Infinite CW-complexes, Brauer groups and phantom cohomology (Q2351741)

For general definition of Brauer group \(B(X)\) and cohomological Brauer group \(B'(X)\) see \textit{A. Grothendieck} [in: Dix Exposés Cohomologie Schémas, Advanced Studies Pure Math. 3, 46--66 (1968; Zbl 0193.21503)] Here \(X\) can be a general ringed topos, but the authors consider \(X\) to be a topological space. Grothendieck [loc. cit.] noticed that \(B(X)\subset B'(X)\) and asked if these two groups coincide. Note that \(B(X)=B'(X)\) for all finite CW spaces \(X\) (a theorem of Serre, see [loc. cit.]). Also, the authors proved a slight generalization: \(B(X)=B'(X)\) for \(X\) compact. For infinite CW complexes, we have \(B(K(\mathbb Z/n,2))=0\) while \(B'(K(\mathbb Z/n,2))=\mathbb Z/n\), see \textit{B. Antieau} and \textit{B. Williams} [Geom. Topol. 18, No. 2, 1115--1148 (2014; Zbl 1288.19006)]. The authors give another proof of this result and prove also the following Theorem. Let \(p\) be a prime. Let \(X=BG\) be the classifying space for an infinite dimensional \({\mathbb F}_p\)-vector space. Then \(B(X)\neq B'(X)\). Because of what we said above, the elements of \(B'(X)\setminus B(X)\) should appear as phantoms in \(X\). In this contexts the authors prove the following Theorem: Let \(X\) be a CW complex and \(n>0\). Then the subgroup \(\text{Ext} (H_{n-1}(X)/\text{tors}, \mathbb Z)\) of \(H^n(X)\) comprises exactly the cohomology classes that vanish on all finite subcomplexes.