Infinite loop maps in geometric topology

Abstract

0. Introduction . Let and be connected cohomology theories on the category of all CW spaces. In this paper we examine the relationship between natural homomorphisms (stable operations) of degree zero from to and natural homomorphisms from to in a number of cases of particular interest in topology – foremost the K -theories and the bundle theories classifying ‘surgery problems’. There are two parts to this. On the one hand we ask under what conditions a homomorphism from to extends to a stable operation and on the other hand when is a stable operation determined by its restriction to .