N-connected space


In the mathematical branch of algebraic topology, specifically homotopy theory, n-connectedness generalizes the concepts of path-connectedness and simple connectedness. To say that a space is n-connected is to say that its first n homotopy groups are trivial, and to say that a map is n-connected means that it is an isomorphism "up to dimension n, in homotopy".

''n''-connected space

A topological space X is said to be n-connected when it is non-empty, path-connected, and its first n homotopy groups vanish identically, that is
where denotes the i-th homotopy group and 0 denotes the trivial group.
The requirements of being non-empty and path-connected can be interpreted as -connected and 0-connected, respectively, which is useful in defining 0-connected and 1-connected maps, as below. The 0-th homotopy set can be defined as:
This is only a pointed set, not a group, unless X is itself a topological group; the distinguished point is the class of the trivial map, sending S0 to the base point of X. Using this set, a space is 0-connected if and only if the 0th homotopy set is the one-point set. The definition of homotopy groups and this homotopy set require that X be pointed, which cannot be done if X is empty.
A topological space X is path-connected if and only if its 0-th homotopy group vanishes identically, as path-connectedness implies that any two points x1 and x2 in X can be connected with a continuous path which starts in x1 and ends in x2, which is equivalent to the assertion that every mapping from S0 to X can be deformed continuously to a constant map. With this definition, we can define X to be n-connected if and only if

Examples

The corresponding relative notion to the absolute notion of an n-connected space is an n-connected map, which is defined as a map whose homotopy fiber Ff is an -connected space. In terms of homotopy groups, it means that a map is n-connected if and only if:
The last condition is frequently confusing; it is because the vanishing of the -st homotopy group of the homotopy fiber Ff corresponds to a surjection on the nth homotopy groups, in the exact sequence:
If the group on the right vanishes, then the map on the left is a surjection.
Low-dimensional examples:
n-connectivity for spaces can in turn be defined in terms of n-connectivity of maps: a space X with basepoint x0 is an n-connected space if and only if the inclusion of the basepoint is an n-connected map. The single point set is contractible, so all its homotopy groups vanish, and thus "isomorphism below n and onto at n" corresponds to the first n homotopy groups of X vanishing.

Interpretation

This is instructive for a subset:
an n-connected inclusion is one such that, up to dimension n − 1, homotopies in the larger space X can be homotoped into homotopies in the subset A.
For example, for an inclusion map to be 1-connected, it must be:
One-to-one on means that if there is a path connecting two points by passing through X, there is a path in A connecting them, while onto means that in fact a path in X is homotopic to a path in A.
In other words, a function which is an isomorphism on only implies that any elements of that are homotopic in X are abstractly homotopic in A – the homotopy in A may be unrelated to the homotopy in X – while being n-connected means that homotopies in X can be pushed into homotopies in A.
This gives a more concrete explanation for the utility of the definition of n-connectedness: for example, a space where the inclusion of the k-skeleton is n-connected – such as the inclusion of a point in the n-sphere – has the property that any cells in dimensions between k and n do not affect the lower-dimensional homotopy types.

Applications

The concept of n-connectedness is used in the Hurewicz theorem which describes the relation between singular homology and the higher homotopy groups.
In geometric topology, cases when the inclusion of a geometrically-defined space, such as the space of immersions into a more general topological space, such as the space of all continuous maps between two associated spaces are n-connected are said to satisfy a homotopy principle or "h-principle". There are a number of powerful general techniques for proving h-principles.