An equivalent condition for a uniform space to be coverable

We prove that an equivalent condition for a uniform space to be coverable is that the images of the natural projections in the fundamental inverse system are uniformly open in a certain sense. As corollaries we (1) obtain a concrete way to find covering entourage, (2) correct an error in [V. Berestovskii, C. Plaut, Uniform universal covers of uniform spaces, Topology Appl. 154 (2007) 1748-1777], and (3) show that coverability is equivalent to chain connectedness and uniform joinability in the sense of [N. Brodskiy, J. Dydak, B. Labuz, A. Mitra, Rips complexes and universal covers in the uniform category, preprint arXiv:0706.3937.     

Generalized uniform covering maps relative to subgroups

In “Rips complexes and covers in the uniform category” (Brodskiy et al., preprint [4]) the authors define, following James (1990) [5], covering maps of uniform spaces and introduce the concept of generalized uniform covering maps. Conditions for the existence of universal uniform covering maps and generalized uniform covering maps are given. This paper extends these results by investigating the existence of these covering maps relative to subgroups of the uniform fundamental group and the fundamental group of the base space.     

On the homotopy groups of separable metric spaces

The aim of this paper is to discuss the homotopy properties of locally well-behaved spaces. First, we state a nerve theorem. It gives sufficient conditions under which there is a weak n-equivalence between the nerve of a good cover and its underlying space. Then we conclude that for any (n−1)-connected, locally (n−1)-connected compact metric space X which is also n-semilocally simply connected, the nth homotopy group of X, πn(X), is finitely presented. This result allows us to provide a new proof for a generalization of Shelah?s theorem (Shelah, 1988 [18]) to higher homotopy groups (Ghane and Hamed, 2009 [8]). Also, we clarify the relationship between two homotopy properties of a topological space X, the property of being n-homotopically Hausdorff and the property of being n-semilocally simply connected. Further, we give a way to recognize a nullhomotopic 2-loop in 2-dimensional spaces. This result will involve the concept of generalized dendrite which introduce here. Finally, we prove that each 2-loop is homotopic to a reduced 2-loop.     

Local connectedness and extension of uniformly continuous functions

A metric space X is straight if for each finite cover of X by closed sets, and for each real valued function f on X, if f is uniformly continuous on each set of the cover, then f is uniformly continuous on the whole of X. The straight spaces have been studied in [A. Berarducci, D. Dikranjan, J. Pelant, An additivity theorem for uniformly continuous functions, Topology and its Applications 146-147 (2005) 339-352], which contains characterization of the straight spaces within the class of the locally connected spaces (they are the uniformly locally connected ones) and the class of the totally disconnected spaces (they coincide with the totally disconnected Atsuji spaces). We show that the completion of a straight space is straight and we characterize the dense straight subspaces of a straight space. In order to clarify further the relation between straightness and the level of local connectedness of the space we introduce two more intermediate properties between straightness and uniform local connectedness and we give various examples to distinguish them. One of these properties coincides with straightness for complete spaces and provides in this way a useful characterization of complete straight spaces in terms of the behaviour of the quasi-components of the space.     

On the fundamental groups of one-dimensional spaces

We study here a number of questions raised by examining the fundamental groups of complicated one-dimensional spaces. The first half of the paper considers one-dimensional spaces as such. The second half proves related results for general spaces that are needed in the first half but have independent interest. Among the results we prove are the theorem that the fundamental group of a separable, connected, locally path connected, one-dimensional metric space is free if and only if it is countable if and only if the space has a universal cover and the theorem that the fundamental group of a compact, one-dimensional, connected metric space embeds in an inverse limit of finitely generated free groups and is shape injective.     

Hyperbolic spaces at large primes and a conjecture of Moore

A simply connected finite complex X is called elliptic if its rational homotopy Lie algebra is of finite dimension and hyperbolic otherwise. According to a conjecture of Moore, there exists an exponent for the p-torsion part of if and only if X is elliptic. In this note, it is shown that, provided the prime p is sufficiently large, a hyperbolic space with p-torsion free loop space homology has no exponent in the p-torsion of the homotopy groups. For a class of formal spaces, this result is obtained for every odd prime.     

Fundamental groups and finite sheeted coverings

It is well known that for a connected locally path-connected semi-locally 1-connected space X, there exists a bi-unique correspondence between the pointed d-fold connected coverings and the transitive representations of the fundamental group of X in the symmetric group Σ_d of degree d.The classification problem becomes more difficult if X is a more general space, particularly if X is not locally connected. In attempt to solve the problem for general spaces, several notions of coverings have been introduced, for example, those given by Lubkin or by Fox. On the other hand, different notions of ‘fundamental group’ have appeared in the mathematical literature, for instance, the Brown-Grossman-Quigley fundamental group, the ?ech-Borsuk fundamental group, the Steenrod-Quigley fundamental group, the fundamental profinite group or the fundamental localic group.The main result of this paper determines different ‘fundamental groups’ that can be used to classify pointed finite sheeted connected coverings of a given space X depending on topological properties of X.     

Approximate extension property of mappings

The extension problem is to determine the extendability of a mapping defined on a closed subset of a space into a nice space such as a CW complex over the whole space. In this paper, we consider the extension problem when the codomains are general spaces. We take a shape theoretic approach to generalize the extension theory so that the codomains are allowed to be general spaces. We extend the notion of extension type which has been defined for the class of CW complexes and introduce the notion of approximate extension type which is defined for general spaces. We define approximate extension dimension analogously to extension dimension, replacing the class of CW complexes by the class of finitistic separable metrizable spaces. For every metrizable space X, we show the existence of approximate extension dimension of X.     

Rational homotopy theory for non-simply connected spaces

We construct an algebraic rational homotopy theory for all connected CW spaces (with arbitrary fundamental group) whose universal cover is rationally of finite type. This construction extends the classical theory in the simply connected case and has two basic properties: (1) it induces a natural equivalence of the corresponding homotopy category to the homotopy category of spaces whose universal cover is rational and of finite type and (2) in the algebraic category, homotopy equivalences are isomorphisms. This algebraisation introduces a new homotopy invariant: a rational vector bundle with a distinguished class of linear connections.

     

A note on spaces with a countable μ-base

In topological spaces every normal space with a countable base is metacompact. We show that this is not necessarily true in generalized topological spaces; more exactly we give an example of a μ-normal space with a countable μ-base which has a μ-open cover with no μ-open point-finite refinement.     

Exactness of homotopy functors of spaces

We will provide an analysis of the generalized Atiyah-Hirzebruch spectral sequence (GAHSS), which was introduced by Hakim-Hashemi and Kahn. To do so, we introduce a new class of functors, called n-exact functors, which are analogous to Goodwillie’s n-excisive functors. In the study of these functors, we introduce a new spectral sequence, the homological Barratt-Goerss spectral sequence (HBGSS), which has properties similar to those of the classical Barratt-Goerss Spectral Sequence on homotopy. We close by giving an identification of the E² term of the GAHSS in the case of 2-exact functors on Moore spaces.     

Separated Lie models and the homotopy Lie algebra

A simply connected topological space X has homotopy Lie algebra π_∗(ΩX)⊗Q. Following Quillen, there is a connected differential graded free Lie algebra (dgL) called a Lie model, which determines the rational homotopy type of X, and whose homology is isomorphic to the homotopy Lie algebra. We show that such a Lie model can be replaced with one that has a special property that we call being separated. The homology of a separated dgL has a particular form which lends itself to calculations.     

Cohomology rings of multiplicative fibrations

Let p be an odd prime. Let be the fibre space induced from an H-map where K is a generalized Eilenberg MacLane space and X is a simply connected H-space. Such spaces occur frequently in Postnikov towers and connective covers. In this paper, we compute the mod p cohomology of as a ring. The ring depends on the structure of imf^* and the structure of subkerf^* as modules over the Steenrod algebra.     

Loop coproducts in string topology and triviality of higher genus TQFT operations

Cohen and Godin constructed a positive boundary topological quantum field theory (TQFT) structure on the homology of free loop spaces of oriented closed smooth manifolds by associating certain operations called string operations to orientable surfaces with parametrized boundaries. We show that all TQFT string operations associated to surfaces of genus at least one vanish identically. This is a simple consequence of properties of the loop coproduct which will be discussed in detail. One interesting property is that the loop coproduct is nontrivial only on the degree d homology group of the connected component of LM consisting of contractible loops, where d=dimM, with values in the degree 0 homology group of constant loops. Thus the loop coproduct behaves in a dramatically simpler way than the loop product.     

Configuration spaces are not homotopy invariant

We present a counterexample to the conjecture on the homotopy invariance of configuration spaces. More precisely, we consider the lens spaces L_7,1 and L_7,2, and prove that their configuration spaces are not homotopy equivalent by showing that their universal coverings have different Massey products.     

On countable connected locally connected almost regular Urysohn spaces

We construct connected, locally connected, almost regular, countable, Urysohn spaces. This answers a problem of G.X. Ritter. We show that there are 2^c such non-homeomorphic spaces. We also show that there are 2^c non-homeomorphic spaces which are further rigid. We discuss the group of homeomorphisms of such spaces.The following question was raised by G.X. Ritter: Does there exist a countable connected locally connected Urysohn space which is almost regular? We answer this question in the affirmative and in fact, show that not only are there as many as 2^c such spaces but that there are just as many rigid spaces with the same properties. Furthermore we show that every countable Urysohn space is a subspace of such a space. We also prove that every countable group is isomorphic to the group of autohomeomorphisms of some connected locally connected almost regular Urysohn space. Examples are given of groups of order c which can be represented in this manner.     

Dimension zero at all scales

We consider the notion of dimension in four categories: the category of (unbounded) separable metric spaces and (metrically proper) Lipschitz maps, and the category of (unbounded) separable metric spaces and (metrically proper) uniform maps. A unified treatment is given to the large scale dimension and the small scale dimension. We show that in all categories a space has dimension zero if and only if it is equivalent to an ultrametric space. Also, 0-dimensional spaces are characterized by means of retractions to subspaces. There is a universal zero-dimensional space in all categories. In the Lipschitz Category spaces of dimension zero are characterized by means of extensions of maps to the unit 0-sphere. Any countable group of asymptotic dimension zero is coarsely equivalent to a direct sum of cyclic groups. We construct uncountably many examples of coarsely inequivalent ultrametric spaces.     

Amenability,locally finite spaces,and bi-lipschitz embeddings

We define the isoperimetric constant for any locally finite metric space and we study the property of having isoperimetric constant equal to zero. This property, called Small Neighborhood property, clearly extends amenability to any locally finite space. Therefore, we start making a comparison between this property and other notions of amenability for locally finite metric spaces that have been proposed by Gromov, Lafontaine and Pansu, by Ceccherini-Silberstein, Grigorchuk and de la Harpe and by Block and Weinberger. We discuss possible applications of the property SN in the study of embedding a metric space into another one. In particular, we propose three results: we prove that a certain class of metric graphs that are isometrically embeddable into Hilbert spaces must have the property SN. We also show, by a simple example, that this result is not true replacing property SN with amenability. As a second result, we prove that many spaces with uniform bounded geometry having a bi-lipschitz embedding into Euclidean spaces must have the property SN. Finally, we prove a Bourgain-like theorem for metric trees: a metric tree with uniform bounded geometry and without property SN does not have bi-lipschitz embeddings into finite-dimensional Hilbert spaces.