Homotopy over and under
We prove that all groups can be realized as fundamental groups of compact spaces if and only if no measurable cardinals exist. If the cardinality of a group G is nonmeasurable then the compact space K such that G = π₁K may be chosen so that it is path connected.
Let 𝒜 be a fixed collection of spaces, and suppose K is a nilpotent space that can be built from spaces in 𝒜 by a succession of cofiber sequences. We show that, under mild conditions on the collection 𝒜, it is possible to construct K from spaces in 𝒜 using, instead, homotopy (inverse) limits and extensions by fibrations. One consequence is that if K is a nilpotent finite complex, then ΩK can be built from finite wedges of spheres using homotopy limits and extensions by fibrations. This is applied...
This is the first part of a paper that classifies 2-compact groups. In this first part we formulate a general classification scheme for 2-compact groups in terms of their maximal torus normalizer pairs. We apply this general classification procedure to the simple 2-compact groups of the A-family and show that any simple 2-compact group that is locally isomorphic to PGL(n+1,ℂ) is uniquely N-determined. Thus there are no other 2-compact groups in the A-family than the ones we already know. We also...