Continuous homotopy fixed points for Lubin-Tate spectra (Q1952569)

For a finite (discrete) group \(G\), an action of~\(G\) on a space or spectrum \(X\) has a homotopy fixed point space or spectrum \(X^{hG}\). However, if \(G\) or \(X\) has additional structure it is less clear what these constructions should give. The main motivating example here is provided by chromatic stable homotopy theory where for each prime~\(p\) and natural number~\(n\), there is a profinite group \(G_n\) (the \(n\)-th Morava stabilizer group) which acts on a certain ring spectrum \(E_n\) (the \(n\)-th Lubin-Tate spectrum). Here the homotopy groups \(\pi_k(E_n)\) are profinite abelian groups on which \(G_n\) acts continuously. A major technical problem is that of refining this to a continuous action at the spectrum level with homotopy fixed points which are well related to topological objects. Previously, work by various subsets of Behrens, Davis, Devinatz, Fausk, Goerss, Hopkins and Miller addressed aspects of this question without fully solving it. The present paper deals with this problem by developing a theory of profinite spectra with continuous actions by a profinite group~\(G\), and showing that in the resulting model category the fixed point spectra for closed subgroups behave well. When \(G=G_n\), it is shown that there is a good model for \(E_n\) and a homotopy fixed point spectrum for each closed subgroup \(H\leqslant G_n\) giving rise to an Adams-Novikov spectral sequence as a homotopy fixed point spectral sequence. This confirms that all the familiar algebraic features studied in chromatic stable homotopy theory result from spectrum level equivariant constructions.