Subject: question about char. classes Date: Tue, 19 Mar 2002 12:07:54 -0400 From: fcukier@mate.dm.uba.ar (Fernando Cukierman) To: Don Davis Another reference that might be useful for this: Griffiths-Harris, Principles of Algebraic Geometry Chap. 3 (Chern classes), esp. p. 411 Best regards, Fernando Cukierman Buenos Aires > >Subject: Re: 3 postings >Date: Mon, 18 Mar 2002 19:07:17 -0500 (EST) >From: Yuli Rudyak > >> Subject: question about char. classes >> Date: Wed, 13 Mar 2002 15:23:16 +0400 (IRT) >> From: rezazadegan@math.sharif.edu >> >> There is a sentense in >> >> "M. Atyiah Collected works, vol 3 ,p77" >> >> about charecteristic classes wich says: >> >> "Roughly speaking one considers the cycles where a given number of >> vector >> fields becomes linearly dependent." >> >> What is the meaning of this sentence? >> > >This was the original definition of Pontryagin characteristic classes, >given by >Pontryagin. He considered fields of $k$-frames on a manifold and looked >for sets >(homology classes) where the rank decreases. See the review > >9,243f 56.0X >Pontryagin, L. S. >Characteristic cycles on differentiable manifolds. (Russian) >Mat. Sbornik N. S. 21(63), (1947). 233--284. > >Dr. Yuli B. Rudyak >Department of Mathematics >University of Florida >358 Little Hall >PO Box 118105 >Gainesville, FL 32611-8105 >USA >TEL: (+1) 352-392-0281 ext. 297(office) >TEL: (+1) 352-381-8497(home) >FAX: (+1) 352-392-8357