The Brown-Comenetz dual of the \(K(2)\)-local sphere at the prime 3 (Q900861)

Let \(K(n)\) be the \(n\)-th Morava K-theory. The \(K(n)\)-local stable homotopy category is a symmetric monoidal category under the (localized) smash product \(\wedge\). Thus, it makes sense to talk about the \(K(n)\)-local spectra which are invertible with respect to \(\wedge\). It turns out that the weak equivalence classes of such spectra form a set. The smash product gives to this set a group structure, defining the Picard group \(\mathrm{Pic}_n\) of the \(K(n)\)-local category. This Picard group was originally computed in [\textit{P. Goerss} et al., J. Topol. 8, No. 1, 267--294 (2015; Zbl 1314.55006)]. In this category, the Johnson-Wilson theory \((E_n)_*\) characterizes the elements of the Picard group: a \(K(n)\)-local spectrum \(X\) is in the Picard group if and only if \((E_n)_*(X)\) is a free \((E_n)_*\)-module of rank one. Using this fact, one can build two particular elements of \(\mathrm{Pic}_n\): the Brown-Comenetz dual of the sphere \(I_2\), and the determinant twisted sphere \(S \langle \mathrm{det} \rangle\). The action of the big Morava stabilizer group \(\mathbb{G}_n\) on the spectrum \(E_n\) gives to \(E_n\)-homology groups the structure of a twisted \(\mathbb{G}_n\)-module. Here, the \((E_n)\)-homologies of \(I_2\) and \(S \langle \mathrm{det} \rangle\) agree as twisted modules. In particular, their difference (in the Picard group) must have \((E_n)_*\)-homology isomorphic to \((E_n)_*\) as a twisted module. The authors denote by \(\kappa_n\) the subgroup of \(\mathrm{Pic}_n\) consisting in the spectra satisfying this property. The main result of this paper is a characterisation of the difference of these two elements, in the case when \(p=3\) and \(n=2\). Namely: Theorem 1.1 There is a unique spectrum \(P \in \kappa_2\) so that \(P \wedge V(1) \cong \Sigma^{48}L_{K(2)}V(1).\) The Brown-Comenetz dual \(I_2\) of \(L_{K(2)}S^0\) is given as \[ I_2 \cong S^2 \wedge S^0 \langle \mathrm{det} \rangle \wedge P. \] Furthermore \(I_2 \wedge V(1) \cong \Sigma^{-22}L_{K(2)}V(1)\). Here, \(V(1)\) is the second Toda complex at \(p=3\). To prove this result, the authors study the effect of smashing with \(V(1)\) on spectra in \(\kappa_2\). This analysis relies on the study of the homotopy groups of the \(K(2)\)-localization of \(V(1)\) through a careful computation of the relevant Adams-Novikov spectral sequence.