Linear configurations of complete graphs K4 and K5 in ℝ3, and higher dimensional analogs

Abstract

We investigate the space [Formula: see text] of images of linearly embedded finite simplicial complexes in [Formula: see text] isomorphic to a given complex [Formula: see text], focusing on two special cases: [Formula: see text] is the [Formula: see text]-skeleton [Formula: see text] of an [Formula: see text]-simplex, and [Formula: see text] is the [Formula: see text]-skeleton [Formula: see text] of an [Formula: see text]-simplex, so [Formula: see text] has codimension 2 in [Formula: see text], in both cases. The main result is that for [Formula: see text], [Formula: see text] (for either [Formula: see text]) deformation retracts to a subspace homeomorphic to the double mapping cylinder [Formula: see text] where [Formula: see text] is the alternating group and [Formula: see text] the symmetric group. The resulting fundamental group provides an example of a generalization of the braid group, which is the fundamental group of the configuration space of points in the plane.