Hochschild homology, Frobenius homomorphism and Mac Lane homology (Q2464781)

The article begins with the elementary but striking observation that all higher homotopy groups of a simplicial ring where \(x^m = x\) holds for some \(m \geq 2\) are zero. This is the key fact which is then used to compute the Hochschild homology of any commutative \(\mathbb F_p\)-algebra \(A\) with coefficients in \(A\) twisted by the Frobenius homomorphism. They are all zero, except \(H_0(A, \Phi^n(A)) \cong A/(a - a^{p^n})\). This result has consequences for Mac Lane homology. Consider the divided powers \(\Gamma^d\), for \(d >1\), seen as functors from the category of finitely generated free left \(A\)-modules to the category of all \(A\)-modules. Then the Mac Lane homology \(HML_i(A, \Gamma^d)\) is zero except when \(d = p^n\) and \(i = 2p^n t\), in which case one obtains \(A/(a - a^{p^n})\). This extends computations done by \textit{V. Franjou, J. Lannes}, and \textit{L. Schwartz} [Invent. Math. 115, No. 3, 513--538 (1994; Zbl 0798.18009)].