A colimit of classifying spaces (Q962143)

The Seifert-van Kampen theorem is one of the most important tools for computing fundamental groups of spaces given as a union of subspaces. Van Kampen type theorems for higher homotopy groups are an interesting but nontrivial problem. In the 1950s, \textit{H. Toda} [Proc. Japan Acad. 29, 299--304 (1953; Zbl 0053.30201) and J. Inst. Polytechn., Osaka City Univ., Ser. A 6, 101--120 (1955; Zbl 0066.41501)], \textit{M. G. Barratt} and \textit{J. H. C. Whitehead} [Proc. Lond. Math. Soc., III. Ser. 6, 417--439 (1956; Zbl 0072.18002)] made important steps in exploring the first nonvanishing homotopy group of an \((n+1)\)-ad. In the 1980s, \textit{G. Ellis} and \textit{R. Steiner} [J. Pure Appl. Algebra 46, 117--136 (1987; Zbl 0622.55010)] generalized the Barratt-Whitehead theorem by removing a certain simply-connected hypothesis. As a continuation of Ellis-Steiner's theorem as well as taking care of an erratum in Ellis-Steiner's paper, this article emphasizes group-theoretic features of higher homotopy groups. An \(m\)-tuple of normal subgroups \((R_1,\dots,R_m)\) of a group \(G\) is called \textit{connected} if either \(m\leq 2\) or \(m\geq 3\) with the property that: for all subsets \(I, J \subseteq \{1,\cdots,m\}\) with \( |I|\geq 2, |J|\geq 1\) \[ \left(\bigcap_{i\in I} R_i \right)\cdot \prod_{j\in J}R_j = \bigcap_{i\in I} \left( R_i\cdot \prod_{j\in J}R_j \right). \] Let \(G\) be a group with normal subgroups \(R_1,\dots,R_n\). Let \(X(G;R_1,\dots,R_n)\) be the homotopy colimit of the cubical diagram obtained from classifying spaces \(B(G/\prod_{i\in I} R_i)\) with the maps \[ B(G/\prod_{i\in I} R_i)\to B(G/\prod_{i'\in I'}R_{i'}) \] induced by the canonical quotient homomorphism \(G/\prod_{i\in I} R_i \twoheadrightarrow G/\prod_{i'\in I'}R_{i'}\) for \(I\subseteq I'\), where \(I\) ranges over all proper subsets \(I \subsetneq \{1,\dots,n\}\). The main result in this article is as follows: Theorem. Let \(G\) be a group with normal subgroups \(R_1,\dots,R_n\) with \(n\geq2\). Let \(X=X(G;R_1,\dots,R_n)\). Suppose that the \((n-1)\)-tuple \[ (R_1,\dots,R_{i-1},R_{i+1},\dots,R_n) \] is connected for each \(1\leq i\leq n\). Then \[ \pi_n(X) \cong \frac{R_1\cap \cdots \cap R_n}{\prod_{I\cup J=\{1,\dots,n\}, {I\cap J=\emptyset}} [\cap_{i\in I}R_i,\cap_{j\in J}R_j]}. \] When \(n=2\), this theorem is the classical result of \textit{R. Brown} and \textit{J.-L. Loday} [Topology 26, 311--335 (1987; Zbl 0622.55009)]. By considering certain canonical choices of normal subgroups of free groups, a result of the reviewer on combinatorial descriptions of (general) homotopy groups of a \(2\)-sphere [Math. Proc. Camb. Philos. Soc. 130, No.3, 489--513 (2001; Zbl 0986.55013)] can be derived from the above theorem. The reviewer would like to add a comment by A. K. Bousfield who asked how to use Brown-Loday's machinery to derive the reviewer's result on combinatorial descriptions of homotopy groups during his private communications with the reviewer in 1995. This article answers Bousfield's question in a perfect way. The above theorem is very important and has more consequences than those that have been given in this article. Some further developments have been made by the reviewer and his coauthors with important applications for establishing certain fundamental connections between (general) homotopy groups of spheres and link groups.