The cohomology of the Steenrod algebra and the mod \(p\) Lannes-Zarati homomorphism (Q2178528)

In this paper, the authors pursue their study of the Lannes-Zarati morphism, building upon [\textit{P. H. Chon} and \textit{P. B. Nhu}, J. Algebra 537, 316--342 (2019; Zbl 1428.55007)]. For \(M\) an unstable module over the mod \(p\) Steenrod algebra \(\mathcal{A}\), this is a natural transformation \[ \phi^M_s : \mathrm{Ext}^{s,s+t}_{\mathcal{A}}(M, \mathbb{F}_p)\rightarrow(\mathbb{F}_p \otimes _{\mathcal{A}} \mathscr{R}_s M)_t ^\sharp, \] where \(\mathscr{R}_s\) denotes the \(s\)th Singer functor; when \(M\) is the mod \(p\) reduced cohomology of a pointed space, it is related via the Adams spectral sequence to the Hurewicz morphism. A guiding light is the generalized algebraic spherical class conjecture, which asserts that the Lannes-Zarati morphism is zero when both \(t>0\) and \(s>2\). The authors work at odd primes; this is more complicated than the case \(p=2\) and is much less well understood. They provide some new tools (at odd primes), in particular a chain-level description of the Lannes-Zarati morphism (derived from their previous work) and a power operation \(\mathcal{P}^0\) acting on \((\mathbb{F}_p \otimes _{\mathcal{A}} \mathscr{R}_s M)_t ^\sharp\), for \(M = \mathbb{F}_p\) or \(M = P:= \tilde{H}^* (B \mathbb{Z}/p)\), that is compatible with the power operation on \(\mathrm{Ext}^{s,s+t}_{\mathcal{A}} (M, \mathbb{F}_p) \) via the Lannes-Zarati morphism. The authors calculate \(\phi^{\mathbb{F}_p}_3\), in particular verifying the algebraic spherical class conjecture in this case. They also calculate \(\phi_0^P\) and \(\phi_1^P\), for \(P\) as above; this requires the determination of \(\mathrm{Ext}^{s}_{\mathcal{A}} (P, \mathbb{F}_p)\), for \(s \in \{0 ,1 \}\). The power operation \(\mathcal{P}^0\) is a fundamental tool in these calculations. These results provide useful information on the behaviour at odd primes; the case \(M= \tilde{H}^* (B \mathbb{Z}/p)\) is of interest due to its relationship with that of \(M= \mathbb{F}_p\) via the transfer. The authors' methods also allow some existing results at the prime \(p=2\) to be recovered more easily.