Topological perspectives on the vanishing of some Bogomolov multipliers

Abstract

Since the 1980s, the Bogomolov multiplier of a finite group has been known to obstruct rationality in complex algebraic geometry, and more recently it is understood to be responsible for any torsion in the oriented and stable unitary 2-dimensional $G$-equivariant bordism groups $Ω_2^{SO,G}$ and $Ω_2^{U,G}$. In this note, as a small step toward building a bridge between these two far-flung roles, we discuss the vanishing of Bogomolov multipliers of two specific families of finite groups. First, we revisit Kunyavskiĭ's result that the Bogomolov multipliers of all finite simple groups vanish, taking inspiration from the low-dimensional topological interpretation of the Ore conjecture. Second, in lieu of arguments in complex birational geometry (such as the hard direction of the Chevalley-Shephard-Todd theorem), we combine cut-and-paste combinatorial-topological techniques with elementary calculations of Ihara-Yokonuma to show that all finite Coxeter groups have vanishing Bogomolov multiplier.