Recall that a cohomology operation is a natural transformation $H^n(-; \pi) \to H^q(-; G)$$H^n(-; \pi) \to H^{n+k}(-; G)$ defined on CW complexes.
Does every cohomology operation $H^n(-; \mathbb{Z}) \to H^{n+k}(-; \mathbb{Z}/m)$ factor through $H^n(-; \mathbb{Z}/m)$?
The cohomology operations $H^n(-; \mathbb{Z}) \to H^n(-; \mathbb{Z}/m)$ are all multiples of the map induced on cohomology by the quotient map $\mathbb{Z} \to \mathbb{Z}/m$. In particular, if the above question has a positive answer, then for any such cohomology operation $\theta$, we have $\theta(mx) = 0$.
One can rephrase the above question in terms of Eilenberg-MacLane spaces:
- Does every map $K(\mathbb{Z}, n) \to K(\mathbb{Z}/m, n + k)$ factor through $K(\mathbb{Z}/m, n)$?
I would actually be content with a positive answer to the following broader question:
- Does every map $K(\mathbb{Z}, n) \to K(\mathbb{Z}/m, n + k)$ factor through $K(\mathbb{Z}/r, n)$ for some $r$?
I initially asked question 1 in the Homotopy Theory chatroom. Piotr Pstrągowski's comments, see here, explain why there is a positive answer for $m = 2$.