Algebraic cycles representing cohomology operations (Q510018)

Let \({\mathcal C}^q(\mathbb P^n)\) be the Chow variety of effective codimension \(q\) cycles on the complex projective \(n\)-space. Then \({\mathcal C}^q(\mathbb P^n)\) is topologically a product of Eilenberg-Maclane spaces; more precisely we have \[ {\mathcal C}^q(\mathbb P^n)=K(\mathbb Z,2)\times K(\mathbb Z,4)\times\cdots \times K(\mathbb Z,2q). \] Because the space on the left is an algebraic variety, it makes sense to ask which elements in the homology of the product on the right are represented by algebraic cycles. The author settles this question in the affirmative for those homology classes that are dual to the cohomology classes representing Steenrod squares by giving an explicit construction for the corresponding algebraic cycles. She also shows that the algebraicity of these ``Steenrod square'' classes implies the algebraicity of all classes in the subring that they generate, which accounts for much (but not all) of the even-dimensional homology.