Invariants of simple algebras. (Q833078)

Let \(F\) be a field of characteristic different from~\(2\). For all \(n\geq 1\), define functors \(\text{Alg}_n\) and \(\text{Dec}_n\) from the category of field extensions of \(F\) to the category of sets by mapping each field \(K\supseteq F\) to the set \(\text{Alg}_n(K)\) of \(K\)-isomorphism classes of central simple \(K\)-algebras of degree~\(2^n\) and exponent~\(1\) or \(2\), and to the set \(\text{Dec}_n(K)\) of \(K\)-isomorphism classes of tensor products of \(n\) quaternion \(K\)-algebras. So, \(\text{Dec}_n\) is a subfunctor of \(\text{Alg}_n\), and \(\text{Dec}_n=\text{Alg}_n\) if \(n=1\) or \(2\). On the other hand, for each field \(K\supseteq F\), consider the Galois cohomology ring \(H(K)=\bigoplus_{r\geq 0}H^r(K,\mathbb{Z}/2\mathbb{Z})\). The main theme of the paper is to study the cohomological invariants with coefficients \(\mathbb{Z}/2\mathbb{Z}\) of central simple algebras of degree~\(2^n\) and exponent dividing~\(2\), i.e., the morphisms of functors \(\text{Alg}_n\to H\). These morphisms form a module \(\text{Inv}(\text{Alg}_n,H)\) over \(H(F)\). Assuming \(-1\) is a square in \(F\), the authors define for all \(n\geq 1\), \(m\geq 0\) an invariant \(\gamma_m\colon\text{Alg}_n\to H^{2m}\) by the divided power operation; thus \(\gamma_0=1\) and \(\gamma_m=0\) if \(m>n\). They show that \(\text{Inv}(\text{Dec}_n,H)\) is a free \(H(F)\)-module with basis \(\gamma_0,\gamma_1,\dots,\gamma_n\) for all \(n\geq 1\), and that \(\text{Inv}(\text{Alg}_n,H)=\text{Inv}(\text{Dec}_n,H)\) for \(n\leq 3\). The key ingredient of the proof is the construction of an Azumaya algebra of degree~\(8\) that is generic for \(\text{Alg}_3\). For \(n\leq 3\), the highest invariant \(\gamma_n\) is shown to be the cohomological invariant of the quadratic reduced trace form, which is a \(2n\)-Pfister form. As an application, the authors prove that the essential dimension of \(\text{Dec}_n\) is \(2n\), and they obtain for the essential dimension of \(\text{Alg}_3\) the following inequalities: \(6\leq\text{ed}(\text{Alg}_3)\leq 8\).