Thom modules (Q1058756)

Let A be a non-negatively graded R-Hopf algebra where R is a commutative ring. Let H be a left A-module satisfying the Cartan formula \(a(h_ 1h_ 2)=\sum (-1)^{| h_ 1| | a''\!_ i|}(a'\!_ ih_ 1) (a''\!_ ih_ 2)\) where \(\Delta a=\sum a'\!_ i\otimes a''\!_ i\). A Thom module is an A-H-module which is free on one zero- dimensional generator. The A-characteristic K-group of H, K(A,H), is defined to be the set of A-H-isomorphism classes of A-H Thom modules. These algebraic definitions are abstracted from the topological example in which A is the mod 2 Steenrod algebra and H is mod 2 cohomology of a space. The author develops these concepts algebraically. In particular, he shows that tensor product over H makes K(A,H) into a group and studies Stiefel-Whitney classes and Wu formulae in this context. Finally, K(A,H) is computed for the case when A is the tensor product of a free graded commutative algebra.