Modules over twisted group rings and vector bundles over the anisotropic real conic (Q2270508)

Let \(Q\) be the anisotropic real conic, i.e., \(Q\) is the real curve defined by the equation \(U^2 + V^2 + W^2 = 0\) in the real projective plane \(\mathbb{P}^2\). It is known that a locally free sheaf of finite rank over \(Q\) admits a unique decomposition as a direct sum of some explicit indecomposable locally free sheaves of rank 1 or 2. The literature contains at least two proofs of this fact. In this article, the author presents an elementary and purely algebraic proof, that makes use of the Theorem of Grothendieck on vector bundles over the complexification \(Q_{\mathbb{C}}\) of \(Q\), as do the other proofs mentioned above. Let \(A\) be the homogeneous coordinate ring of the \(Q\). One classifies graded \(A\)-modules that are locally free of finite rank, and obtain the above statement as a consequence. As usual in real algebraic geometry, the classification of such \(A\)-modules is obtained from the classification of locally free graded \(\mathbb{C}\otimes _{\mathbb{R}} A\)-modules of finite rank that come along with an action of the Galois group Gal(\(\mathbb{C}/\mathbb{R}\)). In order to classify the latter modules, the following is observed. The complexification \(Q_{\mathbb{C}}\) of \(Q\) is isomorphic to the complex projective line \(\mathbb{P}^1\). The action of complex conjugation on \(Q_{\mathbb{C}}\) corresponds to the involution \([x:y] \mapsto [-\overline{y}:\overline{x}]\) on the set of complex points \(\mathbb{P}^1(\mathbb{C})\) of \(\mathbb{P}^1\). On the homogeneous coordinate ring \(\mathbb{C}[X,Y]\) of \(\mathbb{P}^1\) this is the automorphism \(P \mapsto \overline{P}(-Y,X)\). Now, this automorphism is of order 4, and not of order 2. Therefore, one gets an action of the cyclic group \(\mathbb{Z}/4\mathbb{Z}\) on \(\mathbb{C}[X,Y]\). The author obtains the classification of the above mentioned \(\mathbb{C}\otimes_{\mathbb{R}} A\)-modules, as a consequence of the classification of locally gree graded \(\mathbb{C}[X,Y]\)-modules of finite rank that are equipped with an action of \(\mathbb{Z}/4\mathbb{Z}\). The fact that the group that acts in \(\mathbb{Z}/ 4\mathbb{Z}\), and not \(\mathbb{Z}/ 2\mathbb{Z}\), explains somehow the existence of those indecomposable locally free sheaves of rank 2 on the real curve \(Q\).