Don Zagier

$L$-classes of symmetric products: a homological formula

If $M$ is a closed oriented manifold of even dimension, then its $n$th symmetric product $M(n)=M^n/S_n$ is a rational homology manifold for any $n \geq 0$ and hence has a canonically defined $L$-class in $H^*(M(n);\mathbb{Q})$. A complicated formula for these classes was given many years ago in the second author's thes...