Witt equivalence of algebraic function fields over real closed fields

We examine the conditions for two algebraic function fields over real closed fields to be Witt equivalent. We show that there are only two Witt classes of algebraic function fields with a fixed real closed field of constants: real and non-real ones. The first of them splits further into subclasses corresponding to the tame equivalence. This condition has a natural interpretation in terms of both: orderings (the associated Harrison isomorphism maps 1-pt fans onto 1-pt fans), and geometry and topology of associated real curves (the bijection of points is a homeomorphism and these two curves have the same number of semi-algebraically connected components). Finally, we derive some immediate consequences of those theorems. In particular we describe all the Witt classes of algebraic function fields of genus 0 and 1 over the fixed real closed field. Received: 16 February 2000; in final form: 7 December 2000 / Published online: 18 January 2002     

Triangular Witt groups Part II: From usual to derived

   Abstract. We establish that the derived Witt group is isomorphic to the usual Witt group when 2 is invertible. This key result opens the Ali Baba's cave of triangular Witt groups, linking the abstract results of Part I to classical questions for the usual Witt group. For commercial purposes, we survey the future applications of triangular Witt groups in the introduction. We also establish a connection between odd-indexed Witt groups and formations. Finally, we prove that over a commutative local ring in which 2 is a unit, the shifted derived Witt groups are all zero but the usual one. Received July 15, 1999; in final form November 8, 1999 / Published online October 30, 2000     

EXACT SEQUENCES OF WITT GROUPS

ABSTRACT

An exact sequence of Witt groups, motivated by exact sequences obtained by Lewis and by Parimala, Sridharan and Suresh, is constructed. The behavior of the maps involved in these sequences with respect to isotropy is completely determined in the case of division algebras. In particular, the kernels of the maps involved in the previous sequences are explicitly given, leading to a new proof of their exactness. Similar exact sequences of equivariant Witt groups are constructed. As an application, relations between the cardinality of certain Witt groups are obtained.     

The Witt ring kernel for a fourth degree field extension and related problems

In the first part of this paper we compute the Witt ring kernel for an arbitrary field extension of degree 4 and characteristic different from 2 in terms of the coefficients of a polynomial determining the extension. In the case where the lower field is not formally real we prove that the intersection of any power n of its fundamental ideal and the Witt ring kernel is generated by n-fold Pfister forms.In the second part as an application of the main result we give a criterion for the tensor product of quaternion and biquaternion algebras to have zero divisors. Also we solve the similar problem for three quaternion algebras.In the last part we obtain certain exact Witt group sequences concerning dihedral Galois field extensions. These results heavily depend on some similar cohomological results of Positselski, as well as on the Milnor conjecture, and the Bloch-Kato conjecture for exponent 2, which was proven by Voevodsky.     

A computation of the Witt index for rational quadratic forms

Summary This paper adds the finishing touches to an algorithmic treatment of quadratic forms over the rational numbers. The Witt index of a rational quadratic form is explicitly computed. When combined with a recent adjustment in the Haase invariants, this gives a complete set of invariants for rational quadratic forms, a set which can be computed and which respects all of the standard natural operations (including the tensor product) for quadratic forms. The overall approach does not use (at least explicitly) anyp-adic methods, but it does give the Witt ring of thep-adics as well as the Witt ring of the rationals.     

Sesquilinear forms over rings with involution

Many classical results concerning quadratic forms have been extended to Hermitian forms over algebras with involution. However, not much is known in the case of sesquilinear forms without any symmetry property. The present paper will establish a Witt cancellation result, an analogue of Springer’s theorem, as well as some local–global and finiteness results in this context.     

Biderivations,linear commuting maps and commutative post-Lie algebra structures on W-algebras

In this paper, the biderivations without the skew-symmetric condition of W-algebras including the Witt algebra, the algebra W(2,2) and their central extensions are characterized. Some classes of non-inner biderivations are presented. As applications, the forms of linear commuting maps and the commutative post-Lie algebra structures on aforementioned W-algebras are given.     

On the push-forwards for motivic cohomology theories with invertible stable Hopf element

We present a geometric construction of push-forward maps along projective morphisms for cohomology theories representable in the stable motivic homotopy category assuming that the element corresponding to the stable Hopf map is inverted in the coefficient ring of the theory. The construction is parallel to the one given by Nenashev for derived Witt groups. Along the way we introduce cohomology groups twisted by a formal difference of vector bundles as cohomology groups of a certain Thom space and compute twisted cohomology groups of projective spaces.     

Cup product structure for symplectic K2

For a field F with trivial involution we have the Karoubi L-groups ±1^Ln(F). For 0≤n≤2 these groups are intimately related to subgroups of the classical Witt ring of quadratic forms. -1^L ₂(F) also has a presentation by symbols due to Matsumoto. In terms of this data we make explicit calculations for two cup product maps that appear in the L-theory of fields.     

Constructing Witt-Burnside rings

The Witt-Burnside ring of a profinite group G over a commutative ring A generalizes both the Burnside ring of virtual G-sets and the rings of universal and p-typical Witt vectors over A. The Witt-Burnside ring of G over the monoid ring Z[M], where M is a commutative monoid, is proved isomorphic to the Grothendieck ring of a category whose objects are almost finite G-sets equipped with a map to M that is constant on G-orbits. In particular, if A is a commutative ring and A_× denotes the set A as a monoid under multiplication, then the Witt-Burnside ring of G over Z[A_×] is isomorphic to Graham's ring of “virtual G-strings with coefficients in A.” This result forms the basis for a new construction of Witt-Burnside rings and provides an important missing link between the constructions of Dress and Siebeneicher [Adv. in Math. 70 (1988) 87-132] and Graham [Adv. in Math. 99 (1993) 248-263]. With this approach the usual truncation, Frobenius, Verschiebung, and Teichmüller maps readily generalize to maps between Witt-Burnside rings.     

Triangular Witt Groups Part I: The 12-Term Localization Exact Sequence

To a short exact sequence of triangulated categories with duality, we associate a long exact sequence of Witt groups. For this, we introduce higher Witt groups in a very algebraic and explicit way. Since those Witt groups are 4-periodic, this long exact sequence reduces to a cyclic 12-term one. Of course, in addition to higher Witt groups, we need to construct connecting homomorphisms, hereafter called residue homomorphisms.     

Witt Cohomology, Mayer–Vietoris, Homotopy Invariance and the Gersten Conjecture

We establish a Mayer–Vietoris long exact sequence for Witt groups of regular schemes. We also establish homotopy invariance for Witt groups of regular schemes. For this, we introduce Witt groups with supports using triangulated categories. Subsequently, we use these results to prove the Gersten–Witt conjecture for semi-local regular rings of geometric type over infinite fields of characteristic different from two.     

The Witt ring of a Brauer–Severi variety

For a Brauer–Severi variety X over a field k of characteristic not two, every symmetric bilinear space over X up to Witt equivalence is defined over k. Received: 2 February 1998     

Witt rings and the quaternion group

Let F be a formally real field which admits no quaternionic Galois extension. The structure of the Witt ring and the maximal pro-2 Galois group of F are investigated. Received: 3 July 1997 / Revised version: 2 February 1998     

Witt equivalence of semilocal Dedekind domains in global fields

We examine a condition for two semilocal Dedekind rings, the fields of fractions of which are global fields, to be Witt equivalent. To solve the problem we generalize the notion of a Hilbert-symbol equivalence introduced in [11] and prove that a Witt equivalence is equivalent to a Hilbert-symbol equivalence. As a result we describe a Witt equivalence in terms of field invariants.     

The weak local global principle in algebraic k-theory

Roughly speaking, the weak local global principle in algebraic K-theory assures that two locally isomorphic modules or forms differ- -on the level of Grothendieck rings - - by a nilpotent element only. This paper contains a thorough investigation of this rather useful principle in various cases, including Witt and Witt-Grothendieck rings and their equivariant generalizations. The proofs are based on an abstract categorical "localization lemma" which reduce s the proof in each special case to the verification of two simple assertions. In the .case of Witt rings the results are applied to deduce Pfister's basic structure theorems for Witt rings over arbitrary commutative rings from the corresponding statements for Witt rings over local rings. In the last section explicit isomorphisms of certain modules and forms, derived from locally isomorphic modules or forms in a canonical way, are exhibited. There are further possible applications of the results of this paper towards the theory of signatures of Witt rings and towards integral representation theory.