The realization space of a Π-algebra: a moduli problem in algebraic topology

A Π-algebra A is a graded group with all of the algebraic structure possessed by the homotopy groups of a pointed connected topological space. We study the moduli space R(A) of realizations of A, which is defined to be the disjoint union, indexed by weak equivalence classes of CW-complexes X with π∗(X)=A, of the classifying space of the monoid of self homotopy equivalences of X. Our approach amounts to a kind of homotopical deformation theory: we obtain a tower whose homotopy limit is R(A), in which the space at the bottom is BAut(A) and the successive fibres are determined by Π-algebra cohomology. (This cohomology is the analog for Π-algebras of the Hochschild cohomology of an associative ring or the André-Quillen cohomology of a commutative ring.) It seems clear that the deformation theory can be applied with little change to study other moduli problems in algebra and topology.