Let . A pair
is transgressive pair when, in the long exact sequence of the pair ,
where is identified with reduced cohomology. In the Serre spectral sequence, this says that survives to the transgression and
under the edge identifications, modulo the usual earlier-differential indeterminacy.
The Kudo transgression theorem says that if is transgressive and , then
is transgressive. To prove it, use relative Steenrod squares. Naturality gives
and stability, equivalently compatibility with the suspension isomorphism, makes squares commute with the connecting map:
Applying to proves the theorem. The properties used are naturality, stability, additivity, and the instability conditions for and .
Let be the generator. Instability gives
The Cartan formula says the total square is multiplicative, so
Comparing components yields the complete formula
with the binomial coefficient reduced modulo two.
Finally, is the Bockstein homomorphism associated with
If a mod-two cocycle representing is lifted to an integral cochain , write . Then modulo two represents . But , because integral cochains are torsion-free and . Thus itself is a cocycle lift, so its Bockstein vanishes. Therefore
for every space and every .