The second homology of \(\mathrm{SL}_2\) of \(S\)-integers (Q746940)

The aim of the paper is to describe the second homology group \(\mathrm{H}_2(\mathrm{SL}_2(R), \mathbb{Z})\) in the case when \(R=\mathcal{O}_S\) is the ring of \(S\)-integers of a global field \(K\) with ``sufficiently large'' set of inverted primes \(S\). In the special case \(K=\mathbb{Q}\) ``sufficiently large`` means that \(S\) contains primes \(\{2,3,\infty\}\), i.\,e. \(R=\mathbb{Z}[\frac{1}{m}]\) for \(6|m\). The main result of the paper (Theorem~6.10) asserts that in this case \(\mathrm{H}_2(\mathrm{SL}_2(\mathcal{O}_S), \mathbb{Z})\) is isomorphic to a certain subgroup \(\widetilde{K}_2(2, \mathcal{O}_S)\) of \(K_2(2, K) \cong K_2^{MW}(K)\). The subgroup \(\widetilde{K}_2(2, \mathcal{O}_S)\) in question is the preimage under \(K_2^{MW}(K) \rightarrow K_2^{M}(K)\) of the intersection of kernels of tame symbols \(\tau_{\mathfrak p}: K_2^M(K) \to \kappa(\mathfrak{p})^\times\) for \(\mathfrak{p}\not\in S\). Using this description the groups \(\mathrm{H}_2(\mathrm{SL}_2(\mathbb{Z}[\frac{1}{m}]), \mathbb{Z})\) are computed explicitly in the case \(6|m\), see Theorem~6.12. Combining this computation with a recent result of J.~Morita the author obtains an infinite sequence of integers \(m\) for which the isomorphisms \(\widetilde{K}_2(2, \mathbb{Z}[\frac{1}{m}]) \cong K_2(2, \mathbb{Z}[\frac{1}{m}]) \cong \mathrm{H}_2(\mathrm{SL}_2(\mathbb{Z}[\frac{1}{m}]), \mathbb{Z})\) hold and the Steinberg group \(\mathrm{St}(2, \mathbb{Z}[\frac{1}{m}])\) is a universal central extension of \(\mathrm{SL}_2(\mathbb{Z}[\frac{1}{m}])\), see Proposition~6.13. The key ingredient in the proof of Theorem~6.10 is an exact sequence relating tame symbols with \(\mathrm{H}_2(\mathrm{SL}_2(\mathcal{O}_S), \mathbb{Z})\) for different \(S\), see Corollary~5.20. In turn, this sequence is based on a number of deep statements about Mayer-Vietoris sequence obtained from the decomposition \(\mathrm{SL}_2(A[1/x]) = \mathrm{SL}_2(A) \star_{\Gamma_0(A, \mathfrak{p})} H(\mathfrak{p})\) (e.\,g. the computation of the connecting homomorphism, surjectivity of \(\mathrm{H}_2(\Gamma_0(A, \mathfrak{p})) \to \mathrm{H}_2(H(\mathfrak{p}))\) etc.) In \S~7 of the paper an explicit construction of cohomological class \(C(a, b) \in \mathrm{H}_2(\mathrm{SL}_2(A), \mathbb{Z})\), \(a, b\in A^\times\) is proposed. This construction assumes that \(A\) is a commutative ring that contains a unit \(\lambda\) such that \(\lambda^2-1\) is also a unit. The key property of the class is that it is functorial in \(A\) and maps to Steinberg symbol \(c(a, b)\) under the natural map \(\mathrm{H}_2(\mathrm{SL}_2(A), \mathbb{Z}) \to K_2(2, A)\) when \(A\) is a field. Finally, an explicit generating set for \(\mathrm{H}_2(\mathrm{SL}_2(\mathbb{Z}[\frac{1}{m}]), \mathbb{Z})\) formulated in terms of this class is found in the final chapter.