Čech approximation to the Brown-Gersten spectral sequence (Q542646)

Fix a geometrically connected scheme \(X\). Let \(\alpha\) be a class in the cohomological Brauer group of \(X\). There are two integer invariants for \(\alpha\). One is \(\mathrm{per}\left( \alpha \right)\), the \textit{period} of \(\alpha\), which is the order of \(\alpha\) in the Brauer group. The other is \(\mathrm{ind}\left( \alpha \right)\), the \textit{index} of \(\alpha\), which is the greatest common divisors among the degrees of Azumaya algebras in the class \(\alpha\). For the case \(X=\mathrm{Spec}\left( k\right)\) with \(k\) a field, the two integers \(\mathrm{ind}\left( \alpha \right)\) and \(\mathrm{per}\left( \alpha \right)\) have the same common primes. The \textit{Period-Index Conjecture} given by Colliot-Thélène says that \(\mathrm{ind}\left( \alpha \right)\) divides the power \(\left( \mathrm{per}\left( \alpha \right) \right) ^{d-1}\) where \(d\) is an integer relating to the dimension of \(k\). In this paper, the author proves that \(\mathrm{per}\left( \alpha \right)\) divides \(\mathrm{eti}\left( \alpha \right)\), where \(\mathrm{eti}\left( \alpha \right)\) denotes an integer invariant of \(\alpha \), namely \textit{étale index} of \(\alpha\), introduced in a previous paper of the author. It consists of the \textit{main theorem} of the paper. Evidently, it gives us information on the Period-Index Conjecture. The author also gives an application to the twisted \(K\)-theory in the paper. The proof of the main theorem is via a computation of the differential map in a Brown-Gersten descent spectral sequence corresponding with the twisted \(K\)-theory. The computation is performed in the paper by a Čech approximation to the spectral sequence introduced by the author, which is based on a comparison theorem proved in the paper by means of simplicial homotopy theory.