Recognizing nullhomotopic maps into the classifying space of a Kac-Moody group

Abstract

This paper extends certain characterizations of nullhomotopic maps between p-compact groups to maps with target the p-completed classifying space of a connected Kac-Moody group and source the classifying space of either a p-compact group or a connected Kac-Moody group. A well known inductive principle for p-compact groups is applied to obtain general, mapping space level results. An arithmetic fiber square computation shows that a null map from the classifying space of a connected compact Lie group to the classifying space of a connected topological Kac-Moody group can be detected by restricting to the maximal torus. Null maps between the classifying spaces of connected topological Kac-Moody groups cannot, in general, be detected by restricting to the maximal torus due to the nonvanishing of an explicit abelian group of obstructions described here. Nevertheless, partial results are obtained via the application of algebraic discrete Morse theory to higher derived limit calculations which show that such detection is possible in many cases of interest.