Torsion primes in loop space homology. (Q1426434)

In this short communication the authors prove two theorems about the torsion in the loop space homology of simply connected CW complexes. Denote by \(\mathcal P\) the set of all primes and by \(\mathbf C\) the class of all four dimensional finite simply connected CW complexes. The first theorem asserts that there exists \(X\in {\mathbf C}\) of which the loop space homology \(H_*(\Omega X; {\mathbb Z})\) has prime torsion in an infinite set in \(\mathcal P\), with an infinite complement. The second theorem shows that for each finite subset \(E\) of \(\mathcal P\), there exists \(X_E\in {\mathbf C}\) such that \(H_*(\Omega X, {\mathbb Z})\) has prime torsion precisely in \({\mathcal P}\backslash E\). The examples are constructed by attaching thirteen 4-cells to a wedge of eight 2-spheres through cleverly chosen combinations of Whitehead products, and the method of proof relies on the use of semi-tensor products of graded algebras. This paper is motivated by an earlier construction of Anick and Avramov who have given an example of \(X\in {\mathbf C}\) with \(H_*(\Omega X)\) having \(p\)-torsion for all primes \(p\).