The infinite loop spaces of Thom spectra (Q1194299)

In the past a lot of work has been done to substitute large spaces such as iterated loop spaces by smaller models. In category-theoretical language this amounts to substitute the ``infinitary'' monad \(\Omega^ n\Sigma^ n:Top_ *\to Top^*\) by a ``finitary'' one. The author investigates this problem for Thom spectra: Let \(G\to O\) be a representation of a topological group \(G\) and \(X\) a principal \(G\)-space. The filtration \(O(n)\subset O\) induces a Thom spectrum \(TX\); let \(\Omega^ \infty TX\) denote its associated infinite loop space. The author substitutes the ``infinitary'' functor \(X\mapsto\Omega^ \infty TX\) by a ``finitary'' one, thus providing smaller models, which, in addition, come with a natural filtration, an important fact for future calculations. The central idea is the notion of a homotopy-finitary functor, which is introduced and studied. Examples are the functors \(\Omega^ n\Sigma^ n\), an indication that this notion is the correct one for questions of this sort.