On a homotopy relation between the 2-local geometry and the Bouc complex for the sporadic group \(Co_3\). (Q2456169)

The authors investigate the Bouc complex \(|\mathcal B_2|\) of Conway's third sporadic group \(G=Co_3\), that is, the collection of all non-trivial 2-radical subgroups of \(G\), and the 2-local maximal parabolic geometry \(\Delta\) of \(G\), whose objects are the pure elementary Abelian subgroups of \(G\). It is shown that \((G,\Delta)\) satisfies a weak Borel-Tits property (BT)\(^c\): For each non-trivial 2-subgroup \(U\) of \(G\) such that \(Z(U)\) contains a central involution, there exists a simplex \(\sigma\) of \(\Delta\) such that \(N_G(U)\leq G_\sigma\). Based on this property and the description of the 14 conjugacy classes of 2-radical subgroups by \textit{J. An} [Isr. J. Math. 112, 109-134 (1999; Zbl 0938.20011)] the authors characterize each of the subgroups in \(\widehat{\mathcal B}_2\), the collection of distinguished radical 2-subgroups of \(G\), in geometric and group theoretic terms by the set of central involutions it contains. The main result of the paper is that \(\Delta\) is \(G\)-homotopy equivalent to the distinguished Bouc complex \(|\widehat{\mathcal B}_2|\) of \(G\). This subcomplex of \(|\mathcal B_2|\) can be equivariantly retracted to a subcomplex \(\Delta_1\) formed from a subposet of \(\mathcal B_2\) with three types of objects associated with points, lines and \(\mathcal M\)-spaces in \(\Delta\). Removing certain chains in \(\Delta_1\) yields a subcomplex \(\Delta_0\) which is homeomorphic to \(\Delta\) and \(G\)-homotopy equivalent to \(\Delta\). The whole reduction process is rather intricate (the main part involving a sequence of 35 steps) although standard results are used on homotopy equivalence of a complex to one obtained by deleting a star of a vertex or by collapsing a simplex of maximal dimension onto certain of its faces. Futhermore, the authors show that the fixed point set of a central involution is contractible. Using a result of \textit{J. Thévenaz} [J. Comb. Theory, Ser. A 46, 121-155 (1987; Zbl 0638.20006)] it is then shown that the reduced Lefschetz module \(\widetilde L(\Delta)\) is projective relative to the collection \({\mathcal X}={\mathcal B}_2\setminus\widehat{\mathcal B}_2\) of radical 2-subgroups of \(G\) which are pure non-central.