Abstract: | Some corollaries of the Hirzebruch-Thom signature theorem are discussed. The multiplicativity of the signature and the naturalness
of the Pontryagin classes for coverings in the case of ℚ-homology manifolds is proved. A geometric proof of Hirzebruch’s well-known
“functional equation” for the virtual signature is outlined. Bibliography: 25 titles.
Translated fromZapiski Nauchnykh Seminarov POMI, Vol. 231, 1995, pp. 197–209.
Translated by N. Yu. Netsvetaev. |