On the James brace product: Generalization, relation to $H$-splitting of loop space fibrations & the $J$-homomorphism

Abstract: Given a fibration $F \hookrightarrow E \rightarrow B$ with a homotopy section $s : B \rightarrow E$, James introduced a binary product $\left{ , \right}s : \pi_i B \times \pi_j F \rightarrow \pi{i+j-1} F$, called the brace product. In this article, we generalize this to general homotopy groups. We show that the vanishing of this generalized brace product is the precise obstruction to the $H$-splitting of the loop space fibration, i.e., $\Omega E \simeq \Omega B \times \Omega F$ as $H$-spaces. Using rational homotopy theory, we show that for rational spaces, the vanishing of the generalized brace product coincides with the vanishing of the classical James brace product, enabling us to perform relevant computations. In addition, the notion of $J$-homomorphism is generalized and connected to the generalized brace product. Among applications, we characterize the homotopy types of certain fibrations including sphere bundles over spheres.