7.05 Fundamental group of the circle
Below the video you will find accompanying notes and some pre-class questions.
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Notes
Fundamental group of the circle
(0.00) In this section, we will see a proof that \(\pi_1(S^1,1)=\mathbf{Z}\).
Given an integer \(n\), define the loop \(\delta_n(t):=e^{2\pi int}\).
Define the homomorphism \(F\colon\mathbf{Z}\to\pi_1(S^1,1)\) by \(F(n)=[\delta_n]\). We need to check:
- this is a homomorphism,
- \(F\) is injective,
- \(F\) is surjective.
\(F\) is a homomorphism
(2.23) To see that \(F(m+n)=F(m)\cdot F(n)\), we need to check that \(\delta_n\cdot\delta_m\simeq\delta_{m+n}\) [NOTE: I got my concatenation the wrong way around in the video]. Let \(p\colon\mathbf{R}\to S^1\) be the covering map \(p(x)=e^{ix}\) and let \(\tilde{\delta}_n\) be the unique lift of \(\delta_n\) with the initial condition \(\tilde{\delta}_n(0)=0\), in other words \(\delta_n(t)=e^{i\tilde{\delta}_n(t)}\).
(4.03) Let \(\tilde{\delta}_m\) be the unique lift of \(\delta_m\) to the same covering space with \(\tilde{\delta}_m(0)=\tilde{\delta}_n(1)\). The concatenation \(\tilde{\delta}_n\cdot\tilde{\delta}_m\) makes sense and is a lift of \(\delta_n\cdot\delta_m\).
(5.23) Finally, let \(\tilde{\delta}_{m+n}\) be the unique lift of \(\delta_{m+n}\) to the same covering space with \(\tilde{\delta}_{m+n}(0)=0\).
(6.28) We have \begin{align*} \tilde{\delta}_{m+n}(t)&=2\pi(m+n)t)\\ \tilde{\delta}_m(t)&=2\pi mt\\ \tilde{\delta}_n(t)&=2\pi(nt+m) \end{align*} so \(\tilde{\delta}_n\cdot\tilde{\delta}_m\) and \(\tilde{\delta}_{m+n}\) are paths which start at \(0\) and end at \(2\pi(m+n)\).
(9.16) Since \(\mathbf{R}\) is simply-connected, any two paths with the same endpoints are homotopic rel endpoints, so \(\tilde{\delta}_m\cdot\tilde{\delta}_n\simeq\tilde{\delta}_{m+n}\) via a homotopy \(H\). The homotopy \(p\circ H\) is then a homotopy \(\delta_n\cdot\delta_m\simeq\delta_{m+n}\).
\(F\) is injective
(11.18) For this, we will show that, for a suitable covering space, the monodromy \(\sigma_{\delta_n}\) is nontrivial. Let \(p\colon\mathbf{R}\to S^1\) be the covering space \(p(x)=e^{ix}\). For each \(2\pi k\in 2\pi \mathbf{Z}=p^{-1}(1)\), the path \(\tilde{\delta}_n(t)=2\pi(nt+k)\) is a lift of the loop \(\delta_n\) with initial condition \(2\pi k\), so \[\sigma_{\delta_n}(2\pi k)=\tilde{\delta}_n(1)=2\pi(n+k).\] We see that the monodromy \(\sigma_{\delta_n}\colon 2\pi\mathbf{Z}\to 2\pi\mathbf{Z}\) is \(2\pi k\mapsto 2\pi(k+n)\), which is nontrivial if \(n\neq 0\).
\(F\) is surjective
Pre-class questions
- What was the key property of the covering space
\(p\colon\mathbf{R}\to S^1\) which made this proof work?
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