Subgroup collections controlling the homotopy type of a \(p\)-local compact group (Q6103325)

A \(p\)-local compact group is a triple \((S,\mathcal{F},\mathcal{L})\), where \(S\) is a discrete \(p\)-toral group and \(\mathcal{F}\) and \(\mathcal{L}\) are categories which must satisfy certain properties. The classifying space of this triple is the \(p\)-completion of the geometric realization of \(\mathcal{L}\). These structures are used to model \(p\)-completed classifying spaces of compact Lie groups, \(p\)-compact groups and other spaces. Since the morphisms of \(\mathcal{F}\) are generated by inclusions and automorphisms of \(\mathcal{F}\)-centric, \(\mathcal{F}\)-radical subgroups, it is natural and convenient to express properties and invariants of \(p\)-local compact groups in terms of these subgroups. The authors consider families of \(\mathcal{F}\)-centric subgroups which are closed under \(\mathcal{F}\)-conjugacy and the bullet construction \((\mbox{ })^{\bullet}\), and which contain all subgroups of \(S\) which are both \(\mathcal{F}\)-centric and \(\mathcal{F}\)-radical. If one considers the full subcategory \(\mathcal{L}^{\mathcal{H}}\) of \(\mathcal{L}\) whose object set is one such family \(\mathcal{H}\), the main result states that the natural map \(|\mathcal{L}^{\mathcal{H}}| \to |\mathcal{L}|\) is a homotopy equivalence. Remarkably, it is not necessary to \(p\)-complete these spaces for this homotopy equivalence to hold. The proof uses a filtration of \(\mathcal{L}^{\bullet}\) by full subcategories that begins at \(\mathcal{L}^{\mathcal{H}}\) and adds a conjugacy class of objects at a time. This filtration is finite because \(\mathcal{L}^{\bullet}\) has a finite number of conjugacy classes of objects, and the undercategories of each of the inclusions in this filtration have contractible geometric realizations.