The cone length and category of maps: pushouts, products and fibrations (Q558361)

All (topological) spaces are supposed to be based and have the based homotopy type of CW-complexes; all maps, including homotopies, are supposed to preserve base points. A collection \(\mathcal A\) is a class of spaces such that the space \(\ast\), consisting of a single point, belongs to \(\mathcal A\), and if \(A\in \mathcal A\) and \(A^\prime\) is homotopy equivalent to \(A\), then also \(A^\prime\in \mathcal A\). In [Contemp. Math. 316, 15-33 (2002; Zbl 1028.55005)], the present authors introduced, for any collection \(\mathcal A\), two non-negative homotopy invariants of maps: the \(\mathcal A\)-category of \(f\), denoted \(\mathcal L_ \mathcal A(f)\), and the \(\mathcal A\)-cone length of \(f\), denoted \(L_ \mathcal A(f)\) (if \(\mathcal A\) is the collection of all spaces, the invariants coincide with the category and cone length of \(f\), both of which have been studied previously). In the paper under review, they continue their study of these invariants. One of the main results, a \`\` homotopy pushout mapping theorem\'\', can be stated as follows: If \(\mathcal A\) is a collection of spaces that is closed under wedges and suspension, \(D\) is the homotopy pushout of \(C@<g<<A@>f>>B\), \(D^\prime\) is the homotopy pushout of \(C^\prime@<g^\prime<<A^\prime@>f^\prime>>B^\prime\), and if \(d: D\rightarrow D^\prime\) is the induced map, then (1) \(L_ \mathcal A(d)\leq L_ \mathcal A(a)+\text{max}(L_ \mathcal A(b), L_ \mathcal A(c))\) and (2) \(\mathcal L_ \mathcal A(d)\leq \mathcal L_ \mathcal A(a)+\text{max}(\mathcal L_ \mathcal A(b), \mathcal L_ \mathcal A(c))\), where \((c,a,b)\) is a map from \(C@<g<<A@>f>>B\) to \(C^\prime@<g^\prime<<A^\prime@>f^\prime>>B^\prime\) in the sense that \(c:C\rightarrow C^\prime\), \(a:A\rightarrow A^\prime\), \(b:B\rightarrow B^\prime\) are maps such that \(c\circ g=g^\prime\circ a\) and \(b\circ f=f^\prime\circ a\). Several applications of this theorem are given. In the second main result, the authors prove that for a collection \(\mathcal A\) closed under wedges and joins, and for maps \(f: A\rightarrow X\), \(g: B\rightarrow Y\), one has (1) \(L_\mathcal A(f\times g)\leq L_\mathcal A(f)+L_\mathcal A(g)+\text{max}(\text{cl}_\mathcal A (A), \text{cl}_\mathcal A (B))\) and (2) \(\mathcal L_ \mathcal A(f\times g)\leq \mathcal L_\mathcal A(f)+\mathcal L_\mathcal A(g)+\text{max}(\text{cl}_\mathcal A (A), \text{cl}_\mathcal A (B))\); here \(\text{cl}_\mathcal A (Z)\) denotes the \(\mathcal A\)-cone length of \(Z\), \(\text{cl}_\mathcal A (Z)=L_ \mathcal A (\ast \rightarrow Z)\). The third main result is on pullbacks. It has the following corollary for fibrations: If \(\mathcal A\) is a collection closed under wedges and joins and \(F\rightarrow E\longrightarrow B\) is a fibration, then (1) \(\text{cl}_\mathcal A (E)+1 \leq (\text{cl}_\mathcal A (B)+1)(\text{cl}_\mathcal A (F)+1)\) and (2) \(\text{cat}_\mathcal A (E)+1 \leq (\text{cat}_\mathcal A (B)+1)(\text{cat}_\mathcal A (F)+1)\); here \(\text{cat}_\mathcal A (Z)\) denotes the \(\mathcal A\)-category of \(Z\), \(\text{cat}_\mathcal A (Z)=\mathcal L_ \mathcal A (\ast \rightarrow Z)\). Several other interesting results, remarks, comparisons, examples and questions can be found in the paper.