Rational model of the configuration space of two points in a simply connected closed manifold

Abstract

Let $M$ be a simply connected closed manifold of dimension $n$. We study the rational homotopy type of the configuration space of 2 points in $M$, $F(M,2)$. When $M$ is even dimensional, we prove that the rational homotopy type of $F(M,2)$ depends only on the rational homotopy type of $M$. When the dimension of $M$ is odd, for every $x\in H^{n-2}(M,\mathbb{Q})$, we construct a commutative differential graded algebra $C(x)$. We prove that for some $x\in H^{n-2}(M;\mathbb{Q})$, $C(x)$ encodes completely the rational homotopy type of $F(M,2)$. For some class of manifolds, we show that we can take $x=0$.

15 pages