UBC Topology Seminar: Simon Gritschacher

To a finite group G and an integer q > 0 one can associate the coset-poset of nilpotent subgroups of G of nilpotency class less than q. The nerve of this poset is a simplicial complex denoted E(q,G). It is closely related to a filtration of the classifying space BG studied by Adem, Cohen and Torres-Giese. In this talk I will address a question of C. Okay which asks for the relationship between simple connectivity of E(q,G) and nilpotency of G. This is ongoing work with Bernardo Villarreal.