On extensions of a symplectic class

Abstract

Let F be a fibration on a simply-connected base with symplectic fibre (M, \omega). Assume that the fibre is nilpotent and T^{2k}-separable for some integer k or a nilmanifold. Then our main theorem, Theorem 1.8, gives a necessary and sufficient condition for the cohomology class [\omega] to extend to a cohomology class of the total space of F. This allows us to describe Thurston's criterion for a symplectic fibration to admit a compatible symplectic form in terms of the classifying map for the underlying fibration. The obstruction due to Lalond and McDuff for a symplectic bundle to be Hamiltonian is also rephrased in the same vein. Furthermore, with the aid of the main theorem, we discuss a global nature of the set of the homotopy equivalence classes of fibrations with symplectic fibre in which the class [\omega] is extendable.