A Note on the Homotopy-Commutativity of Suspensions

Abstract

Let A and X be spaces. Then as is wellknown, [∑A, X] is a group where ∑ denotes the suspension. We wish to find conditions on A which will imply that this group is abelian for all spaces X, that is, ∑A is homotopy-commutative. This is equivalent to saying that conii A≤ 1 (see [2] for definition). Our results contain relations between conil A and the generalised Whitehead product of [1]. We work in the category of complexes with base points.