The dualizing spectrum of a topological group (Q5947400)

In generalizing the notion of Poincaré duality for a discrete group \(\Gamma\), B. Eckmann and R. Bieri introduced the dualizing module \(D_\Gamma:= \hom_{D(\mathbb{Z}[\Gamma])} (\mathbb{Z}, \mathbb{Z}[\Gamma])\), where hom is taken internally within the derived category of left \(\mathbb{Z}[\Gamma]\)-modules. This construction can be generalized to the dualizing spectrum \(D_G= \hom_{D(S^0[G])}(S^0, S^0[G])\) for the topological group \(G\). The results of this paper show that \(D_G\) is an extremely elegant tool both for proving new theorems and reproving old. Among the most striking are Theorem A showing that the (finitely dominated) classifying space \(BG\) is a Poincaré duality space iff \(D_G\) has the weak homotopy type of a sphere iff \(D_G\) is homotopy finite, and Theorem B showing that \(D_G\) behaves multiplicatively for certain kinds of extension. Associated with \(D_G\) there is also a ``norm map'' relating invariants to coinvariants. This definition is also motivated by more classical group cohomology. Among the applications are a new proof of the conjecture of C. T. C. Wall that the total space \(E\) of a fibration is a Poincaré space iff the fibre \(F\) and base \(B\) are, and of W. Browder's theorem that a connected \(H\)-space is a \(PD\)-space. (Both results assume finite domination.) The proofs are all homotopy theoretic. In a particularly interesting final section, the author describes \(D_G\) explicitly for a large number of examples.