Krull dimension of the negligible quotient in mod \(p\) cohomology of a finite group (Q6057735)

Let \(F\) be a field. Given a field extension \(L/F\), let \(\Gamma_L\) denote the absolute Galois group \(\mathrm{Gal}(L_{\mathrm{sep}}/L)\). Let \(G\) be a finite group and \(M\) be a \(G\)-module. Any continuous group homomorphism \(j : \Gamma_L \to G\) defines a map in cohomology \(j^*: H^d(G,M) \to H^d(L,M)\). An element of \(H^d(G,M)\) is called negligible if it lies in the kernel of \(j^*\) for all extensions \(L/F\) and maps \(j\). This article builds in part on earlier work of the authors [J. Algebra 611, 82--93 (2022; Zbl 1520.20107)] and focuses on the case that \(M = \mathbb{Z}/p\mathbb{Z}\) (with trivial \(G\)-action) for a prime \(p\). The authors first consider the case that \(G\) is an elementary abelian \(p\)-group, where the cohomology \(H^*(G,\mathbb{Z}/p\mathbb{Z})\) is known. In terms of these known descriptions, they explicitly identify generators for the two-sided ideal \(I_F(G,\mathbb{Z}/p\mathbb{Z})\) of negligible elements. For \(p\) odd, the answer depends on whether \(F\) contains a primitive \(p^2\) root of unity or not. For \(p = 2\) and the characteristic of \(F\) not 2, the identification depends on the \textit{level} \(s(F)\) of \(F\). Here, \(s(F)\) is the least number of squares that sum to \(-1\). If this number exists, it is known to be a power of 2. If it does not exist, \(F\) is said to be \textit{formally real}. The identification of the negligible elements splits into three cases: \(F\) being formally real, \(s(F) = 1\), and \(s(F) > 1\). For an arbitrary finite group \(G\), the authors investigate the proportion (in a sense) of negligible elements in the cohomology. The cohomology ring \(H^*(G,\mathbb{Z}/p\mathbb{Z})\) is graded commutative. Set \(\mathcal{H}(G,\mathbb{Z}/p\mathbb{Z}) := H^{\mathrm{even}}(G,\mathbb{Z}/p\mathbb{Z})\) for \(p\) odd and \(\mathcal{H}(G,\mathbb{Z}/2\mathbb{Z}) := H^*(G,\mathbb{Z}/2\mathbb{Z})\) so that \(\mathcal{H}(G,\mathbb{Z}/p\mathbb{Z})\) is a commutative ring. Further, let \(\mathcal{I}_F(G,\mathbb{Z}/p\mathbb{Z})\) denote the ideal of negligible elements in \(\mathcal{H}(G,\mathbb{Z}/p\mathbb{Z})\). The quotient \(Q_F(G,\mathbb{Z}/p\mathbb{Z}) := \mathcal{H}(G,\mathbb{Z}/p\mathbb{Z})/\mathcal{I}_F(G,\mathbb{Z}/p\mathbb{Z})\) is called the \textit{negligible quotient} per the title. The authors demonstrate that in most cases \(Q_F(G,\mathbb{Z}/p\mathbb{Z})\) is finite, so that its Krull dimension is 0. More precisely, this occurs in all cases except when \(p = 2\), \(G\) has even order, and \(F\) is formally real. In this latter case, the aforementioned computation of \(I_F(G,\mathbb{Z}/2\mathbb{Z})\) for an elementary abelian \(2\)-group is used to show that \(Q_F(G,\mathbb{Z}/2\mathbb{Z})\) has Krull dimension \(1\).