Homotopy decompositions of the classifying spaces of pointed gauge groups (Q2305062)

Let \(G\) be a topological group and let \(M\) be a pointed space. Given a principal \(G\)-bundle \(P\) over \(M\), the associated gauge group \(\mathcal{G}(P)\) is the topological group consisting of \(G\)-equivariant automorphisms of \(P\), and the pointed gauge group \(\mathcal{G}^*(P)\) is the subgroup consisting of \(G\)-equivariant automorphisms that fix the fiber over the basepoint of \(M\). According to [\textit{M. F. Atiyah} and \textit{R. Bott}, Philos. Trans. R. Soc. Lond., Ser. A 308, 523--615 (1983; Zbl 0509.14014); \textit{D. H. Gottlieb}, Trans. Am. Math. Soc. 171, 23--50 (1972; Zbl 0251.55018)], the classifying spaces \(B\mathcal{G}(P)\) and \(B\mathcal{G}^*(P)\) are homotopy equivalent to the connected components of \(\text{Map}(M, BG)\) and \(\text{Map}^*(M, BG)\) that contain the map \(f:M\to BG\) inducing \(P\). In this article the author considers \(B\mathcal{G}^*(P)\) in the cases when \(M\) is a simply connected spin four-manifold or an orientable closed Riemann surface. In the first case the mod-\(p\) (co)homology of \(B\mathcal{G}(P)\) and \(B\mathcal{G}^*(P)\) plays a key role in generalizing Donaldson Theory, while in the second case the homotopy type of \(B\mathcal{G}^*(P)\) is related to the study of semistable holomorphic vector bundles and their related moduli spaces. He proves a homotopy decomposition of \(B\mathcal{G}^*(P)\) provided that \(G\) is homotopy commutative after localized at an odd prime \(p\). By hypothesis \(M\simeq(\bigvee^m_{i=1}A_i)\cup e^n\) is formed by attaching a top cell to a wedge of spheres. The attaching map factors through a wedge sum of Whitehead products. There is a fibration sequence \(\text{Map}^*(S^n,BG)\to\text{Map}^*(M,BG)\to\text{Map}^*(\bigvee^m_{i=1}A_i,BG)\to\text{Map}^*(S^{n-1},BG)\). In Sections 2 to 4 the author shows that the restriction \(\text{Map}^*(M,BG)\to\text{Map}^*(\bigvee^m_{i=1}A_i,BG)\) has a right inverse and obtains a homotopy equivalence \(\text{Map}^*(M,BG)\simeq\text{Map}^*(\bigvee^m_{i=1}A_i,BG)\times\Omega^{n-1}G\), where the right hand side is a product of iterated loop spaces of \(G\) since the \(A_i\)'s are spheres. So the homotopy type of \(B\mathcal{G}^*(P)\) is completely determined by \(M\) and \(G\). In Section 5 the author gives two applications. The first application is to show an algebraic isomorphism \(H^*(B\mathcal{G}^*(P))\cong\bigotimes^m_{i=1}H^*(\Omega G)\otimes H^*(\Omega^2G)\) and the existence of a right inverse to the map \(H^*(B\mathcal{G}(P))\to\bigotimes^m_{i=1}H^*(\Omega G)\) when \(M\) is a simply connected four-manifold. Dually, there is a coalgebraic isomorphism \(H_*(B\mathcal{G}^*(P))\cong\bigotimes^m_{i=1}H_*(\Omega G)\otimes H_*(\Omega^2G)\) and a left inverse to the map \(\bigotimes^m_{i=1}H_*(\Omega G)\to H_*(B\mathcal{G}(P))\). In the second application, let \(M\) be an orientable closed Riemann surface \(\Sigma_g\). Then the decomposition implies that the set of homomorphisms \(\text{Hom}(\pi_1(\Sigma_g),U)\), which is isomorphic to \(\text{Map}(\Sigma_g,BU)\), is homotopy equivalent to \((\prod^{2g}_{i=1}U)\times\Omega_0U\).