ T
in which the right vertical arrow is the squaring map. (iv) Recall Proposition 7.19 and complete the proof of Proposition 9.28.
(9.32) Double covers and uniqueness of spin structures. We work in the context of (9.7). Let ρ : H → G be a double cover of the Lie group G. We have in mind G = SO(n) and H = Spin(n). Let P → M be a principal G-bundle and (Q, θ) a reduction along ρ to a principal H-bundle. Suppose R → M is a double cover, which may be viewed as a principal Z/ 2 Z-bundle. Then we can construct a new reduction (Q′, θ′) by “acting on” the reduction (Q, θ) with the double cover R → M. For this, consider the fiber product Q ×M R → M , which is a principal (H × Z/ 2 Z)- bundle. The bundle Q′^ → M is obtained by dividing out by the diagonal Z/ 2 Z ⊂ H → Z/ 2 Z, where Z/ 2 Z ⊂ H is the kernel of the covering map ρ. I leave you to construct θ′.
Remark 9.33. There is a category of double covers of M , and it has a “product” operation which makes it a categorical analog of a group. That Picard category acts on the category of reductions to H.
Exercise 9.34. As in Exercise 9.2 the set of isomorphism classes of double covers of M is H^1 (M ; Z/ 2 Z). How is its abelian group structure related to Remark 9.33? Show that any two reductions to H are related by a double cover in the manner described. Conclude that H^1 (M ; Z/ 2 Z) acts simply transitively on the set of isomorphism classes (Exercise 9.12(ii)) of reductions.
Exercise 9.35. Just as an orientation on a manifold M with boundary induces an orientation of the boundary ∂M , show that the same is true of a spin structure. (As a spin structure includes an orientation, the statement about orientations is included.)
Exercise 9.36. Show that there are two isomorphism classes of spin structure on S^1. Describe the principal Spin(2)-bundles and the isomorphisms θ explicitly. Which occurs as the boundary of a spin structure on the disk D^2?
Reductions of structure group and classifying spaces
We continue in the context of (9.7), working with an arbitrary homomorphism ρ : H → G. As we have only constructed classifying spaces for compact Lie groups (in (6.59)), we assume H and G are compact. Let EH → BH be the universal H-bundle. The associated G-bundle has a classifying map
(9.37) EH ×ρ G EG
BH
Bρ BG
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General tangential structures
We now generalize reductions of O(n)-bundles along homomorphisms ρ : H → G to a more general and flexible notion of a tangential structure. Recall the construction (6.24) of the classifying space BO(n) as a colimit of finite dimensional Grassmannians. There are closed inclusions Grn(Rq) → Grn+1(Rq+1) obtained by sending W 7 → R ⊕ W where we write Rq+1^ = R ⊕ Rq. These induce maps BO(n) → BO(n + 1), and we define
(9.44) BO = colim n→∞ BO(n).
It is a classifying space for the infinite orthogonal group O defined in (5.38).
Definition 9.45. An n-dimensional tangential structure is a topological space X(n) and a fibration π(n) : X(n) → BO(n). A stable tangential structure is a topological space X and a fibration π : X → BO. It gives rise to an n-dimensional tangential structure for each n ∈ Z≥^0 by letting π(n) : X(n) → BO(n) be the fiber product
(9.46) X(n)
π(n)
X
π BO(n) BO
If M is a k-dimensional manifold, then an X(n)-structure on M is a lift M → X(n) of a classifying map M → BO(n) of T M˜ , where we have stabilized the tangent bundle T M of the m-dimensional manifold M to the rank n bundle
(9.47) T M˜ := Rn−m^ ⊕ T M.
An X-structure on M is a family of coherent X(n)-structures for n sufficiently large.
Notice that an n-dimensional tangential structure induces an m-dimensional tangential structure for all m < n by taking the fiber product
(9.48) X(m)
π(m)
X(n) π(n) BO(m) BO(n)
Example 9.49. The trivial tangential structure has X = BO, so X(n) = BO(n), and the structure maps π(n) are identity maps.
Example 9.50. A stable framing is the tangential structure X = EO, a contractible space with a free O-action. What is X(n) → BO(n) in this example? (Hint: It is a principal O-bundle.)
Example 9.51. An n-framing is the n-dimensional unstable tangential structure X(n) = EO(n). An n-framing of an m-manifold M is a trivialization of T M˜. What is X(m)?
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Example 9.52. An orientation is the stable tangential structure X = BSO, and an orientation of T M˜ amounts to an orientation of T M since Rn−m^ has a canonical orientation. In this case the space X(n) in (9.46) is the classifying space BSO(n).
Example 9.53. A spin structure is also a stable tangential framing; the space X(n) is the classifying space BSpin(n).
Example 9.54. There are examples which are not reductions of structure group. For example, if X(n) = BO(n) × BΓ for some finite group Γ, then an X(n)-structure on M is a principal Γ-bundle over M. We can replace BΓ by any space Y. Isomorphism classes of X(n)-structures then track homotopy classes of maps M → Y.
Exercise 9.55. Following Proposition 9.38, define an isomorphism of X(n)-structures. Formulate the classification of isomorphism classes of X(n)-structures as a problem in homotopy theory.
(9.56) The universal X(n)-bundle. Let π : X → BO be a stable tangential structure with induced tangential structures π(n) : X(n) → BO(n) for each n ∈ Z≥^0. Let
(9.57) S(n) −→ BO(n)
be the universal real vector bundle of rank n, as in (6.27). Its pullback to X(n) has a tautological X(n)-structure, the identity map idX(n) lifting π(n) in
(9.58) π(n)∗
S(n)
S(n)
X(n)
π(n) BO(n)
so is the universal real rank n bundle with X(n)-structure. By abuse of notation we denote this pullback π(n)∗
S(n)
as simply
(9.59) S(n) −→ X(n)
Suppose M is an m-manifold, m ≤ n. Then an X(n)-structure on M is an X(n)-structure on its stabilized tangent bundle T M˜ → M , as stated in Definition 9.45, which is more simply a classifying map
(9.60) T M˜ S(n)
M X(n)
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In the diagram we X(n, n+q) is the pullback of X(n) → BO(n) to the Grassmannian Grn(Rn+q) ֒→ BO(n). Now suppose ֒M → An+q^ is an embedding with normal bundle ν → M of rank q. We use the Euclidean metric to identify ν ∼= T M ⊥^ so T M ⊕ ν ∼= Rn+q. Then using the perp map (9.63) we obtain a classifying map
(9.68) ν Q(q)
M X⊥(q, n + q)
Here X⊥(q, n + q) is the pullback of X⊥^ → BO to the Grassmannian Grq (Rn+q). Stabilizing we obtain a classifying map of the stable normal bundle. It is simply ι ◦ f , where f is the stable classifying map (9.67) of the tangent bundle. Note that ι ◦ f is defined without choosing an embedding. In this way we pass back and forth between stable tangential X-structures and stable normal X⊥-structures.
(9.69) X-bordism groups. We now imitate Definition 1.19 to define a bordism of closed manifolds equipped with an X-structure on the stable tangent bundle, or equivalently an X⊥-structure on the stable normal bundle. Bordism is an equivalence relation, and we denote the bordism group of closed n-dimensional X-manifolds as ΩX n.
Exercise 9.70. Prove that bordism is an equivalence relation. Pay attention to the symmetry argument: see (2.20).
Exercise 9.71. Show that for X = BSO, as in Example 9.52, this reproduces the oriented bordism group defined in Lecture 2. Quite generally, if X = BG, then we use the notation ΩG • in place of ΩX •.
References
[War] Frank W. Warner, Foundations of differentiable manifolds and Lie groups, Graduate Texts in Mathematics, vol. 94, Springer-Verlag, New York, 1983. Corrected reprint of the 1971 edition. 3
