Making lifting obstructions explicit

Abstract: If P o X is a topological principal K-bundle and hat K a central extension of K by Z, then there is a natural obstruction class delta_1(P) in check H^2(X,uline Z) in sheaf cohomology whose vanishing is equivalent to the existence of a hat K-bundle hat P over X with P cong hat P/Z. In this paper we establish a link between homotopy theoretic data and the obstruction class delta_1(P) which in many cases can be used to calculate this class in explicit terms. Writing partial_d^P : pi_d(X) o pi_{d-1}(K) for the connecting maps in the long exact homotopy sequence, two of our main results can be formulated as follows. If Z is a quotient of a contractible group by the discrete group Gamma, then the homomorphism pi_3(X) o Gamma induced by delta_1(P) in check H^2(X,uline Z) cong H^3_{ m sing}(X,Gamma) coincides with partial_2^{hat K} circ partial_3^P and if Z is discrete, then delta_1(P) in check H^2(X,uline Z) induces the homomorphism -partial_1^{hat K} circ partial_2^P : pi_2(X) o Z. We also obtain some information on obstruction classes defining trivial homomorphisms on homotopy groups.

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