On the Obstructions to non-Cliffordian Pin Structures

Abstract

We derive the topological obstructions to the existence of non-Cliffordian pin structures on four-dimensional spacetimes. We apply these obstructions to the study of non-Cliffordian pin-Lorentz cobordism. We note that our method of derivation applies equally well in any dimension and in any signature, and we present a general format for calculating obstructions in these situations. Finally, we interpret the breakdown of pin structure and discuss the relevance of this to aspects of physics.

31 pages, latex, published in Comm. Math. Phys. 164, No. 1, pages 65-87 (1994)

References in corpus (1)

• Some applications of differential topology in general relativity

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