Numerably contractible spaces play an important role in the theory of homotopy pushouts and pullbacks. The corresponding results imply that a number of well known weak homotopy equivalences are genuine ones if numerably contractible spaces are involved. In this paper we give a first systematic investigation of numerably contractible spaces. We list the elementary properties of the category of these spaces. We then study simplicial objects in this category. In particular, we show that the topological realization functor preserves fibration sequences if the base is path-connected and numerably contractible in each dimension. Consequently, the loop space functor commutes with realization up to homotopy. We give simple conditions which assure that free algebras over a topological operad are numerably contractible.
Let $F(M,k)$ be the configuration space of ordered $k-$tuples of distinct points in the manifold $M$. Using the Fadell-Neuwirth fibration, we prove that the configuration spaces $F(M,k)$ are never contractible, for $k\geq 2$. As applications of our results, we will calculate the LS category and topological complexity for its loop space and suspension.
For a fixed $N$, we analyze the space of all sequences $z=(z_1,\dots,z_N)$, approximating a continuous function on the circle, with a given persistence diagram $P$, and show that the typical components of this space are homotopy equivalent to $S^1$. We also consider the space of functions on $Y$-shaped (resp., star-shaped) trees with a 2-point persistence diagram, and show that this space is homotopy equivalent to $S^1$ (resp., to a bouquet of circles).
It is proved that the projective model structure of the category of topologically enriched diagrams of topological spaces over a topologically enriched locally contractible small category is Quillen equivalent to the standard Quillen model structure of topological spaces. We give a geometric interpretation of this fact in directed homotopy.
We study actions of discrete groups on contractible topological spaces in which either (1) all stabilizers lie in the family of subgroups of prime power order or (2) all stabilizers lie in the family of finite subgroups. We compare the classifying spaces for actions with stabilizers in these two families, the Kropholler hierarchies build on these two families, and group cohomology relative to these two families.
We introduce the notion of the "covering type" of a space, which is more subtle that the notion of Lusternik Schnirelman category. It measures the complexity of a space which arises from coverings by contractible subspaces whose non-empty intersections are also contractible.
We show that if $K$ is a nilpotent finite complex, then $ΩK$ can be built from spheres using fibrations and homotopy (inverse) limits. This is applied to show that if ${\mathrm {map}}_*(X,S^n)$ is weakly contractible for all $n$, then ${\mathrm {map}}_*(X,K)$ is weakly contractible for any nilpotent finite complex $K$.
This paper presents some partial answers to the following question. QUESTION. If a normal space X is the union of an increasing sequence of open sets U(1), U(2), U(3) ... such that each U(n) contracts to a point in X, must X be contractible? The main results of the paper are: THEOREM 1. If a normal space X is the union of a sequence of open subsets { U(n) } such that the closure of U(n) is contained in U(n+1) and U(n) contracts to a point in U(n+1) for each n > 0, then X is contractible. COROLLARY 2. If a locally compact sigma-compact normal space X is the union of an increasing sequence of op…
According to Kiyoshi Igusa a generalized Morse function on an n-dimensional manifold M is a smooth function with only Morse and birth-death singularities and a framed function is a generalized Morse function with an additional structure: a framing of the negative eigenspace at each critical point of the function f. In his paper "The space of framed functions" (Trans. of Amer. Math. Soc., 301(1987), 431-477) Igusa proved that the space of framed generalized Morse functions is (n-1)-connected. In the paper "On the Classification of Topological Field Theories" (arXiv:0905.0465) Jacob Lurie gave a…
This paper expands on and refines some known and less well-known results about the finite subset spaces of a simplicial complex $X$ including their connectivity and their top homology groups. It also discusses the inclusion of the singletons into the three fold subset space and shows that this subspace is weakly contractible but generally non-contractible unless $X$ is a co-$H$ group. Some homological calculations are provided.
A classic result states that on any locally contractible and paracompact topological space, singular cohomology and sheaf cohomology are isomorphic. A result by Ramanan claims that the paracompactness assumption may be removed, but Ramanan's proof in fact implicitly relies on the assumption of paracompactness and does not work in the stated generality. This paper gives a modified proof that, in fact, singular cohomology and sheaf cohomology agree on any locally contractible topological space.
We study continuous, symmetric and unanimous aggregation functions and continuous majority functions and prove that such functions exist on a choice space if and only if the choice space is contractible.
Vietoris--Rips Contractibility for Dense Subsets of Finite-Dimensional Normed Spaces
Halıcıoğlu Data Science Institute, University of California San Diego（加州大学圣地亚哥分校哈奇奥格鲁数据科学研究所）；Department of Mathematics, University of Oklahoma（俄克拉荷马大学数学系）
We define an algebro-geometric model for the space of rational maps from a smooth curve X to an algebraic group G, and show that this space is homologically contractible. As a consequence, we deduce that the moduli space Bun(G) of G-bundles on X is uniformized by the appropriate rational version of the affine Grassmannian, where the uniformizing map has contractible fibers.
We give a new proof, using comparatively simple techniques, of the Sullivan conjecture: the space of pointed maps from the classifying space of the cyclic group of order $p$ to any finite-dimensional CW complex $K$ is contractible.
The state spaces of machines admit the structure of time. A homotopy theory respecting this additional structure can detect machine behavior unseen by classical homotopy theory. In an attempt to bootstrap classical tools into the world of abstract spacetime, we identify criteria for classically homotopic, monotone maps of pospaces to future homotope, or homotope along homotopies monotone in both coordinates, to a common map. We show that consequently, a hypercontinuous lattice equipped with its Lawson topology is future contractible, or contractible along a future homotopy, if its underlying s…
The category of differential graded operads is a cofibrantly generated model category and as such inherits simplicial mapping spaces. The vertices of an operad mapping space are just operad morphisms. The 1-simplices represent homotopies between morphisms in the category of operads. The goal of this paper is to determine the homotopy of the operadic mapping spaces Map(E_n,C) with a cofibrant E_n-operad on the source and the commutative operad on the target. First, we prove that the homotopy class of a morphism phi: E_n -> C is uniquely determined by a multiplicative constant which gives the ac…
This thesis concerns the relationship between bounded and controlled topology and how these can be used to recognise which homotopy equivalences of reasonable topological spaces are homotopic to homeomorphisms. Let $f:X\to Y$ be a simplicial map of finite-dimensional locally finite simplicial complexes. We prove that $f$ has contractible point inverses if and only if it is an $ε$-controlled homotopy equivalences for all $ε>0$, if and only if $f\times\mathrm{id}:X\times\mathbb{R} \to Y\times\mathbb{R}$ is a homotopy equivalence bounded over the open cone $O(Y^+)$ of Pedersen and Weibel. This ap…
It is well known that if $X$ is a CW-complex, then for every weak homotopy equivalence $f:A\to B$, the map $f_*:[X,A]\to [X,B]$ induced in homotopy classes is a bijection. For which spaces $X$ is $f^*:[B,X]\to [A,X]$ a bijection for every weak equivalence $f$? This question was considered by J. Strom and T. Goodwillie. In this note we prove that a non-empty space inverts weak equivalences if and only if it is contractible.
The purpose of this paper is to explain why the functor that sends a stratified topological space $S$ to the $\infty$-category of constructible (hyper)sheaves on $S$ with coefficients in a large class of presentable $\infty$categories is homotopy-invariant. To do this, we first establish a number of results in the unstratified setting, i.e., the setting of locally constant (hyper)sheaves. For example, if $X$ is a locally weakly contractible topological space and $\mathcal{E}$ is a presentable $\infty$-category, then we give a concrete formula for the constant hypersheaf functor $\mathcal{E}\to…
In this paper we define a family of topological spaces, which contains and vastly generalizes the higher-dimensional Dunce hats. Our definition is purely combinatorial, and is phrased in terms of identifications of boundary simplices of a~standard d-simplex. By virtue of the construction, the obtained spaces may be indexed by words, and they automatically carry the structure of a $Δ$-complex. As our main result, we completely determine the homotopy type of these spaces. In fact, somewhat surprisingly, we are able to prove that each of them is either contractible or homotopy equivalent to an od…
A point of a digital space is called simple if it can be deleted from the space without altering topology. This paper introduces the notion simple set of points of a digital space. The definition is based on contractible spaces and contractible transformations. A set of points in a digital space is called simple if it can be contracted to a point without changing topology of the space. It is shown that contracting a simple set of points does not change the homotopy type of a digital space, and the number of points in a digital space without simple points can be reduces by contracting simple se…
This work was intended as an attempt to investigate a model of irreversible process and natural phenomena. For this, we introduce the notion of irreversible path (that for brevity we write ir-path), ir-homotopy, ir-contractible space, and Lusternik-Schnirelmann ir-category by equipping the $I=[0,1]$ with left order topology. We will restrict the irreversibility of definitions to $T_0$ Spaces, such that for $T_1$ spaces, the ir-paths are constant. After providing some theorems and properties of these notions, eventually, we prove that Lusternik-Schnirelmann ir-category is an invariant of ir-hom…
We prove that every finite connected simplicial complex is homotopy equivalent to the quotient of a contractible manifold by proper actions of a virtually torsion-free group. As a corollary, we obtain that every finite connected simplicial complex is homotopy equivalent to the classifying space for proper bundles of some virtual Poincaré duality group.
We consider the category of all locally Lipschitz contractible metric spaces and all locally Lipschitz maps, which is a wide class of metric spaces, including all finite dimensional Alexandrov spaces and all CAT spaces. We also consider the chain complex of normal currents with compact support in a metric space in the sense of Ambrosio and Kirchheim. In the present paper, its homology is proved to be a homotopy invariant on the category. To prove this result, we define a new topology on a space of Lipschitz maps between arbitrary metric spaces. This topology is proved to coincide with the usua…
