Non-commutative deformations and quasi-coherent modules (Q522655)

The category \(\mathsf{Qch}(X)\) of quasi-coherent sheaves on a scheme \(X\) replaces the category of schemes in the commutative situation, and is used to generalize to a category of noncommutative schemes. For \(A\) commutative, one has \(\mathsf{Mod}(A)\cong\mathsf{Qch}(\text{Spec}(A))\), so that for a possibly non-commutative algebra \(A\) the category \(\mathsf{Mod}(A)\) is a natural replacement of \(\mathsf{QCoh}(X)\). The philosophy in this article is that algebraic structures giving rise to well-behaved categories of quasi-coherent sheaves can be considered to be non-commutative counterparts of schemes. The natural incidence where this works is based on Serre's result for projective schemes, i.e. for a commutative algebra \(A\), \(\mathsf{QGr}(A)\cong\mathsf{Qch}(\text{Proj}(A)).\) Thus a basis for non-commutative projective geometry, is to associate to a sufficiently nice \(\mathbb Z\)-graded algebra \(A\), not necessarily commutative, the category \(\mathsf{QGr}(A)\) of quasi-coherent modules, obtained as the quotient of the graded modules by the torsion modules. Earlier work by the authors prove that this theory works, but that it is too coarse in many cases. This article takes a local approach to noncommutative schemes, giving a presheaf of algebras \(\mathcal A:\mathcal U^{\text{op}}\rightarrow\mathsf{Alg}(k)\) on a small category \(\mathcal U\) as a non-commutative structure sheaf on affine opens. Following the usual procedure for defining a quasi-coherent sheaf by gluing modules on affine opens, the category of \textit{quasi-coherent modules} over \(\mathcal A\) is defined as \(\mathsf{Qch}(\mathcal A)=\mathsf{Des}(\mathsf{Mod}_{\mathcal A})\), the descent category of the prestack \(\mathsf{Mod}_{\mathcal A}\) of module categories on \(\mathcal A\). The authors define a sheaf of algebras \(\mathcal A\) that behaves well under deformations. To simplify, the authors consider only first order deformations, that is deformations to \(k[\varepsilon]\), \(k\) any field. The articles starts by considering a small category consisting of \(k\)-algebras, so that to an algebra \(A\), one associates the deformations of \(A\). For a \(k\)-algebra \(A\), the Gerstenhaber deformation theory of \(A\) is controlled by the Hochschild cohomology \(\text{HH}^\ast(A)=\text{Ext}^\ast_{A^{\mathrm{op} }\otimes A}(A,A).\) There is a general deformation theory for abelian categories \(\mathcal C\) developed by \textit{W. Lowen} and \textit{M. van den Bergh} [Trans. Am. Math. Soc. 358, No. 12, 5441--5483 (2006; Zbl 1113.13009)], where the deformations are controlled by an intrinsic notion of Hochschild cohomology \(\text{HH}^\ast_{\text{ab}}(\mathcal C).\) The particular case of algebras, is linked to this intrinsic theory by restrictions \(\text{HH}^2(A)\rightarrow\text{HH}^2_{\text{ab}}(\mathsf{Mod}(A))\) and \(\Psi_2^A:\text{Def}_{\text{alg}}(A)\rightarrow\text{Def}_{\text{ab}}(\mathsf{Mod}(A))\) so that the composition of \(\Psi_1^A:\text{HH}^2(A)\rightarrow\text{Def}_{\text{alg}}(A)\) with \(\Psi_2^A\), is given by \(\Psi^A=\Psi_2^A\Psi_1^A:\text{HH}^2(A)\rightarrow\text{Def}_{\text{ab}}(\mathsf{Mod}(A)),\;\phi\mapsto\mathsf{Mod}(\overline{A}_{\phi}),\) where \(\overline{A}_{\phi}\) is the first-order algebra deformation of \(A\) canonically associated to a Hochschild \(2\)-cocycle \(\phi\) in the Hochschild complex \(\text{C}(A)\). The main goal of this article is to construct the composition \(\Psi^A\) for presheaves of \(k\)-algebras \(\mathcal A:\mathcal U^{\text{op}}\rightarrow\mathsf{Alg}(k)\) on a small category \(\mathcal U\). The authors describe an explicit isomorphism \(\Psi_1^{\mathcal A}:\text{HH}^2(\mathcal A)\rightarrow\text{Def}_{\text{tw}}(\mathcal A),\;\phi\mapsto\overline{\mathcal A}_{\phi}\), where \(\text{HH}^2(\mathcal A)=\text{Ext}^2_{A^{\mathrm{op}}\otimes A}(A,A)\) is computed by the Gerstenhaber-Schack complex \(\mathbf{C}_{\text{GS}}(\mathcal A)\) and \(\text{Def}_{\text{tw}}\) denotes first order deformations of \(\mathcal A\) as a \textit{twisted presheaf}. A twisted presheaf is a twist of a presheaf, like a pseudo-functor, and the complex \(\mathbf{C}_{\text{GS}}(\mathcal A)\) is the total complex of a first quadrant double complex with \(\mathbf{C}^{p,q}(\mathcal A)=\underset{\sigma\in\mathcal N_p(\mathcal U)}\prod\text{Hom}_k(\mathcal A(c\sigma)^{\otimes q},\mathcal A(d\sigma)),\) with \(\mathcal N(\mathcal U)\) the simplicial nerve of \(\mathcal U\) and \(d\sigma\), \(c\sigma\), the domain, respectively codomain, of a simplex \(\sigma\). From this total complex one gets \(\mathbf{C}_{\text{GS}}^2(\mathcal A)=\mathbf{C}^{0,2}(\mathcal A)\oplus\mathbf{C}^{1,1}(\mathcal A)\oplus\mathbf{C}^{2,0}(\mathcal A)\), and to a cocycle \(\phi=(m_1,f_1,c_1)\) is associated a twisted deformation \(\overline{\mathcal A}_\phi\) where \(m_1\) deforms the individual algebras \(\mathcal A(U)\), \(f_1\) deforms the restriction maps, and \(c_1\) introduces twists. In the case when \(\mathcal A\) is a presheaf of commutative algebras, the bottom row \(\mathbf{C}_{\text{simp}}(\mathcal A)\) representing the simplicial complex spits off as a direct summand of the complex \(\mathbf{C}_{\text{GS}}(\mathcal A)\). This is because every deformation \(\overline{\mathcal A}_\phi\) then has central twists and an underlying presheaf \(\overline{\underline{\mathcal A}}_\phi=\overline{\mathcal A}_{(m_1,f_1,0)}\) corresponding to the cocycle \((m_1,f_1,0)\). Given a twisted presheaf \(\mathcal A\) with central twists, the authors describe a category \(\text{QPr}(\mathcal A)\) of \textit{quasi-coherent presheaves} which is proven to be equivalent to \(\text{Qch}(\mathcal A)\). This category makes the comparison with other work possible. As twisted presheaves of algebras naturally occur as deformations of presheaves, \(\mathsf{Qch}(\mathcal A)=\mathsf{Des}(\mathsf{Mod}_{\mathcal A})\) is considered for arbitrary twisted presheaves (prestacks) \(\mathcal A\). A number of geometric conditions are imposed on the category \(\mathsf{Qch}(\mathcal A)\) so that it behaves well. The condition that the restriction functors \(u^\ast:\mathcal A(U)\rightarrow\mathcal A(V)\) gives rise to the induced \(-\otimes_{\mathcal A(U)}\mathcal A(V):\mathsf{Mod}(\mathcal A(U))\rightarrow\mathsf{Mod}(\mathcal A(V))\) being exact ensures that \(\mathsf{Qch}(\mathcal A)\) is a Grothendieck abelian category. In order for \(\mathsf{Qch}(\mathcal A)\) being flat, the following conditions are imposed: \(\mathcal U\) is a finite poset with binary meets, the functors \(-\otimes_{\mathcal A(U)}\mathcal A(V)\) are the left adjoints of compatible localization functors. A prestack \(\mathcal A\) satisfying these conditions is called a \textit{quasi-compact semi-separated} (qcss) prestack, and the authors prove that for a qcss prestack \(\mathcal A\), there is an isomorphism \(\Psi_2^{\mathcal A}:\text{Def}_{\text{tw}}(\mathcal A)\rightarrow\text{Def}_{\text{ab}}(\mathsf{Qch}(\overline{\mathcal A})),\;\overline{\mathcal A}\mapsto\mathsf{Qch}(\overline{\mathcal A}).\) Combining these data, the sought morphism \(\Psi^{\mathcal A}\) for a presheaf of algebras \(\mathcal A\) is explicitly constructed as \(\Psi^{\mathcal A}:\text{HH}^2(\mathcal A)\rightarrow\text{Def}_{\text{ab}}(\mathsf{Qch}(\mathcal A)),\;\phi\mapsto\mathsf{Qch}(\overline{\mathcal A}_\phi).\) The article contains a comparison and clarification of the link to Toda's construction. This includes a discussion of \textit{M. Gerstenhaber} and \textit{S. D. Schack}'s [J. Pure Appl. Algebra 48, 229--247 (1987; Zbl 0671.13007)] Hodge decomposition of \(\text{HH}^n(\mathcal A)\) for presheaves of commutative algebras \(\mathcal A\), from which the authors deduce an HKR decomposition in the smooth case. The article closes with a discussion of noncommuative deformations in a broader context. In particular, this includes deformation quantization, developed by \textit{M. Kontsevich} [Lett. Math. Phys. 56, No. 3, 271--294 (2001; Zbl 1081.14500)]. The article is an important contribution to noncommutative deformation theory, and it gives valuable comparisons to many of the existing noncommutative deformation theories. The theory presented in this article is among the most general, which is proved through the main results of this article.