On fibrations with formal elliptic fibers (Q456792)

In this paper the authors study formality for fibrations of simply connected spaces. If \(F\hookrightarrow E\to B\) is a fibration of simply connected spaces, the rational homotopic properties of the fibre link the formality of the base with that of the total space. A space \(X\) is called \(F_0\) if it is rationally elliptic and has positive Euler characteristic. \(F_0\)-spaces are known to be formal. The Halperin conjecture states that an \(F_0\)-space \(X\) has the property that \(H^*(X;\mathbb{Q})\) has no negative degree derivations. Let \(F\hookrightarrow E\to B\) be a fibration of simply connected spaces. It is known (see \textit{G. Lupton}, [Proceedings of the workshop, Banach Center, Warsaw, Poland, June 9--13. Warsaw: Polish Academy of Sciences, Banach Cent. Publ. 45, 115--135 (1997; Zbl 0931.55007)]) that if \(F\) is an \(F_0\)-space and \(H^*(F;\mathbb{Q})\) has no negative degree derivations, then the formality of \(B\) implies that of \(E\). The main result of the paper is a generalization of this fact. Namely, the authors prove that if \(F\) is elliptic, formal and such that \(H^*(F;\mathbb{Q})\) has no negative degree derivations, then \(E\) is formal if and only if \(B\) is. Furthermore, when \(E\) and \(B\) are formal, so is the map \(E\to B\). They provide an example of a formal, elliptic space \(X\), such that \(H^*(X;\mathbb{Q})\) has no negative degree derivations, but is not \(F_0\). They also show that there exists a fibration \(F\hookrightarrow E\to B\) such that the base is formal, the fibre is formal, satisfies that \(H^*(F;\mathbb{Q})\) has no negative degree derivations yet is hyperbolic, and the total space is not formal. The main application of this result is the proof of formality of compact, positive quaternion Kähler manifolds, i.e. compact quaternion Kähler manifolds whose sectional curvature is positive. Indeed, such a manifold \(M\) is simply connected and the total space of its twistor fibration \(S^2\to Z\to M\) is known to be Kähler. The thesis follows from their result and from the celebrated result of \textit{P. Deligne} et al., [Invent. Math. 29, 245--274 (1975; Zbl 0312.55011)] that compact Kähler manifolds are formal. This is the first paper in which techniques of rational homotopy theory are used in the context of the LeBrun-Salamon conjecture, which says that a positive quaternion Kähler manifold is a symmetric space (indeed, symmetric spaces are well known to be formal).