Homotopy pull-back squares up to localization

Abstract

We characterize the class of homotopy pull-back squares by means of elementary closure properties. The so called Puppe theorem which identifies the homotopy fiber of certain maps constructed as homotopy colimits is a straightforward consequence. Likewise we characterize the class of squares which are homotopy pull-backs "up to Bousfield localization". This yields a generalization of Puppe's theorem which allows to identify the homotopy type of the localized homotopy fiber. When the localization functor is homological localization this is one of the key ingredients in the group completion theorem.