The ``fundamental theorem'' for the algebraic \(K\)-theory of spaces. I (Q5939848)

The fundamental theorem of the algebraic \(K\)-theory of rings gives a decomposition for the algebraic \(K\)-theory of a Laurent series ring; the factors are two copies of the \(K\)-theory of the underlying ring, one of which has a dimension shift, and two nil-terms. In this paper the authors give an analogous decomposition for \(A^{\text{fd}}(X\times S^1)\), where \(X\) is a space, \(S^1\) is the circle, and \(A^{\text{fd}}\) is a version of the algebraic \(K\)-theory of spaces based on finitely dominated spaces. The factors are \(A^{\text{fd}(X)}\), a delooping of \(A^{\text{fd}(X)}\), and two nil-terms. The result can be regarded as a brave new rings analogue of the original fundamental theorem. In the proof, the authors introduce a category called the projective line category associated to a simplicial group.