Weil pairings and Morava \(K\)-theory (Q1591433)

The authors show that the \(E\)-homology of \(BU\langle 6 \rangle\) for a \(2\)-periodic Morava \(K\)-theory \(E_*\) can be described in terms of the geometry of cubical structures over \(G_E\), the formal group of \(E_*\). More precisely the authors show that the scheme \(\text{spec } E_0 BU\langle 6 \rangle\) can be identified with the scheme \(C^3(G_E,{\mathbb G}_m)\) of rigid cubical structures on the trivial \({\mathbb G}_m\)-torsor over \(G_E\), where \({\mathbb G}_m\) denotes the multiplicative formal group. The result also has been obtained by Hopkins and the two authors, who gave a proof of this result which even applies to a more general class of complex oriented spectra [\textit{M. J. Hopkins}, Proc. Internat. Congr. Math. ICM `94, 554-565 (1995; Zbl 0848.55002), Theorem 6.1]. While the proof of Hopkins and the two authors is rather computational and mainly uses inputs from stable homotopy theory, the new proof presented in this paper is more conceptual in the sense that it makes much closer contact with the work of algebraic geometers on the theory of bi-extensions [\textit{D. Mumford}, Algebr. Geom., Bombay Colloq. 1968, 307-322 (1969; Zbl 0216.33101)]. The heart of the proof consists of a map of short exact sequences of schemes which in the end identifies the short exact sequence of schemes \(\text{spec } E_0 BSU \to \text{spec } E_0 BU\langle 6 \rangle \to \text{spec } E_0 K({\mathbb Z}, 3)\) with a corresponding exact sequence of schemes which naturally arises from the formal group \(G_E\). In particular this leads to a description of \(\text{spec } E_0 K({\mathbb Z},3)\) in terms of Weil pairings. The paper under consideration should be regarded as part of a long still ongoing project of Hopkins and the two authors, in which they investigate the relations between elliptic cohomology and the algebraic geometry around the theorem of the cube [M. J. Hopkins, loc. cit.].