Published online by Cambridge University Press: 20 January 2009
In view of understanding the Hopf algebra structure of the loop space homology in terms of H*(ΩE) and the map f, we consider the homotopy fibre F of the inclusion map In [15], the case when H*(Ωω) is surjective (the “inert” case) was studied, and in [11] a weaker condition, called “lazy”, was considered. Here we give several new characterizations of inert and lazy cell attachments in terms of properties of F. We also show how these results extend to the case of the mapping cone of an arbitrary map f: W→E.