A standard form of the Sullivan conjecture, proved by Haynes Miller, states that for a finite group and a connected finite-dimensional CW complex , the pointed mapping space from the classifying space of a discrete group to is a weakly contractible space:Thus every basepoint-preserving continuous map is null-homotopic, and higher homotopy families of such maps are trivial as well. Miller's Theorem A allows the more general assumption that every finitely generated subgroup of is finite.[ref]
The Sullivan conjecture on maps from classifying spaces by Haynes Miller. Theorem A, printed page 39
The finite-dimensional target hypothesis is substantial. For , maps from to a finite-dimensional sphere satisfy the theorem, while the identity map of is not null-homotopic: it induces the identity on its nontrivial fundamental group. That target is infinite-dimensional. The theorem concerns these unstable mapping spaces; it cannot simply be transferred to every stable mapping construction.
Articles by others on the same topic
The Sullivan conjecture, proposed by mathematician Dennis Sullivan in the 1970s, pertains to the areas of topology and dynamical systems. Specifically, it deals with the interaction between topology and algebraic geometry concerning the existence of certain types of invariants. The conjecture states that any two homotopy equivalent aspherical spaces have homeomorphic fundamental groups.