Poincare submersions

We prove two kinds of fibering theorems for maps X --> P, where X and P are Poincare spaces. The special case of P = S^1 yields a Poincare duality analogue of the fibering theorem of Browder and Levine.Comment: Published by Algebraic and Geometric Topology at http://www.maths.warwick.ac.uk/agt/AGTVol5/agt-5-2.abs.html Version 5: Statement of Theorem B corrected, see footnote p2

Complementary Lipschitz continuity results for the distribution of intersections or unions of independent random sets in finite discrete spaces

We prove that intersections and unions of independent random sets in finite spaces achieve a form of Lipschitz continuity. More precisely, given the distribution of a random set $\Xi$, the function mapping any random set distribution to the distribution of its intersection (under independence assumption) with $\Xi$ is Lipschitz continuous with unit Lipschitz constant if the space of random set distributions is endowed with a metric defined as the $L_k$ norm distance between inclusion functionals also known as commonalities. Moreover, the function mapping any random set distribution to the distribution of its union (under independence assumption) with $\Xi$ is Lipschitz continuous with unit Lipschitz constant if the space of random set distributions is endowed with a metric defined as the $L_k$ norm distance between hitting functionals also known as plausibilities. Using the epistemic random set interpretation of belief functions, we also discuss the ability of these distances to yield conflict measures. All the proofs in this paper are derived in the framework of Dempster-Shafer belief functions. Let alone the discussion on conflict measures, it is straightforward to transcribe the proofs into the general (non necessarily epistemic) random set terminology

The Dualizing Spectrum, II

To an inclusion topological groups H->G, we associate a naive G-spectrum. The special case when H=G gives the dualizing spectrum D_G introduced by the author in the first paper of this series. The main application will be to give a purely homotopy theoretic construction of Poincare embeddings in stable codimension.Comment: Fixed an array of typo

On the homotopy invariance of configuration spaces

For a closed PL manifold M, we consider the configuration space F(M,k) of ordered k-tuples of distinct points in M. We show that a suitable iterated suspension of F(M,k) is a homotopy invariant of M. The number of suspensions we require depends on three parameters: the number of points k, the dimension of M and the connectivity of M. Our proof uses a mixture of Poincare embedding theory and fiberwise algebraic topology.Comment: Published by Algebraic and Geometric Topology at http://www.maths.warwick.ac.uk/agt/AGTVol4/agt-4-35.abs.htm

A chain rule in the calculus of homotopy functors

We formulate and prove a chain rule for the derivative, in the sense of Goodwillie, of compositions of weak homotopy functors from simplicial sets to simplicial sets. The derivative spectrum dF(X) of such a functor F at a simplicial set X can be equipped with a right action by the loop group of its domain X, and a free left action by the loop group of its codomain Y = F(X). The derivative spectrum d(E o F)(X)$ of a composite of such functors is then stably equivalent to the balanced smash product of the derivatives dE(Y) and dF(X), with respect to the two actions of the loop group of Y. As an application we provide a non-manifold computation of the derivative of the functor F(X) = Q(Map(K, X)_+).Comment: Published by Geometry and Topology at http://www.maths.warwick.ac.uk/gt/GTVol6/paper25.abs.htm