Mod-\(p\) homotopy decompositions of looped Stiefel manifolds (Q505343)

For integers \(1\leq k<n\) let \(W_{n,k}=U(n)/U(n-k)\) (resp. \(X_{n,k}=\mathrm{Sp}(n)/\mathrm{Sp}(n-k)\)) be the complex (resp. the quaternionic) Stiefel manifolds of orthogonal \(k\)-frames in \(\mathbb{C}^n\) (resp. \(\mathbb{H}^n\)), and suppose that \(p\geq 3\) be any odd prime. It is known that there is a \(p\)-local homotopy equivalence \(\Sigma\mathbb C\mathrm P_{n,k}\simeq_p\bigvee_{i=2}^pC_{n,k}^i\), where \(\mathbb{C}\mathrm P_{n,k}\) denotes the stunted complex projective space \(\mathbb C\mathrm P_{n,k}=\mathbb{C}\mathrm P^{n-1}/\mathbb{C}\mathrm P^{n-k-1}\). In this paper, the authors study the mod \(p\) homotopy decomposition problem for the based loop space \(\Omega W_{n,k}\). In particular, when \(k\leq (p-1)(p-2)\) they show that there is a \(p\)-local homotopy equivalence \(\Omega W_{n,k}\simeq_p\prod_{i=2}^p\Omega B^i_{n,k}\), where \(B_{n,k}^i\) is a finite \(H\)-space and \(H_*(B_{n,k}^i,\mathbb{Z}/p)\cong\Lambda (\tilde{H}_*(C_{n,k}^i,\mathbb{Z}/p)).\) They also prove that there exists a similar mod \(p\) decomposition for the based loop space \(\Omega X_{n,k}\) under the condition \(k\leq (p-1)(p-2)/2\). As an application, they obtain upper bounds for the mod \(p\) exponents of \(W_{n,k}\) and \(X_{n,k}\), and they improve results of \textit{P. Beben} [Algebr. Geom. Topol. 10, No. 2, 1089--1106 (2010; Zbl 1200.55010)] and \textit{J. Grbić} and \textit{H. Zao} [Q. J. Math. 62, No. 4, 953--976 (2011; Zbl 1248.55006)].