Preserving asphericity of virtually nilpotent spaces under \(P\)-localization (Q1401008)

Suppose \(P\) is a set of prime numbers and \(G\) is a group; does it then follow that the \(P\)-localized Eilenberg-Mac Lane space \(K(G,1)_P\) is also aspherical (i.e., that \(K(G,1)_P=K(H,1)\) for some group \(H\))? It is known that the answer to this question is yes when \(G\) is a nilpotent group; in this case the group \(H\) is simply the \(P\)-localized group \(H= G_P\). If \(G\) is finite, then the answer is yes if and only if \(G\) is \(P\)-nilpotent. The purpose of this paper is to address the same question for the larger class of \textit{virtually nilpotent groups}, i.e., groups which have a nilpotent normal subgroup of finite index. The main result gives a necessary and sufficient condition for \(K(G,1)\) to be aspherical when \(G\) is virtually nilpotent. This is applied to show that the \(P\)-localization of an orientable infra-nilmanifold is aspherical if and only if its holonomy group is \(P\)-torsion.