Around rationality of integral cycles (Q387394)

Let \(F\) be a field with a fixed algebraic closure \(\bar{F}\). For a smooth \(F\)-variety \(Y\), write \(\bar{Y}=Y\times_F\bar{F}\) and denote by \(\mathrm{CH}(Y)=\bigoplus_{d\geq 0}\mathrm{CH}^d(Y)\) the (integral) Chow group of \(Y\). For any geometrically integral \(F\)-variety \(X\), an element of \(\mathrm{CH}(\bar Y)\) is said to be \(F(X)\)-rational if its image in \(\mathrm{CH}(Y_{\bar{F}(X)})\) lies in the image of the canonical map \(\mathrm{CH}(Y_{F(X)})\to \mathrm{CH}(Y_{\bar{F}(X)})\). As a special case, a rational element of \(\mathrm{CH}(\bar Y)\) is an element in the image of the natural map \(\mathrm{CH}(Y)\to \mathrm{CH}(\bar Y)\). In the paper under review, the author considers a smooth projective quadric \(Q\) over a field \(F\) of characteristic different from 2. He proves that if the first Witt index \(i_1(Q)\) of \(Q\) is strictly greater than 1 (meaning that \(Q\) has a projective line defined over \(F(Q)\)), then for any integer \(m<[\dim Q/2]\), every \(F(Q)\)-rational element of \(\mathrm{CH}^m(\bar Y)\) is the sum of a rational element and an element of exponent 2. As in an earlier work of the author [\textit{R. Fino}, Cent. Eur. J. Math. 11, No. 6, 1068--1077 (2013; Zbl 1300.14006)], where a version for Chow groups modulo 2 is obtained, the present paper uses Chow theory (including Steenrod operations) as a substitute of algebraic cobordism theory, with which Vishik proved stronger results in characteristic 0 [\textit{A. Vishik}, Manuscr. Math. 122, No. 3, 365--374 (2007; Zbl 1154.14003)]. That the field \(F\) in the main theorem can have arbitrary characteristic different from 2 is due to the fact that the Chow theory works well without resolution of singularities.