A multiplicative comparison of Mac Lane homology and topological Hochschild homology (Q1982617)

The paper under review provides a modern refinement of a result due to Pirashvili and Waldhausen concerning the relation between Mac Lane homology and topological Hochschild homology. More precisely, Pirashvili and Waldhausen prove that if \(R\) is a ring and \(M\) is a bimodule over \(R\), then there is an isomorphism of abelian groups \[ \mathrm{HML}_\ast(R, M) \simeq \mathrm{THH}_\ast(R, M), \] where the left hand side denotes the Mac Lane homology of \(R\) with coefficients in \(M\), and the right hand side denotes the homotopy groups of the topological Hochschild homology of \(R\) with coefficients in \(M\). The authors of the paper under review prove that the isomorphism above refines to a natural equivalence of spectra \(\mathrm{HML}(R, M) \simeq \mathrm{THH}(R, M)\) and if \(M = R\), then both sides of the equivalence above aquire \(\mathbf{E}_1\)-structures and the equivalence refines to an equivalence of \(\mathbf{E}_1\)-rings \(\mathrm{HML}(R) \simeq \mathrm{THH}(R)\). Furthermore, if \(R\) is assumed to be commutative, then this is an equivalence of \(\mathbf{E}_\infty\)-rings. The construction of Mac Lane homology relies on Mac Lane's functor \(Q : \mathrm{Ab} \to \mathcal{D}(\mathbb{Z})\) which satisfies that \(H_\ast(Q(A); \mathbb{Z}) \simeq \pi_\ast(\mathbb{Z} \otimes_{\mathbf{S}} A)\). The authors construct a lax symmetric monoidal structure on \(Q\) and provide an equivalence of lax symmetric monoidal functors \(Q \simeq \mathbb{Z} \otimes_{\mathbf{S}} (-)\). This lax symmetric monoidal structure agrees with the one previously constructed by \textit{B. Richter} [Math. Ann. 316, No. 3, 547--564 (2000; Zbl 0962.16007)]. As a consequence, the authors prove that if \(R\) is a ring, then there is an equivalence of \(\mathbf{E}_1\)-rings \(Q(R) \simeq \mathbb{Z} \otimes_{\mathbf{S}} R\) and if \(R\) is commutative, then this equivalence refines to an equivalence of \(\mathbf{E}_\infty\)-rings. This resolves a conjecture of Fiedorowicz, Pirashvili, Schwänzl, Vogt, and Waldhausen. By general base-change results for Hochschild homology, this result implies the main result of the paper relating Mac Lane homology and topological Hochschild homology.