Modules croisés généralisés de longueur 2 (Q759836)

The concept of a crossed module was introduced by \textit{J. H. C. Whitehead} [Ann. Math., II. Ser. 42, 409-428 (1941; Zbl 0027.26404), Bull. Am. Math. Soc. 55, 453-496 (1949; Zbl 0040.388)]. Crossed modules have since been successfully used in a number of papers, see e.g. [\textit{S. MacLane} and \textit{J. H. C. Whitehead}, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 36, 41- 48 (1950; Zbl 0035.390)], [8], [9], [10], [19], [21], [22], [27], [35], and various generalisations have been given [6], [7], [15], [18], [28]. (The numbers refer to the bibliography in the paper.) Some history may be found in MacLane's Historical Note (appendix to [19]). In the paper under review a new kind of generalisation is given which yields, in some special cases, the author's answer to the question which (non-abelian) group complexes can arise as the Moore complex of a simplicial group. The interest in this question comes from the fact that at present a non- abelian Dold-Kan Theorem is not known. It was known for some time that a crossed module is just the Moore complex of a simplicial group with trivial Moore complex in dimensions \(>1\). In Section 2 of the present paper, a description of those group complexes is given which arise as the Moore complex of a simplicial group whose Moore complex is trivial in dimensions \(>2\). The gadgets to be invented for this purpose are called generalised crossed modules of length 2. Topologically, such an object corresponds to a Postnikov-system with at most \(\pi_ 1,\pi_ 2,\pi_ 3\) non-trivial and with at most two non-zero k-invariants. In Section 3 a different kind of generalisation of crossed modules is given: it consists of a description of those group complexes which arise as the Moore complex of a simplicial group having the property that its Moore complex is non-trivial only in dimensions p and \(p+1\), where \(p\geq 2.\) In a final Section an interpretation of the cohomology group \(H^ 4(G,A)\) of a group G with coefficients in a G-module A is given in terms of equivalence classes of certain 3-fold extensions which, in turn, involve generalised crossed modules of length 2. This generalises work of the reviewer and others, see MacLane's Historical Note [loc. cit.].