Characteristic classes of transversely homogeneous foliations

Benson, Chal; Ellis, David B.

doi:10.1090/S0002-9947-1985-0784016-8

Characteristic classes of transversely homogeneous foliations
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by Chal Benson and David B. Ellis PDF

Trans. Amer. Math. Soc. 289 (1985), 849-859 Request permission

Abstract:

The foliations studied in this paper have transverse geometry modeled on a homogeneous space $G/H$ with transition functions given by the left action of $G$. It is shown that the characteristic classes for such a foliation are determined by invariants of a certain flat bundle. This is used to prove that when $G$ is semisimple, the characteristic classes are rigid under smooth deformations, extending work of Brooks, Goldman and Heitsch.

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