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We define a second (higher) homotopy group for digital images. Namely, we construct a functor from digital images to abelian groups, which closely resembles the ordinary second homotopy group from algebraic topology. We illustrate that our approach can be effective by computing this (digital) second homotopy group for a digital 2-sphere., Comment: 32 pages, 10 figures

We show a Gottlieb element in the rational homotopy of a simply connected space $X$ implies a structural result for the Sullivan minimal model, with different results depending on parity. In the even-degree case, we prove a rational Gottlieb element is a terminal homotopy element. This fact allows us to complete an argument of Dupont to prove an even-degree Gottlieb element gives a free factor in the rational cohomology of a formal space of finite type. We apply the odd-degree result to affirm a special case of the $2N$-conjecture on Gottlieb elements of a finite complex. We combine our results to make a contribution to the realization problem for the classifying space $B\mathrm{aut}_1(X)$. We prove a simply connected space $X$ satisfying $B\mathrm{aut}_1(X_{\mathbb{Q}}) \simeq S_{\mathbb{Q}}^{2n}$ must have infinite-dimensional rational homotopy and vanishing rational Gottlieb elements above degree $2n-1$ for $n= 1, 2, 3.$

Various concepts and constructions in homotopy theory have been defined in the digital setting. Although there have been several attempts at a definition of a fibration in the digital setting, robust examples of these digital fibrations are few and far between. In this paper, we develop a digital Hopf fibration within the category of tolerance spaces. By widening our category to that of tolerance spaces, we are able to give a construction of this digital Hopf fibration which mimics the smooth setting.

Let $X$ be a simply connected space with finite-dimensional rational homotopy groups. Let $p_\infty \colon UE \to \mathrm{Baut}_1(X)$ be the universal fibration of simply connected spaces with fibre $X$. We give a DG Lie model for the evaluation map $ \omega \colon \mathrm{aut}_1(\mathrm{Baut}_1(X_{\mathbb Q})) \to \mathrm{Baut}_1(X_{\mathbb Q})$ expressed in terms of derivations of the relative Sullivan model of $p_\infty$. We deduce formulas for the rational Gottlieb group and for the evaluation subgroups of the classifying space $\mathrm{Baut}_1(X_{\mathbb Q})$ as a consequence. We also prove that ${\mathbb C} P^n_{\mathbb Q}$ cannot be realized as $\mathrm{Baut}_1(X_{\mathbb Q})$ for $n \leq 4$ and $X$ with finite-dimensional rational homotopy groups., Comment: 15 pages

In previous work, we have defined---intrinsically, entirely within the digital setting---a fundamental group for digital images. Here, we show that this group is isomorphic to the edge group of the clique complex of the digital image considered as a graph. The clique complex is a simplicial complex and its edge group is well-known to be isomorphic to the ordinary (topological) fundamental group of its geometric realization. This identification of our intrinsic digital fundamental group with a topological fundamental group---extrinsic to the digital setting---means that many familiar facts about the ordinary fundamental group may be translated into their counterparts for the digital fundamental group: The digital fundamental group of any digital circle is $\mathbb{Z}$; a version of the Seifert-van Kampen Theorem holds for our digital fundamental group; every finitely presented group occurs as the (digital) fundamental group of some digital image. We also show that the (digital) fundamental group of every 2D digital image is a free group., Comment: 32 pages, 4 figures

We define a fundamental group for digital images. Namely, we construct a functor from digital images to groups, which closely resembles the ordinary fundamental group from algebraic topology. Our construction differs in several basic ways from previously established versions of a fundamental group in the digital setting. Our development gives a prominent role to subdivision of digital images. We show that our fundamental group is preserved by subdivision., Comment: 47 pages, 2 figures

With a view towards providing tools for analyzing and understanding digitized images, various notions from algebraic topology have been introduced into the setting of digital topology. In the ordinary topological setting, invariants such as the fundamental group are invariants of homotopy type. In the digital setting, however, the usual notion of homotopy leads to a very rigid invariance that does not correspond well with the topological notion of homotopy invariance. In this paper, we establish fundamental results about subdivision of maps of digital images with $1$- or $2$-dimensional domains. Our results lay the groundwork for showing that the digital fundamental group is an invariant of a much less rigid equivalence relation on digital images, that is more akin to the topological notion of homotopy invariance. Our results also lay the groundwork for defining other invariants of digital images in a way that makes them invariants of this less rigid equivalence., Comment: 40 pages, 14 figures

Digital topology is part of the ongoing endeavour to understand and analyze digitized images. With a view to supporting this endeavour, many notions from algebraic topology have been introduced into the setting of digital topology. But some of the most basic notions from homotopy theory remain largely absent from the digital topology literature. We embark on a development of homotopy theory in digital topology, and define such fundamental notions as function spaces, path spaces, and cofibrations in this setting. We establish digital analogues of basic homotopy-theoretic properties such as the homotopy extension property for cofibrations, and the homotopy lifting property for certain evaluation maps that correspond to path fibrations in the topological setting. We indicate that some depth may be achieved by using these homotopy-theoretic notions to give a preliminary treatment of Lusternik-Schnirelmann category in the digital topology setting. This topic provides a connection between digital topology and critical points of functions on manifolds, as well as other topics from topological dynamics., Comment: 45 pages, 2 figures

This paper explores the relation between the structure of fibre bundles akin to those associated to a closed almost nonnegatively sectionally curved manifold and rational homotopy theory., Comment: 26 pages; comments are welcome!

In arXiv:1711.10132 a new approximating invariant ${\mathsf{TC}}^{\mathcal{D}}$ for topological complexity was introduced called $\mathcal{D}$-topological complexity. In this paper, we explore more fully the properties of ${\mathsf{TC}}^{\mathcal{D}}$ and the connections between ${\mathsf{TC}}^{\mathcal{D}}$ and invariants of Lusternik-Schnirelmann type. We also introduce a new $\mathsf{TC}$-type invariant $\widetilde{\mathsf{TC}}$ that can be used to give an upper bound for $\mathsf{TC}$, $$\mathsf{TC}(X)\le {\mathsf{TC}}^{\mathcal{D}}(X) + \left\lceil \frac{2\dim X -k}{k+1}\right\rceil,$$ where $X$ is a finite dimensional simplicial complex with $k$-connected universal cover $\tilde X$. The above inequality is a refinement of an estimate given by Dranishnikov., Comment: 20 pages

In this paper we study the topological invariant ${\sf {TC}}(X)$ reflecting the complexity of algorithms for autonomous robot motion. Here, $X$ stands for the configuration space of a system and ${\sf {TC}}(X)$ is, roughly, the minimal number of continuous rules which are needed to construct a motion planning algorithm in $X$. We focus on the case when the space $X$ is aspherical; then the number ${\sf TC}(X)$ depends only on the fundamental group $\pi=\pi_1(X)$ and we denote it ${\sf TC}(\pi)$. We prove that ${\sf TC}(\pi)$ can be characterised as the smallest integer $k$ such that the canonical $\pi\times\pi$-equivariant map of classifying spaces $$E(\pi\times\pi) \to E_{\mathcal D}(\pi\times\pi)$$ can be equivariantly deformed into the $k$-dimensional skeleton of $E_{\mathcal D}(\pi\times\pi)$. The symbol $E(\pi\times\pi)$ denotes the classifying space for free actions and $E_{\mathcal D}(\pi\times\pi)$ denotes the classifying space for actions with isotropy in a certain family $\mathcal D$ of subgroups of $\pi\times\pi$. Using this result we show how one can estimate ${\sf TC}(\pi)$ in terms of the equivariant Bredon cohomology theory. We prove that ${\sf TC}(\pi) \le \max\{3, {\rm cd}_{\mathcal D}(\pi\times\pi)\},$ where ${\rm cd}_{\mathcal D}(\pi\times\pi)$ denotes the cohomological dimension of $\pi\times\pi$ with respect to the family of subgroups $\mathcal D$. We also introduce a Bredon cohomology refinement of the canonical class and prove its universality. Finally we show that for a large class of principal groups (which includes all torsion free hyperbolic groups as well as all torsion free nilpotent groups) the essential cohomology classes in the sense of Farber and Mescher are exactly the classes having Bredon cohomology extensions with respect to the family $\mathcal D$., Comment: This revision contains a few additional comments, among them is Corollary 3.5.4

We prove that the sectional category of the universal fibration with fibre X, for X any space that satisfies a well-known conjecture of Halperin, equals one after rationalization., Comment: 7 pages

We show how certain topological properties of co-K\"ahler manifolds derive from those of the K\"ahler manifolds which construct them. In particular, we show that the existence of parallel forms on a co-K\"ahler manifold reduces the computation of cohomology from the de Rham complex to certain amenable sub-cdga's defined by geometrically natural operators derived from the co-K\"ahler structure. This provides a simpler proof of the formality of the foliation minimal model in this context., Comment: 10 pages, no figures. Previously a part of arXiv:1311.5675

Which spaces occur as a classifying space for fibrations with a given fibre? We address this question in the context of rational homotopy theory. We construct an infinite family of finite complexes realized (up to rational homotopy) as classifying spaces. We also give several non-realization results, including the following: the rational homotopy types of $\mathbb{C}P^2$ and $S^4$ are not realized as the classifying space of any simply connected, rational space with finite-dimensional homotopy groups., Comment: 14 pages

We give new lower bounds for the (higher) topological complexity of a space, in terms of the Lusternik-Schnirelmann category of a certain auxiliary space. We also give new lower bounds for the rational topological complexity of a space, and more generally for the rational sectional category of a map, in terms of the rational category of a certain auxiliary space. We use our results to deduce consequences for the global (rational) homotopy structure of simply connected, hyperbolic finite complexes., Comment: 22 pages

We show how certain topological properties of co-K{\"a}hler manifolds derive from those of the K\"ahler manifolds which construct them. We go beyond Betti number results and describe the cohomology algebra structure of co-K\"ahler manifolds. As a consequence, we prove that co-K\"ahler manifolds satisfy the Toral Rank Conjecture: $\dim(H^*(M;\mathbb{Q})) \geq 2^r$, for any $r$-torus $T^r$ which acts almost freely on $M$., Comment: 17 pages. Section 4 of the previous version taken out, now contained in arXiv:1609.07880

We show that the topological complexity of an aspherical space $X$ is bounded below by the cohomological dimension of the direct product $A\times B$, whenever $A$ and $B$ are subgroups of $\pi_1(X)$ whose conjugates intersect trivially. For instance, this assumption is satisfied whenever $A$ and $B$ are complementary subgroups of $\pi_1(X)$. This gives computable lower bounds for the topological complexity of many groups of interest (including semidirect products, pure braid groups, certain link groups, and Higman's acyclic four-generator group), which in some cases improve upon the standard lower bounds in terms of zero-divisors cup-length. Our results illustrate an intimate relationship between the topological complexity of an aspherical space and the subgroup structure of its fundamental group., Comment: 15 pages, 4 figures

We analyze the Gottlieb groups of function spaces. Our results lead to explicit decompositions of the Gottlieb groups of many function spaces map(X,Y)---including the (iterated) free loop space of Y---directly in terms of the Gottlieb groups of Y. More generally, we give explicit decompositions of the generalized Gottlieb groups of map(X,Y) directly in terms of generalized Gottlieb groups of Y. Particular cases of our results relate to the torus homotopy groups of Fox. We draw some consequences for the classification of T-spaces and G-spaces. For X, Y finite and Y simply connected, we give a formula for the ranks of the Gottlieb groups of map(X,Y) in terms of the Betti numbers of X and the ranks of the Gottlieb groups of Y. Under these hypotheses, the Gottlieb groups of map(X,Y) are finite groups in all but finitely many degrees., Comment: 18 pages

We prove fibrewise versions of classical theorems of Hopf and Leray-Samelson. Our results imply the fibrewise H-triviality after rationalization of a certain class of fibrewise H-spaces. They apply, in particular, to universal adjoint bundles. From this, we may retrieve a result of Crabb and Sutherland [Proc. London Math. Soc. (2000), 747-768], which is used there as a crucial step in establishing their main finiteness result., Comment: 21 pages

We prove that a space whose topological complexity equals 1 is homotopy equivalent to some odd-dimensional sphere. We prove a similar result, although not in complete generality, for spaces X whose higher topological complexity TC_n(X) is as low as possible, namely n-1., Comment: 9 pages

Let X be a (not-necessarily homotopy-associative) H-space. We show that TC_{n+1}(X) = cat(X^n), for n >= 1, where TC_{n+1}(-) denotes the so-called higher topological complexity introduced by Rudyak, and cat(-) denotes the Lusternik-Schnirelmann category. We also generalize this equality to an inequality, which gives an upper bound for TC_{n+1}(X), in the setting of a space Y acting on X., Comment: 11 pages

Let Aut(p) denote the topological monoid of self-fibre-homotopy equivalences of a fibration p:E\to B. We make a general study of this monoid, especially in rational homotopy theory. When E and B are simply connected CW complexes with E finite, we identify the rational Samelson Lie algebra of the identity component of Aut(p) as the homology of a certain DG Lie algebra of derivations arising from the Koszul-Sullivan model of p. We obtain related identifications for the rational homotopy groups of fibrewise mapping spaces and for the rationalization of a natural nilpotent subgroup of Aut(p)., Comment: 27 pages

We study Whitehead products in the rational homotopy groups of a general component of a function space. For the component of any based map f: X \to Y, in either the based or free function space, our main results express the Whitehead product directly in terms of the Quillen minimal model of f. These results follow from a purely algebraic development in the setting of chain complexes of derivations of differential graded Lie algebras, which is of interest in its own right. We apply the results to study the Whitehead length of function space components., Comment: 24 pages

We give a general method that may be effectively applied to the question of whether two components of a function space have the same homotopy type. We describe certain group-like actions on function spaces. Our basic results assert that if two maps are in the same orbit under such an action, then the components of the function space that contain these maps have the same homotopy type., Comment: 13 pages

Given a fibration of simply connected CW complexes of finite type, we study the evaluation subgroup of the fibre inclusion as an invariant of fibre-homotopy type. For spherical fibrations, we show the evaluation subgroup may be expressed as an extension of the Gottlieb group of the fibre sphere provided the classifying map induces the trivial map on homotopy groups. We extend this result after rationalization: We show that the rationalized evaluation subgroup of the fibre inclusion decomposes as the direct sum of the rationalized Gottlieb group of the fibre and the rationalized homotopy group of the base if and only if the classifying map induces the trivial map on rational homotopy groups., Comment: 15 pages

Let E be an H-space acting on a based space X. Then we refer to ev: E -> X, the map obtained by acting on the base point of X, as a ``generalized evaluation map." We establish several fundamental results about the rational homotopy behaviour of a generalized evaluation map, all of which apply to the usual evaluation map Map(X,X;1)->X. With mild hypotheses on X, we show that a generalized evaluation map ev factors, up to rational homotopy, through a map Gamma_ev: S_ev -> X where S_ev is a (relatively small) finite product of odd-dimensional spheres and the map induced by Gamma_ev on rational homotopy groups is injective. This result has strong consequences: if the image in rational homotopy groups of ev is trivial, then the generalized evaluation map is null-homotopic after rationalization; unless X satisfies a very strong splitting condition, any generalized evaluation map induces the trivial homomorphism in rational cohomology; the map Gamma_ev is rationally a homotopy monomorphism and a generalized evaluation map may be written as a composition of a homotopy epimorphism and this homotopy monomorphism. We include illustrative examples and prove numerous subsidiary results of interest., Comment: 25 pages, AMSLaTeX2e

An action of A on X is a map F: AxX to X such that F|_X = id: X to X. The restriction F|_A: A to X of an action is called a cyclic map. Special cases of these notions include group actions and the Gottlieb groups of a space, each of which has been studied extensively. We prove some general results about actions and their Eckmann-Hilton duals. For instance, we classify the actions on an H-space that are compatible with the H-structure. As a corollary, we prove that if any two actions F and F' of A on X have cyclic maps f and f' with Omega(f) = Omega(f'), then Omega(F) and Omega(F') give the same action of Omega(A) on Omega(X). We introduce a new notion of the category of a map g and prove that g is cocyclic if and only if the category is less than or equal to 1. From this we conclude that if g is cocyclic, then the Berstein-Ganea category of g is <= 1. We also briefly discuss the relationship between a map being cyclic and its cocategory being <= 1., Comment: 16 pages, LaTeX 2e

Let $A$ be a unital commutative Banach algebra with maximal ideal space $X.$ We determine the rational H-type of the group $GL_n (A)$ of invertible n by n matrices with coefficients in A, in terms of the rational cohomology of $X.$ We also address an old problem of J. L. Taylor. Let $Lc_n (A)$ denote the space of "last columns" of $GL_n (A).$ For $n > 1 + s/2,$ we construct a natural isomorphism from the rational Cech cohomology group $H^s (X; Q)$ to the rational homotopy group $\pi_{2 n - 1 - s} (Lc_n (A)) \otimes Q,$ which shows that the rational cohomology groups of $X$ are determined by a topological invariant associated to $A.$ As part of our analysis, we determine the rational H-type of certain gauge groups $F (X, G)$ for $G$ a Lie group or, more generally, a rational H-space., Comment: 29 pages, AMSLaTeX2e, uses xypic. Version 2 contains various minor corrections and improvements (including additional references), and is to appear in Trans. AMS

We compute the rank of the fundamental group of an arbitrary connected component of the space map(X, Y) for X and Y nilpotent CW complexes with X finite. For the general component corresponding to a homotopy class f : X --> Y, we give a formula directly computable from the Sullivan model for f. For the component of the constant map, our formula expresses the rank in terms of classical invariants of X and Y. Among other applications and calculations, we obtain the following: Let G be a compact simple Lie group with maximal torus T^n. Then the fundamental group of map(S^2, G/T^n; f) is a finite group if and only if f: S^2 --> G/T^n is essential.

Let w: Map(X,Y;f) -> Y denote a general evaluation fibration. Working in the setting of rational homotopy theory via differential graded Lie algebras, we identify the long exact sequence induced on rational homotopy groups by w in terms of (generalized) derivation spaces and adjoint maps. As a consequence, we obtain a unified description of the rational homotopy theory of function spaces, at the level of rational homotopy groups, in terms of derivations of Quillen models and adjoints. In particular, as a natural extension of a result of Tanre, we identify the rationalization of the evaluation subgroups of a map f: X -> Y in this setting. As applications, we consider a generalization of a question of Gottlieb, within the context of rational homotopy theory. We also identify the rationalization of the G-sequence of f and make explicit computations of the homology of this sequence. In a separate result of independent interest, we give an explicit Quillen minimal model of a product AxX, in the case in which A is a rational co-H-space., Comment: 33 pages

Let f: X -> Y be a based map of simply connected spaces. The corresponding evaluation map w: map(X,Y;f) -> Y induces a homomorphism of homotopy groups whose image in pi_n(Y) is called the nth evaluation subgroup of f. The nth Gottlieb group of X occurs as the special case in which Y = X and f = 1_X. We identify the homomorphism induced on rational homotopy groups by this evaluation map, in terms of a map of complexes of derivations constructed using Sullivan minimal models. Our identification allows for the characterization of the rationalization of the nth evaluation subgroup of f. It also allows for the identification of several long exact sequences of rational homotopy groups, including the long exact sequence induced on rational homotopy groups by the evaluation fibration. As a consequence, we obtain an identification of the rationalization of the so-called G-sequence of the map f. This is a sequence--in general not exact--of groups and homomorphisms that includes the Gottlieb groups of X and the evaluation subgroups of f. We use these results to study the G-sequence in the context of rational homotopy theory. We give new examples of non-exact G-sequences and uncover a relationship between the homology of the rational G-sequence and negative derivations of rational cohomology. We also relate the splitting of the rational G-sequence of a fibre inclusion to a well-known conjecture in rational homotopy theory., Comment: 34 pages

We prove the toral rank conjecture of Halperin in some new cases. Our results apply to certain elliptic spaces that have a two-stage Sullivan minimal model, and are obtained by combining new lower bounds for the dimension of the cohomology and new upper bounds for the toral rank. The paper concludes with examples and suggestions for future work., Comment: 17 pages, to appear in Math. Proc. Camb. Philos. Soc

The notion of a cyclic map g: A -> X is a natural generalization of a Gottlieb element in pi_n(X). We investigate cyclic maps from a rational homotopy theory point of view. We show a number of results for rationalized cyclic maps which generalize well-known results on the rationalized Gottlieb groups., Comment: 11 pages

We give an explicit formula for the rational category of an elliptic space whose minimal model has a homogeneous-length differential. We also show that for such a space, there are no gaps in the sequence of integers realized as the rational Toomer invariant of some cohomology class. With an additional hypothesis, we show a result from which we deduce the relation dim(H^*(X;Q)) >= 2 cat_0(X).