The homotopy and cohomology of spaces of locally convex curves in the sphere -- II

A smooth curve $\gamma: [0,1] \to S^2$ is locally convex if its geodesic curvature is positive at every point. J. A. Little showed that the space of all locally positive curves $\gamma$ with $\gamma(0) = \gamma(1) = e_1$ and $\gamma'(0) = \gamma'(1) = e_2$ has three connected components $L_{-1,c}$, $L_{+1}$, $L_{-1,n}$. The space $L_{-1,c}$ is known to be contractible but the topology of the other two connected components is not well understood. We prove that all connected components of $L_I$ are simply connected, that $H^2(L_{+1};Z) = Z^2$ and $H^2(L_{-1,n};Z) = Z$.