Tensor products of homotopy Gerstenhaber algebras

On the tensor product of two homotopy Gerstenhaber algebras we construct a Hirsch algebra structure which extends the canonical dg algebra structure. Our result applies more generally to tensor products of "level 3 Hirsch algebras" and also to the Mayer-Vietoris double complex.Comment: 13 pages; new Remark 5.4, minor change

Koszul duality and equivariant cohomology for tori

Let T be a torus. We show that Koszul duality can be used to compute the equivariant cohomology of topological T-spaces as well as the cohomology of pull backs of the universal T-bundle. The new features are that no further assumptions about the spaces are made and that the coefficient ring may be arbitrary. This gives in particular a Cartan-type model for the equivariant cohomology of a T-space with arbitrary coefficients. Our method works for intersection homology as well.Comment: 37 pages; to appear in Int. Math. Res. No

Describing toric varieties and their equivariant cohomology

Topologically, compact toric varieties can be constructed as identification spaces: they are quotients of the product of a compact torus and the order complex of the fan. We give a detailed proof of this fact, extend it to the non-compact case and draw several, mostly cohomological conclusions. In particular, we show that the equivariant integral cohomology of a toric variety can be described in terms of piecewise polynomials on the fan if the ordinary integral cohomology is concentrated in even degrees. This generalizes a result of Bahri-Franz-Ray to the non-compact case. We also investigate torsion phenomena in integral cohomology.Comment: 13 pages; minor change

Weights in cohomology and the Eilenberg-Moore spectral sequence

We show that in the category of complex algebraic varieties, the Eilenberg--Moore spectral sequence can be endowed with a weight filtration. This implies that it degenerates if all involved spaces have pure cohomology. As application, we compute the rational cohomology of an algebraic $G$-variety $X$ ($G$ being a connected algebraic group) in terms of its equivariant cohomology provided that $H_G(X)$ is pure. This is the case, for example, if $X$ is smooth and has only finitely many orbits. We work in the category of mixed sheaves; therefore our results apply equally to (equivariant) intersection homology.Comment: 17 pages, final version, to appear in Annales de l'Institute Fourie

Freeness of equivariant cohomology and mutants of compactified representations

We survey generalisations of the Chang-Skjelbred Lemma for integral coefficients. Moreover, we construct examples of manifolds with actions of tori of rank > 2 whose equivariant cohomology is torsion-free, but not free. This answers a question of Allday's. The "mutants" we construct are obtained from compactified representations and involve Hopf bundles in a crucial way.Comment: 11 pages; more details on the smooth structure of the mutants; other, minor change