Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2003/iii/paper-26/1/a/solution
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2003 iii Paper 26 1 a Solution by
Codex 0 Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
The standard CW complex structure on Complex projective space has one cell in each dimension and no other cells. Its cellular chain complex therefore has zero differentials: each boundary has an odd-dimensional target group, which is zero. The product of the usual two-cell structures on and likewise has exactly one cell in dimensions . Thus cellular homology gives, for both spaces,The cohomology rings detect more than these additive groups. Let be the hyperplane class. The cohomology ring of complex projective space isFor the normalization, a hyperplane is Poincare dual to ; intersecting three generic hyperplanes gives one point with positive complex orientation, so . Together with the computed additive groups this makes generators in their respective degrees.
Let and be the pullbacks of the orientation classes of and . The Künneth theorem and naturality of the cup product givewhere generates degree six. In particular, every degree-two class on the product has square zero, whereas . Any graded ring isomorphism would send to , contradicting this product relation. A homotopy equivalence induces an isomorphism of cohomology rings, so the spaces have isomorphic integral homology but are not homotopy equivalent.
New to topics? Read the docs here!