A generalized Vaserstein symbol (Q2286562)

Let \(R\) be a commutative ring, and let \(\mathrm{Um}_n(R)\) denote the set of unimodular rows of length \(n\). Let \(W_E(R)\) denote the symplectic Witt group of \(R\) and \(E_n(R)\) denote the set of \(n\times n\) elementary matrix group of \(R\). Suslin and Vaserstein associated to each unimodular row \(a = (a_1,a_2,a_3) \in\mathrm{Um}_3(R)\) a symplectic matrix \(V(a)\), now called the Vaserstein symbol. This gives a map \(V:\mathrm{Um}_r(R)/E_3(R)\to W_E(R)\). The author in this paper generalizes the Vaserstein symbol to the group \(\mathrm{Um}(P_0\oplus R)\) where \(P_0\) is a finitely-generated projective module of rank two with a fixed trivialization of its determinant. The group \(\mathrm{Um}(P_0\oplus R)\) is then defined as the set of epimorphisms \(P_0\oplus R\to R\). The generalization of the elementary matrices is the group \(E(P_0\oplus R)\) of elementary automorphisms of \(P_0\oplus R\). The generalized Vaserstein symbol defined here is essentially a coordinate-free method analogous in the first paragraph, and the reader is referred to the paper for the details. This generalized Vaserstein symbol allows the author to prove some new results: first, that it is actually an isomorphism for e.g. regular Noetherian rings of dimension 2. Another application is a stability result using a local-global stability result. Namely, let \(P_n = P_0\oplus R^{n-2}\) for \(n\geq 3\) and let \(E_\infty(P_0)\) be the direct limit of the \(E(P_n)\) groups. The author proves that \(E_\infty(P_0)\cap\mathrm{Aut}(P_4)\cong E(P_4)\). This in particular shows the merit of this new Vaserstein symbol, allowing us to understand these automorphism groups that a priori have nothing to do with the Vaserstein symbol.