Markus Hausmann: Bordism of commuting involutions

Abstract: The bordism ring of manifolds equipped with an involution was computed additively by Conner–Floyd (1965) and multiplicatively by Alexander (1972). Alexander's description is explicit but complicated and doesn't seem to enjoy a simple algebraic interpretation.

In this talk I will discuss that if one extends the problem and

1. considers the family of bordism rings of manifolds with n commuting involutions for all n, and
2. takes into account the representation sphere-grading,

then there is a simple algebraic universal property. This is joint work with Stefan Schwede.