The homotopy types of \(U(n)\)-gauge groups over lens spaces (Q2043525)

For coprime integers \(p\) and \(q\), the lens space \(L(p,q)\) is the quotient of \(S^3\) by the \(\mathbb{Z}/p\mathbb{Z}\)-action \((z_0,z_1)\mapsto(e^{2\pi i/p}z_0,e^{2\pi qi/p}z_1)\). It admits a CW-structure \(P^2(p)\cup e^3\) where \(P^2(p)\) is the mapping cone of the degree map \(p:S^1\to S^1\). Let \(P\) be a principal \(U(n)\)-bundle over \(L(p,q)\) where \(p\) is a prime. The isomorphism class of \(P\) is determined by its first Chern class \(k\in H^2(L(p,q);\mathbb{Z})\) which is \(\mathbb{Z}/p\mathbb{Z}\). The gauge group of \(P\), denoted by \(\mathcal{G}_k(L(p,q))\), is the topological group consisting of \(U(n)\)-equivariant automorphisms of \(P\) that fix \(L(p,q)\). It is known that gauge groups of \(U(n)\)-bundles over \(L(p,q)\) have finitely many distinct homotopy types. Classifying the homotopy types of various \(\mathcal{G}_k(L(p,q))\) is important to understand the topology of these gauge groups. In Section 2 the authors study the homotopy theory of \(L(p,q)\) and show that the inclusion \(P^2(p)\hookrightarrow L(p,q)\) induces an isomorphism between \([L(p,q),BU(n)]\) and \([P^2(p),BU(n)]\) which are \(\mathbb{Z}/p\mathbb{Z}\). Denote by \(\mathcal{G}_k(P^2(p))\) the gauge group of the principal \(U(n)\)-bundle over \(P^2(p)\) with first Chern class \(k\in H^2(P^2(p);\mathbb{Z})\cong\mathbb{Z}/p\mathbb{Z}\). In Section 3 the authors classify the homotopy types of various \(\mathcal{G}_k(P^2(p))\) and show that \(\mathcal{G}_k(P^2(p))\simeq\mathcal{G}_{\ell}(P^2(p))\) if and only if \(\text{gcd}(p,k)=\text{gcd}(p,\ell)\). Combining their work in Sections 2 and 3, in Section 4 the authors prove that \(\text{gcd}(p,k)=\text{gcd}(p,\ell)\) if \(\mathcal{G}_k(L(p,q))\simeq\mathcal{G}_{\ell}(L(p,q))\). Moreover, they show the converse whenever there exists an integer \(u\) such that \(k\equiv ul\pmod{p}\) and \(u^2\equiv\pm1\pmod{p}\). In particular, for \(p\in\{3,5\}\), \(\mathcal{G}_k(L(p,q))\simeq\mathcal{G}_{\ell}(L(p,q))\) if and only if \(\text{gcd}(p,k)=\text{gcd}(p,\ell)\).