Obstruction theory in model categories.

DOI10.1016/S0001-8708(03)00070-7MaRDI QIDQ1421911zbMATH OpenOpenAlexFDO

Authors J. Daniel Christensen, William Dwyer, Daniel C. Isaksen

Publication date 3 February 2004

Published in Advances in Mathematics (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/math/0109170

zbMATH Keywords

closed model category obstruction model simplicial set spectrum

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Obstruction theory in algebraic topology (55S35) Abstract and axiomatic homotopy theory in algebraic topology (55U35)

Abstract: Many examples of obstruction theory can be formulated as the study of when a lift exists in a commutative square. Typically, one of the maps is a cofibration of some sort and the opposite map is a fibration, and there is a functorial obstruction class that determines whether a lift exists. Working in an arbitrary pointed proper model category, we classify the cofibrations that have such an obstruction theory with respect to all fibrations. Up to weak equivalence, retract, and cobase change, they are the cofibrations with weakly contractible target. Equivalently, they are the retracts of principal cofibrations. Without properness, the same classification holds for cofibrations with cofibrant source. Our results dualize to give a classification of fibrations that have an obstruction theory.

Review text

Given a commutative square made up of \(f: A \rightarrow X\), \(p : X \rightarrow Y\), \(i : A \rightarrow B\) \(g:B \rightarrow Y\) with \(p \cdot f = g \cdot i\), the standard extension/lifting problem looks for a map \(B \rightarrow X\) which makes the triangles commute. Classical obstruction theory is a detection principle for existence and uniqueness of such maps. The authors generalize this to a proper, pointed, model category. They say that \(i : A \rightarrow B\) has an obstruction theory if there is an object \(W\), and there is a weak homotopy class from \(W\) to the fiber of \(P\) so that the lift \(B \rightarrow X\) exists if and only if the map from \(W\) to the fiber is weakly null-homotopic. They also require such an obstruction class to be functional in \(p\). The main results of the paper, in section 7, classify cofibrations which have obstruction theories with respect to all fibrations. As expected, there are many technical points, but the paper is well-written and includes, with the last section, many interesting examples.

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