The classical Pontryagin-Thom isomorphism equates manifold bordism groups with corresponding stable homotopy groups. This construction moreover generalizes to the equivariant context. I will discuss work which establishes a Pontryagin-Thom isomorphism for orbispaces (an orbispace is a ‘space’ that is locally modelled on Y/G for Y a space and G a finite group; examples of orbispaces include orbifolds and moduli spaces of pseudo-holomorphic curves). This involves defining a category of orbispectra and an involution of this category extending Spanier-Whitehead duality. Global homotopy theory also plays a key role.
This video is part of the Institute for Advanced Study‘s Symplectic geometry seminar.
