On genera of polyhedra (Q424068)

This paper is an attempt to study genera in the stable homotopy category of polyhedra (finite cell complexes). Such a study can be reduced to integral representations of orders in semisimple algebras. Therefore, applying a deep theory developed for genera of integral representations the authors obtain the following results: 1. Two polyhedra \(X, Y\) are in the same genus if and only if \(X \vee B _{0}\), where \(B _{0}\) is the wedge of all spheres \(S^n\), such that the \(n\)th stable homotopy group of \(X\) is infinite (or, equivalently, not torsion). 2. If \(X \vee X\) and \(Y \vee X\) are stably homotopic, then \(X\) and \(Y\) are stably homotopic. In particular, the authors conjecture that the number of stable homotopy classes in a genus is bounded when polyhedra of a prescribed dimension are considered. They also give some examples of calculating genera for polyhedra of small dimensions.