TITLE: What are the algebras over $\Omega^k\Sigma^k$ ?
QUESTION [6 upvotes]: Let $Ho(Spc)$ be the homotopy category of spaces. There is an adjoint pair
$$
\Sigma^k \colon Ho(Spc) \leftrightarrows Ho(Spc)\colon \Omega^k,
$$
where $\Sigma^k$ is the $k$-th supension functor and $\Omega^k$ is the $k$-fold loop space functor ($k\ge 1)$. This adjunction has as associated monad the functor $\Omega^k\Sigma^k$. My question is what are the algebras over this monad (a precise reference to this fact would be welcome).
If we denote by $Ho^s$ the homotopy category of spectra, then there is another adjunction
$$
\Sigma^{\infty} \colon Ho(Spc) \leftrightarrows Ho^s\colon \Omega^{\infty},
$$
where $\Sigma^{\infty}$ is the suspension spectrum functor. My question is again what are the algebras over the monad $\Omega^{\infty}\Sigma^{\infty}$.

REPLY [15 votes]: I know interesting answers to two questions that are not the same as the one asked, but are related.

Consider the monad $T=\Omega^\infty L_{K(n)}\Sigma^\infty$ on the homotopy category of spaces.  It is straightforward to construct a functor $$\Omega^\infty:Ho(\{K(n)-\text{local spectra}\})\to \{T-\text{algebras}\}.$$ One can show using the Bousfield-Kuhn functor and related ideas that this is actually an equivalence.
Consider the monad $Q=\Omega^\infty\Sigma^\infty$ on the category of based spaces (not up to homotopy).  If we use spectra in the sense of Lewis and May, there is an evident functor $\Omega^\infty:\{\text{spectra}\}\to\{Q-\text{algebras}\}$.  This is actually full and faithful (even on spectra whose homotopy groups are concentrated in negative degrees), which means that the point-set level $Q$-action carries a lot more information than you might naively guess.  The key point in the proof is that we can use a trick with the Hopf map and space-filling curves to express $S^2$ as the coequaliser of two based maps from $S^3$ to $S^3$.  This gives a natural way to express $\Omega^2X$ as the equaliser of two maps from $\Omega^3X$ to $\Omega^3X$, which allows us to do a bunch of things by induction.