The Lusternik-Schnirelmann category and the fundamental group (Q969672): Difference between revisions

The Lusternik-Schnirelmann category of a space \(X\) is the minimal integer \(n\) such that there is an open cover of \(X\) by \(n+1\) contractible in \(X\) sets. It has been known for a long time that for a simply connected CW complex \(X\), the category is bounded above by \(1/2 \dim X\). Yu. Rudyak conjectured that in case of a free fundamental group, there should be a similar bound, at least for closed manifolds. This has been proved by the author. Here he establishes an upper bound for complexes with fundamental groups having finite cohomological dimension.