Cochain model for thickenings and its application to rational LS-category

A thickening of a finite CW-complex X is by definition a compact manifold M of the same simple homotopy type as X. We give a model for the cochain complex of the boundary of that manifold, C ^*(δM), as a module over the cochain algebra C ^*(X). We also show how to construct an algebraic model of the rational homotopy type of δC ^*(M) from a model of X. Using this rational model, we prove a new formula for the rational Lusternik–Schnirelmann category of X. Received: 24 September 1999