in the fiber over e ∈ H, there exists a unique topological group structure on G, with e* as the identity, for which the covering map p : G → H is a homomorphism. The construction is as follows. Let a and b be elements of G and let f and g be paths in G starting at e* and terminating at a and b respectively. Define a path h : I → H by h(t) = p(f(t))p(g(t)). By the path-lifting property of covering spaces there is a unique lift of h to G with initial point e*. The product ab is defined as the endpoint of this path. By construction we have p(ab) = p(a)p(b). One must show that this definition is independent of the choice of paths f and g, and also that the group operations are continuous. Alternatively, the group law on G can be constructed by lifting the group law H × H → H to G, using the lifting property of the covering map G × G → H × H. The non-connected case is interesting and is studied in the papers by Taylor and by Brown-Mucuk cited below. Essentially there is an obstruction to the existence of a universal cover which is also a topological group such that the covering map is a morphism: this obstruction lies in the third cohomology group of the group of components of G with coefficients in the fundamental group of G at the identity. Universal covering group If H is a path-connected, locally path-connected, and semilocally simply connected group then it has a universal cover. By the previous construction the universal cover can be made into a topological group with the covering map a continuous homomorphism. This group is called the universal covering group of H. There is also a more direct construction which we give below. Let PH be the path group of H. That is, PH is the space of paths in H based at the identity together with the compact-open topology. The product of paths is given by pointwise multiplication, i.e. (fg)(t) = f(t)g(t). This gives PH the structure of a topological group. There is a natural group homomorphism PH → H which sends each path to its endpoint. The universal cover of H is given as the quotient of PH by the normal subgroup of null-homotopic loops. The projection PH → H descends to