Abstract

We extend certain homomorphisms defined on the higher Torelli subgroups of the mapping class group to crossed homomorphisms defined on the entire mapping class group. In particular, for every $k\geq 2$, we construct a crossed homomorphism $\epsilon_k$ which extends Morita's homomorphism $\tilde \tau_k$ to the entire mapping class group. From this crossed homomorphism we also obtain a crossed homomorphism extending the $k$th Johnson homomorphism $\tau_k$ to the mapping class group. D. Johnson and S. Morita obtained their respective homomorphisms by considering the action of the mapping class group on the nilpotent truncations of the surface group; our approach is to mimic Morita's construction topologically by using nilmanifolds associated to these truncations. This allows us to take the ranges of these crossed homomorphisms to be certain finite-dimensional real vector spaces associated to these nilmanifolds.

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