Gauß-Manin determinants for rank 1 irregular connections on curves; appendix: Letter to J.-P. Serre, by P. Deligne (Q5949431)

Let \(f:U\to \text{Spec} (K)\) be a smooth open curve over a field \(K\supset k\), where \(k\) is an algebraically closed field of characteristic zero. Let \(\bigtriangledown:L\to L\otimes\Omega^1_{U| k}\) be a possibly irregular absolutely integrable connection on a line bundle \(L\) over \(U\). The Riemann-Roch problem consists in describing the relative de Rham cohomology \(Rf_*(L\otimes \Omega^*_{U| K})\) as a vector space over \(K\) with an integrable connection, in terms of data of \(U\). The main result of the paper under review is a formula for computing the determinant of the de Rham cohomology \(Rf_*(L\otimes\Omega^*_{U| K})\) endowed with its Gauss-Manin connection \((\det Rf_*(L\otimes\Omega^1_{U| K}),\det\bigtriangledown_{GM})\), in terms of a norm from the curve of a cocycle with values in a complex defining algebraic differential characters in the sense of an earlier paper of the second-named author [see \textit{H. Esnault}, ``Algebraic differential characters'', in: Regulators in analysis, geometry and number theory, Prog. Math. 171, 89--117 (2000)], and this cocycle is shown to exist for connections of arbitrary rank. The proof follows an idea of Deligne from a letter of Deligne to Serre (dated 8 February 1974). This letter is reproduced as an appendix of the paper under review.