Obstruction theory

In mathematics, obstruction theory is a name given to two different mathematical theories, both of which yield cohomological invariants.

In the original work of Stiefel and Whitney, characteristic classes were defined as obstructions to the existence of certain fields of linear independent vectors. Obstruction theory turns out to be an application of cohomology theory to the problem of constructing a cross-section of a bundle.

In homotopy theory

The older meaning for obstruction theory in homotopy theory relates to a procedure, inductive with respect to dimension, for extending a continuous mapping defined on a simplicial complex, or CW complex. It is traditionally called Eilenberg obstruction theory, after Samuel Eilenberg. It involves cohomology groups with coefficients in homotopy groups to define obstructions to extensions. For example, with a mapping from a simplicial complex X to another, Y, defined initially on the 0-skeleton of X (the vertices of X), an extension to the 1-skeleton will be possible whenever Y is path-connected. Extending from the 1-skeleton to the 2-skeleton means defining the mapping on each solid triangle from X, given the mapping already defined on its boundary edges. Likewise, then extending the mapping to the 3-skeleton involves extending the mapping to each solid 3-simplex of X, given the mapping already defined on its boundary.