Algebraic filling inequalities and cohomological width

Abstract: In his work on singularities, expanders and topology of maps, Gromov showed, using isoperimetric inequalities in graded algebras, that every real valued map on the $n$-torus admits a fibre whose homological size is bounded below by some universal constant depending on $n$. He obtained similar estimates for maps with values in finite dimensional complexes, by a Lusternik--Schnirelmann type argument. We describe a new homological filling technique which enables us to derive sharp lower bounds in these theorems in certain situations. This partly realizes a programme envisaged by Gromov. In contrast to previous approaches our methods imply similar lower bounds for maps defined on products of higher dimensional spheres.