Operadic multiplications in equivariant spectra, norms, and transfers (Q887316)

A highly successful method of studying cohomology theories is to look at their representing objects: spectra. If the cohomology theory has a multiplicative structure, then the corresponding spectrum will have extra structure. This structure lead to the notion of \(A_\infty\)-ring spectra and (for commutative multiplicative structures) \(E_\infty\)-ring spectra. By work of May, the choice of a particular \(E_\infty\)-operad is not important at the level of homotopy categories. It follows that the various categories of strict commutative ring spectra (such as those coming from EKMM \(S\)-modules, orthogonal spectra or symmetric spectra) all model the same homotopy theory. Equivariantly the story is much more complicated. There are many operads in \(G\)-spaces, which forget to an \(E_\infty\)-operad of spaces, yet have fundamentally different categories of algebras. For \(G\) a finite group, this paper studies the various operadic structures on \(G\)-spaces and (genuine) \(G\)-spectra. It gives a characterisation of the possible multiplicative structures in terms of allowable norms on algebras over the operads. The equivariant generalisations of \(E_\infty\)-operads are called \(N_\infty\)-operads. The authors prove that if \(R\) is an algebra over an \(N_\infty\)-operad, then \(\pi_0^{H}(R)\) (for varying \(H \subseteq G\)) has the structure of a commutative Green functor (that is, a Mackey functor with a commutative multiplication). Furthermore, if the action of the operad interchanges with itself, then the norm maps are morphisms of commutative monoids and satisfy a multiplicative version of the double coset formula. Two examples of \(N_\infty\)-operads satisfying the interchange condition are given: the equivariant Steiner operad and the equivariant linear isometries operad.