A DG guide to Voevodsky's motives (Q2427028)

Let \({\mathcal V}\) be the category of complex algebraic varieties, \({\mathcal T}op\) that of nice topological spaces and \(D_{ab}\) the derived category of finite complexes of finitely generated abelian groups. The basic object of the theory of motives is to construct in a purely gometrical way, a rigid tensor triangulated category \(DM(\mathbb{C})\) and a functor \({\mathcal V}\to DM(\mathbb{C})\) which fits into, a commutative square \[ \begin{tikzcd} \mathcal V\rar\dar["\sigma" '] & DM(\mathbb{C})\dar["\mathcal R"]\\\mathcal Top\rar & D_{ab}\end{tikzcd} \] with \({\mathcal R}\) a tensor triangulated functor. Here \({\mathcal V}@>\sigma>>{\mathcal T}op\) assigns to a variety its space equipped with the classical topology and \({\mathcal T}op\to D_{ab}\) is the singular chain complex functor. The construction of \(DM(\mathbb{C})\) (and more generally of \(DM(k)\) for a perfect field \(k\)) given by Voevodsky is built up by first embedding \({\mathcal V}\) into a larger \(DG\) category and then defining \(DM(\mathbb{C})\) as its appropriate quotient. This paper contains a a concise exposition of Voevodsky's theory, with a special emphasis on the constructions in \(DG\) categories. With respect to triangulated categories \(DG\)-categories play the same role as topological spaces for objects of the homotopy category. In particular, if \({\mathcal C}or({\mathcal S}m)\) is the category whose objects are smooth varieties (over a field \(k\)) and morphisms are finite correspondences then one can construct the \(DG\) category \({\mathcal D}^{eff}_{{\mathcal M}}\) of effective motives by considering the homotopy idempotent completions of the full triangulated \(DG\) subcategories in \({\mathcal C}ar({\mathcal S}m)\) generated by the objects corresponding to the 2-term complexes \(\mathbb{Z}_{tr}[\mathbb{A}^1\times X]\to\mathbb{Z}_{tr}[X]\) and to the 3-terms Mayer-Vietoris ones. Here, for an object \(X\in({\mathcal S}m)\), \(\mathbb{Z}_{tr}(X)\in{\mathcal C}or({\mathcal S}m)\) is the associated presheaf with transfer. Then the homotopy object \(M(X)\) of \({\mathcal D}^{eff}_{{\mathcal M}}\) which corresponds to \(\mathbb{Z}_{tr}(X)\) is the motive of \(X\).