\(p\)-primary homotopy decompositions of looped Stiefel manifolds and their exponents (Q982401)

Let \(p\) be an odd prime and set \(q=2(p-1)\). Suppose that all spaces have been localized at \(p\). The main result states as follows. Theorem: Fix integers \(n\) and \(m\) such that \(0<m<n\leq (p-1)(p-2)\). Then the loop space of the complex Stiefel manifold admits a product decomposition \(\Omega W_{n,m}\simeq \prod_{1\leq i\leq p-1}\Omega D_i\), such that for each \(1\leq i\leq (p-1)\), \(D_i\) is an \(H\)-space whose homology is the exterior algebra \[ H_*(D_i)\cong \land(y_{2(n-m+i)},\dots,y_{2(n-m+i)-1+k_iq}), \] where \(k_i\) is the largest integer such that \(2(n-m+i)-1+k_iq\leq 2n-1\). Similar results for real and symplectic Stiefel manifolds are also given. The proof uses a construction of \textit{F. R. Cohen} and \textit{J. A. Neisendorfer} [in: Algebraic topology, Proc. Conf., Aarhus 1982, Lect. Notes Math. 1051, 351--359 (1984; Zbl 0582.55010)] and expands ideas of \textit{S. D. Theriault} [Trans. Am. Math. Soc. 359, No.~9, 4511--4535 (2007; Zbl 1117.55005)]. Applications to upper bounds for some \(p\)-exponents are given.