COSIMPLICIAL SPACES AND COCYCLES

Abstract

Standard results from non-abelian cohomology theory specialize to a theory of torsors and stacks for cosimplicial groupoids. The space of global sections of the stack completion of a cosimplicial groupoid $G$ is weakly equivalent to the Bousfield–Kan total complex of $BG$ for all cosimplicial groupoids $G$. The $k$-invariants for the Postnikov tower of a cosimplicial space $X$ are naturally elements of stack cohomology for the stack associated to the fundamental groupoid ${\it\pi}(X)$ of $X$. Cocycle-theoretic ideas and techniques are used throughout the paper.