Derived functors of the divided power functors (Q258886)

This paper is concerned with the derived functors of the divided power algebra \(\Gamma_\mathbb Z(A)\), where \(A\) is an abelian group, and in particular their degree \(d\) components for small values of \(d\). These functors appear from a range of perspectives both in algebraic topology and representation theory. Purely algebraically, the degree \(d\) component \(\Gamma_\mathbb Z^d(A)\) looks like \((A^{\otimes d})^{\Sigma_d}\), but its \(i\)th derived functors \(L_i \Gamma_\mathbb Z^d(A,n)\) can also be obtained as the homotopy groups of a space defined via a Dold-Kan-type construction. These left derived functors are of interest in algebraic topology because they give the associated graded components of the homology of Eilenberg-Mac Lane spaces, and in representation theory they have a close connection with the derived category of polynomial functors. The results of this paper give several new insights into these derived functors, in particular using the connection with polynomial functors. This approach to \(L_* \Gamma_\mathbb Z^d(A,1)\) gives a functorial new description of the homology of \(K(A,3)\) for any free abelian group \(A\). More generally, it allows for a description of \(H_{n+i}(K(A,n); \mathbb Z)\) for \(0 \leq i \leq 10\). Taking more general \(i\) and \(n\), an explicit description is given of \(L_* \Gamma_\mathbb Z^d(A,n)\) when \(d \leq 4\). Prior work had considered the cases where \(d=2\) and \(d=3\). In another direction, new computations are made for the case of \(L_* \Gamma_\Bbbk^d(A/2,n)\) where \(\Bbbk\) is a field of characteristic 2, leading to a description of a family of Koszul-type complexes that do not seem to have been investigated before. Finally, the authors make conjectures for describing \(L_* \Gamma_\mathbb Z^d(A,n)\) in full generality.