Odd primary homotopy decompositions of gauge groups (Q969654)

Given a principal \(G\)-bundle \(P \to X\), the gauge group \(G(P)\) is the group of equivariant automorphisms of \(P\) over \(X\). The problem of determining the homotopy types of gauge groups has been of interest for some time. The rational homotopy type was found in [\textit{Y. Félix} and \textit{J. Oprea}, Proc. Am. Math. Soc. 137, No.~4, 1519--1527 (2009; Zbl 1168.55010)]. Here, for certain specific bundles, the author generalizes the rational decomposition to a \(p\)-local decomposition. In particular, the author achieves this for \(SU(n)\), \(Sp(n)\) and \(Spin(n)\)-bundles over simply connected \(4\)-manifolds and for \(U(n)\)-bundles over compact orientable Riemann surfaces when the prime \(p\) is restricted in specified ways. A main tool for all results is the spatial decomposition of a (\(p\)-localized) group \(G\) corresponding to the well-known algebra decomposition \(H_*(G) \cong \otimes_{i=1}^{p-1} \Lambda(V_i)\), where \(V_i\) consists of generators constrained by degree in terms of \(p\).