We describe explicit presentations of all stable and the first nonstable homotopy groups of the unitary groups. In particular, for each n >= 2 we supply n homotopic maps that each represent the (n-1)!-th power of a suitable generator of pi_2n(U(n)) = Z_{n!}. The product of these n commuting maps is the constant map to the identity matrix.
We compare the structure of a mapping cone in the category Top^D of spaces under a space D with differentials in algebraic models like crossed complexes and quadratic complexes. Several subcategories of Top^D are identified with algebraic categories. As an application we show that there are exactly 16 essential self--maps of S^2 x S^2 fixing the diagonal.
We describe various equivalent ways of associating to an orbifold, or more generally a higher étale differentiable stack, a weak homotopy type. Some of these ways extend to arbitrary higher stacks on the site of smooth manifolds, and we show that for a differentiable stack X arising from a Lie groupoid G, the weak homotopy type of X agrees with that of BG. Using this machinery, we are able to find new presentations for the weak homotopy type of certain classifying spaces. In particular, we give a new presentation for the Borel construction of an almost free action of a Lie group G on a smooth …
In 1947, in the paper "Theory of Braids", Artin raised the question of whether isotopy and homotopy of braids on the disk coincide. Twenty seven years later, Goldsmith answered his question: she proved that in fact the group structures are different, exhibiting a group presentation and showing that the homotopy braid group on the disk is a proper quotient of the Artin braid group on the disk $B_{n}$, denoted by $\widehat{B}_{n}$. In this paper, we extend Goldsmith's answer to Artin for closed, connected and orientable surfaces different from the sphere. More specifically, we define the notion …
Let $G$ be a compact connected Lie group and let $ξ,ν$ be complex vector bundles over the classifying space $BG$. The problem we consider is whether $ξ$ contains a subbundle which is isomorphic to $ν$. The necessary condition is that for every prime $p$ the restriction $ξ|_{BN_p^G}$, where $N_p^G$ is a maximal $p$-toral subgroup of $G$, contains a subbundle isomorphic to $ν|_{BN_p^G}$. We provide a criterion when this condition is sufficient, expressed in terms of $Λ^*$-functors of Jackowski, McClure \& Oliver and we prove that this criterion applies if $ν$ is a universal bundle over $BU(n)$. …
We propose a notion of 1-homotopy for generalized maps. This notion generalizes those of natural transformation and ordinary homotopy for functors. The 1-homotopy type of a Lie groupoid is shown to be invariant under Morita equivalence. As an application we consider orbifolds as groupoids and study the notion of orbifold 1-homotopy type induced by a 1-homotopy between presentations of the orbifold maps.
We introduce a new family of presentations for the quaternion groups and show that for the quaternion group of order 28, one of these presentations has non-standard second homotopy group.
We study the subcategory of topological operads $P$ such that $P(0) = *$ (the category of unitary operads in our terminology). We use that this category inherits a model structure, like the category of all operads in topological spaces, and that the embedding functor of this subcategory of unitary operads into the category of all operads admits a left Quillen adjoint. We prove that the derived functor of this left Quillen adjoint functor induces a left inverse of the derived functor of our category embedding at the homotopy category level. We deduce from this result that the derived mapping sp…
We present a new technique for analyzing the v_0-Bockstein spectral sequence studied by Shimomura and Yabe. Employing this technique, we derive a conceptually simpler presentation of the homotopy groups of the E(2)-local sphere for p > 3. We identify and correct some errors in the original Shimomura-Yabe calculation. We deduce the related K(2)-local homotopy groups, and discuss their manifestation of Gross-Hopkins duality.
We construct the unitary analogue of orthogonal calculus developed by Weiss, utilising model categories to give a clear description of the intricacies in the equivariance and homotopy theory involved. The subtle differences between real and complex geometry lead to subtle differences between orthogonal and unitary calculus. To address these differences we construct unitary spectra - a variation of orthogonal spectra - as a model for the stable homotopy category. We show through a zig-zag of Quillen equivalences that unitary spectra with an action of the $n$-th unitary group models the homogene…
We give formulae for a module presentation of the module of identities among relations for a presentation of a group, in terms of information on 0- and 1-combings of the Cayley graph. This is seen as a special case of extending a partial free crossed resolution of a group given a partial contracting homotopy of its universal cover.
Several possible presentations for the homotopy theory of (non-hypercomplete) $\infty$-stacks on a classical site S are discussed. In particular, it is shown that an elegant combinatorial description in terms of diagrams in S exists, similar to Cisinski's presentation, based on work of Quillen, Thomason and Grothendieck, of usual homotopy theory by small categories and their smallest (basic) localizer. As an application it is shown that any (local) fibered (a.k.a. algebraic) derivator over S with stable fibers extends to $\infty$-stacks in a well-defined way under mild assumptions.
We show first that derivators can be seen as models of a suitable homotopy limit 2-sketch. After discussing homotopy local $λ$-presentability of the 2-category of derivators, for some appropriate regular cardinal $λ$, as an application we prove that derivators of small presentation are homotopy $λ$-presentable objects.
The paper containes a proof that the mapping class group of the manifold $S^3\times S^3$ is isomorphic to a central extension of the (full) Jacobi group $Γ^J$ by the group of 7-dimensional homotopy spheres. Using a presentation of the group $Γ^J$ and the $μ$-invariant of the homotopy spheres, we give a presentation of the mapping class group of $S^3\times S^3$ with generators and defining relations. We also compute cohomology of the group $Γ^J$ and determine a 2-cocycle that corresponds to the mapping class group of $S^3\times S^3$.
We initiate the homotopical study of racks and quandles, two algebraic structures that govern knot theory and related braided structures in algebra and geometry. We prove analogs of Milnor's theorem on free groups for these theories and their pointed variants, identifying the homotopy types of the free racks and free quandles on spaces of generators. These results allow us to complete the stable classification of racks and quandles by identifying the ring spectra that model their stable homotopy theories. As an application, we show that the stable homotopy of a knot quandle is, in general, mor…
We observe that the Rector invariants classifying the genus of BS^3 show up in (orthogonal and unitary) K-theory. We then use this knowledge to show purely algebraically how the K-theory of the spaces in the genus of BS^3 differ. This provides new insights into a result of Notbohm in the case of BS^3.
We establish natural splittings for the values of global Mackey functors at orthogonal, unitary and symplectic groups. In particular, the restriction homomorphisms between the orthogonal, unitary and symplectic groups of adjacent dimensions are naturally split epimorphisms. The interest in the splitting comes from equivariant stable homotopy theory. The equivariant stable homotopy groups of every global spectrum form a global Mackey functor, so the splittings imply that certain long exact homotopy group sequences separate into short exact sequences. For the real and complex global Thom spectra…
We describe the second homotopy group of any CW-complex $K$ by analyzing the universal cover of a locally finite model of $K$ using the notion of $G$-coloring of a partially ordered set. As applications we prove a generalization of the Hurewicz theorem, which relates the homotopy and homology of non-necessarily simply-connected complexes, and derive new results on asphericity for two-dimensional complexes and group presentations.
The homotopy type and homotopy groups of some spectra TAF of topological automorphic forms associated to a unitary similitude group GU of type (1,1) are explicitly described in quasi-split cases. The spectrum TAF is shown to be closely related to the spectrum TMF in these cases, and homotopy groups of some of these spectra are explicitly computed.
We develop a functorial approach to the study of the homotopy groups of spheres and Moore spaces $M(A,n)$, based on the Curtis spectral sequence and the decomposition of Lie functors as iterates of simpler functors such as the symmetric or exterior algebra functors. The discussion takes place over the integers, and includes a functorial description of the derived functors of certain Lie algebra functors, as well as of all the main cubical functors (such as the degree 3 component $SP^3$ of the symmetric algebra functor). As an illustration of this method, we retrieve in a purely algebraic manne…
Let $M$ be a topological monoid with homotopy group completion $ΩBM$. Under a strong homotopy commutativity hypothesis on $M$, we show that $π_k (ΩBM)$ is the quotient of the monoid of free homotopy classes $[S^k, M]$ by its submonoid of nullhomotopic maps. We give two applications. First, this result gives a concrete description of the Lawson homology of a complex projective variety in terms of point-wise addition of spherical families of effective algebraic cycles. Second, we apply this result to monoids built from the unitary, or general linear, representation spaces of discrete groups, lea…
We construct a model of differential K-theory, using the geometrically defined Chern forms, whose cocycles are certain equivalence classes of maps into the Grassmannians and unitary groups. In particular, we produce the circle-integration maps for these models using classical homotopy-theoretic constructions, by incorporating certain differential forms which reconcile the incompatibility between these even and odd Chern forms. By the uniqueness theorem of Bunke and Schick, this model agrees with the spectrum-based models in the literature whose abstract Chern cocycles are compatible with the d…
We introduce a metric homotopy theory, which we call Moderately Discontinuous Homotopy, designed to capture Lipschitz properties of metric singular subanalytic germs. It matches with the Moderately Discontinuous Homology theory receantly developed by the authors and E. Sampaio. The $k$-th MD homotopy group is a group $MDH^b_\bullet$ for any $b\in [1,\infty]$ together with homomorphisms $MDπ^b\to MDπ^{b'}$ for any $b\geq b'$. We develop all its basic properties including finite presentation of the groups, long homology sequences of pairs, metric homotopy invariance, Seifert-van Kampen Theorem a…
A classical theorem due to Quillen (1969) identifies the unitary bordism ring with the Lazard ring, which classifies the universal one-dimensional commutative formal group law. We prove an equivariant generalization of this result by identifying the homotopy theoretic $\mathbb{Z}/2$-equivariant unitary bordism ring, introduced by tom Dieck (1970), with the $\mathbb{Z}/2$-equivariant Lazard ring, introduced by Cole-Greenlees-Kriz (2000). Our proof combines a computation of the homotopy theoretic $\mathbb{Z}/2$-equivariant unitary bordism ring due to Strickland (2001) with a detailed investigati…
We prove that "unitary deformation K-theory" takes products of finitely generated groups to coproducts of algebra spectra over ku, the connective K-theory spectrum. Additionally, we give spectral sequences for computing the homotopy groups of the unitary deformation K-theory of a group G and the cofiber of the Bott map in terms of PU(n)-equivariant K-theory and homology of spaces of G-representations.
We generalize results of Hattori on the topology of complements of hyperplane arrangements, from the class of generic arrangements, to the much broader class of hypersolvable arrangements. We show that the higher homotopy groups of the complement vanish in a certain combinatorially determined range, and we give an explicit Zπ_1-module presentation of π_p, the first non-vanishing higher homotopy group. We also give a combinatorial formula for the π_1-coinvariants of π_p. For affine line arrangements whose cones are hypersolvable, we provide a minimal resolution of π_2, and study some of the pro…
We show that the prequantum line bundle on the moduli space of flat $SU(2)$ connections on a closed Riemann surface of positive genus has degree 1. It then follows from work of Lawton and the second author that the classifying map for this line bundle induces a homotopy equivalence between the stable moduli space of flat $SU(N)$ connections, in the limit as $N$ tends to infinity, and $\mathbb{C}P^\infty$. Applications to the stable moduli space of flat unitary connections are also discussed.
It is shown that the first and second homotopy groups of the $η$-inverted sphere spectrum over a field of characteristic not two are zero. A cell presentation of higher Witt theory is given as well, at least over the complex numbers.
We examine the first non-vanishing higher homotopy group, $π_p$, of the complement of a hypersolvable, non--supersolvable, complex hyperplane arrangement, as a module over the group ring of the fundamental group, $\Zπ_1$. We give a presentation for the $I$--adic completion of $π_p$. We deduce that the second nilpotent $I$--adic quotient of $π_p$ is determined by the combinatorics of the arrangement, and we give a combinatorial formula for the second associated graded piece, $\gr^1_I π_p$. We relate the torsion of this graded piece to the dimensions of the minimal generating systems of the Orli…
We study simplicial profinite groups with a view towards applications in profinite combinatorial group theory. This approach provides a natural framework to the concept of pro-$\mathfrak{C}$-presentation of a pro-$\mathfrak{C}$-group $G$ as a 1-truncation of its free simplicial pro-$\mathfrak{C}$-resolution. The category of simplicial pro-$\mathfrak{C}$-groups has a closed simplicial model category structure. This yields a possibility to define some old and new derived functors as left Quillen derived functors from this simplicial model category. When $\mathfrak{C}$ is L-groups, than may const…
The purpose of these notes is to give a categorical presentation/analysis of homotopy type theory. The notes are incomplete as they stand (October 2017). The chapter on univalent tribes is missing. The references are not always connected to the text. A better version is in preparation.
These are notes, by Z. Fiedorowicz, from lectures given by J. Frank Adams at the University of Chicago in spring of 1973. They give an elegant axiomatic presentation of localization and completion in algebraic topology. The construction of localization and completion functors with respect to an arbitrary generalized homology theory is derived from the axioms by using the Brown representability theorem. These notes were never formally published, due to an apparent flaw in the proof. The relevant representable functors could not be shown to be set-valued, as opposed to class-valued. Subsequent w…
Associated to a discrete group $G$, one has the topological category of finite dimensional (unitary) $G$-representations and (unitary) isomorphisms. Block sums provide this category with a permutative structure, and the associated $K$-theory spectrum is Carlsson's deformation $K$-theory of G. The goal of this paper is to examine the behavior of this functor on free products. Our main theorem shows the square of spectra associated to $G*H$ (considered as an amalgamated product over the trivial group) is homotopy cartesian. The proof uses a general result regarding group completions of homotopy …
We describe the $C_2$-equivariant homotopy type of the space of commuting n-tuples in the stable unitary group in terms of Real K-theory. The result is used to give a complete calculation of the homotopy groups of the space of commuting n-tuples in the stable orthogonal group, as well as of the coefficient ring for commutative orthogonal K-theory.
We study the mod-$\ell$ homotopy type of classifying spaces for commutativity, $B(\mathbb{Z}, G)$, at a prime $\ell$. We show that the mod-$\ell$ homology of $B(\mathbb{Z}, G)$ depends on the mod-$\ell$ homotopy type of $BG$ when $G$ is a compact connected Lie group, in the sense that a mod-$\ell$ homology isomorphism $BG \to BH$ for such groups induces a mod-$\ell$ homology isomorphism $B(\mathbb{Z}, G) \to B(\mathbb{Z}, H)$. In order to prove this result, we study a presentation of $B(\mathbb{Z}, G)$ as a homotopy colimit over a topological poset of closed abelian subgroups, expanding on an …
Generalized Bott manifolds (over $\mathbb C$ and $\mathbb R$) have been defined by Choi, Masuda and Suh. In this article we extend the results of arXiv:1609.05630 on the topology of real Bott manifolds to generalized real Bott manifolds. We give a presentation of the fundamental group, prove that it is solvable and give a characterization for it to be abelian. We further prove that these manifolds are aspherical only in the case of real Bott manifolds and compute the higher homotopy groups. Furthermore, using the presentation of the cohomology ring with $\mathbb Z_2$-coefficients, we derive a …
Let $A$ be a unital $C^*$-algebra. Its unitary group, $UA$, contains a wealth of topological information about $A$. However, the homotopy type of $UA$ is out of reach even for $A = M_2(\CC)$. There are two simplifications which have been considered. The first, well-traveled road, is to pass to $π_*(U(A\otimes \KK ))$ which is isomorphic (with a degree shift) to $K_*(A)$. This approach has led to spectacular success in many arenas, as is well-known. A different approach is to consider $π_*(UA)\otimes\QQ $, the rational homotopy of $UA$. In joint work with G. Lupton and N. C. Phillips we have ca…
In this paper we explain how Morse theory for the Yang-Mills functional can be used to prove an analogue, for surface groups, of the Atiyah-Segal theorem. Classically, the Atiyah-Segal theorem relates the representation ring R(Γ) of a compact Lie group $Γ$ to the complex K-theory of the classifying space $BΓ$. For infinite discrete groups, it is necessary to take into account deformations of representations, and with this in mind we replace the representation ring by Carlsson's deformation $K$--theory spectrum $\K (Γ)$ (the homotopy-theoretical analogue of $R(Γ)$). Our main theorem provides an…
We introduce the concept of quasirational relation modules for discrete and pro-$p$ presentations of discrete and pro-$p$ groups and show that aspherical presentations and their subpresentations are quasirational. In the pro-$p$-case quasirationality of pro-$p$-groups with a single defining relation holds. For every quasirational (pro-$p$)relation module we construct the so called $p$-adic rationalization, which is a pro-fd-module $\overline{R}\widehat{\otimes}\mathbb{Q}_p= \varprojlim R/[R,R\mathcal{M}_n]\otimes\mathbb{Q}_p$. We provide the isomorphisms $\overline{R^{\wedge}_w}(\mathbb{Q}_p)=…
We define equivariant projective unitary stable bundles as the appropriate twists when defining K-theory as sections of bundles with fibers the space of Fredholm operators over a Hilbert space. We construct universal equivariant projective unitary stable bundles for the orbit types, and we use a specific model for these local universal spaces in order to glue them to obtain a universal equivariant projective unitary stable bundle for discrete and proper actions. We determine the homotopy type of the universal equivariant projective unitary stable bundle, and we show that the isomorphism classe…