Equivariant \(K\)-theory and equivariant cohomology (Q1566361)

The purpose of this paper is to describe the \(T\)-equivariant \(K\)-theory with complex coefficients in terms of equivariant cohomology, for \(T\) an abelian compact Lie group. The idea underlying the work is to construct a version of the equivariant Chern character and to use it for the proposed aim. Let \(H^*_T(X)\) be the \(T\)-equivariant (Borel) cohomology of the compact \(T\)-equivariant manifold \(X\) and let \(K^*_T(X)\) be the \(T\)-equivariant \(K\)-theory of \(X\). When \(X\) is a point, one denotes it by \(H^*_T\) and \(K^*_T\). First, the author defines a sheaf valued equivariant cohomology theory; let \(C_T\) be the complex algebraic group of the maximal ideals of \(K^*_T\) and denote by \({\mathcal O}^h\) the sheaf of holomorphic functions on \(C_T\). One defines a sheaf, denoted by \({\mathcal K}_T^*(X)\), whose stalk at a point \(\alpha \in C_T\) is: \({\mathcal K}_T^*(X)_\alpha =\mathbb{H}^*_T(X^\alpha)\) where \(\mathbb{H}^*_T(-)\) is the extension of \(H^*_T(-)\) by the ring of holomorphic germs at zero on \(H^*_T\) and where \(X^\alpha\) is the subspace of \(X\) fixed by all elements of the smallest compact subgroup \(H\) of \(T\) such that \(\alpha\in C_T\). The author shows (see Theorem 2.19) that \({\mathcal K}^*_T(-)\) is a \(T\)-equivariant cohomology theory on finite complexes with values in the category of coherent holomorphic sheaves of \(\mathbb{Z}_2\)-graded \({\mathcal O}^h_{C_T}\)-algebras. Now, if \(\Gamma\) denotes the global sections functor and if \[ \mathbb{K}^*_T (X)=K^*_T (X)\otimes_{K^*_T}\Gamma{\mathcal K}^*_T \] is the holomorphic extension of the usual equivariant \(K\)-theory, the main result of the article is the Theorem 3.6: there exists an isomorphism \[ \varphi_T: \mathbb{K}^*_T(X)\to \Gamma{\mathcal K}^*_T (X) \] of \(T\)-equivariant cohomology theories. This is the sense in which equivariant \(K\)-theory with complex coefficients can be described in terms of equivariant cohomology. We remark that the natural map \(\varphi_T\) is essentially a sheaf version of the equivariant Chern character (see Lemma 3.1) and that all construction is clear despite the technical aspect of the sheafifying process. In the appendix the authors give some applications of the above construction. Firstly they use the Chang-Skjelbred theorem in equivariant cohomology [see \textit{T. Chang} and \textit{T. Skjelbred}, Ann. Math., II. Ser. 100, 307--321 (1974; Zbl 0249.57023)] to infer the corresponding results for equivariant \(K\)-theory. Finally, as a corollary, they extend a result about the Goresky-Kottwitz-MacPherson manifolds [see \textit{M. Goresky}, \textit{R. Kottwitz} and \textit{R. MacPherson}, Invent. Math. 131, 25--83 (1998; Zbl 0897.22009)] from equivariant cohomology to equivariant \(K\)-theory. This is a good paper with a brilliant exposition. The authors have performed a service to the history of the subject, giving detailed and informed attributions. They also mention several directions for extending the results of the present article.