Transformation Groups Poznan 1985

This book provides an overview of some of the most active topics in the theory of transformation groups over the past decades and stresses advances obtained in the last dozen years. The emphasis is on actions of Lie groups on manifolds and CW complexes. Manifolds and actions of Lie groups on them are studied in the linear, semialgebraic, definable, analytic, smooth, and topological categories. Equivalent vector bundles play an important role. The work is divided into fifteen articles and will be of interest to anyone researching or studying transformations groups. The references make it easy to find details and original accounts of the topics surveyed, including tools and theories used in these accounts.

The book focuses on the relation between transformation groups and algebraic K-theory. The general pattern is to assign to a geometric problem an invariant in an algebraic K-group which determines the problem. The algebraic K-theory of modules over a category is studied extensively and appplied to the fundamental category of G-space. Basic details of the theory of transformation groups sometimes hard to find in the literature, are collected here (Chapter I) for the benefit of graduate students. Chapters II and III contain advanced new material of interest to researchers working in transformation groups, algebraic K-theory or related fields.

This is an account of the theory of certain types of compact transformation groups, namely those that are susceptible to study using ordinary cohomology theory and rational homotopy theory, which in practice means the torus groups and elementary abelian p-groups. The efforts of many mathematicians have combined to bring a depth of understanding to this area. However to make it reasonably accessible to a wide audience, the authors have streamlined the presentation, referring the reader to the literature for purely technical results and working in a simplified setting where possible. In this way the reader with a relatively modest background in algebraic topology and homology theory can penetrate rather deeply into the subject, whilst the book at the same time makes a useful reference for the more specialised reader.

As part of the scientific activity in connection with the 70th birthday of the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznan, an international conference on algebraic topology was held. In the resulting proceedings volume, the emphasis is on substantial survey papers, some presented at the conference, some written subsequently.