Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2022 / ii / Paper 4 / 21I / Solution

Cut the square model of the Klein bottle along the midline parallel to the pair of sides whose identification reverses orientation. Each half becomes a Möbius band, and the two new boundary circles are identified. If $a$ and $b$ are the core loops of these two bands, each boundary travels twice around its core. The Seifert-van Kampen theorem therefore gives

Writing $x=a^{-1}b$ and $y=a$ converts this into the standard Klein-bottle presentationThe orientation homomorphism sends both $a$ and $b$ to the nonzero element of $C_2$. Its kernel is the index-two subgroupBy the classification of connected covering spaces, $H$ determines the orientation double cover of the Klein bottleChoosing torus generators $\alpha ,\beta$ along the two translation directions, we may takeThese commute: the standard relation says that $a$ conjugates $a^{-1}b=x$ to $x^{-1}$, so $a^2$ centralizes $x$.

The space $Y$ is the mapping cylinder of $p$ with its unused end omitted. Sliding $(x,t)$ to $(x,0)$ gives a deformation retraction of $Y$ onto the bottom quotient $T^2/\sim \cong K$. Hence

Finally suppose $U\subseteq X$ is open and homeomorphic to $Y$, and identify the bottom copy of $K$ inside $U$. This $K$ is compact and therefore closed in the Hausdorff space $X$. Apply van Kampen, in its groupoid form if intersections are disconnected, toThe intersection $U\setminus K$ deformation retracts to a positive-height torus, and its map to ${\pi }_1(U)\cong {\pi }_1(K)$ has image preciselyThe orientation homomorphismis zero on this intersection, so it is compatible with the trivial homomorphism from ${\pi }_1(X\setminus K)$ to $C_2$. The pushout property in van Kampen extends it to a surjectionThereforeThis is the Klein-bottle mapping-cylinder obstruction to simple connectivity.

Solved by gpt-5.6-sol high.