scientific article; zbMATH DE number 1444749

Publication date 18 December 2000

Bloch-Kato conjecture Milnor conjecture motivic complex splitting variety

Galois cohomology (12G05) Applications of methods of algebraic (K)-theory in algebraic geometry (14C35) Étale and other Grothendieck topologies and (co)homologies (14F20) Relations of (K)-theory with cohomology theories (19E20) Stable homotopy theory, spectra (55P42)

Review text

Recall the Milnor and Bloch-Kato conjectures. Let \(F\) be a field and write \(F^\ast\) for the multiplicative group of \(F\). According to Kummer theory, there is for any integer \(m\) prime to the characteristic of \(F\) a natural isomorphism: \[ \chi : F^\ast/(F^\ast)^m\rightarrow H^1(F,\mu_m) \] that induces a morphism of graded rings (the norm residue homomorphism) \[ \chi : K_\ast^M(F)/m\rightarrow \coprod\limits_{n=0}^\infty H^n (F,\mu_m^{\otimes n}), \] where \(K_\ast^M\) is Milnor \(K\)-theory. According to the Bloch-Kato conjecture, \(\chi\) should be an isomorphism in all degrees. A special case (for \(m=2\)) of the conjecture was first introduced by \textit{J. Milnor} [``Algebraic K-theory and quadratic forms, Invent. Math. 9, 318-344 (1970; Zbl 0199.55501)] and was proven recently by \textit{V. Voevodsky}: For any field \(F\) of characteristic \(\not= 2\) and any \(n\geq 0\), the norm residue homomorphism \(K_n^M(F)/2\rightarrow H^n(F,{\mathbb Z}/2)\) is an isomorphism. More generally, Voevodsky reduces the Bloch-Kato conjecture for \(m\) arbitrary to questions concerning universal splitting varieties. The case \(m=3\), in degrees \(n=3,4\) was solved by \textit{M. Rost}. The present article is an enlightening survey of the proof of the Milnor conjecture. Notice that previous reports on the same topic have been written by Kahn and Morel [\textit{B. Kahn}, ``La conjecture de Milnor d'après V. Voevodsky, Sémin. Bourbaki, Vol. 1996/97, Astérisque 245, 379-418, Exp. No. 834 (1997; Zbl 0916.19001); \textit{F. Morel}, ``Voevodsky's proof of Milnor's conjecture, Bull. Am. Math. Soc., New Ser. 35, No. 2, 123-143 (1998; Zbl 0916.19002)]. The article makes clear the global strategy of the proof, starting with generalities on the Bloch-Kato conjecture and going through the various arguments, till Voevodsky's motivic Steenrod algebra computations. The structure of the proof is as follows (we follow the division into paragraphs in Suslin's paper): 1. Reduction of the general Bloch-Kato conjecture to the case of fields of characteristic zero. 2. Definition of the motivic complex of weight \(n\) for smooth schemes of finite type over \(F\). Definition of the motivic cohomology groups. Identification of the (weight \(n\)) motivic cohomology of \(\operatorname {Spec} F\) (in degree n) with Milnor's \(K_n^M(F)\). 3. The Bloch-Kato conjecture is related to a cohomological version, due to Lichtenbaum, of Hilbert's theorem 90. 4. This section explains how splitting fields and splitting varieties enter in the proof of the cohomological version of Hilbert's 90. 5-6. The last two sections survey the stable homotopy theory of schemes and properties of motivic Steenrod operations which play a part in this proof. For the entire collection see [Zbl 0927.00019].

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