English

Central H-spaces and banded types

Algebraic Topology 2025-04-28 v3 Logic in Computer Science Logic

Abstract

We introduce and study central types, which are generalizations of Eilenberg-Mac Lane spaces. A type is central when it is equivalent to the component of the identity among its own self-equivalences. From centrality alone we construct an infinite delooping in terms of a tensor product of banded types, which are the appropriate notion of torsor for a central type. Our constructions are carried out in homotopy type theory, and therefore hold in any \infty-topos. Even when interpreted into the \infty-topos of spaces, our approach to constructing these deloopings is new. Along the way, we further develop the theory of H-spaces in homotopy type theory, including their relation to evaluation fibrations and Whitehead products. These considerations let us, for example, rule out the existence of H-space structures on the 2n2n-sphere for n>0n > 0. We also give a novel description of the moduli space of H-space structures on an H-space. Using this description, we generalize a formula of Arkowitz-Curjel and Copeland for counting the number of path components of this moduli space. As an application, we deduce that the moduli space of H-space structures on the 33-sphere is Ω6S3\Omega^6 \mathbb{S}^3.

Keywords

Cite

@article{arxiv.2301.02636,
  title  = {Central H-spaces and banded types},
  author = {Ulrik Buchholtz and J. Daniel Christensen and Jarl G. Taxerås Flaten and Egbert Rijke},
  journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2301.02636},
  year   = {2025}
}

Comments

v1: 22 pages; v2: 25 pages, with many improvements and additions; v3: 27 pages, accepted version to appear in JPAA

R2 v1 2026-06-28T08:05:25.001Z