Central extensions and the classifying spaces of projective linear groups

Abstract: If

G

is a presheaf of groupoids on a small site, and

A

is a sheaf of abelian groups, we prove that the sheaf cohomology group

H^{2} (B G, A)

is in bijection with a set of central extensions of

G

by

A

. We use this result to study the motivic cohomology of the Nisnevich classifying space

B G

, when

G

is a presheaf of groups on the smooth Nisnevich site over a field, and particularly when

G = P G L_{n}

. Finally, we show that, when

p

is an odd prime, the Chow ring of the classifying space of

P G L_{p}

injects into the motivic cohomology of the Nisnevich classifying space

B P G L_{p}

, over any field of characteristic zero containing a primitive

p^{t h}

root of unity.

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