Computing homology of $\mathbb{Z}_k$-complexes from their quotients

Abstract: In this paper, we investigate the question of how one can recover the homology of a simplicial complex $X$ equipped with a regular action of a finite group $G$ from the structure of its quotient space $X/G.$ Specifically, we describe a process for enriching the structure of the chain complex $C_\ast(X/G; \mathbb{F})$ using the data of a complex of groups, a framework developed by Bridson and Corsen for encoding the local structure of a group action. We interpret this data through the lens of matrix representations of the acting group, and combine this structure with the standard simplicial boundary matrices for $X/G$ to construct a surrogate chain complex. In the case $G = \mathbb{Z}_k,$ the group ring $\mathbb{F}G$ is commutative and matrices over $\mathbb{F}G$ admit a Smith normal form, allowing us to recover the homology of $G$ from this surrogate complex. This algebraic approach complements the geometric compression algorithm for equivariant simplicial complexes described by Carbone, Nanda, and Naqvi.