Multiplicative K-theory and K-theory of Functors

In this article we give a construction of Max Karoubi’s multiplicative K-theory as the K-theory of an appropriate functor between two categories. We use this construction to explain why the two definitions of relative multiplicative K-theory for a compact pair of manifolds we give in the article agree. Part of this work has been done while I was holding an EEC postdoctoral position funded by the network ‘Algebraic K-theory, linear algebraic groups and related structures’ at University College Dublin. I would like to thank Professor David Lewis for inviting me to Dublin. During the later stages of the work, I was supported by EPSERC grant GR/S08046/01.