The local cohomology spectral sequence for topological modular forms (Q2163300)

Let \(S_p=S_p^\wedge\) denote the \(p\)-completed sphere spectrum, for a fixed prime \(p\), and \(tmf\) be the connective spectrum of topological modular forms. For \(p=2\) there are Bott and Mahowald classes \(B\in\pi_8(tmf)\) and \(M\in\pi_{192}(tmf)\) detected by the modular forms \(c_4\) and \(\Delta^8\), respectively, which play pivotal roles in the multiplicative structure of \(\pi_*(tmf)\). Given any commutative \(S_p\)-algebra \(R\) and a finitely generated ideal \(J=(x_1,\ldots,x_d)\subset\pi_*(R)\), the local cohomology spectrum \(\Gamma_JR\) encapsulates the \(J\)-power torsion of \(\pi_*(R)\), together with its right derived functors. There is a covariant local cohomology spectral sequence \[ E_2^{s,t} = H_J^s\big(\pi_*(R)\big)_t \implies \pi_{t-s}(\Gamma_JR) \] This paper draws on the Hopkins-Mahowald calculation of \(\pi_*(tmf)\), as presented in [\textit{R. R. Bruner} and \textit{J. Rognes}, The Adams spectral sequence for topological modular forms. Providence, RI: American Mathematical Society (AMS) (2021; Zbl 1486.55001)], to make the local cohomology spectral sequences completely explicit for \(R=tmf\) at \(p=2\) with \(J=(B,M)\), and at \(p=3\) with \(J=(p,B,M)\). In order to determine the differential patterns and some of the hidden multiplicative extensions in these spectral sequences, the authors rely on the local cohomology duality theorems to identify the abutments with shifts of the Anderson and Brown-Comenetz duals of \(tmf\). In fact, there is a contravariant \(\mathrm{Ext}\) spectral sequence computing the homotopy of such a functionally dual spectrum and, as a consequence of self-dualities intrinsic to the ring spectrum \(tmf\) (and its variants), the results of the two spectral sequence calculations agree up to a shift in grading, in spite of their opposite variances. The authors present charts which reveal the structural patterns stunningly, as well as those for the warm-up case of the connective real \(K\)-theory spectrum.