The homotopy groups of the simplicial mapping space between algebras (Q1740281)

Let \(\mathrm{Alg}_\ell\) denote the category of associative algebras over a commutative unital ring \(\ell\). Cortiñas-Thom's \(kk\)-theory, an algebraic analogue of Kasparov's \(KK\)-theory, can be defined through a universal property for homotopy-invariant functors on \(\mathrm{Alg}_\ell\) that take values on triagulated categories and that satisfy excision and matrix-stability requirements. A key technical tool in Cortiñas-Thom's work is a simplicial enrichment of \(\mathrm{Alg}_\ell\). The resulting homotopy category is Gersten's homotopy category of algebras. This yields a natural identification of \(\pi_0\text{Hom}_{\text{Alg}_\ell}(A,B^\Delta)\) as the set \([A,B]\) of polynomial homotopy classes of morphisms from \(A\) to \(B\). \textit{G. Cortiñas} and \textit{A. Thom} [J. Reine Angew. Math. 610, 71--123 (2007; Zbl 1152.19002)] obtained a corresponding identification of \(\pi_1\text{Hom}_{\text{Alg}_\ell}(A,B^\Delta)\) as \([A,B^{\mathfrak{S}_1}]\), where \(B^{\mathfrak{S}_1}\) stands for the ind-algebra of polynomials on \([0,1]/\{0,1\}\) with coefficients in \(B\) that vanish at the basepoint. More generally, let \(B^{\mathfrak{S}_n}\) stand for the ind-algebra of polynomials on the \(n\)-dimentional cube with coefficients in \(B\) that vanish at the boundary of the cube. Then the main result in the paper under revision shows that the natural surjection \(\pi_n\text{Hom}_{\text{Alg}_\ell}(A,B^\Delta)\to[A,B^{\mathfrak{S}_n}]\) (coming from the fact that simplicial homotopy implies polynomial homotopy) is in fact bijective. As an application, the author gives a simplified description (in terms of polynomial homotopy classes of morphisms) of the homotopy groups of Garkusha's matrix-unstable algebraic \(KK\)-theory.