Compactly supported \(\mathbb{A}^1\)-Euler characteristic and the Hochschild complex (Q2145913)

Any dualizable object \(X\) in a symmetric monoidal category \((\mathcal{C},\otimes,\mathbf{1})\) gives rise to a categorical Euler characteristic \[ \mathbf{1}\to X\otimes D(X)\to D(X)\otimes X\to \mathbf{1} \] which is an endomorphism of the unit object. In the case where \(\mathcal{C}\) is the stable homotopy category, with the smash product as symmetric monoidal structure, the endomorphisms of the sphere spectrum form the ring of integers, and this categorical construction recovers the classical Euler characteristic of finite polyhedra. The case of the Morel-Voevodsky stable homotopy category \(SH(k)\) of a field \(k\) recently received substantial attention. Morel proved that the endomorphisms of the sphere spectrum \(\mathbf{1}_k\) over \(k\) form the Grothendieck-Witt ring \(\mathrm{GW}(k)\) of nondegenerate symmetric bilinear forms over \(k\). Work of Voevodsky and Ayoub implies that every smooth projective variety \(X\) over \(k\) is dualizable in \(SH(k)\), and hence possesses the class of a nondegenerate symmetric bilinear form as its motivic or \(\mathbb{A}^1\)-Euler characteristic. In the article under review, the authors provide an explicit model for the \(\mathbb{A}^1\)-Euler characteristic of a smooth projective variety \(X\) over a field of characteristic zero: It is the Hochschild homology \(\mathrm{HH}(X)\), equipped with a canonical symmetric pairing \(B_X\) on \(\mathrm{HH}(X)\) which is nondegenerate by \textit{L. Alonso Tarrío} et al. [Adv. Math. 257, 365--461 (2014; Zbl 1301.14007)]. Their proof uses among other ingredients the Hochschild-Kostant-Rosenberg Theorem, as well as a different model for the Euler characteristic provided by \textit{M. Levine} and \textit{A. Raksit} [Algebra Number Theory 14, No. 7, 1801--1851 (2020; Zbl 1458.14029)]. Theorem 2.13 identifies their construction as a motivic measure, that is, a ring homomorphism from the Grothendieck ring of varieties over \(k\) to the Grothendieck-Witt ring over \(k\). The final section illustrates the applicability of these explicit models for computations in the cases of \(\mathbb{P}^n\) for \(n\in \{1,2\}\) and the blow-up of a point in the projective plane.