Higher Intersection Theory on Algebraic Stacks: I

In this paper and the sequel we establish a theory of Chow groups and higher Chow groups on algebraic stacks locally of finite type over a field and establish their basic properties. This includes algebraic stacks in the sense of Deligne–Mumford as well as Artin. An intrinsic difference between our approach and earlier approaches is that the higher Chow groups of Bloch enter into our theory early on and depends heavily on his fundamental work. Our theory may be more appropriately called the (Lichtenbaum) motivic homology and cohomology of algebraic stacks. One of the main themes of these papers is that such a motivic homology does provide a reasonable intersection theory for algebraic stacks (of finite type over a field), with several key properties holding integrally and extending to stacks locally of finite type. While several important properties of our higher Chow groups, like covariance for projective representable maps (that factor as the composition of a closed immersion into the projective space associated to a locally free coherent sheaf and the obvious projection), an intersection pairing and contravariant functoriality for all smooth algebraic stacks, are shown to hold integrally, our theory works best with rational coefficients.The main results of Part I are the following. The higher Chow groups are defined in general with respect to an atlas, but are shown to be independent of the choice of the atlas for smooth stacks if one uses finite coefficients with torsion prime to the characteristics or in general for Deligne–Mumford stacks. (Using some results on motivic cohomology, we extend this integrally to all smooth algebraic stacks in Part II.) Using cohomological descent, we extend Bloch's fundamental localization sequence for quasi-projective schemes to long exact localization sequences of the higher Chow groups modulo torsion for all Artin stacks: this is one of the main results of the paper. We show that these higher Chow groups modulo torsion are covariant for all proper representable maps between stacks of finite type while being contravariant for all representable flat maps and, in Part II, that they are independent of the choice of an atlas for all stacks of finite type over the given field k. The comparison with motivic cohomology, as is worked out in Part II, enables us to provide an explicit comparison of our theory for quotient stacks associated to actions of linear algebraic groups on quasi-projective schemes with the corresponding Totaro–Edidin–Graham equivariant intersection theory. As an application of our theory we compute the higher Chow groups of Deligne–Mumford stacks and show that they are isomorphic modulo torsion to the higher Chow groups of their coarse moduli spaces. As a by-product of our theory we also produce localization sequences in (integral) higher Chow groups for all schemes locally of finite type over a field: these higher Chow groups are defined as the Zariski hypercohomology with respect to the cycle complex.     

Stable étale realization and étale cobordism

We show that there is a stable homotopy theory of profinite spaces and use it for two main applications. On the one hand we construct an étale topological realization of the stable A¹-homotopy theory of smooth schemes over a base field of arbitrary characteristic in analogy to the complex realization functor for fields of characteristic zero.On the other hand we get a natural setting for étale cohomology theories. In particular, we define and discuss an étale topological cobordism theory for schemes. It is equipped with an Atiyah-Hirzebruch spectral sequence starting from étale cohomology. Finally, we construct maps from algebraic to étale cobordism and discuss algebraic cobordism with finite coefficients over an algebraically closed field after inverting a Bott element.     

Higher Intersection Theory on Algebraic Stacks: II

This is the second part of our work on the intersection theory of algebraic stacks. The main results here are the following. We provide an intersection pairing for all smooth Artin stacks (locally of finite type over a field) which we show reduces to the known intersection pairing on the Chow groups of smooth Deligne–Mumford stacks of finite type over a field as well as on the Chow groups of quotient stacks associated to actions of linear algebraic groups on smooth quasi-projective schemes modulo torsion. The former involves also showing the existence of Adams operations on the rational étale K-theory of all smooth Deligne–Mumford stacks of finite type over a field. In addition, we show that our definition of the higher Chow groups is intrinsic to the stack for all smooth stacks and also stacks of finite type over the given field. Next we establish the existence of Chern classes and Chern character for Artin stacks with values in our Chow groups and extend these to higher Chern classes and a higher Chern character for perfect complexes on an algebraic stack, taking values in cohomology theories of algebraic stacks that are defined with respect to complexes of sheaves on a big smooth site. As a by-product of our techniques we also provide an extension of higher intersection theory to all schemes locally of finite type over a field. As the higher cycle complex, by itself, is a bit difficult to handle, the stronger results like contravariance for arbitrary maps between smooth stacks and the intersection pairing for smooth stacks are established by comparison with motivic cohomology.     

Riemann–Roch for Algebraic Stacks: I

In this paper we establish Riemann–Roch and Lefschtez–Riemann–Roch theorems for arbitrary proper maps of finite cohomological dimension between algebraic stacks in the sense of Artin. The Riemann–Roch theorem is established as a natural transformation between the G-theory of algebraic stacks and topological G-theory for stacks: we define the latter as the localization of G-theory by topological K-homology. The Lefschtez–Riemann–Roch is an extension of this including the action of a torus for Deligne–Mumford stacks. This generalizes the corresponding Riemann–Roch theorem (Lefschetz–Riemann–Roch theorem) for proper maps between schemes (that are also equivariant for the action of a torus, respectively) making use of some fundamental results due to Vistoli and Toen. A key result established here is that topological G-theory (as well as rational G-theory) has cohomological descent on the isovariant étale site of an algebraic stack. This extends cohomological descent for topological G-theory on schemes as proved by Thomason.     

Equivariant homology and cohomology of groups

We provide and study an equivariant theory of group (co)homology of a group G with coefficients in a Γ-equivariant G-module A, when a separate group Γ acts on G and A, generalizing the classical Eilenberg-MacLane (co)homology theory of groups. Relationship with equivariant cohomology of topological spaces is established and application to algebraic K-theory is given.     

CHARACTERISTIC CLASSES OF FLAGS OF FOLIATIONS AND LIE ALGEBRA COHOMOLOGY

We prove the conjecture by Feigin, Fuchs, and Gelfand describing the Lie algebra cohomology of formal vector fields on an n-dimensional space with coefficients in symmetric powers of the coadjoint representation. We also compute the cohomology of the Lie algebra of formal vector fields that preserve a given ag at the origin. The latter encodes characteristic classes of ags of foliations and was used in the formulation of the local Riemann-Roch Theorem by Feigin and Tsygan.Feigin, Fuchs, and Gelfand described the first symmetric power and to do this they had to make use of a fearsomely complicated computation in invariant theory. By the application of degeneration theorems of appropriate Hochschild-Serre spectral sequences, we avoid the need to use the methods of FFG, and moreover, we are able to describe all the symmetric powers at once.     

On uniqueness of characteristic classes

We give an axiomatic characterization of maps from algebraic K-theory. The results apply to a large class of maps from algebraic K-theory to any suitable cohomology theory or to algebraic K-theory. In particular, we obtain comparison theorems for the Chern character and Chern classes and for the Adams operations and λ-operations on higher algebraic K-theory. We show that the Adams operations and λ-operations defined by Grayson agree with the ones defined by Gillet and Soulé.     

On the Riemann-Roch theorem for orders in the ring of valuation vectors of a function field

In 1953 Kenkichi Iwasawa, following a suggestion of Artin, gave a characterisation of the ring of valuation vectors (also called repartitions) for function fields in simple topological algebraic terms. Using elementary properties of these rings a short and elegant proof of the Riemann-Roch theorem for smooth complete curves was given. In this paper the methods of linear topology and duality are used to study the Riemann-Roch problem for algebraic curves with singularities. Accordingly we study the linearly compact open modules associated with certain subrings of the ring of valuation vectors of the function field. By applying these methods the Riemann-Roch theorem for algebraic curves with singularities is extended to a larger class of modules than was usual in the literature.     

A note on the Hochschild homology and cyclic homology of a topological algebra

In this note we use a topological version of Hochschild homology and cyclic homology of a commutative algebra, introduced by P. Seibt in [Se₂], to show, that periodic homology can be used to calculate the relative algebraic de Rham cohomology of a morphism of affine Q-schemes of finite type as defined in [Ha], chapt. III, §4.     

On the cohomology rings of small categories

Let C be a small category and R a commutative ring with identity. The cohomology ring of C with coefficients in R is defined as the cohomology ring of the topological realization of its nerve. First we give an example showing that this ring modulo nilpotents is not finitely generated in general, even when the category is finite EI. Then we study the relationship between the cohomology ring of a category and those of its subcategories and extensions. The main results generalize certain theorems in group cohomology theory.     

On cohomology theory for topological groups

We construct some new cohomology theories for topological groups and Lie groups and study some of its basic properties. For example, we introduce a cohomology theory based on measurable cochains which are continuous in a neighbourhood of the identity. We show that if G and A are locally compact and second countable, then the second cohomology group based on locally continuous measurable cochains as above parametrizes the collection of locally split extensions of G by A.     

Some finiteness results for étale cohomology

We prove some finiteness theorems for the étale cohomology, Borel-Moore homology and cohomology with proper supports with divisible coefficients of schemes of finite type over a finite or p-adic field. This yields vanishing results for their l-adic cohomology, proving part of a conjecture of Jannsen.     

Algebraic De Rham cohomology

We announce the development of a theory of algebraic De Rham cohomology and homology for arbitrary schemes over a field of characteristic zero. Over the complex numbers, this theory is equivalent to singular cohomology. Applications include generalizations of theorems of Lefschetz and Barth on the cohomology of projective varieties.     

Rational isomorphisms between K-theories and cohomology theories

The well known isomorphism relating the rational algebraic K-theory groups and the rational motivic cohomology groups of a smooth variety over a field of characteristic 0 is shown to be realized by a map (the Segre map) of infinite loop spaces. Moreover, the associated Chern character map on rational homotopy groups is shown to be a ring isomorphism. A technique is introduced that establishes a useful general criterion for a natural transformation of functors on quasi-projective complex varieties to induce a homotopy equivalence of semi-topological singular complexes. Since semi-topological K-theory and morphic cohomology can be formulated as the semi-topological singular complexes associated to algebraic K-theory and motivic cohomology, this criterion provides a rational isomorphism between the semi-topological K-theory groups and the morphic cohomology groups of a smooth complex variety. Consequences include a Riemann-Roch theorem for the Chern character on semi-topological K-theory and an interpretation of the topological filtration on singular cohomology groups in K-theoretic terms.     

Rigidity for orientable functors

In the following paper we introduce the notion of orientable functor (orientable cohomology theory) on the category of projective smooth schemes and define a family of transfer maps. Applying this technique, we prove that with finite coefficients orientable cohomology of a projective variety is invariant with respect to the base-change given by an extension of algebraically closed fields. This statement generalizes the classical result of Suslin, concerning algebraic K-theory of algebraically closed fields. Besides K-theory, we treat such examples of orientable functors as etale cohomology, motivic cohomology, algebraic cobordism. We also demonstrate a method to endow algebraic cobordism with multiplicative structure and Chern classes.     

Singular homology groups of fuzzy topological spaces

Let L be a completely distributive lattice with order reversing involution, and (X, τ) an L-fuzzy topological space. The purpose of this paper is to introduce the fundamental concept of fuzzy algebraic topology-the singular homology groups of the L-fuzzy topological space, in such a way that they take the (usual) cubical singular homology groups of a topological space as a special case. Also, we shall prove that they are L-fuzzy homeomorphic invariants.     

Techniques,computations, and conjectures for semi-topological <Emphasis Type="Italic">K</Emphasis>-theory

We establish the existence of an Atiyah-Hirzebruch-like spectral sequence relating the morphic cohomology groups of a smooth, quasi-projective complex variety to its semi-topological K-groups. This spectral sequence is compatible with (and, indeed, is built from) the motivic spectral sequence that relates the motivic cohomology and algebraic K-theory of varieties, and it is also compatible with the classical Atiyah-Hirzebruch spectral sequence in algebraic topology. In the second part of this paper, we use this spectral sequence in conjunction with another computational tool that we introduce — namely, a variation on the integral weight filtration of the Borel-Moore (singular) homology of complex varieties introduced by H. Gillet and C. Soulé – to compute the semi-topological K-theory of a large class of varieties. In particular, we prove that for curves, surfaces, toric varieties, projective rational three-folds, and related varieties, the semi-topological K-groups and topological K-groups are isomorphic in all degrees permitted by cohomological considerations. We also formulate integral conjectures relating semi-topological K-theory to topological K-theory analogous to more familiar conjectures (namely, the Quillen-Lichtenbaum and Beilinson-Lichtenbaum Conjectures) concerning mod-n algebraic K-theory and motivic cohomology. In particular, we prove a local vanishing result for morphic cohomology which enables us to formulate precisely a conjectural identification of morphic cohomology by A. Suslin. Our computations verify that these conjectures hold for the list of varieties above.Mathematics Subject Classification (2000): 19E20, 19E15, 14F43The first author was partially supported by the NSF and the NSAThe second author was supported by the Helen M. Galvin Fellowship of Northwestern UniversityThe third author was partially supported by the NSF and the NSA     

The Nöther and Riemann-Roch type theorems for piecewise algebraic curve

A piecewise algebraic curve is a curve determined by the zero set of a bivariate spline function. In this paper, the Nöther type theorems for C ^µ piecewise algebraic curves are obtained. The theory of the linear series of sets of places on the piecewise algebraic curve is also established. In this theory, singular cycles are put into the linear series, and a complete series of the piecewise algebraic curves consists of all effective ordinary cycles in an equivalence class and all effective singular cycles which are equivalent specifically to any effective ordinary cycle in the equivalence class. This theory is a generalization of that of linear series of the algebraic curve. With this theory and the fundamental theory of multivariate splines on smoothing cofactors and global conformality conditions, and the results on the general expression of multivariate splines, we get a formula on the index, the order and the dimension of a complete series of the irreducible C ^µ piecewise algebraic curves and the degree, the genus and the smoothness of the curves, hence the Riemann-Roch type theorem of the C ^µ piecewise algebraic curve is established.     

Torus graphs and simplicial posets

For several important classes of manifolds acted on by the torus, the information about the action can be encoded combinatorially by a regular n-valent graph with vector labels on its edges, which we refer to as the torus graph. By analogy with the GKM-graphs, we introduce the notion of equivariant cohomology of a torus graph, and show that it is isomorphic to the face ring of the associated simplicial poset. This extends a series of previous results on the equivariant cohomology of torus manifolds. As a primary combinatorial application, we show that a simplicial poset is Cohen-Macaulay if its face ring is Cohen-Macaulay. This completes the algebraic characterisation of Cohen-Macaulay posets initiated by Stanley. We also study blow-ups of torus graphs and manifolds from both the algebraic and the topological points of view.