Formality and finiteness in rational homotopy theory (Q6149848)

The present work is a very welcomed survey on formality and finiteness in the context of rational homotopy theory. First, we recall these two central notions. A nilpotent finite \(\mathbb Q\)-type space \(X\) is \textit{formal} if the Sullivan algebra of piecewise linear polynomial rational forms \(A_{\mathrm{PL}}(X)\) is connected to the rational cohomology algebra \(H^*(X;\mathbb Q)\) via a zig-zag of differential graded commutative algebras (cdga's, henceforth) \[ A_{\mathrm{PL}}(X) \xleftarrow{\simeq} \bullet \xrightarrow{\simeq} H^*(X;\mathbb Q). \] Here, the cohomology algebra carries the trivial differential. In other words: \(X\) is formal if the algebras \(A_{\mathrm{PL}}(X)\) and \(H^*(X;\mathbb Q)\) represent the same homotopy type in the corresponding homotopy category of cdga's. Formal spaces form one of the most celebrated classes of spaces since the notion was introduced, due to their relative simplicity with respect to arbitrary homotopy types. Finiteness refers to the possibility of approximating an object of interest by another object of the same type with convenient finiteness hypotheses. For example, a \(q\)-finite space is a path-connected topological space \(X\) homotopy equivalent to a finite CW-complex whose skeleton stabilizes at stage \(q\). Similarly, a cdga \((A,d)\) is \(q\)-finite if it is connected (i.e., \(A^0=k\) is the ground field) and each degree \(n\) component \(A^n\) is a finite dimensional \(k\)-vector space for all \(n\leq q\). This survey collects many of the foundational results on these topics, as well as many of the results of the prolific author and his collaborators on them. In any case, the theory has developed too broadly for a survey, or even a book, to contain most of what is known. Along the text, the reader will find abundant examples to illustrate the results or to show that some of the statements are sharp. The text also posses some conjectures and open questions on the topics. The paper is divided into five main sections that we briefly summarize. Part I presents the basics on cdga's and their homotopy theory, formality and its variants (such as intrinsic and partial formality), and the first basic results on formality. These include the behavior of formality under field extension, formality of cdga maps, the relationship to Massey products, the descent property, the theory of positive weight decompositions, minimal models, and Poincaré duality. Part II deals with several of the Lie algebras involved in this theory, discussing some of their properties and interconnections. The reader should not confuse this section to be the study of formality of differential graded Lie algebras (i.e., the Quillen side of rational homotopy theory), the defining characteristic of \textit{coformal} spaces. This section includes graded and filtered, Malcev, and holonomy Lie algebras. Some of these Lie algebras arise as the associated Lie algebra to a group, whose graded pieces are the successive quotients of the lower central series of the group tensored with the ground field, and whose Lie bracket is induced from the commutators of the group. In some other instances, these Lie algebras are related to group cohomology, or are constructed from some special cdga's (that might arise as a model of a topological space). Part III contains the basics of rational homotopy theory of spaces, such as completions, rationalizations, and algebraic models for spaces and groups. The main focus is on the formality and finiteness properties of such models. Important results and constructions are given for polyhedral products, configuration spaces, right-angled Artin groups, among many others. The remaining two parts are slightly more specialized, and touch upon topics mostly on algebraic geometry. Part IV deals with Alexander invariants and the cohomology jump loci of spaces and suitable algebraic models. It further connects the characteristic and resonance varieties to various formality and finiteness properties previously established. Part V applies the theory presented to the study of Kähler manifolds and smooth, quasi-projective varieties, compact Lie group actions on manifolds, and closed, orientable 3-manifolds.