A space level light bulb theorem in all dimensions (Q6652948)

Let \(M\) be a smooth \(d\)-dimensional manifold with a nonempty boundary, and let \(s\colon {\mathbb{S}}^{k-1}\hookrightarrow \partial M\), \(1\leq k\leq d\), be a smooth embedding. The authors are interested in the homotopy of the space \(\mathrm{Emb}_s({\mathbb{D}}^k, M)\) of neat embeddings of the \(k\)-disk into \(M\) that restrict to \(s\) on the boundary. Assume there exists a framed dual sphere \(G\colon {\mathbb{S}}^{d-k}\hookrightarrow \partial M\). Denote by \(M_G\) the \(d\)-manifold obtained from \(M\) by attaching to the boundary \(\partial M\) a \((d-k+1)\)-handle along \(G\), and by \(u_0\) the restriction of \(s\) to the equator. One of the main results of the paper says that there is a fibration sequence \N\[\N\mathrm{Emb}_s({\mathbb{D}}^k, M)\to \Omega \mathrm{Emb}_{u_0}({\mathbb{D}}^{k-1}, M_G) \to \Omega^{k-1}{\mathbb{S}}^{d-k}.\N\]\NThis is useful in studying the homotopy groups of \(\mathrm{Emb}_s({\mathbb{D}}^k, M)\), since the increase in codimension essentially simplifies the homotopy type of the embedding spaces. The authors then show that there are isomorphisms \N\[\N\pi_n\mathrm{Emb}_s({\mathbb{D}}^k, M)\cong \pi_{n+k}M, \N\]\Nfor \(n\leq d-2k-1\). For \(d-k\not=1,3,7\), they describe the homotopy groups \(\pi_{d-2k}\mathrm{Emb}_s({\mathbb{D}}^k, M)\) in terms of the homotopy groups of \(M\) up to an extension.