Coformality around fibrations and cofibrations (Q6039230)

This paper explores when the coformality of the base and fiber implies the coformality of the total space in a fibration \[ F\hookrightarrow E \to B\tag{1} \] of simply-connected finite type rational spaces. A simply-connected space \(X\) is coformal if its rational homotopy type is determined by its rational homotopy Lie algebra \(\pi_*\left(\Omega X\right)\otimes \mathbb Q\). Every simply-connected space \(X\) is rationally equivalent to a deformation, in a precise sense, of a coformal space \(X'\) whose homotopy Lie algebra is the same as that of \(X\). This associated coformal space plays an essential role in the results. Assuming the base and fiber in (1) are coformal, the main result asserts that the total space is also coformal, provided that: \begin{itemize} \item[1.] the induced map on homotopy groups \(\pi_*\left(F\right)\otimes \mathbb{Q} \to \pi_*\left(E\right)\otimes \mathbb{Q}\) is injective, and \item[2.] the rational LS-category of the associated coformal space \(E'\) is at most \(2\). \end{itemize} Several other relationships between the coformality of the spaces \(F,E\), and \(B\) are established, and some consequences of the main result are proven. Many illustrative examples are given in complete detail. The work makes heavy use of Sullivan minimal models and classical rational homotopy theory. The analogous problem concerning whether the \emph{formality} of any two spaces among those in (1) implies the formality of the third appears in [\textit{G. Lupton}, Banach Cent. Publ. 45, 115--135 (1998; Zbl 0931.55007)] and [\textit{M. Amann} and \textit{V. Kapovitch}, Adv. Math. 231, No. 3--4, 2048--2068 (2012; Zbl 1262.55005)].