Published online by Cambridge University Press: 08 February 2005
Let $G$ be a compact Lie group, and let $\pi$ be any prime or set of primes. A ‘$\pi$-perfection map’ is constructed: that is, a continuous function from the space of conjugacy classes of all closed subgroups of $G$ to the space of conjugacy classes of $\pi$-perfect subgroups with finite index in their normalizer. This is used to show that the idempotent elements of the Burnside ring of $G$ localized at $\pi$ are in bijective correspondence with the open and closed subsets of the space of conjugacy classes of $\pi$-perfect subgroups of $G$ with finite index in their normalizer.