Applications of combinatorial groups to Hopf invariant and the exponent problem

Combinatorial groups together with the groups of natural coalgebra transformations of tensor algebras are linked to the groups of homotopy classes of maps from the James construction to a loop space. This connection gives rise to applications to homotopy theory. The Hopf invariants of the Whitehead products are studied and a rate of exponent growth for the strong version of the Barratt Conjecture is given.Comment: This is the version published by Algebraic & Geometric Topology on 29 November 200

Homotopy type of symplectomorphism groups of S^2 X S^2

In this paper we discuss the topology of the symplectomorphism group of a product of two 2-dimensional spheres when the ratio of their areas lies in the interval (1,2]. More precisely we compute the homotopy type of this symplectomorphism group and we also show that the group contains two finite dimensional Lie groups generating the homotopy. A key step in this work is to calculate the mod 2 homology of the group of symplectomorphisms. Although this homology has a finite number of generators with respect to the Pontryagin product, it is unexpected large containing in particular a free noncommutative ring with 3 generators.Comment: Published in Geometry and Topology at http://www.maths.warwick.ac.uk/gt/GTVol6/paper7.abs.htm

Pre-quantization of the Moduli Space of Flat G-Bundles over a Surface

For a simply connected, compact, simple Lie group G, the moduli space of flat G-bundles over a closed surface is known to be pre-quantizable at integer levels. For non-simply connected G, however, integrality of the level is not sufficient for pre-quantization, and this paper determines the obstruction -- namely a certain cohomology class in H^3(G^2;Z) -- that places further restrictions on the underlying level. The levels that admit a pre-quantization of the moduli space are determined explicitly for all non-simply connected, compact, simple Lie groups G.Comment: 28 pages, 1 table, new version contains minor corrections, to be published in Journal of Geometry and Physic

The homotopy type of the loops on (n−1)(n-1)-connected (2n+1)(2n+1)-manifolds

For $n\geq 2$ we compute the homotopy groups of $(n-1)$-connected closed manifolds of dimension $(2n+1)$. Away from the finite set of primes dividing the order of the torsion subgroup in homology, the $p$-local homotopy groups of $M$ are determined by the rank of the free Abelian part of the homology. Moreover, we show that these $p$-local homotopy groups can be expressed as a direct sum of $p$-local homotopy groups of spheres. The integral homotopy type of the loop space is also computed and shown to depend only on the rank of the free Abelian part and the torsion subgroup.Comment: Trends in Algebraic Topology and Related Topics, Trends Math., Birkhauser/Springer, 2018. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1510.0519