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For a simplicial group, there is a reduced simplicial set, traditionally denoted and called the classifying space or classifying complex of , which is a model for the delooping of and such that the functor is right adjoint to the standard simplicial loop space-construction (here denoted by to avoid a clash of notations).
This pair of adjoint functors
is a Quillen equivalence (Prop. below) between the model structure on simplicial groups and the model structure on reduced simplicial sets, modelling looping and delooping of homotopy types in simplicial homotopy theory.
The construction generalized from simplicial groups to simplicial groupoids, where the groupoidal is accompanied by a corresponding left adjoint known as the Dwyer-Kan loop groupoid-construction, and together they constitute a Quillen equivalence between then model structure on simplicial groupoids and the classical model structure on simplicial sets, exhibiting simplicial groupoids as an equivalent presentation of classical homotopy theory.
(standard universal principal simplicial complex)
For a simplicial group, one writes
for the the simplicial set whose
underlying sets are
face maps are given by
degeneracy maps are given by
where denotes the respective neutral element.
This carries a -action by left multiplication on the top degree component:
It is the straightforward simplicial incarnation of the left -action (3) that singles out the model (Def. ) for the universal simplicial principal space. For another model with an alternative good property see at groupal model for universal principal simplicial complex.
(standard simplicial classifying complex)
For a simplicial group, its standard simplicial classifying complex is the quotient of (Def. ) by its -action (3)
The corresponding quotient coprojection, whose fiber is, manifestly,
is known as the standard model for the simplicial -universal principal bundle (see below).
This means, under the isomorphism
that the above face maps (1) and degeneracy maps (2) of imply the following structure maps on the simplicial classifying complex:
underlying sets are
face maps are given by:
degeneracy maps are given by:
(This goes back to MacLane 1954, p. 3, Kan 1958, Def. 10.3; the above follows Goerss & Jardine 1999/2009, p. 269.)
More generally:
For a Dwyer-Kan simplicial groupoid, is the simplicial set with
set of vertices (0-cells) equal to the set of objects of ,
set of -simplices for equal to sequences of morphisms of the form
where
(décalage)
Conversely, comparison of Def. with Def. shows that is obtained from by shifting down in degree and discarding the 0th face- and degeneracy maps:
One refers to this relation as saying that is the décalage of , in the form
See the example there.
(low-dimension cells of )
Unwinding the definition of the face maps (1), one finds that the generic 1-simplex in (Def. ) looks as follows:
while the generic 2-simplex in looks as follows:
(simplicial classifying space of an ordinary group)
In the special case that
is an ordinary discrete group regarded as a simplicial group (which is constant as a functor on the opposite simplex category) the definitions in Def. reduce as follows:
The simplicial set is that whose
underlying sets are
face maps are given by
degeneracy maps are given by
This identifies
with the nerve of the action groupoid of acting on itself by right multiplication (isomorphic to the pair groupoid on the underlying set of ):
Finally this means that the simplicial classifying complex (4) of an ordinary group is isomorphic to the nerve of its delooping groupoid:
Equivalently, is the following composite functor:
(Stevenson 11, Lemma 15 following John Duskin, see also NSS 12, Def. 3.26)
Here:
forms the one-object groupoid with hom-set the given group (the delooping groupoid);
is the nerve construction;
is the total simplicial set-functor (right adjoint to pre-composition with ordinal sum).
One may understand the construction of (Def. ) as an example of the bar construction for the monad that forms free -actions, see there for more.
In all of the following, is any simplicial group.
(simplicial classifying spaces are Kan complexes)
The underlying simplicial set of any simplicial classifying (Def. ) is a Kan complex.
This follows as the combination of the following facts:
every simplicial group is fibrant in the projective model structure on simplicial sets (this Prop.);
is a right Quillen functor from there to the injective model structure on reduced simplicial sets (Prop. );
every injectively fibrant reduced simplicial set is a Kan complex (this Prop.).
For a simplicial group action of on a Kan complex , the canonical coprojection from the Borel construction to the simplicial classifying space is a Kan fibration:
By the fact (this Prop.) that the Borel construction is a right Quillen functor from the model structure on simplicial group actions to the slice model structure of the classical model structure on simplicial sets over the simplicial classifying space; see this Example.
In particular:
The coprojection (5) is a Kan fibration.
This is the special case of Prop. for equipped with the left multiplication action on itself, using again that the underlying simplicial set of any simplicial group is a Kan complex (this Prop.):
The simplicial set is contractible.
The simplicial homotopy groups of are those of , shifted up in degree by one:
By Prop. the universal simplicial principal bundle (5) is a Kan fibration between Kan complexes (by Prop. and this Prop.). Therefore this is a homotopy fiber sequence (by this Prop.)
This implies a long exact sequence of homotopy groups of the form
But Prop. says that is trivial for all , so that this collapses to short exact sequences:
which exhibit the claim to be proven.
Let be a homomorphism of simplicial groups which is a Kan fibration. Then the induced morphism of simplicial classifying spaces is a Kan fibration if and only if is a surjection on connected components: .
The object serves as the classifying space for simplicial principal bundles (May 67, §21, Goerss & Jardine 09, Section V, Thm. 3.9, see also NSS 12, Section 4.1).
(Quillen equivalence between simplicial groups and reduced simplicial sets)
The simplicial classifying space-construction (Def. ) is the right adjoint in a Quillen equivalence between the projective model structure on simplicial groups and the injective model structure on reduced simplicial sets.
The left adjoint is the simplicial loop space-construction.
(e.g. Goerss & Jardine 09, V Prop. 6.3)
The slice model category of the classical model structure on simplicial sets over the simplicial classifying complex is Quillen equivalent to the Borel model structure for -equivariant homotopy theory:
(Dror, Dwyer & Kan 1980) See there for details. This is a model for the general abstract situation discussed at ∞-action.
The idea of constructing using the bar construction is due
who apply it to simplicial rings with the usual tensor product operation. This was also later discussed in:
The first reference where is defined explicitly for simplicial groups and the adjunction between simplicial groups and reduced simplicial sets is explicitly spelled out:
The left adjoint simplicial loop space functor is also discussed by Kan (there denoted “”) in
The Quillen equivalence was established in
Textbook accounts:
Peter May, p. 87-88 in: Simplicial objects in algebraic topology, University of Chicago Press 1967 (ISBN:9780226511818, djvu, pdf)
Paul Goerss, J. F. Jardine, Section V.4 of: Simplicial homotopy theory, Progress in Mathematics, Birkhäuser (1999) Modern Birkhäuser Classics (2009) (doi:10.1007/978-3-0346-0189-4, webpage)
Streamlining:
Identification of the slice model structure over with the Borel model structure:
Generalization to simplicial groupoids, now right adjoint to the Dwyer-Kan loop groupoid-construction:
Generalization to simplicial presheaves:
Last revised on June 12, 2024 at 16:06:27. See the history of this page for a list of all contributions to it.