Algebraic Topology: Lecture 11


We gave the general definition of a cofibrantly generated model category. This means that there are two sets of maps
    I = { A --> B }

    J = { U --> V }
such that the domains A of the maps in I are small relative to the I-cellular maps, the domains U of the maps in J are small relative to the J-cellular maps, the fibrations are the maps that have RLP with respect to the maps in J, and the trivial fibrations are the maps that have RLP with respect to the maps in I. It follows that, in a cofibrantly generated model category, the cofibrations are the retracts of I-cellular maps, and the trivial cofibrations are the retracts of J-cellular maps. We note that the weak equivalences may be characterized as the maps that can be factored as the composition of a trivial cofibration followed by a trivial fibration. However, this characterization of weak equivalences is not very useful and it is always necessary to have some other definition of weak equivalences in order to verify the model category axioms.

We further oulined the proof that the category of topological spaces and continuous maps is a cofibrantly generated model category with generators

    I = { S^{n-1} --> D^n | n non-negative integer}
    J = { D^n --> D^n x [0,1] | n non-negative integer}
and with weak equivalences the maps f : X --> Y such that the induced map
    f_* : \pi_n(X,x) --> \pi_n(Y,f(x))
is an isomorphism, for all non-negative integers n and all x in X.

The definition of a fibration was given by Serre in his thesis. He showed that for a fibration f : X --> Y there exists a spectral sequence

    E^2 = H_*(Y; H_*(F)) ==> H_*(X)
from the homology of Y with coefficients in the (local coefficient system given by the) homology of the fiber F = f^{-1}(y) and converging to the homology of X. It is this spectral sequence and others similar to it that makes it possible to evaluate the homology of practically every space.