Dickson coinvariants and the homology of \(QS^ 0\) (Q1358216)

The homology of the infinite loop space \(QS^0 = \lim_{n\to\infty} \Omega^nS^n\) has been the object of intense study for decades, and for good reason -- \(QS^0\) has unstable homotopy groups isomorphic to the stable homotopy groups of spheres, its homology admits Araki-Kudo-Dyer-Lashof operations, and the space figures in the celebrated Kahn-Priddy theorem. If \(V_n\) denotes an \(n\)-dimensional mod 2 vector space, then the transfer map of Kahn and Priddy may be given as \[ tr^{(n)}\colon (BV_n)_+ \to Q((EV_n)_+) \simeq QS^0 \] and this induces a map on mod 2 homology that factors through the coinvariants of the induced general linear group action on \(H_*(BV_n)\). Since \(H^*(BV_n)\) is a polynomial algebra and the Dickson invariants the invariants of the general linear group action, a connection between the Dickson coinvariants and the homology of \(QS^0\) is possible. This is the main thrust of this paper. The consequence of such a connection is a new expression for the generators of the Hopf algebra \(H_*(QS^0)\), a polynomial algebra on classes \(E_{(i_0, \ldots, i_{n-1})}\) which represent the image under \(tr^{(n)}_*\) of certain divided powers in \(H_*(BV_n)_{Gl_n}\), the Dickson coinvariants that are dual to the Dickson invariants. The bulk of the paper is dedicated to the identification and properties of these generators. The payoff for this new presentation comes when one considers the collection of spaces \(\{ QS^k\}\) which constitute an \(\Omega\)-spectrum for the sphere spectrum. The Hopf ring structure for \(\{H_*(QS^k)\}\) is accessible with \(H_*(QS^0)\) as input and is taken up in a subsequent paper. The Dyer-Lashof algebra action on the new generators is also presented to close the paper.