Diagrams and the second homotopy group

DOI10.4310/CAG.2005.V13.N4.A7MaRDI QIDQ819554zbMATH OpenOpenAlexFDO

Authors Max Forester, Colin Rourke

Publication date 29 March 2006

Published in Communications in Analysis and Geometry (Search for Journal in Brave)

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/math/0306088

zbMATH Keywords

second homotopy group

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Fundamental groups and their automorphisms (group-theoretic aspects) (20F34) Homotopy groups of wedges, joins, and simple spaces (55Q20)

Abstract: We use Klyachko's methods [A funny property of sphere and equations over groups, Comm. in Alg. 21 (1993) 2555--2575] (see also Fenn-Rourke, L'Enseignment Math. 42 (1996) 49--74 and math.GR/9810184 and Cohen-Rourke, math.GR/0009101) to prove that, if a 1-cell and a 2-cell are added to a complex with torsion-free fundamental group, and with the 2-cell attached by an amenable t-shape, then pi_2 changes by extension of scalars. It then follows using a result of Bogley and Pride, Proc. Edinburgh Math. Soc. 35 (1992) 1--39, that the resulting fundamental group is also torsion free. We also prove that the normal closure of the attaching word contains no words of smaller complexity.

Review text

An old conjecture of \textit{J. H. C. Whitehead} [Ann. Math. 42, 409--428 (1941; JFM 67.0738.04)] asks if \(K\) is a 2-dimensional connected \(CW\)-complex with non-zero \(\pi_2\), and \(L\) is formed by adding cells of dimension \(\leq 2\), then is \(\pi_2(L)\) nonzero? This is still unsolved. A more general problem asks to give a description of \(\pi_2(L)\) in terms of \(\pi_2(K)\). Suppose \(L+K\cup e^1\cup e^2\), \(t\) is the new generator determined by \(e^1\), and the attaching map for \(e^2\) represents a word \(w\) in \(\pi_1(K)*\langle t\rangle\). Under the two assumptions (1) \(\pi_1(K)\) is torsion-free and (more technical) (2) the \(t\)-shape of \(w\) is amenable, the authors succeed in proving that there is a \(\mathbb Z\pi_1(L)\) module isomorphism between \(\pi_2(L)\) and \(\mathbb Z\pi_1(L)\otimes_{\mathbb Z_{\pi_1(K)}}\pi_2(K)\). They also give interesting examples to show that the two hypotheses (1) and (2) are both necessary.

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Cited in

(5)

• Free simplicial groups and the second relative homotopy group of an adjunction space
• Relative hyperbolicity and similar properties of one-generator one-relator relative presentations with powered unimodular relator.
• Howie diagrams and complexes of groups
• Commutator length of powers in free products of groups
• Diagram groups and directed 2-complexes: homotopy and homology.

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