The Gysin braid for $S^3$-actions on manifolds

Abstract

Given a smooth action of the sphere ${\mathbb{S}}^3$ on a manifold $M$, we have previously constructed a Gysin sequence relating the cohomology of the manifold $M$ and that of the orbit space $M/{\mathbb{S}}^3$. This sequence involves an exotic term depending on the subset $M^{{\mathbb{S}}^1}$. Notice that the orbit space is a stratified pseudomanifold, a kind of singular spaces where intersection cohomology applies. In the case where the the action is semi-free, the first author has already constructed a Gysin sequence relating the cohomology of $M$ and the intersection cohomology of $M/{\mathbb{S}}^3$. What happens if the action is not semi-free? This is the goal of this work. The situation is more complicated and we do not find a Gysin sequence but a Gysin braid relating the cohomology of $M$ and the intersection cohomology of $M/{\mathbb{S}}^3$. This braid also contains an exotic term depending this time on the intersection cohomology of $M^{{\mathbb{S}}^1}$.

Final version, published in Pacific J. Math