An elementary construction of Anick's fibration (Q1035308)
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English | An elementary construction of Anick's fibration |
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An elementary construction of Anick's fibration (English)
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2 November 2009
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In their famous article [Ann. Math. (2) 109, 121--168 (1979; Zbl 0405.55018)], \textit{F. R. Cohen, J. C. Moore}, and \textit{J. A. Neisendorfer} constructed for any odd prime \(p\) a map \(\Omega^2 S^{2n+1} \rightarrow S^{2n-1}\) such that the composition with the double suspension \(S^{2n-1} \rightarrow \Omega^2 S^{2n+1}\) is homotopic to the \(p^r\)-power map. When \(r=1\) this map is a key ingredient in proving that \(p^n\) annihilates the \(p\)-torsion in the homotopy groups of the sphere \(S^{2n+1}\). In this article the authors construct an \(H\)-space \(T_{2n-1}\) together with a fibration sequence \[ \Omega^2 S^{2n+1} \rightarrow S^{2n-1} \rightarrow T_{2n-1} \rightarrow \Omega S^{2n+1} \] by new, but elementary and purely homotopy theoretic methods. Their main tool is a very classically flavored extension theorem for certain maps into \(H\)-spaces with trivial \(q\)-power map and \(T_{2n-1}\) is defined as the homotopy fiber of a map from \(\Omega S^{2n+1}\{p^r\}\) to \(BW_n\), the classifying space of the double suspension map. The core of the paper is devoted to a rather long but careful inductive construction of a co-\(H\)-space \(G_{2n}\), which is a retract of the suspension \(\Sigma T_{2n-1}\). Then \(T_{2n-1}\) is in turn a retract of the loop space \(\Omega G_{2n}\) and this equips \(T_{2n-1}\) with an \(H\)-space structure. These two properties are only two of the dozen these spaces enjoy and which are analyzed here! The main achievements of the authors are twofold. First, they succeed in constructing in a rather elementary way -- and at all odd primes! -- the spaces which \textit{D. Anick} constructed for \(p\geq 5\) via algebraic methods in his book [Differential algebras in topology. Research Notes in Mathematics (Boston, Mass.). 3. Wellesley, MA: A. K. Peters (1993; Zbl 0770.55001)]. Second, the simultaneous construction of the \(H\)-spaces \(T_{2n-1}\) and their ``co-\(H\)-space shadows'' \(G_{2n}\) give us a better understanding of the close relationship between the Cohen-Moore-Neisendorfer point of view and the \(EHP\) sequence approach from the first author; the spaces \(T_{2n-1}\) and \(G_{2n}\) inherit all the features predicted by both theories.
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Anick's fibration
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double suspension
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\(EHP\) sequence
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Moore space
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\(H\)-space
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co-\(H\)-space
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extension theorem
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