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In any cohesive ∞-topos, the shape modality ʃ may be interpreted as sending any cohesive space to its path ∞-groupoid. This follows by the defining adjunction from the interpretation of the flat modality as sending any delooping to the moduli stack for flat ∞-connections with structure ∞-group :
because this identifies morphisms out of as higher parallel transport-functors for gauge group .
Concretely, in the cohesive ∞-topos of smooth ∞-groupoids it is readily checked (dcct, see around here at smooth ∞-groupoid – structures) that indeed classifies flat ∞-connections in the traditional sense.
It requires more work to show, even in this concrete smooth case, that is indeed modeled by a path ∞-groupoid in the traditional sense (say based on the idea of the smooth singular simplicial complex). That this is indeed the case is Prop. below, due to Dmitri Pavlov et al.
This fact has some remarkable consequences, which we develop further below.
Throughout,
denotes the cohesive (∞,1)-topos of smooth ∞-groupoids, which is the hypercomplete (∞,1)-topos over the site of smooth manifolds or equivalently over the dense subsite of Cartesian spaces.
(smooth extended simplices)
Write
for the cosimplicial object of smooth extended simplices, hence with
and with co-degeneracy and co-face maps given by addition of consecutive variables, and by insertion of zeros, respectively.
(path ∞-groupoid)
For , write
for the homotopy colimit (in ∞-groupoids) of the evaluation of (as an (∞,1)-presheaf) on the smooth extended simplices (Def. ).
Here in the second line we recall, just for emphasis, how, under the (∞,1)-Yoneda lemma, these values are the ∞-groupoids of the -shaped plots of the generalized smooth space .
For a diffeological space (in particular: a smooth manifold) its path ∞-groupoid in the sense of Def. ) is its ordinary smooth singular simplicial complex (e.g. Christensen & Wu 13, Def. 4.3).
This follows by
the fully faithful embedding of diffeological spaces as the concrete 0-truncated objects (see here);
the fact that every simplicial set is the homotopy colimt over its cells.
(smooth shape modality given by smooth path ∞-groupoid)
For , the smooth path -groupoid, namely the (∞,1)-presheaf
of smoothly parameterized path -groupoids in (Def. ),
is in fact an (∞,1)-sheaf
as such is equivalent to the shape of :
which means in particular (by ) that it is equivalent to the plain path ∞-groupoid from Def. , equipped with discrete smooth structure:
hence, with (4), that
This is due to Pavlov et al. 2019, Thm. 1.1 (see discussion here), announced in Pavlov 2014, Thm. 0.2. The analogous statement for sheaves of spectra (which follows essentially formally) was observed in Bunke-Nikolaus-Völkl 2013, Lem. 7.5 (see at differential cohomology hexagon for more on this case). The particular conclusion (6) is also claimed as Bunk 2020, Prop. 3.6 with Prop. 3.11.
The following may be compared (SS21, p. 7) to the Oka principle in complex analytic geometry, now seen in higher differential topology:
(smooth Oka principle) For
we have a natural equivalence
between the mapping stack from to the shape of and the shape of the mapping stack into itself.
For precursor discussion see nForum comment 55210 (Nov 2015).
The following proof (from June 2021, here) as a direct consequence of Prop. is that appearing in SS21, §3.3.1. We later learned that the statement also appears as Clough 2021, Theorem B/Cor. 6.4.8, where it is proven independently, now implying a proof of Prop. .
For any consider the following sequence of natural equivalences of values (∞-groupoids) of (∞,1)-presheaves on SmoothManifolds (1):
Here
the first step uses the closed monoidal structure on presheaves;
the third step uses that with , by assumption, and with by Def. , also the Cartesian product is still representable, so that by the (∞,1)-Yoneda lemma, we may compute the colimit of presheaves objectwise;
the fourth just makes explicit the internal hom in order to make manifest another appeal to the closed monoidal structure on presheaves in the fifth and sixth step;
Since the composite of these equivalences is still natural in , the statement (7) follows by the (∞,1)-Yoneda embedding.
For any smooth ∞-group, write
for the shape of its delooping, equivalently (since shape preserves the simplicial (∞,1)-colimits and the finite products involved in defining the delooping as the realization of the Cech nerve of the effective epimorphism ) the delooping of its shape.
Notice that the delooping of an ∞-group is the moduli ∞-stack of -principal ∞-bundles, in that (NSS 12) for there is a natural equivalence (of ∞-groupoids)
In particular, upon 0-truncation , this means that the moduli stack classifies equivalence classes of principal ∞-bundles:
But for this reduced information much less than the full moduli stack may be necessary: A classifying space for -principal ∞-bundles is a discrete object in , such that homotopy classes of maps into it still correspond to equivalence classes of principal ∞-bundles, at least over suitable domains (traditionally: paracompact topological spaces, hence in particular smooth manifolds).
Slightly coarser than plain equivalence classes of principal -bundles are concordance classes of principal -bundles (in fact, often the two notions coincide, see e.g. Roberts-Stevenson 16, Cor. 15):
(concordance classes of principal ∞-bundles)
For and any ,
we say that a concordance between two principal ∞-bundles
is a principal -bundle on the cylinder over
whose restriction to the points is equivalent to the given pair of bundles:
We write
for the set of equivalence classes of principal ∞-bundles under this concordance relation.
(classifying spaces for smooth principal ∞-bundles up to concordance) For
any smooth ∞-group ;
any smooth manifold
the space (Def. ) is a classifying space for -principal ∞-bundles over , up to concordance (Def. ), in that we have a natural bijection:
This follows as the composition of the following sequence of natural bijections:
Here:
the first step is the relation between the (∞,1)-categorical hom-space and the internal hom via the Points-functor ;
the second step is the definition of the classifying space (Def. );
the fourth step is the relation (5) from Prop. ;
the fifth step is the relation , valied in any cohesive (∞,1)-topos;
the sixth step is (2) from Def. ;
the seventh step is the formula for the internal hom by the closed monoidal structure on presheaves;
the eighth step is the modulation of principal -bundles by their moduli stack (8);
the ninth step uses that n-truncation is a left adjoint (∞,1)-functor and hence commutes with (∞,1)-colimits;
the tenth step uses that the inclusion of the first two face maps into the opposite of the simplex category is a final functor (by this example, noting that this happens in the 1-category of 0-truncated ∞-groupoids, hence in Sets);
the eleventh step invokes the definition (9) of concordance of principal -bundles (Def. ).
The identification in Prop. is due to
Dmitri Pavlov, Structured Brown representability via concordance, 2014 (pdf, pdf)
Daniel Berwick-Evans, Pedro Boavida de Brito, Dmitri Pavlov, Classifying spaces of infinity-sheaves (arXiv:1912.10544)
with a precursor observation in:
The particular conclusion (6) is also claimed in:
The “smooth Oka principle” is also proven (Theorem B) in:
The homotopy theory of differentiable sheaves [arXiv:2309.01757]
Talk notes:
The special case of the smooth path -groupoid (Def. ) applied to diffeological spaces (among all smooth -groupoids), was considered also in:
Application of the theorem to a (orbi-)smooth Oka principle and to the classification of equivariant principal bundles:
Last revised on September 9, 2023 at 13:49:54. See the history of this page for a list of all contributions to it.