Spherical posets from commuting elements

Abstract

In this paper we study the homotopy type of the partially ordered set of left cosets of abelian subgroups in an extraspecial $p$-group. We prove that the universal cover of its nerve is homotopy equivalent to a wedge of $r$-spheres where $2r\ge 4$ is the rank of its Frattini quotient. This determines the homotopy type of the universal cover of the classifying space of transitionally commutative bundles.