Math 215B Take-home Midterm Solutions

February 20, 2013

1. (10 points total) Wrong-way maps. We have seen that singular homology is a
functorial assignment, that is, given a map f : X Y of topological spaces, there
is an induced map f

: H
i
(X) H
i
(Y ) on homology groups. In some cases, if the
map f : X Y is particularly nice, there also exists a map f
!
: H
i
(Y ) H
i
(X),
called a wrong-way or transfer map.
a. (5 points) Let p :

X X be a k-sheeted covering map, for some nite k.
Construct a (non-trivial!) map of chain complexes
C
i
(X) C
i
(

X) (1)
and show that it is a chain map, giving rise to an induced map on homology
p
!
: H
i
(X) H
i
(

X). (2)
b. (5 points). Show that the composition
p

p
!
: H
i
(X) H
i
(X) (3)
is multiplication by k.
Solution: 1a. Dene the chain map : C
n
(X) C
n
(

X) by taking each n-simplex

:
n
X
to the sum of its k lifts to

X. There are always exactly k lifts, since 1.33 and 1.34 in
Hatcher tell us that each preimage of (x
0
) corresponds to a unique lift, and there
are k such preimages. Taking the ith face of each of these k lifts, we get k distinct
lifts of
i
, which must be the k unique lifts of this (k 1)-simplex. Therefore
taking the sum of lifts commutes with
i
, so it commutes with =

i
(1)
i

i
as
well. Therefore a chain map, so it passes to a transfer map on homology
H
n
(X) H
n
(

X)
1b. It suces to show that p
#
is multiplication by k, before passing to homology
classes. Under this chain map, the simplex goes to the sum of its k lifts, each
of which is then mapped back to , so we get a sum of k copies of . So p
#
is
multiplication by k and we are done.
2. (14 points total) Applications to group theory.
a. (7 points) Let X be a wedge sum of n circles, with its natural graph structure,
and let

X X be a covering space with Y

X a nite connected graph.
Show there is a nite graph Z Y having the same vertices as Y , such that
the projection Y X extends to a covering space Z X.
b. (7 points) Using the above fact if necessary, prove the following result in group
theory: Let F be a nitely generated free group, H F a nitely generated
subgroup, and x F H. Then there is a subgroup K of nite index such that
K H and x / K.
Solution: 2a. Label the n loops of X by a
1
, . . . , a
n
. We will adopt the convention
that each lift of a
i
in

X or Z will also be labelled a
i
.
Suppose that Y has m vertices, and x a value of i between 1 and n. There are
k edges labelled a
i
in Y , with 0 k m. Since Y is contained in a cover of X,
each vertex of Y has at most one edge labelled a
i
coming in or going out. There
are m vertices and k edges labelled a
i
, so exactly mk of the vertices have no a
i
coming in, and exactly m k of the vertices have no a
i
going out. Therefore we
may pick a bijection
vertices with no a
i
going out

=
vertices with no a
i
coming in
and this bijection tells us how to attach mk more edges to Y so that each each
vertex has exactly one edge labelled a
i
pointing in and one edge labelled a
i
pointing
out. Doing this separately for each value of i, we arrive at a graph Z containing Y
whose edges are labelled in a way that describes a covering map Z X extending
Y X. Note that Z will not in general be contained in

X.
2b. We are given a nitely generated free group F, a nitely generated subgroup
H, and an element x F H. Let X be a wedge of one circle for each generator
of F, so
1
(X)

= F. Let (

X, x
0
) (X, x
0
) be a cover associated to H F. For
each element of some nite set of generators for H, pick a nite edgepath
i
that
begins and ends at x
0
. In addition, pick a nite edgepath in

X that starts at
x
0
and lifts the loop in X corresponding to x. Since x is not in the subgroup H,
will not end at x
0
. Now let Y be the union of and all the
i
, and extend
Y to a covering space Z using the above problem. Let K F be the subgroup
corresponding to the image of
1
(Z, x
0
) in
1
(X). Then K obviously contains H,
but it does not contain x because the path representing x in X lifts to in Z,
which is not a closed loop. Finally, K has nite index because Z has nitely many
vertices, which are the preimages of the basepoint of X.
3. (12 points) Spaces not distinguished by homology. Show that S
1
S
1
and S
1
S
1
S
2
have isomorphic homology groups in all dimensions, but their universal covering
spaces do not.
Solution: Using previous computations, the homology groups of S
1
S
1
are
Z, Z
2
, Z. Using the formula for the reduced homology of a wedge, the homology
groups of S
1
S
1
S
2
are also Z, Z
2
, Z. The universal cover of S
1
S
1
is R
2
,
which is contractible, so it has the homology of a point. The universal cover of
S
1
S
1
S
2
is obtained from the universal cover of S
1
S
1
by attaching a copy of
S
2
to every vertex. This is a 2-dimensional CW complex in which the 1-skeleton
is a tree. Contracting this tree to a point, we get a countable wedge of 2-spheres,
so its homology is a countable direct sum

i=1
Z in degree 2, and 0 in all other
positive degrees.
4. (10 points) Homological algebra. Let (C
n

, ) be a collection of chain complexes

indexed by n Z, i.e., for each n Z, there is a chain complex
C
n
k

C
n
k1

C
n
k2
. (4)
Let f
n

: C
n

C
n+1
be a chain map, one for each n. Suppose that the composite
f
n+1
f
n
: C
n
C
n+2
is chain-homotopic to zero for all n, by a chain homotopy
K
n
: C
n

C
n+2
+1
; that is,
f
n+1
f
n
= K
n
+ K
n
(5)
First part: Show that the map

n
:= f
n+2
K
n
K
n+1
f
n
(6)
is an anti-chain map from C
n

C
n+3

, meaning that
n
=
n
, and deduce
that
n
gives rise to a map on homology,

: H
i
(C
n

, ) H
i+1
(C
n+3

, ) (7)
for all n and i. Second part: Finally, suppose that (7) is an isomorphism for all
n and i. Deduce that the sequence
H
i
(C
n

, )
f
n

H
i
(C
n+1

, )
f
n+1

H
i
(C
n+2
, ) (8)
is exact.
Solution of rst part: First, lets check that
n
is an anti-chain map. We
compute, using the chain homotopy equation f
n+1
f
n
= K
n
+K
n
and the fact
that f
n
is a chain map, so f
n
= f
n
:

n
= f
n+2
K
n
K
n+1
f
n
(9)
= f
n+2
K
n
(K
n+1
+ f
n+2
f
n+1
) f
n
(10)
= f
n+2
(K
n
+ f
n+1
f
n
) K
n+1
f
n
+ f
n+2
f
n+1
f
n
(11)
= f
n+2
K
n
+ K
n+1
f
n
(12)
= (f
n+2
K
n
K
n+1
f
n
) (13)
=
n
. (14)
Let us show an anti-chain map gives rise to a well-dened map on homology

: H
i
(C
n

) H
i+1
(C
n+3

)
[] []
(15)
First, we must check it sends cycles to cycles. If is a cycle, then = = 0
as desired. To check well-denedness, suppose + is another representative of
[]. Then, ( + ) = is homologous to .
Solution of second part: Before proceeding, let us verify a key identity involving

.
Claim: On homology, we have

f
n1

= f
n+2

n1

. (16)
Proof of Claim. We compute, for a cycle C
n1

(so = 0):

n
f
n1
= (f
n+2
K
n
K
n+1
f
n
)f
n1
(17)
= f
n+2
K
n
f
n1
K
n+1
f
n
f
n1
(18)
= f
n+2
K
n
f
n1
K
n+1
(K
n1
+ K
n1
) (19)
= f
n+2
K
n
f
n1
K
n+1
K
n1
(20)
= f
n+2
K
n
f
n1
(f
n+2
f
n+1
K
n+1
)K
n1
(21)
= f
n+2
(K
n
f
n1
f
n+1
K
n1
) + K
n+1
K
n1
(22)
= f
n+2

n1
+ (a boundary), (23)
verifying the claim.
Now, suppose that
n
is an isomorphism. We need to verify the sequence (8) is
exact, i.e. ker f
n+1

= im f
n

. There are two assertions to check:

im f
n

ker f
n+1

: this follows immediately from the chain homotopy (5).

Indeed, for a cycle imf
n

, so is homologous to f
n
, for some cycle ,
we have that
f
n+1
= f
n+1
f
n
+ f
n+1
(a boundary)
= (K
n
+ K
n
) + f
n+1
(a boundary)
= (a boundary),
(24)
as = 0, verifying that on homology f
n+1

[] = 0, so ker f
n+1

.
ker f
n+1

im f
n

: Suppose we have a cycle C

n+1

with [] ker f
n+1

, so
f
n+1
= . By the isomorphism (7), is homologous to
n2
, for some
cycle C
n2

.
Now, using the key identity, note that
f
n+1
f
n+1

n
=
n1
f
n2
+ ( a boundary). (25)
So, if f
n+1
is a boundary, then
n1
f
n2
is a boundary, which by the
isomorphism (7), implies that f
n2
is a boundary, i.e.
f
n2
= . (26)
Then, note that

n2
(27)
= (f
n
K
n2
K
n1
f
n2
) (28)
= f
n
K
n2
K
n1
(29)
= f
n
K
n2
(f
n
f
n1
K
n1
) = f
n
(K
n2
f
n1
) (K
n1
).
(30)
If we can show that := (K
n2
f
n1
) is closed, then the above calculation
will imply that f
n

[] = [] as desired. We check:
= (K
n2
f
n1
) (31)
= (f
n1
f
n2
f
n1
) (32)
= (f
n1
f
n2
f
n1
f
n2
) (33)
= 0. (34)
5. (14 points total) SO(3) and the quaternions. The topological group SO(3) is
dened as the space of real 3 x 3 matrices A with that are orthogonal (meaning
A
T
= A
1
) and have determinant 1. The topology on SO(3) is the subspace
topology, coming from the inclusion of SO(3) R
9
, the space of all 3 x 3 matrices.
Let H denote the group of quaternions (recall that these are numbers of the form
a +b i +c j +d k, for a, b, c, d R, with non-commutative multiplication rules
determined by i
2
= j
2
= k
2
= 1, ij = ji = k).
a. (6 points) A quaternion is called pure if it has 0 real part, i.e., it is of the form
b i +c j +d k. Thinking of R
3
as the subspace of pure quaternions in H, any
quaternion q H induces a map
A
q
: R
3
R
3
x qxq
1
.
(35)
Show that when restricted to the unit quaternions (those with norm 1 using the
usual Euclidean norm in R
4
), such a correspondence gives a (continuous) map
: S
3
SO(3). (36)
b. (8 points) Prove that the map is a covering map, and use it to calculate

1
(SO(3)).
Solutions: 5a. We use the following facts: the quaternions have a multiplicative
norm, dened for
q = a + bi + cj + dk
as
|q| =

a
2
+ b
2
+ c
2
+ d
2
Also, the inverse of q is given by
a bi cj dk
|q|
2
Since inversion of unit quaternions and multiplication of quaternions are both given
by polynomials in each coordinate, they dene continuous maps, so the given map
A

: S
3
M
33
(R)
is continuous. Since multiplication of quaternions preserves norms, the assignment
x qxq
1
preserves the norm of x as a vector in R
3
, so it denes an element of O(3). Therefore
A
q
gives a continuous map
S
3
O(3)
Since S
3
is connected, this map must land in the path component of the identity,
which is SO(3).
5b. The map dened above
: S
3
SO(3)
is clearly a homomorphism of groups. It is surjective because we can check that
quaternions of the form a + bi hit the rotations about the i-axis, and similarly
a + cj hits the rotations about the j-axis, and these are enough to generate the
rotations of R
3
. The map has kernel 1 since a quaternion that xes the i axis
must be of the form a +bi, and if it xes the j axis it must be of the form a +cj,
so if it xes both then it must be real, which leaves only +1 and 1.
Now we will show is a covering map. It suces to do this at the identity of
SO(3), since we can use left-multiplication to translate the result to all other
points. We pick a small neighborhood U of the identity 1 SO(3) such that
its preimage
1
(U) lies in two small balls about +1 and 1 in S
3
. Focus on
the component V
+1

1
(U) about +1; we need to show that : V
+1
U is
a homeomorphism. We already know from the above that it is surjective. For
injectivity, if two quaternions q
1
, q
2
V
+1
gave the same rotation in U, then
q
1
q
1
2
= 1, but when U is small enough the only possibility is +1, so q
1
= q
2
. Now
: V
+1
U is a continuous bijection, but by restricting to a slightly smaller closed
ball C U and its preimage, we get a continuous bijection between a compact
space and a Hausdor one, which is therefore a homeomorphism. Restricting this
to an even slightly smaller open ball U

C, we conclude that U

is an evenly
covered open set.
Now we know that is a 2-sheeted cover. Since S
3
is simply connected, it is the
universal cover of SO(3) and so
1
(SO(3))

= Z/2.
6. (18 points total) Computation via decompositions. Let X be the quotient space of
S
2
obtained by identifying the north and south poles to a single point.
a. (6 points) Put a cell complex structure on X and use this to compute
1
(X).
b. (6 points) Put a -complex structure on X and use this to compute H

(X),
its simplicial homology for this structure.
c. (6 points) Compute the singular homology of X directly, using the Mayer-
Vietoris sequence or excision.
Solutions: See next page.
7. (12 points total) A covering space corresponding to a subgroup. Let X be a wedge of
three circles with basepoint p the common point at which the circles are wedged.
We showed in class that the fundamental group of
1
(X, p) is a, b, c, the free
group on three generators.
a. (7 points) Let G
1
(X, p) be the subgroup
G := a
4
, ac, c
2
, ab, b
2
, a
2
ba
3
, a
2
b
1
a
3
, a
2
ca
3
, a
2
c
1
a
3
. (37)
Find a covering space with basepoint
: (

X, p) (X, p) (38)
corresponding to the group G.
b. (5 points) Now, using the topology of this covering space, prove that G is not
a normal subgroup of a, b, c.
Solutions: See next page.