On the invertibility of motives of affine quadrics (Q509765)

Let \(k\) be a perfect field of exponential characteristic \(e\neq 2\). Let \(\mathbf{DM}(k, \mathbb{Z}[1/e])\) be Voevodsky's triangulated category of motives with coefficients in \(\mathbb{Z}[1/e]\), cf. [\textit{V. Voevodsky}, Ann. Math. Stud. 143, 188--238 (2000; Zbl 1019.14009)]. Since this category is a tensor category, invertible objects with respect to the tensor product can be defined (and their isomorphism classes form the so-called \textit{Picard group} of the category). In the paper under review, it is proved that for any non-degenerate quadratic form \(\phi(t_1,\dots, t_n)\) over \(k\) and any \(a\in k^*\), the reduced motive of the affine quadric defined by the equation \(\phi(t_1,\dots, t_n)=a\) is invertible in \(\mathbf{DM}(k, \mathbb{Z}[1/e])\). The main part of this paper is devoted to the construction of a novel family of tensor functors from (a certain subcategory of) \(\mathbf{DM}(k, \mathbb{Z}[1/e])\) into a big yet sufficiently simple category, so that invertible objects in the former category can be compared in a nice way with those in a simpler category. These functors are called generalized geometric fixed points functors, by analogy with the geometric fixed points functors in stable equivariant homotopy theory. By using properties of weight structures, the author shows that these functors are conservative and Pic-injective, and obtain a proof of the aforementioned theorem as an application. The author also uses the constructed functors to prove a motivic version of \textit{P. Hu}'s conjectures [Topology 44, No. 3, 609--640 (2005; Zbl 1078.14025)]. He mentions that the results of the current paper also have applications to the study of the stable motivic homotopy category of \(k\), as will be treated in forthcoming work.