Published online by Cambridge University Press: 30 September 2020
We describe the connected components of the space $\text {Hom}(\Gamma ,SU(2))$ of homomorphisms for a discrete nilpotent group $\Gamma$
 of homomorphisms for a discrete nilpotent group $\Gamma$ . The connected components arising from homomorphisms with non-abelian image turn out to be homeomorphic to $\mathbb {RP}^{3}$
. The connected components arising from homomorphisms with non-abelian image turn out to be homeomorphic to $\mathbb {RP}^{3}$ . We give explicit calculations when $\Gamma$
. We give explicit calculations when $\Gamma$ is a finitely generated free nilpotent group. In the second part of the paper, we study the filtration $B_{\text {com}} SU(2)=B(2,SU(2))\subset \cdots \subset B(q,SU(2))\subset \cdots$
 is a finitely generated free nilpotent group. In the second part of the paper, we study the filtration $B_{\text {com}} SU(2)=B(2,SU(2))\subset \cdots \subset B(q,SU(2))\subset \cdots$ of the classifying space $BSU(2)$
 of the classifying space $BSU(2)$ (introduced by Adem, Cohen and Torres-Giese), showing that for every $q\geq 2$
 (introduced by Adem, Cohen and Torres-Giese), showing that for every $q\geq 2$ , the inclusions induce a homology isomorphism with coefficients over a ring in which 2 is invertible. Most of the computations are done for $SO(3)$
, the inclusions induce a homology isomorphism with coefficients over a ring in which 2 is invertible. Most of the computations are done for $SO(3)$ and $U(2)$
 and $U(2)$ as well.
 as well.
 -tuples in $SU(2)$
-tuples in $SU(2)$ , Illinois J. Math. 55(3) (2011), 805–813.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
, Illinois J. Math. 55(3) (2011), 805–813.CrossRefGoogle Scholar , Proc. Edinburgh. Math. Soc. (2) 54(1) (2011), 67–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
, Proc. Edinburgh. Math. Soc. (2) 54(1) (2011), 67–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar homology of the classifying space for commutativity, Algebr. Geom. Topol. 20(2) (2020), 883–923.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
 homology of the classifying space for commutativity, Algebr. Geom. Topol. 20(2) (2020), 883–923.CrossRefGoogle Scholar