On topological cyclic homology (Q1714339)

The paper under review provides a simplification of the theory of topological cyclic homology and cyclotomic spectra using \(\infty\)-categorical methods. Initially, the theory of topological cyclic homology was introduced by [\textit{M. Bökstedt} et al., Invent. Math. 111, No. 3, 465--539 (1993; Zbl 0804.55004)] as a tool for studying algebraic \(K\)-theory by means of the cyclotomic trace map. The classical construction of topological cyclic homology is rather intricate and relies on working with topological Hochschild homology as a genuine cyclotomic spectrum in the sense of [\textit{L. Hesselholt} and \textit{I. Madsen}, Topology 36, No. 1, 29--101 (1997; Zbl 0866.55002)] and [\textit{A. J. Blumberg} and \textit{M. A. Mandell}, Geom. Topol. 19, No. 6, 3105--3147 (2015; Zbl 1332.19003)]. More precisely, if \(R\) is an \(\mathbb{E}_1\)-ring, then the topological Hochschild homology \(\mathrm{THH}(R)\) of \(R\) refines to a genuine \(\mathbb{T}\)-spectrum with respect to the family of finite subgroups of the circle group \(\mathbb{T} = S^1\), and there are compatible \(\mathbb{T}\)-equivariant equivalences \(\Phi^{C_n} \mathrm{THH}(R) \simeq \mathrm{THH}(R)\) for every \(n \geq 1\), where \(\Phi^{C_n} \mathrm{THH}(R)\) denotes the geometric fixedpoints for the action of the cyclic group \(C_n \subseteq \mathbb{T}\) on \(\mathrm{THH}(R)\). The key insight of Nikolaus and Scholze is that it suffices to regard \(\mathrm{THH}(R)\) as an object of the \(\infty\)-category of spectra with \(\mathbb{T}\)-action which is simply defined as the functor \(\infty\)-category \(\mathrm{Fun}(B\mathbb{T}, \mathrm{Sp})\). The authors define a cyclotomic spectrum as a spectrum \(X\) with \(\mathbb{T}\)-action together with a \(\mathbb{T}\)-equivariant map \[ \varphi_p : X \to X^{tC_p} \] for every prime \(p\), where the Tate construction \(X^{tC_p}\) carries the residual \(\mathbb{T}/C_p \simeq \mathbb{T}\)-action. There is a stable \(\infty\)-category \(\mathrm{CycSp}\) of cyclotomic spectra which is defined as a lax equalizer. If \(X\) is a genuine cyclotomic spectrum, then the underlying spectrum with \(\mathbb{T}\)-action of \(X\) can be regarded as a cyclotomic spectrum using the canonical \(\mathbb{T}\)-equivariant map \(\Phi^{C_n} X \to X^{tC_p}\), and the main result of the paper asserts that this construction defines a functor \(\infty\)-categories \[ \mathrm{CycSp}^{\mathrm{gen}} \to \mathrm{CycSp} \] which restricts to an equivalence on the respective full subcategories spanned by those objects whose underlying spectra are bounded below. Here, \(\mathrm{CycSp}^{\mathrm{gen}}\) denotes the \(\infty\)-category of genuine cyclotomic spectra. In other words, the notion of a cyclotomic spectrum as defined by the authors completely captures the necessary structure encoded by a genuine cyclotomic spectrum in the bounded below case. Consequently, the authors prove that if \(X\) is a cyclotomic spectrum whose underlying spectrum is bounded below, then there is an equivalence of spectra \[ \mathrm{TC}(X) \simeq \mathrm{map}_{\mathrm{CycSp}}(\mathbb{S}, X), \] where \(\mathrm{TC}(X)\) denotes the integral topological cyclic homology of [\textit{B. I. Dundas} et al., The local structure of algebraic \(K\)-theory. London: Springer (2013; Zbl 1272.55002)], and \(\mathrm{map}_{\mathrm{CycSp}}(\mathbb{S}, X)\) denotes the mapping spectrum in the stable \(\infty\)-category \(\mathrm{CycSp}\). This result provides an integral refinement of a previous result of [\textit{A. J. Blumberg} and \textit{M. A. Mandell}, Geom. Topol. 19, No. 6, 3105--3147 (2015; Zbl 1332.19003)] in the \(p\)-complete case. As a formal consequence of this result, Nikolaus and Scholze prove that \(\mathrm{TC}(X)\) can be computed by a fiber sequence \[ \mathrm{TC}(X) \to X^{h\mathbb{T}} \xrightarrow{(\varphi_p^{h\mathbb{T}}-\mathrm{can})_p} \displaystyle\prod_{p} (X^{tC_p})^{h\mathbb{T}} \] where \(\mathrm{can}\) is the canonical map defined by \(X^{h\mathbb{T}} \simeq (X^{hC_p})^{h(\mathbb{T}/C_p)} \simeq (X^{hC_p})^{h\mathbb{T}} \to (X^{tC_p})^{h\mathbb{T}}\). Additionally, the authors prove that the canonical map \(X^{t\mathbb{T}} \to (X^{tC_p})^{h\mathbb{T}}\) exhibits the target as the \(p\)-completion of the source under the assumption that the underlying spectrum of \(X\) is bounded below. This fiber sequence is very useful for computing \(\mathrm{TC}(X)\) since in many situations both \(X^{h\mathbb{T}}\) and \(X^{t\mathbb{T}}\) can be computed by means of the homotopy fixedpoint spectral sequence and the Tate spectral sequence, respectively. The authors construct a cyclotomic structure on \(\mathrm{THH}(R)\) of an \(\mathbb{E}_1\)-ring \(R\) using the Tate diagonal. For every prime number \(p\), there is a functor \(T_p : \mathrm{Sp} \to \mathrm{Sp}\) given by the topological Singer construction \(T_p(X) = (X^{\otimes p})^{tC_p}\), where the cyclic group \(C_p\) acts on \(X^{\otimes p}\) by permutting the factors. This construction was previously considered by [\textit{S. Lunøe-Nielsen} and \textit{J. Rognes}, Doc. Math. 17, 861--909 (2012; Zbl 1275.55005)]. Nikolaus and Scholze prove that the functor \(T_p\) is exact, and that there is an essentially unique lax symmetric monoidal natural transformation \(\Delta_p : \mathrm{id} \to T_p\), which they refer to as the Tate diagonal. The authors prove that if \(X\) is a bounded below spectrum, then the Tate diagonal \(\Delta_p : X \to (X^{\otimes p})^{tC_p}\) exhibits the target as the \(p\)-completion of \(X\), generalizing a previous result of [\textit{S. Lunøe-Nielsen} and \textit{J. Rognes}, Doc. Math. 17, 861--909 (2012; Zbl 1275.55005)] who proved this result under the additional assumption that all the homotopy groups of \(X\) are finitely generated. For \(X = \mathbb{S}\), this result recovers the Segal conjecture for the group \(C_p\). The authors compare the construction of the cyclotomic structure on \(\mathrm{THH}\) using the Tate diagonal to the construction given by [\textit{L. Hesselholt} and \textit{I. Madsen}, Topology 36, No. 1, 29--101 (1997; Zbl 0866.55002)] using the Bökstedt construction, and they show that the two constructions are equivalent under suitable assumptions. Nikolaus and Scholze exemplify the theory by many examples. Using the Tate diagonal, the authors introduce the Tate-valued Frobenius map \(\varphi : R \to R^{tC_p}\) for every \(\mathbb{E}_\infty\)-ring \(R\), which is a refinement of the usual Frobenius homomorphism from algebra. The Tate-valued Frobenius provides a common generalization of various well-known power operations. For instance, if \(R = \mathrm{KU}\), then the Tate-valued Frobenius encodes the Adams operations, and if \(R = \mathrm{H}\mathbb{F}_p\), then the Tate-valued Frobenius encodes the Steenrod squares. The authors recover the computation of \(\mathrm{TC}(\mathbb{S}[\Omega Y])\) previously obtained by [\textit{M. Bökstedt} et al., Invent. Math. 111, No. 3, 465--539 (1993; Zbl 0804.55004)], where \(Y\) denotes a pointed connected space. This relies on the observation that \(\mathrm{THH}(\mathbb{S}[\Omega Y])\) admits Frobenius lifts and crucially exploits the fiber sequence description of \(\mathrm{TC}\) discussed above. Finally, the authors compute \(\mathrm{TC}(\mathbb{F}_p)\) by computing all the terms in the fiber sequence description of \(\mathrm{TC}(\mathbb{F}_p)\) above using the homotopy fixedpoint spectral sequence, the Tate spectral sequence, and Bökstedt's fundamental calculation of the homotopy groups of \(\mathrm{THH}(\mathbb{F}_p)\). As a consequence, they give a complete description of \(\mathrm{THH}(\mathbb{F}_p)\) as an \(\mathbb{E}_\infty\)-algebra in the \(\infty\)-category of cyclotomic spectra. Ultimately, the work of Nikolaus and Scholze provides the foundations for many important recent developments in \(p\)-adic Hodge theory, algebraic \(K\)-theory and related fields. For instance, [\textit{B. Bhatt} et al., Publ. Math., Inst. Hautes Étud. Sci. 129, 199--310 (2019; Zbl 1478.14039)] constructs motivic filtrations on topological cyclic homology and identify the graded pieces with some form of syntomic cohomology. Moreover, Clausen, Mathew, and Morrow use the work of Nikolaus and Scholze to prove that the fiber of the cyclotomic trace map is rigid for Henselian pairs generalizing a previous result of Gabber.