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We can view the Lipschitz constant as a height function on the space of maps between two manifolds and ask (as Gromov did nearly 30 years ago) what its ``Morse landscape'' looks like: are there high peaks, deep valleys and mountain passes? A simple and relatively well-studied version of this question: given two points in the same component (homotopic maps), does a path between them (a homotopy) have to pass through maps of much higher Lipschitz constant? Now we also consider similar questions for higher-dimensional cycles in the space. We make this precise using the language of persistent homology and give some first results. 

We show that, up to small error, the analog category of a finite group records the size of its largest Sylow subgroup. 

Abstract We analyze an algorithmic question about immersion theory: for which $$m$$, $$n$$, and $$CAT=\textbf{Diff}$$ or $$\textbf{PL}$$ is the question of whether an $$m$$-dimensional $CAT$-manifold is immersible in $$\mathbb{R}^{n}$$ decidable? We show that PL immersibility is decidable in all cases except for codimension 2, whereas smooth immersibility is decidable in all odd codimensions and undecidable in many even codimensions. As a corollary, we show that the smooth embeddability of an $$m$$-manifold with boundary in $$\mathbb{R}^{n}$$ is undecidable when $n-m$ is even and $$11m \geq 10n+1$$. 

We study probabilistic variants of the Lusternik–Schnirelmann category and topological complexity, which bound the classical invariants from below. We present a number of computations illustrating both wide agreement and wide disagreement with the classical notions. In the aspherical case, where our invariants are group invariants, we establish a counterpart of the Eilenberg– Ganea theorem in the torsion-free case, as well as a contrasting universal upper bound in the finite case. 

.We show the existence of linear bounds on Wall 𝜌-invariants of PL manifolds, employing a new combinatorial concept of 𝐺-colored polyhedra. As an application, we show how the number of h-cobordism classes of manifolds simple homotopy equivalent to a lens space with 𝑉 simplices and the fundamental group of Z n grows in 𝑉. Furthermore, we count the number of homotopy lens spaces with bounded geometry in 𝑉. Similarly, we give new linear bounds on Cheeger–Gromov 𝜌-invariants of PL manifolds endowed with a faithful representation also. A key idea is to construct a cobordism with a linear complexity whose boundary is π 1 -injectively embedded, using relative hyperbolization. As an application, we study the complexity theory of high-dimensional lens spaces. Lastly, we show the density of 𝜌-invariants over manifolds homotopy equivalent to a given manifold for certain fundamental groups. This implies that the structure set is not finitely generated. 

For a finite group$$G$$of not prime power order, Oliver showed that the obstruction for a finite CW-complex$$F$$to be the fixed point set of a contractible finite$$G$$-CW-complex is determined by the Euler characteristic$$\chi (F)$$. (He also has similar results for compact Lie group actions.) We show that the analogous problem for$$F$$to be the fixed point set of a finite$$G$$-CW-complex of some given homotopy type is still determined by the Euler characteristic. Using trace maps on$$K_0$$[2, 7, 18], we also see that there are interesting roles for the fundamental group and the component structure of the fixed point set. 

Smith theory says that the fixed point set of a semi-free action of a group$$G$$on a contractible space is$${\mathbb {Z}}_p$$-acyclic for any prime factor$$p$$of the order of$$G$$. Jones proved the converse of Smith theory for the case$$G$$is a cyclic group acting semi-freely on contractible, finite CW-complexes. We extend the theory to semi-free group actions on finite CW-complexes of given homotopy types, in various settings. In particular, the converse of Smith theory holds if and only if a certain$$K$$-theoretical obstruction vanishes. We also give some examples that show the geometrical effects of different types of$$K$$-theoretical obstructions.