Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 12, 2026

Halperin conjecture

In rational homotopy theory, the Halperin conjecture concerns the Serre spectral sequence of certain fibrations. It is named after the Canadian mathematician Stephen Halperin.

Last revised
Jun 12, 2026
Read time
≈ 1 min
Length
286 w
Citations
2
Source

In rational homotopy theory, the Halperin conjecture concerns the Serre spectral sequence of certain fibrations. It is named after the Canadian mathematician Stephen Halperin.

Statement

Suppose that F E B {\displaystyle F\to E\to B} is a fibration of simply connected spaces such that F {\displaystyle F} is rationally elliptic and χ ( F ) 0 {\displaystyle \chi (F)\neq 0} (i.e., F {\displaystyle F} has non-zero Euler characteristic), then the Serre spectral sequence associated to the fibration collapses at the E 2 {\displaystyle E_{2}} page.1

Status

As of 2019, Halperin's conjecture is still open. Gregory Lupton has reformulated the conjecture in terms of formality relations.2

Notes

Notes

  1. Berglund, Alexander (2012), Rational homotopy theory (PDF)
  2. Lupton, Gregory (1997), "Variations on a conjecture of Halperin", Homotopy and Geometry (Warsaw, 1997), arXiv:math/0010124, MR 1679854
Further reading

Further reading