Knörrer periodicity and Bott periodicity (Q504299)

The author studies hypersurface rings of the form \(k[x_1, x_2,\dots, x_n]/(f)\) (where \(k\) is a field), from both an algebraic and topological point of view. Homotopy category of matrix factorizations is an algebraic invariant of such a ring. A fundamental result in the theory of matrix factorizations is Knörrer's periodicity theorem. The goal of this article is to explain a precise sense in which Knörrer periodicity in commutative algebra and Bott periodicity in topological \(K\)-theory are compatible phenomena. An 8-periodic version of Knörrer periodicity for real isolated hypersurface singularities is obtained. The author constructs a homomorphism from the Grothendieck group of the homotopy category of matrix factorizations of a complex (real) polynomial \(f\) into the topological \(K\)-theory of its Milnor fiber (positive or negative Milnor fiber). Sections of the paper are as follows: 2. Knörrer periodicity over \(\mathbb R\) 2.1 Matrix factorization categories 2.1.1 Definitions and some properties 2.1.2 Triangulated structure 2.1.3 Stabilization 2.2 The tensor product of matrix factorizations 2.3 Matrix factorizations of quadratics 2.4 Periodicity 3 Matrix factorizations and the topological \(K\)-theory of the Milnor fiber 3.1 The real and complex Milnor fibers 3.1.1 Construction of the Milnor fibration and some properties of the Milnor fiber 3.1.2 The Sebastiani-Thom homotopy equivalence 3.1.3 An analogue of the Milnor fibration over \(\mathbb R\) 3.2 Relative topological \(K\)-theory 3.3 A generalized Atiyah-Bott-Shapiro construction applied to matrix factorizations 3.3.1 The Atiyah-Bott-Shapiro construction 3.3.2 A more general construction 3.3.3 The kernel and image of \(\phi^C_f\) 3.4 Knörrer periodicity and Bott periodicity