Hopf Invariant - Definition

Definition

Let be a continuous map (assume ). Then we can form the cell complex

where is a -dimensional disc attached to via . The cellular chain groups are just freely generated on the -cells in degree, so they are in degree 0, and and zero everywhere else. Cellular (co-)homology is the (co-)homology of this chain complex, and since all boundary homomorphisms must be zero (recall that ), the cohomology is

Denote the generators of the cohomology groups by

and

For dimensional reasons, all cup-products between those classes must be trivial apart from . Thus, as a ring, the cohomology is

The integer is the Hopf invariant of the map .

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