A degree formula for equivariant cohomology

Abstract

The primary theorem of this paper concerns the Poincaré (Hilbert) series for the cohomology ring of a finite group G G with coefficients in a prime field of characteristic p p . This theorem is proved using the ideas of equivariant cohomology whereby one considers more generally the cohomology ring of the Borel construction H ∗ ( E G × G X ) H^*(EG \times _G X) , where X X is a manifold on which G G acts. This work results in a formula that computes the “degree” of the Poincaré series in terms of corresponding degrees of certain subgroups of the group G G . In this paper, we discuss the theorem and the method of proof.