Euler class group of a Laurent polynomial ring: local case (Q876401)

In the 1960s, \textit{J.P. Serre} [``Algebre Theorie Nombres'', Sem. Dubreil-Pisot 14, No. 2, 1--16 (1963; Zbl 0132.41301)] proved that a projective module \(P\) over a commutative noetherian ring \(R\) has a unimodular element if the rank of \(P\) is greater than the dimension of \(R\). (A unimodular element \(x \in P\) is one for which there exists a \(\phi \in P^*\) such that \(\phi(x) = 1\).) When the rank of \(P\) is equal to the dimension of \(R\) then \(P\) may not have such an element. In this article, the author continues in the spirit of \textit{M. K. Das} [J. Algebra 264, No. 2, 582--612 (2003; Zbl 1106.13300)] and \textit{S.M. Bhatwadekar} and \textit{R. Sridharan} [Compos. Math. 122, No. 2, 183--222 (2000; Zbl 0999.13007)] by determining, via Euler classes, the obstruction for such \(P\) to have a unimodular element in the ring of Laurent polynomials over \(R\). More specifically, he defines the Euler class group of \(R[T,T^{-1}]\), denoted \(E(R[T,T^{-1}])\), and proves that many of the results established by Das for \(R[T]\) have analogues in \(R[T, T^{-1}]\). \(E(R[T,T^{-1}])\) is defined for an \(R\) containing \(\mathbb Q\), of dimension at least two, and whose Jacobson radical has height at least two. One of the main results is that if \(P\) is a projective \(R[T, T^{-1}]\)-module with rank equal to the dimension of \(R\) and trivial determinant, and \(\chi: R \to \bigwedge^n P\) is an isomorphism, then \(P\) has a unimodular element if and only if the Euler class of \(P\) in \(E(R[T,T^{-1}])\) vanishes. Additionally, by inverting special monic polynomials, i.e., a monic polynomial \(f(T) \in R[T]\) such that \(f(0) = 1\), the author recovers a result analogous to the one proved by Das: if \(P\) is a projective \(R\)-module of rank equal to the dimension of \(R\) and \(P_{f(T)}\) has a unimodular element for some special monic polynomial \(f(T) \in R[T]\), then \(P\) has a unimodular element. The author also defines the weak Euler class group of \(R[T, T^{-1}]\), proving more results in the same vein as those of Das. Finally, following the work of Bhatwadekar and R. Sridharan, the author makes a connection between \(E(R[T, T^{-1}])\) and \(\tilde{K}_0Sp(E(R[T, T^{-1}]))\).