Equivariant Euler characteristics and sheaf resolvents (Q1948157)

For a given finite group G of odd order, consider a \(G\)-cover \(\pi: X\to Y\) of schemas which are projective and flat over \(\mathrm{Spec}(\mathbb Z)\). For a \(G\)-equivariant locally free sheaf \(\mathcal F\) on \(X\), the coherent cohomology groups \(H^i(X,\mathcal F)\) are finitely generated \(\mathbb Z[G]\)-modules to which one can associate equivariant sheaves such as the structural sheaf \(\mathcal O_X\), the canonical sheaf \(\omega_{X/Y}=\mathcal O_X(D_{X/Y})\) or its square root \(\omega_{X/Y}^{\frac12} =\mathcal O_X(\frac12 D_{X/Y})\), where \(D_{X/Y}\) is the different divisor of \(X/Y\). These can be considered as higher analogues of arithmetic modules such as the ring of integers, the codifferent or its square root which appear in the study of the additive Galois module structure of a finite Galois extension of number fields. When the action of \(G\) is tame, it is known that the hypercomology complex \(R\Gamma(X,\mathcal F)\) is perfect, i.e. it is isomorphic, in the derived category, to a bounded complex of finitely generated projective \(\mathbb Z[G]\)-modules. This leads naturally to say that the sheaf \(\mathcal F\) has a normal integral basis (NIB) if \(R\Gamma(X, \mathcal F)\) is isomorphic, in the derived category, to a bounded complex of free \(\mathbb Z[G]\)-modules. Following \textit{T. Chinburg} [Ann. Math. (2) 139, No. 2, 443--490 (1994; Zbl 0828.14007)], the obstruction to the existence of a NIB for \(\mathcal F\) is measured by an equivariant Euler characteristic \(\chi^P(\mathcal F)\) in the class group \(Cl(\mathbb Z[G])\). In the case when \(G\) is abelian and \(X\) is a \(G\)-torsor over \(Y\), the morphism \(\pi\) is étale and hence the canonical sheaf and its square root coincide with the structural sheaf and moreover they have a NIB [\textit{G. Pappas}, Invent. Math. 133, No. 1, 193--225 (1998; Zbl 0923.14030)]. If \(G\) is abelian but \(\pi\) is not étale, the authors obtain in the present paper formulas for the equivariant Euler characteristic which involve a quadratic form derived from intersection numbers and which allow to carry out explicit calculations, thus producing sheaves having no NIB. One typical example is the formula expressing \(2\chi^P(\mathcal O_X)-2\chi^P(\mathcal F)\), where \(\mathcal F\) is the canonical sheaf or its square root (the factor 2 comes from the need to consider the determinant of cohomology bundles of even rank). The problem is to construct a representative for this class, more precisely to find a \(G_Q\)-equivariant homomorphism g from the virtual E-characters of \(G\) to the finite idèles of \(E\) (a sufficiently large finite Galois extension of \(Q\)) such that the above difference equals \(t(g)\) in \(Cl(\mathbb Z[G])\), where \(t\) is the so-called Fröhlich Hom-description morphism. More refined results can be shown in the case when \(G\) is an abelian \(\ell\)-group. The proofs use techniques like the resolvent together with the local Riemann-Roch theorem.