A functorial presentation of units of Burnside rings (Q2038601)

Let \(G\) be a finite group. The Burnside ring \(B(G)\) of \(G\) is the Grothendieck ring of the the category of finite \(G\)-sets, with addition and multiplication given by disjoint unions and cartesian products of \(G\)-sets. The invertible elements \(B^\times(G)\) of \(B(G)\) form a finite elementary abelian \(2\)-group. In a previous article [\textit{S. Bouc}, Comment. Math. Helv. 82, No. 3, 583--615 (2007; Zbl 1142.19001)], the author proved that the assignment \(B^\times:G\mapsto B^\times(G)\), is a biset functor with values in \(\mathbb F_2\)-vector spaces, and that \(B^\times\) embeds in the dual \(\operatorname{Hom}_{\mathbb Z}(B,\mathbb F_2)\) of the Burnside functor \(B:G\mapsto B(G)\). In the present article, the author characterises the image of the embedding \(B^\times\to\operatorname{Hom}_{\mathbb Z}(B,\mathbb F_2)\), or equivalently, describes an explicit set of generators of the kernel \(L\) of the surjection \(\mathbb F_2B\to\operatorname{Hom}_{\mathbb Z}(B^\times,\mathbb F_2)\). This leads to a description (Theorem 5.1) of \(B^\times(G)\) as a limit of groups \(B^\times(T/S)\), where \(T/S\) runs through the subquotients of \(G\) that are cyclic of odd prime order, or Klein four, or dihedral of order \(8\), or a Roquette \(2\)-group (i.e. a \(2\)-group of normal rank \(1\), see Section 2.5). As a consequence of the present work, the author shows that the biset functor \(B^\times\) is not finitely generated, and its dual \(\operatorname{Hom}_{\mathbb Z}(B^\times,\mathbb F_2)\) is finitely generated, but not finitely presented. Finally, the author shows (Theorem 6.7) that the set of generators of \(L\) obtained is minimal, and as a corollary, that the lattice of subfunctors of \(L\) is uncountable.