Zoom link: https://princeton.zoom.us/j/96282936122

Passcode: 998749

Higher Reidemeister torsion is a family of characteristic classes for bundles of smooth compact manifolds. The Igusa-Klein version of this, based on parametrized Morse theory, was used by Igusa to verify that a construction by Hatcher maps the rational homotopy groups of G/O nontrivially into those of the space of stable h-cobordisms of a point. I will describe a generalization that applies to bundles of smooth compact G-manifolds for a finite group G and that can be used to compare a G version of G/O with a space of stable h-cobordisms with G-action.

This is joint work with Kiyoshi Igusa.