A torus manifold is an even-dimensional manifold acted on by a half-dimensional torus with non-empty fixed point set and some additional orientation data. It may be considered as a far-reaching generalisation of toric manifolds from algebraic geometry. The orbit space of a torus manifold has a rich combinatorial structure, e.g., it is a manifold with corners provided that the action is locally standard. Here we investigate relationships between the cohomological properties of torus manifolds and the combinatorics of their orbit quotients. We show that the cohomology ring of a torus manifold is generated by two-dimensional classes if and only if the quotient is a homology polytope. In this case we retrieve the familiar picture from toric geometry: the equivariant cohomology is the face ring of the nerve simplicial complex and the ordinary cohomology is obtained by factoring out certain linear forms. In a more general situation, we show that the odd-degree cohomology of a torus manifold vanishes if and only if the orbit space is face-acyclic. Although the cohomology is no longer generated in degree two under these circumstances, the equivariant cohomology is still isomorphic to the face ring of an appropriate simplicial poset.

Abstract. Let n be a fixed positive integer and h : {1, 2, . . . , n} → {1, 2, . . . , n} a Hessenberg function. The main results of this paper are twofold. First, we give a systematic method, depending in a simple manner on the Hessenberg function h, for producing an explicit presentation by generators and relations of the cohomology ring H * (Hess(N, h)) with Q coefficients of the corresponding regular nilpotent Hessenberg variety Hess(N, h). Our result generalizes known results in special cases such as the Peterson variety and also allows us to answer a question posed by Mbirika and Tymoczko. Moreover, our list of generators in fact forms a regular sequence, allowing us to use techniques from commutative algebra in our arguments. Our second main result gives an isomorphism between the cohomology ring H * (Hess(N, h)) of the regular nilpotent Hessenberg variety and the Sn-invariant subring H * (Hess(S, h)) Sn of the cohomology ring of the regular semisimple Hessenberg variety (with respect to the Sn-action on H * (Hess(S, h)) defined by Tymoczko). Our second main result implies that dim Q H k (Hess(N, h)) = dim Q H k (Hess(S, h)) Sn for all k and hence partially proves the Shareshian-Wachs conjecture in combinatorics, which is in turn related to the well-known Stanley-Stembridge conjecture. A proof of the full Shareshian-Wachs conjecture was recently given by Brosnan and Chow, but in our special case, our methods yield a stronger result (i.e. an isomorphism of rings) by more elementary considerations. This paper provides detailed proofs of results we recorded previously in a research announcement.

Abstract. If B is a toric manifold and E is a Whitney sum of complex line bundles over B, then the projectivization P (E) of E is again a toric manifold. Starting with B as a point and repeating this construction, we obtain a sequence of complex projective bundles which we call a generalized Bott tower. We prove that if the top manifold in the tower has the same cohomology ring as a product of complex projective spaces, then every fibration in the tower is trivial so that the top manifold is diffeomorphic to the product of complex projective spaces. This gives supporting evidence to what we call the cohomological rigidity problem for toric manifolds, "Are toric manifolds diffeomorphic (or homeomorphic) if their cohomology rings are isomorphic?" We provide two more results which support the cohomological rigidity problem.

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AbstractGiven a semisimple complex linear algebraic group {{G}} and a lower ideal I in positive roots of G, three objects arise: the ideal arrangement {\mathcal{A}_{I}}, the regular nilpotent Hessenberg variety {\operatorname{Hess}(N,I)}, and the regular semisimple Hessenberg variety {\operatorname{Hess}(S,I)}. We show that a certain graded ring derived from the logarithmic derivation module of {\mathcal{A}_{I}} is isomorphic to {H^{*}(\operatorname{Hess}(N,I))} and {H^{*}(\operatorname{Hess}(S,I))^{W}}, the invariants in {H^{*}(\operatorname{Hess}(S,I))} under an action of the Weyl group W of G. This isomorphism is shown for general Lie type, and generalizes Borel’s celebrated theorem showing that the coinvariant algebra of W is isomorphic to the cohomology ring of the flag variety {G/B}.This surprising connection between Hessenberg varieties and hyperplane arrangements enables us to produce a number of interesting consequences. For instance, the surjectivity of the restriction map {H^{*}(G/B)\to H^{*}(\operatorname{Hess}(N,I))} announced by Dale Peterson and an affirmative answer to a conjecture of Sommers and Tymoczko are immediate consequences. We also give an explicit ring presentation of {H^{*}(\operatorname{Hess}(N,I))} in types B, C, and G. Such a presentation was already known in type A and when {\operatorname{Hess}(N,I)} is the Peterson variety. Moreover, we find the volume polynomial of {\operatorname{Hess}(N,I)} and see that the hard Lefschetz property and the Hodge–Riemann relations hold for {\operatorname{Hess}(N,I)}, despite the fact that it is a singular variety in general.