On a theorem of Braden (Q2249223)

The authors present an alternative, substantially generalized proof of a theorem of \textit{T. Braden} [Transform. Groups 8, No. 3, 209--216 (2003; Zbl 1026.14005)] concerning the DG category of D-modules on a normal algebraic variety \(Z\) with \(\mathbb{G}_m\)-action over a field of characteristic 0. More precisely, after reformulating Braden's theorem as an adjunction between two composed functors from D-\(\operatorname{mod}(Z)\) to D-\(\operatorname{mod}(Z^0)\), where \(Z^0\) denotes the locus of \(\mathbb{G}_m\)-fixed points in \(Z\), they formulate and state this theorem for algebraic spaces of finite type over a field, without assuming any normality or separatedness conditions. In this context, the key step of the new proof of Braden's theorem is to give a geometric construction of the unit morphism for the adjunction of the corresponding functors in the generalized framework. As to the organization of the paper, Sections 1--2 provide a number of general constructions in the geometry of \(\mathbb{G}_m\)-actions on algebraic spaces, whereas Section 3 is devoted to the reformulation of Braden's theorem within this build-up. Finally, Sections 4--5 turn to the proof by constructing the above-mentioned unit morphism explicitly, on the one hand, and by verifying the according adjunction properties on the other. As the authors point out, their version of Braden's theorem can also be stated (and proved) in other sheaf-theoretic contexts, mainly with a view toward certain derived categories of sheaves with constructible cohomologies. Moreover, a slight modification of the present new proof of Braden's theorem has been used by the authors to derive a recent result in the geometric theory of automorphic forms in [the authors, ``Geometric constant term functor(s)'' (2013), \url{arXiv:1311.2071}].