The \(K\)-theory of assemblers (Q329526)

This article gives an interesting abstract framework to deal with very general scissors congruence problems and higher related homotopical invariants with a flavour of \(K\)-theory. (For a more classical introduction -- including the proof of deep problems as Hilbert's third one -- to scissors congruence problems, the reader may see [\textit{C. H. Sah}, Hilbert's third problem: scissors congruence. London, Melbourne: Pitman Advanced Publishing Program (1979; Zbl 0406.52004)] and [\textit{J. L. Dupont}, Scissors congruences, group homology and characteristic classes. Singapore: World Scientific (2001; Zbl 0977.52020)].) Already in her paper [Homology Homotopy Appl. 14, No. 1, 181--202 (2012; Zbl 1268.18008)], the author introduced the notion of \textit{polytope complex} to make something similar, but she goes further here by defining \textit{assemblers}, notion which includes the previous one (see Example 3.6 of the paper under review). An assembler (Definition 2.4) is a small category \(\mathcal{C}\) endowed with a Grothendieck topology such that: (I) \(\mathcal{C}\) has an initial object, and the empty family is a covering of it; (R) Given two disjoint finite covering families of a same object of \(\mathcal{C}\), they have a common refinement which is itself a finite disjoint covering family. (A family of morphisms with the same target is said \textit{disjoint} if two different morphisms of the family have a pullback given by the initial object of \(\mathcal{C}\).) (M) All morphisms of \(\mathcal{C}\) are monomorphisms. To any assembler \(\mathcal{C}\), the article associates a category \(\mathcal{W(C)}\) (Definition 2.10) and then, thanks to the nerve functor and a process of tensoring by a finite pointed set, a symmetric spectrum in simplicial sets denoted by \(K(\mathcal{C})\) (Definition 2.12). It is proven ({Theorem 2.13}) that \(\pi_0(K(\mathcal{C}))\) is exactly the scissors congruence group associated to the assembler, that is the quotient of the free abelian group generated by objects of \(\mathcal{C}\) by the relations \([A]=\underset{i\in I}{\sum}[A_i]\) for any finite disjoint covering family \((A_i\to A)_{i\in I}\). This functor \(K\) is easily extended to \textit{simplicial} assemblers by taking an homotopy colimit. This allows to express and prove a very general \textit{localization theorem} ({Theorem C}) which gives a cofiber sequence \(K(\mathcal{D}_\bullet)\to K(\mathcal{C}_\bullet)\to K(\mathcal{C}_\bullet/g)\) associated to any morphism \(g : \mathcal{D}_\bullet\to\mathcal{C}_\bullet\) of simplicial assemblers and a suitable simplicial assembler \(\mathcal{C}_\bullet/g\). In some good cases this new simplicial assembler is particularly easy to describe -- see {Theorem D}. Another important general result is \textit{d'vissage} ({Theorem B}) which gives a simple sufficient condition (with finite disjoint coverings) for a morphism of assemblers to induce a weak equivalence between the associated \(K\)-theory spectra. Its proof is elegant (and not very long) and uses Quillen's Theorem A. The article proves also nice results ({Theorems 5.2} and {5.3}) on assemblers which are associated to algebraic varieties over a field in a very natural way.