How to prove that two maps are homotopic iff their corresponding paths are homotopic

algebraic-topologyhomotopy-theorysolution-verification

I have the following problem:

Let $f,g:\mathbb{S}^1\rightarrow U\subseteq\mathbb{R}^2$ continuous maps, corresponding to paths $\gamma_f,\gamma_g:[0,1]\rightarrow U$. Shwo that $\gamma_f, \gamma_g$ are homotopic through loops iff $f,g$ are homotopic through maps.

My idea was the following:

Let us first define $$p:[0,1]\rightarrow \mathbb{S}^1;\,\,\,s\mapsto (\cos(2\pi s),\sin(2\pi s))$$We have just shown that $p$ is a homeomorphism, furhtermore $\gamma_f(t)=f(p(t)),\,\, \gamma_g(t)=g(p(t))$. Now let us assume that $\gamma_f, \gamma_g$ are homotopic through loops, i.e. we have $$H':[0,1]\times [0,1]\rightarrow U$$such that

  1. $H'(s,0)=\gamma_f(s)$
  2. $H'(s,1)=\gamma_g(s)$
  3. $H'(0,t)=H'(1,t)$

Now since $p$ is a homeomorphsim, we can consider $p^{-1}:\mathbb{S}^1\rightarrow [0,1]$. Now let us define $$H:\mathbb{S}^1\times [0,1]\rightarrow U;\,\,\,((x,y),t)\mapsto H'(p^{-1}(x,y),t)$$ I claim that $H$ is a homotopy of maps. Indeed

  • $H((x,y),0)=H'(p^{-1}(x,y),0)=H'(s,0)=\gamma_f(s)=f(p(s))=f(x,y)$
  • $H((x,y),1)=H'(p^{-1}(x,y),1)=H'(s,1)=\gamma_g(s)=g(p(s))=g(x,y)$

Now since this are all equivalences we are done in my opinion.

Does it works like this?

Thanks a lot for your help.

Best Answer

$p$ is not a homeomorphism. It is a quotient map identifying $0$ and $1$. But this suffices to give a proof.

  1. Obviously each homotopy $H : f \simeq g$ induces $H' = H \circ (p \times id_{[0,1]}): [0,1] \times [0,1] \to U$. This is homotopy through loops from $\gamma_f$ to $\gamma_g$.

  2. Conversely, given $H'$ as in your question, condition 3. shows that $H' = H \circ (p \times id_{[0,1]})$ with a unique function $H : S^1 \times [0,1] \to U$. But $p \times id_{[0,1]}$ is a closed map (since the domain is compact and the range is Hausdorff), hence a quotient map. This proves that $H$ is continuous. Clearly $H : f \simeq g$.

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