Homework 4 and solutions for Homework 3

Reading: Skip chapter 5, except for the statement of the classification of 1-manifolds.
The chapter is well worth perusing, but this is not required. Skim through Chapter 6, as
follows: Prop. 6.1 and 6.2 are important, but we already know most of this. Omit Prop. 6.4.
Example 6.5 gives what I’ll call the “standard definition” of the Klein bottle. Understand
the definition of connected sum. In “Polygonal presentations of surfaces”, study carefully
examples 6.9 and 6.13, but omit everything else. In “The classification theorem” understand
thoroughly the statements of the results, but the proofs can be omitted (except for 6.16 and
6.17, although even in these cases we (usually meaning you) will provide alternative proofs).
Proposition 6.19 is important. As to orientability, we don’t have the tools to handle this
rigorously, so for now we’ll settle for a vague intuitive understanding of it.
Chapter 6 makes reference to “finite CW-complexes”, which were defined in Chapter 5
which I told you to skip. We’ll replace this by a simple intuitive version (see problem 3f
below). All of these matters will be discussed further in class.

Homework 4 due Friday Oct. 19:

1. Let C2 denote the cyclic group of order 2, and let σ denote a generator.
a) Form the balanced product S 1 ×C2 S 1 , i.e. the orbit space of the C2 action given by
σ(w, z) = (−w, z). Show that this space is homeomorphic to the Klein bottle K, where the
latter is defined using the standard definition (example 6.5). This was discussed briefly in
class, but give a complete proof.
b) Let X be any C2 -space, and again form the balanced product S1 × C2 X, where the
action is σ(z, x) = (−z, σx). Define a map π : S1 ×C2 X−→S1 /C2 ∼ = S 1 by π([z, x]) = [z]
(as usual, [] is a generic notation for the appropriate equivalence classes). Show that π is a
fiber bundle over S 1 with fiber X. In particular, the Klein bottle is a fiber bundle over S 1
with fiber S 1 , to be contrasted with the torus which is also such a bundle but a trivial one.

2. Let M be a connected n-manifold. Show that for any two points p, q ∈ M , there
is a homeomorphism φ : M −→M with φ(p) = q. Then consider the stronger statement
(same hypothesis on M ): Given any two ordered finite subsets a1 , ..., ak and b1 , ..., bk , each
of cardinality k, there is a homeomorphism φ : M −→M with φ(ai ) = bi . This isn’t quite
right, but prove the best theorem you can along these lines.
Note: This problem doesn’t use anything from the current reading. It’s included here
mainly because it’s interesting, but also because it is one of the ingredients needed to show
connected sums are well-defined up to homeomorphism. Connected sums involve first cutting
out little embedded discs, and you’d like to be able to move one such disc to any other by a
homeomorphism. The present problem certainly doesn’t achieve that, but it’s a step in the
right direction: at least we can put the centers of the discs at the same point.

NOTICE: You will not have to write up everything for problem 3 below. Everyone
should figure these out but the presentation of solutions will be a group project; details to
be explained later.

3. Rigor is very important in mathematics, but it’s possible to have too much of a good
thing. You don’t want it to turn into rigor mortis. In this problem you may cast rigor to

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the winds and give free rein to your imagination. One standard to have in mind is that your
intuitive argument should be good enough to convince me and your fellow students that the
result is (probably) true. Of course, if you see an easy way to make a step more rigorous by
citing a suitable theorem, go for it, but avoid technical details and formulas at all costs. The
instruction “show” should be interpreted in these terms. Please avoid using the polygonal
presentations of the text; these are useful but I want you to try other ways.
a) Show that the Mobius band is homeomorphic to a cylinder S 1 × I modulo the relation
(z, 0) ∼ (−z, 0).
b) Show that RP 2 is homeomorphic to a Mobius band with a 2-disc glued to it along
their common boundary.
c) Show that the Klein bottle is homeomorphic to two copies of the Mobius band, glued
together along their common boundary. Explain how it follows from this that K = P #P .
d) Find another way to prove Lemma 6.17 in the form T #P ∼ = K#P , without using the
polygonal method. The latter method is short and slick, but not especially enlightening, in
my opinion. See what you can come up with.
e) Start from a 2-sphere and form a new space by (i) drilling out two disjoint open discs
and then (ii) attaching a cylinder S 1 × I along the common boundary. Explain why this
space is homeomorphic to a torus.
f) The Euler characteristic: For present purposes a “complex” will be shorthand for the
following kind of space that you can order at Space-R-Us, assuming you still patronize the
joint. It comes as a set of vertices (0-cells), edges (1-cells) and 2-discs (2-cells) which can be
assembled by (i) using the 1-cells to join selected pairs of distinct 0-cells; and (ii) using the
2-discs to fill in selected loops that may have been created in step (i). The selection at the
two steps depends of course on what space you’re trying to create. For instance, a sphere
can be built this way from 2 vertices, 2 edges, and 2 2-discs. After step 1 you have a circle,
and then the 2-discs are glued in as hemispheres (of course, you’ll need a bicycle pump to
inflate it to a real sphere; pump is not included).
The Euler characteristic χ(X) of a complex X is given by the familiar formula n0 −n1 +n2 ,
where ni is the number of i-cells.
f1) Suppose A, B are subcomplexes of X (I leave the definition of “subcomplex” to you).
Show that χ(X) = χ(A) + χ(B) − χ(A ∩ B).
f2) Observe that i-cells have Euler characteristic 1 (i = 0, 1, 2). Use this fact and f1
above to reprove as systematically as possible the formulas of Proposition 6.19 (for example,
you’d certainly want to write down a general formula for χ of a connected sum). This
includes calculating χ for S 2 , P and K. Whenever it’s convenient, assume the following fact:
Homeomorphic complexes have the same Euler characteristic. (A proof of this fact requires
methods of algebraic topology that are beyond our scope.)

Homework 3 Solutions.
1. We first show S n−1 ×C2 R is homeomorphic to En . Define f : S n−1 ×C2 R−→En
by f ([v, t]) = ([v], tv) (where square brackets [] are used generically to denote equivalence
classes). It is readily checked that f is a well-defined bijection. To show it is continuous
we’ll systematically use various “characteristic properties”, abbreviated C.P. First of all, by
the C.P. of quotient maps, it suffices to show the composite

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 S n−1 × R−→S n−1 ×C2 R−→En
is continuous. By the C.P. of the subspace topology it then suffices to show that the composite
i
S n−1 × R−→S n−1 ×C2 R−→En −→ RP n−1 × Rn
is continuous. Then by the C.P. of the product topology it suffices to show the component
functions of this composite are continuous, which is clear. So f is continuous.
Finally we show that f is a closed map. Since i is injective, it suffices to show if is
closed. Since RP n−1 is a manifold it is locally compact Hausdorff, so RP n−1 × Rn is locally
compact Hausdorff. Thus if is closed provided it is proper. But consider the cofinal family
of compact subspaces Km = RP n−1 × Dm in the target, where Dm is the disc of radius m
around the origin. Then (if )−1 Km = S n−1 ×C2 [−m, m], and these sets are clearly compact.
So if is proper, and we are done!

Next we show that S n−1 ×C2 R is homeomorphic to RP n − z, where z = [0, 0, ...0, 1]. Let
X = p−1 (RP n − z), i.e. X = {(v, t) ∈ Rn × R = Rn+1 : v 6= 0}. Define f : S n−1 × R−→X
by f (v, t) = (v, t). Then f passes to the quotient to give a map f : S n−1 ×C2 R−→RP n − z.
Then define g : X−→S n−1 × R by g(v, t) = (v/|v|, t/|v|). This too passes to the quotients,
yielding a map g : RP n − z−→S n−1 ×C2 R. One easily checks that f , g are mutually inverse,
completing the proof.

2. a) Let ψ(g, x) = (g, gx). Then ψ is continuous and G-equivariant. Moreover ψ has an
inverse ρ given by ρ(g, x) = (g, g −1 x). Thus ψ is a G-homeomorphism.

b) We know that projection on X is a closed map, since G compact. Hence θ = πρ is a

composition of closed maps and hence closed.
Many counterexamples exist. If θ is closed then, provided points are closed in X, orbits
are closed in X (since they are the images of the slices G × {x} under θ). So all we have to
do is exhibit actions with non-closed orbits. For example, the action of GLn R on Rn with its
one open orbit and one closed orbit.

c)
Let U be a neighborhood of A. Then X − U is closed, hence G × (X − U ) is closed in
G × X. By part (a) the image G · (X − U ) is closed in X, so its complement is a G-invariant
neighborhood of A.

d) Use (c) (among other things) to prove that if G is compact and X is a Hausdorff
G-space, then the orbit space X/G is Hausdorff. (There are other ways to prove this, but
please do it in the suggested way, which is instructive.)
The direct translation of the Hausdorff condition in this instance is that if O1 , O2 are
distinct orbits, then there are disjiont G-invariant open subsets Ui of Oi . Since G is compact,
every orbit is compact. Since X is Hausdorff, any two compact subsets can be separated by
open sets (see text or the Supplementary Notes). So choose disjoint neighborhoods Ui of Oi .
By part (c) each of these contains a G-invariant neighborhood, QED.

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 3. Let v ∈ S n−1 and let rv denote reflection across v ⊥ . Then we have the formula

rv (w) = w − 2hv, wiv.

Hence v 7→ rv is a continuous function S n−1 −→Mn R. Its image is the set of reflections
Rn , so by the C.P. of the subspace topology it defines a continuous surjection S n−1 −→Rn .
Since rv = r−v , it passes to the quotient to give a continuous map f : RP n−1 −→Rn . It is clear
that f is injective (a reflection is determined by its hyperplane and hence by the orthogonal
line). Finally the source is compact and the target Hausdorff, so f is a homeomorphism by
the closed map lemma.

4. a) First of all, the diagram does commute (a trivial check). Therefore, by the C.P.
of pushouts (which is just a special case of the C.P. for quotient maps), we obtain in the
canonical way a map f : X−→RP n , where

X = RP n−1 Dn
a

S n−1

is the pushout. Then f is surjective because every line is spanned by either a unit vector
on the equator or a unit vector belonging to the upper hemisphere. Next we show that
f is injective. I’d like to say this is obvious on inspection, but here’s a fussy little proof:
Suppose x, y ∈ X and f (x) = f (y). Since j is injective, we can assume at least one of
x, y comes from Dn ; say x = [a] with a ∈ Dn . If a is in the interior of Dn this forces
x = y, since no identifications involving the aforementioned interior have been made. So
we can assume a ∈ S n−1 . If also b ∈ S n−1 then f (x) = f (y) means a = ±b, in which case
[a] = [b] as required. Finally if b ∈ RP n−1 then f (x) = f (y) means pn−1 (a) = b, and again
[a] = [b]. Thus f is injective. In future, however, I’ll summarize such arguments by saying
“by inspection...”
Finally f is a homeomorphism by the closed map lemma, QED.

b) Let X denote the pushout of the given diagram, so X is a quotient of the disjoint
union of two copies of C.
X is not compact: Take the union of the discs of radius n around the origin in each copy
of C, then take the image in X. These form an open cover of X, but clearly it has no finite
subcover.
X is not Hausdorff: Let x, y denote the origins in the respective copies of C. Any two
neighborhoods of these points intersect, so X is not Hausdorff. (This is the complex version
of “the line with a point doubled”; note it is a manifold except for the Hausdorff condition.)

c) Let Y denote the pushout of the corrected diagram. We identify S 2 as the one-point
compactification of C, and construct a commutative diagram
i
C× - C

j g

? ?
C
h
-
S2

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where j(z) = z −1 , as follows: g is the inclusion C ⊂ S 2 = C ∪ ∞, while h is defined by
(
z −1 if z =
6 0
h(z) =
∞ if z = 0

Of course, you have to check that h is continuous, but this is easy: To show that U open
implies h−1 U open, the only case needing any check at all is when U ranges over a neigh-
borhood base at ∞ , for example the complements of the closed discs of radius m union ∞.
In this case the inverse image is the open disc of radius 1/m around the origin, so life is
hunky-dorey.
So by the C.P. for pushouts, we get the canonical continuous map f : X−→S 2 . It is
bijective by an easy check. Finally, f is clearly an open map: The two copies of C define an
open cover of X, so we need only check the open-ness after restriction to the two elements
of the cover. For the one mapping via i this is trivial; for the one mapping via j we just
repeat the argument given for continuity.