James bundles

We study cubical sets without degeneracies, which we call {square}-sets. These sets arise naturally in a number of settings and they have a beautiful intrinsic geometry; in particular a {square}-set C has an infinite family of associated {square}-sets Ji(C), for i = 1, 2, ..., which we call James complexes. There are mock bundle projections pi: |Ji(C)| -> |C| (which we call James bundles) defining classes in unstable cohomotopy which generalise the classical James–Hopf invariants of {Omega}(S2). The algebra of these classes mimics the algebra of the cohomotopy of {Omega}(S2) and the reduction to cohomology defines a sequence of natural characteristic classes for a {square}-set. An associated map to BO leads to a generalised cohomology theory with geometric interpretation similar to that for Mahowald orientation

K(π,1)K(\pi,1) and word problems for infinite type Artin-Tits groups, and applications to virtual braid groups

Let $\Gamma$ be a Coxeter graph, let $(W,S)$ be its associated Coxeter system, and let $(A,\Sigma$) be its associated Artin-Tits system. We regard $W$ as a reflection group acting on a real vector space $V$. Let $I$ be the Tits cone, and let $E_\Gamma$ be the complement in $I +iV$ of the reflecting hyperplanes. Recall that Charney, Davis, and Salvetti have constructed a simplicial complex $\Omega(\Gamma)$ having the same homotopy type as $E_\Gamma$. We observe that, if $T \subset S$, then $\Omega(\Gamma_T)$ naturally embeds into $\Omega (\Gamma)$. We prove that this embedding admits a retraction $\pi_T: \Omega(\Gamma) \to \Omega (\Gamma_T)$, and we deduce several topological and combinatorial results on parabolic subgroups of $A$. From a family \SS of subsets of $S$ having certain properties, we construct a cube complex $\Phi$, we show that $\Phi$ has the same homotopy type as the universal cover of $E_\Gamma$, and we prove that $\Phi$ is CAT(0) if and only if \SS is a flag complex. We say that $X \subset S$ is free of infinity if $\Gamma_X$ has no edge labeled by $\infty$. We show that, if $E_{\Gamma_X}$ is aspherical and $A_X$ has a solution to the word problem for all $X \subset S$ free of infinity, then $E_\Gamma$ is aspherical and $A$ has a solution to the word problem. We apply these results to the virtual braid group $VB_n$. In particular, we give a solution to the word problem in $VB_n$, and we prove that the virtual cohomological dimension of $VB_n$ is $n-1$

Size of Sets with Small Sensitivity: a Generalization of Simon's Lemma

We study the structure of sets $S\subseteq\{0, 1\}^n$ with small sensitivity. The well-known Simon's lemma says that any $S\subseteq\{0, 1\}^n$ of sensitivity $s$ must be of size at least $2^{n-s}$. This result has been useful for proving lower bounds on sensitivity of Boolean functions, with applications to the theory of parallel computing and the "sensitivity vs. block sensitivity" conjecture. In this paper, we take a deeper look at the size of such sets and their structure. We show an unexpected "gap theorem": if $S\subseteq\{0, 1\}^n$ has sensitivity $s$, then we either have $|S|=2^{n-s}$ or $|S|\geq \frac{3}{2} 2^{n-s}$. This is shown via classifying such sets into sets that can be constructed from low-sensitivity subsets of $\{0, 1\}^{n'}$ for $n'<n$ and irreducible sets which cannot be constructed in such a way and then proving a lower bound on the size of irreducible sets. This provides new insights into the structure of low sensitivity subsets of the Boolean hypercube $\{0, 1\}^n$