Twisted homotopy theory and the geometric equivariant 1-stem (Q1873733)

Let a compact Lie group \(G\) act freely and smoothly on a compact connected manifold \(M\). Let \(S^V\) denote the unit sphere of a real linear representation \(V\) of \(G\). The paper under review develops methods for computing the set [\( M\), \(S^V\)] of equivariant homotopy classes of equivariant maps from \(M\) to \(S^V\). The authors' approach is based on the idea that an equivariant invariant of \(M\) should correspond to a twisted (or fiberwise) invariant of the orbit space \(M/G\). Certain explicit calculations are made in the case when \(dim M=dim V+ dim G+1\).