\(\text{SK}_1\) of graded division algebras. (Q636024)

This paper studies the reduced Whitehead group, \(\text{SK}_1\), and related functors, for graded division algebras. Let \(D\) be a division algebra with valuation \(\nu\), where the value group is any torsion-free Abelian group. There is a graded division algebra associated to \(D\), whose homogeneous components are \(\text{gr}(D)_\gamma=(\{d\in D^\times:\nu(d)\geq\gamma\}\cup\{0\})/(\{d\in D^\times:\nu(d)>\gamma\}\cup\{0\})\). Computation with the graded counterpart is easier, so one is naturally led to look for bridges between this algebra and the valued one. Along these lines, the authors show that if \(D\) is a tame valued central division algebra over a Henselian field \(F\), then \(\text{SK}_1(D)=\text{SK}_1(\text{gr}(D))\) (Thm.~4.8). The proof utilizes properties of \(\lambda\)-polynomials and a ``Congruence Theorem'' for valued division algebras. Recall that \(\text{SK}_1(D)=D^{(1)}/D'\). The same result is proven for \(\text{SH}^0(D)=F^\times/\text{Nrd}_D(D^\times)\) and, when \(D\) is strongly tame, for \(\text{CK}_1(D)=D^\times/(F^\times D')\). For a graded division algebra \(E\), explicit formulas for \(\text{SK}_1(E)\) are given when \(E\) is unramified, totally ramified or semiramified (Cor.~3.6). The counterpart for valued division algebras over Henselian fields follows (Cor.~4.10). Generalizing results of Platonov and Yanchevskiĭ who treated the case where the value group is \(\mathbb Z\), it is shown that \(\text{SK}_1\) of a graded division algebra \(E\) is equal to that of its quotient division algebra, \(Q=q(E)\). The key ingredient here is that \(Q^{(1)}=(Q^{(1)}\cap E_0)Q'\). Another noteworthy tool is a graded version of Wedderburn's factorization theorem, namely that the minimal polynomial of a homogeneous element in a graded division algebra always splits.