Verschiebung maps among K-groups of truncated

arXiv:1712.03189v1 [math.AT] 8 Dec 2017

polynomial algebras
Ryo Horiuchi

1 Introduction
Let p be a prime number, and let A be a ring in which p is nilpotent. In
this paper, we consider the maps
Kq+1 (A[x]/(xm ), (x)) Kq+1 (A[x]/(xmn ), (x)),
induced by the ring homomorphism A[x]/(xm ) A[x]/(xmn ), x 7 xn . We
evaluate these maps, up to extension, for general A in terms of topological
Hochschild homology, and for regular Fp -algebras A, in terms of groups of
de Rham-Witt forms. After the evaluation, we give a calculation of the
K-group of OCp /pOCp .
By Dundas-Goodwillie-McCarthy ([1, Theorem 7.0.0.2]), relative alge-
braic K-theory and relative topological cyclic homology coincide for alge-
bras which we are studying. In [4, Theorem 4.2.10], Hesselholt and Madsen
constructed an exact sequence of algebraic K-theory for polynomial algebras
and gave an explicit presentation ([4, Theorem A]) of the algebraic K-theory
of a truncated polynomial algebra over a perfect field of positive character-
istic by the Witt vectors. In [2, Theorem A], Hesselholt constructed a tower
of such long exact sequences. The tower corresponds to the canonical pro-
jections A[x]/(xm ) A[x]/(xn ) with m n for A an Fp -algebra. Although
their results are expressed in the language of de Rham-Witt complexes and
algebraic K-theory, what they have used are topological Hochschild homol-
ogy and topological cyclic homology of ring spectra. Using the language of
ring spectra and their homology theories, we consider the map of relative
algebraic K-groups
vn : Kq+1 (A[x]/(xm ), (x)) Kq+1 (A[x]/(xmn ), (x))
induced by the ring homomorphism
A[x]/(xm ) A[x]/(xnm ), x 7 xn .

1
We also consider the colimit over the vn s indexed by the filtered category
(N, ) of natural numbers under multiplication. One of our main results is
the following (Theorem 4.2). The TR-groups are explained in Section 4.

Theorem 1.1. Let A be a ring in which p is nilpotent. There is a map of

long exact sequences

.. ..
. .

 
i/k id / limR TRi/kn
limR TRqd (A) q di,kn
(A)
i,k

Vk Vkn
 
Vn
limR TRiqd (A) / limR TRi
qd (A)
i,k i,kn

 
vn
Kq+1 (A[x]/(xk ), (x)) / Kq+1 (A[x]/(xnk ), (x))

 
.. ..
. . ,

where di,k = (i 1)/k is the integer part of (i 1)/k, V s denote the maps
induced by Verschiebung maps, the maps in the limits are restriction maps,
and the maps vn are induced by x 7 xn .

One of the remarkable facts about topological Hochschild homology is

that its homotopy groups correspond to the groups of de Rham-Witt forms.
Via this correspondence, stable homotopy theory and p-adic Hodge theory
have been getting closer each other. Considering it, we also produce a
diagram similar to the one above for regular algebras over Fp in terms of
de Rham-Witt groups via the translation between topological Hochschild
homology and the de Rham-Witt complex given by [2, 1, 2, 5]. See also
[3].

Theorem 1.2. Let A be a regular Fp -algebra. There is a map of long exact

sequences

2
 .. ..
. .

L L
 
q2l id q2l
l0 Wl+1 A l0 Wl+1 A
/

Vk Vkn
L L
 
q2l Vn q2l
l0 Wk(l+1) A l0 Wkn(l+1) A
/

 
vn
Kq+1 (A[x]/(xk ), (x)) / Kq+1 (A[x]/(xnk ), (x))

 
.. ..
. . ,

where the subscript m(l + 1) denotes the truncation set {1, 2, ..., m(l + 1)}
and W() A denotes the big de Rham-Witt complex over A.
As a consequence of the above theorems and Quillens theorem [9, p.585]
on the K-groups of an algebraic closure of Fp , we calculate the K-group
of OC /pOC with C = Cp (Corollary 3.10). We note that, for the max-
imal ideal m of OC , K (OC /pOC ) is canonically isomorphic to K (k)
K (OC /pOC , m/pOC ).
Theorem 1.3. Let k be an algebraic closure of Fp for a prime number p,
then there is a canonical isomorphism

K2j1 (OC /pOC , m/pOC )

= colimm (Wmj (k)/Vm Wj (k)),

and we also have

L
K2j1 (OC /pOC )
= l6=p Ql /Zl colimm (Wmj (k)/Vm Wj (k)),

where the colimit is indexed by the category (N, ) of natural numbers and
multiplication and W denotes the big Witt vectors, and even degree K-groups
are trivial.

2 The cyclic bar-construction

We recall some notations from [2] or [4]. For a positive integer k, we let k :=
{0, 1, x1 , ..., xk1 } denote the finite commutative pointed monoid defined by

3
xn xm = xm+n , 0xn = 0, x0 = 1 and xk = 0. We let T denote the circle group
and d := C(d)...C(1), where C(j) = C as linear spaces with the T-action
defined by T C(j) C(j), (z, w) 7 z j w, for 1 j d. We let Ncy (k )
denote the geometric realization of the cyclic set Ncy (k )[] defined by cyclic
bar construction of k . This pointed space has the canonical decomposition
_
Ncy (k )
= Ncy (k , i),
i0

induced from the canonical decomposition of the cyclic set. For example,
Ncy (k , 0) is the 2-point space {0, 1}. In [4, 3], the homotopy classes of the
following maps of pointed Ci -spaces are defined; d : i1 /Ci ik S d
for kd < i < k(d + 1), and d : i1 /Ci ik (S 0 Ck ) S d for
i = k(d + 1), where Cm is the m-th cyclic group and S d is the one point
compactification of d . They play a key role in this paper. In op. cit.,
for any positive integer i, the following cofibration sequence are constructed
using ;
pr
T+ Ci/k S di / T+ C S di
i
/ Ncy (k , i) / T+ C S di ,
i/k

where T+ Ci/k S di is trivial when k does not divide i and di = (i 1)/k

is the largest natural number less than or equal to (i 1)/k. We briefly
recall the construction.
For the i-th cyclic group Ci , R[Ci ] denotes the regular representation
and i1 R[Ci ] denotes the convex hull of the generators of Ci . By
permutation Ci acts on R[Ci ] and the action restricts on i1 . Let i denote
the generator of Ci and im the convex hull of 1, i , ..., iim . The canonical
decomposition of R[Ci ] induces the projection map ([2, p.11])

d : R[Ci ] d ,

if 2d < i. We first consider the case md < i < m(d + 1). In [4, 3], it
is proved that 0 6 d (Ci im ) d . Composing d |i1 and the radial
projection, we get a Ci -equivariant map

d : i1 /Ci im S d .

We next consider the case i = m(d + 1). It is also proved that in [4, 3]
0 6 d+1 (Ci im ) d+1 . Furthermore, that proves

d+1 (Ci im )
d = Cm ,

4
where d is the orthogonal completion of the image of the canonical inclusion
is the preimage of C by the isomorphism C(d+1)
d
d+1 and Cm m d
induced by . Picking a small ball B d+1 \Cm around a point in the

sphere S( d ), we define U := (Ci B) S(d+1 ). If B is small enough,

the projection d+1 and radial projection define a Ci -equivariant map d :
i1 /Ci im D(d+1 )/(S(d+1 )\U ), where D(d+1 ) denotes the disk
in d+1 . [2, 3] shows that there is a strong deformation retract of Ci -spaces

(S 0 Cm ) S d D(d+1 )/(S d+1 \U ).

Therefore we get a homotopy class of Ci -equivariant maps

d : i1 /Ci im (S 0 Cm ) S d .

We also recall some well-known theorems. For A a commutative ring,

Hesselholt-Madsen shows that, in [5, Theorem 7.1], there is an equivalence

THH(A[x]/(xk )) THH(A) Ncy (k ). (a)

This equivalence gives rise to

_
THH(A[x]/(xk ), (x)) THH(A) Ncy (k , i).
i>0

Here is a corollary of the famous theorem by Dundas-Goodwillie-McCarthy.

For a ring A in which p is nilpotent, the cyclotomic trace map

K(A[x]/(xk ), (x)) TC(A[x]/(xk ), (x)) (b)

is an equivalence.
In the present paper, using above theorems, we study the map

K(A[x]/(xk ), (x)) K(A[x]/(xnk ), (x)),

induced by x 7 xn , for an Fp -algebra A.

3 The geometric Verschiebung map

In order to study the map K(A[x]/(xk ), (x)) K(A[x]/(xnk ), (x)), we use
two pointed commutative monoids k and nk and their realizations of
cyclic bar constructions, and construct a map between corresponding cofi-
bration sequences.

5
 In [5, 7.2], Hesselholt and Madsen defined an isomorphism between the
geometric realization |[n][]| of the standard cyclic set and the product
topological space T n of the circle and the standard n-simplex as follows;
In [6, Theorem 3.4], Jones constructed an homeomorphism between |[n][]|
and T n and defined an action of Cn+1 on T n by
n (x; u0 , ..., un ) := (x u0 ; u1 , ..., un , u0 ).
However, Hesselholt and Madsen consider a different action of Cn+1 on T
n given by
n (x; u0 , ..., un ) := (x 1/(n + 1); u1 , ..., un , u0 ),
and defined an T Cn+1 -equivariant homeomorphism Fn : T n T n
by
Fn (x; u0 , ..., un ) := (x fn (u0 , ..., un ); u0 , ..., un )
with an affine map fn : n R
fn (u1 , ..., un , u0 ) fn (u0 , ..., un ) = 1/(n + 1) u0 ,
and
fn (1, 0, ..., 0) = 0.
By construction, the restriction Fn |n is the identity map. We identify |[n]|
with T n via this isomorphism. We define a map ei,n : i1 in1 ,
which sends the vertex (0, ..., 0, 1, 0, ..., 0), where the (m+1)th coordinates
is 1, to the vertex (0, ..., 0, 1, 0, ..., 0), where the (mn+1)th coordinate is 1,
for every m {0, ..., i 1}. In other words, ei,n (ij ) = in
nj
for 0 j i 1,
where i , respectively in , is the generator of Ci , respectively Cin .
Lemma 3.1. The map ei,n induces the map gi,n : Ncy (k , i) Ncy (nk , in),
a 7 bn , via the isomorphism, where k , respectively nk , is generated by a,
respectively b.

Proof. By [4, Lemma 2.2.6], the map [i 1][] Ncy (k , i)[] represent-
ing the i 1-simplex a ... a (i factors) induces a T-equivariant homeomor-

phism after the geometric realization. We write [in 1] Ncy (kn , in)[]
for the map representing the in 1-simplex b ... b (in factors). Then we
have the following commutative diagram

gi,n
Ncy (k , i)[] / Ncy (kn , in)[]
O O


[i 1] / [in 1],

6
where the map of cyclic sets is the one induced by the composition map

din1 din2 ...d2 d1 except dnj for all j {1, ..., i 1} and gi,n is the map
n
of cyclic sets that is given by a 7 b and induces gi,n via the geometric
realization by definition. The geometric realization of with Hesselholt-
Madsens isomorphism mentioned above is given by
T i1 T in1 ,
(t, (u0 , u1 , ..., ui1 )) 7 (t, (u0 , 0, 0, ..., 0, u1 , 0, ..., 0, ui1 , 0, 0, ..., 0)),
where there are n-1 zeros between us1 and us . By definition, it is the map
idT ei,n . In other words, we have the commutative diagram
idT ei,n
T i1 / T in1
O O

=
=
||
|[i 1]| / |[in 1]|.

By the definition of the cyclic bar construction and the commutativity of

our monoids,
i1 (d1 d2 ...din2 din1 ) = i1 D(id[in1] )
= D in1 (id[in1] )
= D (b ... b) = bn ... bn ,
in1
[in 1][in 1] / Ncy (kn , in)[in 1]

D D
 i1 
[in 1][i 1] / Ncy (kn , in)[i 1],

where D is the image of the map din1 din2 ...d2 d1 except dnj for all j
{1, ..., i 1} by the contravariant functor [in 1][] and D is the image
of the map din1 din2 ...d2 d1 except dnj for all j {1, ..., i 1} by the
contravariant functor Ncy (kn , in).
We now study the relation between the map gi,n and the cofibration
sequences above. More precisely, we have two cofibration sequences for
every i > 0,
pr
T+ Ci/k S di / T+ C S di
i
/ Ncy (k , i),

pr
T+ Cin/kn S di / T+ C S di
in
/ Ncy (kn , in),

7
and are comparing them using gi,n .

Proposition 3.2. (i) For kd < i < k(d + 1), the following diagram of Ci -
spaces commutes up to homotopy

i,k
i1 /Ci ik / S d

ei,n id
 in,kn

in1 /Cin n(ik) / S d .

(ii) For i = k(d + 1), the following diagram of Ci -spaces commutes up to

homotopy

i,k
i1 /Ci ik / (S 0 Ck ) S d

ei,n
 in,kn

in1 /Cin n(ik) / (S 0 Cnk ) S d ,

where the right hand side vertical map is induced by the inclusion Ck Ckn ,
k and the identity map on S d .
k 7 nk

Proof. We prove (i). The same argument holds for (ii). By the construction
of ([2, 3]), i,k (ij ) = [ij , i2j , ..., id ], where i is the generator of Ci .
j j 2j d ], where is the generator of C . By
Likewise, in,kn(in ) = [in , in , ..., in in in
the definition of e, we have e(i ) = in n . In the complex numbers plane C,

ij = in
nj
.

By this proposition, we get the following map of cofiber sequences.

Corollary 3.3. There is a homotopy commutative diagram of cofibration

sequences
pr
T+ Ci/k S d / T+ C S d
i
/ Ncy (k , i)

id pr gi,n
  
pr
T+ Cin/nk S d / T+ C S d
in
/ Ncy (nk , ni),

where T+ Ci/k S d and T+ Cin/kn S d are trivial when k does not divide i
and d = (i 1)/k.

8
Proof. Again by [4, (3.1.1)], the map [j 1][] Ncy (m , j)[] represent-
ing yy...y (j factors) with the generator y of m induces a T-equivariant
homeomorphism

T+ Cj (j1 /Cj jm) Ncy (m , j).

We can get two cofibration sequences

pr
T+ Ci/k S d / T+ C S d
i
/ Ncy (k , i),

pr
T+ Cin/kn S d / T+ C S d
in
/ Ncy (kn , in),

applying T+ Ci () and T+ Cin () respectively to the diagrams in 3.2.

The inclusion map Ci Cni , ij 7 in
nj
, induces the maps id, pr and gi,n
which make the diagram commutative.

4 Proof of theorems
For a ring A, the topological Hochschild homology THH(A) is a cyclotomic
spectrum. See, for example, [8, III.4, III.5]. For a finite dimensional orthog-
onal T-representation , we let S denote the one point compactification.
We define
TRnq (A) := [S q (T/Cn )+ , S THH(A)]T
to be the abelian group of maps in the T-stable homotopy category ([2,
p.6-7]).
Using the diagram in the corollary above, we can get a map of long exact
sequences to study commutative rings.

Theorem 4.1. Let A be a commutative ring and k a positive integer. There

is a map of long exact sequences

9
 .. ..
. .

Q Q
 
i/k id i/kn
i1 TRq(i1)/k (A) i1 TRq(i1)/kn (A)
/

Vk Vkn
Q i

Vn Q i

i1 TRq(i1)/k (A) i1 TRq(i1)/kn (A)
/

 
TFq+1 (A[x]/(xk ), (x)) / TFq+1 (A[x]/(xnk ), (x))

 
.. ..
. .

where V maps are given by Verschiebung maps, ei = (i 1)/kn, and

i/l
TRs (A) is trivial when i/l 6 N.

Proof. Taking the infinite coproduct of the diagram in the corollary, we get
the following map of cofibration sequences
W pr W
i0 T+ Ci/k S di /
i0 T+ Ci S di / Ncy (k )

id pr gn

W 
pr W  
i0 T+ Ci/kn S ei /
i0 T+ Ci S ei / Ncy (nk ),

where gn denotes the map induced by k nk , a 7 bn . Applying the

functor THH(A) S () to the diagram above and taking fixed points and
the homotopy limits along with Frobenius maps and homotopy groups of
spectra, we get the desired diagram by (a).

We can deduce another map of another long exact sequences by the

cofibration sequence.

Theorem 4.2. Let A be an algebra in which p is nilpotent. There is a map

of long exact sequences

10
 .. ..
. .

 
i/k id / limR TRi/kn
limR TRqd (A) q di,kn
(A)
i,k

Vk Vkn
 
Vn
limR TRiqd (A) / limR TRi
qd (A)
i,k i,kn

 
vn
Kq+1 (A[x]/(xk ), (x)) / Kq+1 (A[x]/(xnk ), (x))

 
.. ..
. . ,
where di,k = (i 1)/k, di,kn = (i 1)/kn, V denotes the map induced
by Verschiebung maps and the maps in the limits are restriction maps.
Proof. The same argument in the proof of [2, 2.1] holds. More precisely, we
first smash THH(A) with the cofibration sequences in the proof of the above
theorem and use (a). Next we take homotopy limits along with Frobenius
maps and homotopy fixed points of restriction maps. Then by (b), we get
the desired diagram.
Taking the colimit of the diagram in the above theorem, we get the
following
Corollary 4.3. Let A be an Fp -algebra and let A := colimn (A[x]/(xnk ), (x)).
Then there is a long exact sequence

/ limR TRi/k (A) / colimn limR TRi (A)

q i d
q di
k kn

/ Kq+1 (A) / .

Proof. The colimit is filtered. Therefore, we get a long exact sequence by

taking the colimit of the long exact sequences obtained in the above theorem
and colimn K (A[x]/(xnk ), (x)) is canonically isomorphic to K (A).

For any Z(p) -algebra A, there is a decomposition by [2, 2]

=
Y
TRiqd (A)
TRuq u1 (A; p),
(p j1)/k
j|i

11
where i = pu1 i with i /p
/ N and d = (i 1/k). The i-th component of
the above isomorphism is given by the composition
i/j u1
TRiqd (A) TRqd TRpq (A),
(pu1 j1)/k

of the the Frobenius map Fj and the restriction map Ri /j . We define

u1
TRuq (A; p) := TRpq (A).
Let A be a Z(p) -algebra for a prime number p, and i, n and q natural
numbers. Write i = pu1 i with i /p / N and n = pv1 n with n /p
/ N.
Then there is a commutative diagram, see [2],
Q
TRiq (A) / u
j|i TRq (A; p)

 Q 
TRin
q (A)
/
j|i n TRu+v1
q (A; p),

where the left vertical map is n-th Verschiebung map V n and the right
vertical map acts on the j factor as n V v1 which lands on jn factor and
the horizontal maps are isomorphisms defined above. We use the stability
lemma [2, Lemma 2.6].
Lemma 4.4. Let p be a prime number and A a Z(p) -algebra and i = pu1 i ,
n = pv n and q natural numbers and j Ip . Then there is a natural number
u such that the following diagram is commutative
v
Vp
limR TRuq (A; p) / limR TRu
q (A; p)
(pu1 j1)/k (pu1 j1)/k

pr pr
 v 
Vp

TRuq (A; p) / TRu +v (A; p),

(pu 1 j1)/k
q
(pu 1 j1)/k

and vertical maps are isomorphisms and q < 2(pu j 1)/k.

Proof. We first note that (pu +v1 jn 1)/kn = (pu 1 j 1)/k. There-
fore, the diagram is commutative. Moreover, by Lemma 2.6 in [2], the

vertical maps are isomorphisms for q < 2(pu j 1)/k.

Taking the limit on the decomposition, we get the isomorphism

=
Y
limR TRiqd lim TRuq u1 (A; p),
R (p j1)/k
jIp

where Ip is the set of natural numbers which are not divided by p.

12
Corollary 4.5. Let A be a Z(p) -algebra and A := colimn (A[x]/(xnk ), (x)).
Then we can chose u such that the following is a long exact sequence
L
/
jIp limR TRuq k,p
(A; p)
d
u,j

L
/
jIp colimv limR TRu+v+s
q k,p (A; p)
/
d
u,j

Kq+1 (A) / ...,

where k = ps k and n = pv n and dk,p

u,j = (p
u1 j 1)/k.

Proof. By 4.4, for any j Ip , it is able to chose large enough u such that
the following commutes and vertical maps are isomorphisms
s
Vp
limR TRuq (A; p) / limR TRu+s (A; p)
(pu1 j1)/k q (pu1 j1)/k

pr pr
s
Vp
 
TRuq (A; p) / TRu+s (A; p),

(pu 1 j1)/k
q
(pu 1 j1)/k

where k = ps k . We also have the decomposition for Z(p) -algebra. Therefore,

we get the desired long exact sequence from Cor 3.6.

For regular Fp -algebras, in [2, 5] Hesselholt gave an explicit transla-

tion of topological Hochschild homology and big de Rham-Witt complex
W() A . By the translation, we immediately get the following from Theo-
rem 4.2

Corollary 4.6. Let A be a regular Fp -algebra. There is a map of long exact

sequences

13
 .. ..
. .

L L
 
q2l id q2l
l0 Wl+1 A l0 Wl+1 A
/

Vk Vkn
L L
 
q2l Vn q2l
l0 Wk(l+1) A l0 Wkn(l+1) A
/

 
vn
Kq+1 (A[x]/(xk ), (x)) / Kq+1 (A[x]/(xnk ), (x))

 
.. ..
. . ,

where the subscript m(l + 1) is the truncation set {1, 2, ..., m(l + 1)} and
V s denote the maps induced by Verschiebungs.
Quillen calculated the algebraic K-theory of an algebraic closure k of
Fp in [9, p.585]. Combining it and our results, we now calculate the alge-
braic K-theory of OC /pOC = colimn (k[x]/xn ), where C = Cp . Note that
the canonical map K (OC /pOC ) K (k) K (OC /pOC , m/pOC ) is an
isomorphism, where m is the maximal ideal.
By [4, Theorem A] and our result Corollary 4.6, we have the following
commutative diagram of short exact sequences for any j
Vm / K2j1 (k[x]/(xm ), (x))
0 / Wj (k) / Wjm (k) /0

id Vn
 Vmn
 
0 / Wj (k) / Wjmn (k) / K2j1 (k[x]/(xnm ), (x)) / 0,

where W denotes the big Witt vectors, and the most right vertical map is
induced by the power map x 7 xn . Taking the colimit of this diagram, we
have the following
Corollary 4.7. Let k be an algebraic closure of Fp for a prime number p,
then there is a canonical isomorphism

K2j1 (OC /pOC , m/pOC )

= colimm (Wmj (k)/Vm Wj (k)),

and we also have

14
 L
K2j1 (OC /pOC )
= l6=p Ql /Zl colimm (Wmj (k)/Vm Wj (k)),

where the colimit is indexed by the category of natural numbers and multi-
plication, and even degrees K-groups are trivial.

5 Acknowkedgement
I am deeply grateful to Lars Hesselholt for suggesting the topic presented
here and helpful conversations. I also wish to express my gratitude to Martin
Speirs for valuable comments and to the DNRF Niels Bohr Professorship of
Lars Hesselholt for the support.

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16