Quadratic Forms

and Their Applications
Proceedings of the Conference on
Quadratic Forms and Their Applications
July 5–9, 1999
University College Dublin

Eva Bayer-Fluckiger
David Lewis
Andrew Ranicki
Editors

Published as Contemporary Mathematics 272, A.M.S. (2000)

vii

Contents

Preface ix

Conference lectures x

Conference participants xii

Conference photo xiv

Galois cohomology of the classical groups
Eva Bayer-Fluckiger 1

Symplectic lattices
Anne-Marie Bergé 9

Universal quadratic forms and the fifteen theorem
J.H. Conway 23

On the Conway-Schneeberger fifteen theorem
Manjul Bhargava 27

On trace forms and the Burnside ring
Martin Epkenhans 39

Equivariant Brauer groups
A. Fröhlich and C.T.C. Wall 57

Isotropy of quadratic forms and field invariants
Detlev W. Hoffmann 73

Quadratic forms with absolutely maximal splitting
Oleg Izhboldin and Alexander Vishik 103

2-regularity and reversibility of quadratic mappings
Alexey F. Izmailov 127

Quadratic forms in knot theory
C. Kearton 135

Biography of Ernst Witt (1911–1991)
Ina Kersten 155

viii

Generic splitting towers and generic splitting preparation
of quadratic forms
Manfred Knebusch and Ulf Rehmann 173

Local densities of hermitian forms
Maurice Mischler 201

Notes towards a constructive proof of Hilbert’s theorem
on ternary quartics
Victoria Powers and Bruce Reznick 209

On the history of the algebraic theory of quadratic forms
Winfried Scharlau 229

Local fundamental classes derived from higher K-groups: III
Victor P. Snaith 261

Hilbert’s theorem on positive ternary quartics
Richard G. Swan 287

Quadratic forms and normal surface singularities
C.T.C. Wall 293

ix

Preface

These are the proceedings of the conference on “Quadratic Forms And
Their Applications” which was held at University College Dublin from 5th to
9th July, 1999. The meeting was attended by 82 participants from Europe
and elsewhere. There were 13 one-hour lectures surveying various appli-
cations of quadratic forms in algebra, number theory, algebraic geometry,
topology and information theory. In addition, there were 22 half-hour lec-
tures on more specialized topics.
The papers collected together in these proceedings are of various types.
Some are expanded versions of the one-hour survey lectures delivered at the
conference. Others are devoted to current research, and are based on the
half-hour lectures. Yet others are concerned with the history of quadratic
forms. All papers were refereed, and we are grateful to the referees for their
work.
This volume includes one of the last papers of Oleg Izhboldin who died
unexpectedly on 17th April 2000 at the age of 37. His untimely death is a
great loss to mathematics and in particular to quadratic form theory. We
shall miss his brilliant and original ideas, his clarity of exposition, and his
friendly and good-humoured presence.
The conference was supported by the European Community under the
auspices of the TMR network FMRX CT-97-0107 “Algebraic K-Theory,
Linear Algebraic Groups and Related Structures”. We are grateful to the
Mathematics Department of University College Dublin for hosting the con-
ference, and in particular to Thomas Unger for all his work on the TEX and
web-related aspects of the conference.

Eva Bayer-Fluckiger, Besançon
David Lewis, Dublin
Andrew Ranicki, Edinburgh
October, 2000

x

Conference lectures

60 minutes.
A.-M. Bergé, Symplectic lattices.
J.J. Boutros, Quadratic forms in information theory.
J.H. Conway, The Fifteen Theorem.
D. Hoffmann, Zeros of quadratic forms.
C. Kearton, Quadratic forms in knot theory.
M. Kreck, Manifolds and quadratic forms.
R. Parimala, Algebras with involution.
A. Pfister, The history of the Milnor conjectures.
M. Rost, On characteristic numbers and norm varieties.
W. Scharlau, The history of the algebraic theory of quadratic forms.
J.-P. Serre, Abelian varieties and hermitian modules.
M. Taylor, Galois modules and hermitian Euler characteristics.
C.T.C. Wall, Quadratic forms in singularity theory.

30 minutes.
A. Arutyunov, Quadratic forms and abnormal extremal problems: some
results and unsolved problems.
P. Balmer, The Witt groups of triangulated categories, with some applica-
tions.
G. Berhuy, Hermitian scaled trace forms of field extensions.
P. Calame, Integral forms without symmetry.
P. Chuard-Koulmann, Elements of given minimal polynomial in a central
simple algebra.
M. Epkenhans, On trace forms and the Burnside ring.
L. Fainsilber, Quadratic forms and gas dynamics: sums of squares in a
discrete velocity model for the Boltzmann equation.
C. Frings, Second trace form and T2 -standard normal bases.
J. Hurrelbrink, Quadratic forms of height 2 and differences of two Pfister
forms.
M. Iftime, On spacetime distributions.
A. Izmailov, 2-regularity and reversibility of quadratic mappings.
S. Joukhovitski, K-theory of the Weil transfer functor.

xi

V. Mauduit, Towards a Drinfeldian analogue of quadratic forms for poly-
nomials.
M. Mischler, Local densities and Jordan decomposition.
V. Powers, Computational approaches to Hilbert’s theorem on ternary
quartics.
S. Pumplün, The Witt ring of a Brauer-Severi variety.
A. Quéguiner, Discriminant and Clifford algebras of an algebra with in-
volution.
U. Rehmann, A surprising fact about the generic splitting tower of a qua-
dratic form.
C. Riehm, Orthogonal representations of finite groups.
D. Sheiham, Signatures of Seifert forms and cobordism of boundary links.
V. Snaith, Local fundamental classes constructed from higher dimensional
K-groups.
K. Zainoulline, On Grothendieck’s conjecture about principal homoge-
neous spaces.

Talence berge@math. Dublin thomas. Kreck.ac.-Y.kearton@durham. Cork dflannery@cit. Besançon detlev@vega.F.de Y.-M.unicaen.uni-duisburg.be J.ac. Laffey. Gindraux.univ-fcomte.H.unil. Du Bois.nwu. Besançon berhuy@math. Dineen. Suceava mtime@warpnet. Hurrelbrink. Besançon frings@math. Fainsilber. Talence degos@math.J. Paris karoubi@math.laffey@ucd. Broecker.ch R. Paderborn martine@uni-paderborn. Becher. Mackey. Muenster broe@math.math.se D. Kearton.su P. Paris boutros@com.ucl.fr R. Angers pdubois@univ-angers. Duisburg gradl@math. Caen hellegou@math. Dublin rod.de L.it M.ru S.A.fr G.de M. Izmailov.u-bordeaux.ie Ph. Leibak. Hoffmann.u-strasbg.ee D.fr G. Gow.fr K. Flannery.unine. Iftime.uni-muenster. Neuchatel marc. Louvain-la-Neuve elomary@agel.ethz. Bergé.edu J. Baton Rouge jurgen@julia.uk M.J.J.de T.gindraux@maths. Bayer-Fluckiger. Joukhovitski.edu E. Moscow izmaf@ccas. Nice elenc@math.ie C.ch S. Besançon becher@math. Conway.lewis@ucd.enst.univ-fcomte. Garibaldi. Dublin kevin.lsu.mackey@ucd. Lausanne balmer@math.uni-muenster.ie . Lewis.ro A.princeton. Elomary.fr L. Zurich skip@math.ie J.xii Conference participants A.trieste. Chuard-Koulmann.fr S. Moscow arutunov@sa640.ie C.V.fr J.ucl.unice.ac.fr A. Frings. Dublin david. Dublin michael.fr D.msu.u-bordeaux. Arutyunov. Heidelberg kreck@mathi.be M.univ-fcomte.fr A.rutgers. Louvain-la-Neuve chuard@agel.calame@ima.dineen@ucd.univ-fcomte.ch P.fr M.gow@ucd.edu M. Lausanne philippe.fr J. Durham cherry. Trieste melha@ictp. Loday. Epkenhans. Hellegouarch.edu K.fr C.chalmers. Besançon bayer@vega. Balmer.de Ph. Strasbourg loday@math. Goteborg laura@math. Elhamdadi.cs. Tallinn aleibak@ioc.hutchinson@ucd. Boutros. Paris lamyc@enst. Dublin sean. Bonn seva@math.ie M.jussieu. Muenster gilles@math. Princeton conway@math.S. Elencwajg. Degos. Gradl. Hutchinson.-L.ie F.uni-heidelberg.fr M. Gille. Karoubi. Calame. Lamy.univ-fcomte. Berhuy.

ac.tipple@ucd.uni-bielefeld.ac. Mainz pfister@mathematik. Tipple. Parimala. Ghent utipp@cage.ch A.it A. Manchester mcbtayr@mail1.uk U.ac.fr D. Neuchatel stephane.edu S.T. Tuite.sdu.uni-regensburg. Atlanta colm@spelman.ed.unger@ucd.fr J.ch V.fr A.ie T.uni-mainz.mcmaster.cis.rost@mathematik. Dublin dermot.uk M.de H. Serre. Scheiderer.de V. Duisburg claus@math. Quéguiner.rug.uwo. Ontario riehm@mcmail.may.uni-duisburg. xiii M.lsu.edu H. Dublin martin.ac.unitn. Edinburgh aar@maths.mazzoleni@ima. Galway michael.mcgarraghy@ucd.de C. Muenster scharlau@escher.mischler@ima. Powers. Pumplün.ch M. Edinburgh des@maths.A.de D.be D. Bielefeld rehmann@mathematik. Morales. Mulcahy. Dublin john.ras.ie M. Besançon parimala@vega. Sheiham.mauduit@ucd. McGarraghy.de C.-P.sigrist@maths.-P.tuite@nuigalway.ca K.uchicago. Lausanne amedeo. Dublin david. Unger. Baton Rouge morales@math. Monsurro.serre@ens.unine.ucl.ie A. Wall.be K. Snaith. Munkholm. Muenster reichh@escher. Maynooth gmg@maths. Perret. Atlanta vicki@mathcs.emory. Zainoulline.C.ac.unine. Scharlau.univ-fcomte. Pfister. Marjoram. Odense hjm@imada.edu S.soton. St.uk F. Tipp. Petersburg kirill@pdmi.marjoram@ucd.uk J. Ryan.ie M. Southampton vps@maths. Patashnick. Mauduit. Dublin veronique.ru .ie C.uni-muenster.fr O.ie G. Regensburg pumplun@degiorgi.ryan@ucd.ac. Taylor. Louvain-la-Neuve tignol@agel. Sigrist.w. Paris queguin@math. Hamilton. Liverpool ctcw@liverpool.ca M. Chicago owen@math.unil.edu C. Rehmann. Riehm.perret@maths.be U. London Ontario yagunov@jardine.ie V. Ghent karim.ed. Rost.ac.ch S.de J. Ranicki.ie W. Reich.uni-muenster.dk R. Regensburg markus.math. Mazzoleni. Lausanne maurice. Neuchatel francois.science. Tignol. Dublin thomas.uk S.zahidi@rug. Yagunov.mcc.unil. McGuire. Zahidi.ac.univ-fcomte.univ-paris13. Mischler. Besançon monsurro@math. Paris jean-pierre.

xiv Conference photo .

Pow- ers. Hellegouarch. (19) K. (62) T. (21) H. (50) K. (2) J. (37) Ph. Taylor. Sigrist.S. Garibaldi. (49) A. (57) P. (67) D. (31) M. (55) Y. Loday.F. El- hamdadi. (32) S. (26) M. (43) J. Du Bois. Zainoulline. Flannery. Calame. (18) H. (52) J. (64) M. (46) J. Serre. Bergé. (27) J.J. Berhuy. xv . Hoffmann. (42) L. Leibak. Monsurro. (41) Ph. (29) A. Epkenhans. 60 62 66 56 58 63 65 67 55 59 61 64 50 68 48 49 51 43 57 46 47 52 53 37 45 38 44 31 54 28 35 40 18 29 30 33 36 39 32 34 41 42 24 19 20 21 25 26 2 23 27 1 6 22 4 12 14 3 8 17 5 9 11 13 15 16 7 10 (1) A. Gradl. Wall. Rost. Ranicki. Mazzoleni. (36) O. (54) M. (9) A. Pumplün. (5) M. Elencwajg. (63) K. (33) J. Riehm. Tignol. Mischler. (68) M. (59) M.-M. (66) P. (28) S. Bayer-Fluckiger. (24) C. Gille. Laffey. Elomary. (34) R. Tipp. Zahidi. Munkholm. (45) M. Tuite. (30) W.T. (56) T. (40) D. (38) G. Patashnick. (15) R. (61) M. (53) A. McGarraghy. (47) A. (51) A. Gindraux. Kreck. Reich. (48) C. (11) M. Balmer. Degos. McGuire. (14) D. Mauduit.J. Izmailov. (3) G. (8) G. Iftime. Scheiderer.- Y. (44) J. (39) C. Fainsilber. Pfister. Sheiham. (35) S. Conway. Parimala. (65) F. (16) V. (58) D. Hurrelbrink. (6) V. Lewis. Snaith.V.C. Unger. Du Bois. (60) U. Frings. Mulcahy. (7) S. Perret. (20) C.H. (4) K.-L. Chuard-Koulmann. Scharlau. (10) M. Hutchinson. Morales. Quéquiner. (12) V. (22) M. Becher. (25) C.-P.-P. (23) A. Arutyunov. (17) F. (13) E.

for classical groups. p–adic fields. ) correspond to vanishing of such sets. Springer’s theorem [22] can be reformulated as an injectivity statement for Galois cohomology sets of orthogonal groups. [20]).3. We say that the cohomological dimension of k is ≤ n. Galois cohomology (cf. 1. U ) = H 1 (Γk . let ks be a separable closure of k and let Γk = Gal(ks /k). . 1. Definitions and notation Let k be a field of characteristic 6= 2. As pointed out in [18]. these sets have classical interpretations. U ) is also the set of isomorphism classes of U –torsors (principal homogeneous spaces over U ). if H i (Γk .Contemporary Mathematics Volume 00. . 1. U (ks )). well–known classification results for quadratic forms over certain fields (such as finite fields. In particular. C) = 0 for every i > n and for every finite Γk –module C. The aim of this paper is to survey the results obtained in the case of the classical groups. The associated norm–one–group UA is the linear algebraic group over k defined by UA (E) = {a ∈ A ⊗ E |aσ(a) = 1 } for every commutative k–algebra E. [9]. Let A be a finite dimensional k–algebra. Algebras with involution and norm–one–groups (cf. Recall that H 1 (k.2. An involution σ : A → A is a k–linear antiau- tomorphism of A such that σ 2 = id. 1. Let k be a perfect field. c °2000 American Mathematical Society 1 . The language of Galois cohomology makes it possible to formulate analogous statements for other linear algebraic groups.1. [15]). In [18] and [20]. Cohomological dimension. . For any linear algebraic group U defined over k. 2000 GALOIS COHOMOLOGY OF THE CLASSICAL GROUPS Eva Bayer–Fluckiger Introduction Galois cohomology sets of linear algebraic groups were first studied in the late 50’s – early 60’s. Let (A. set H 1 (k. Serre raises questions and conjectures in this spirit. denoted by cd(k) ≤ n. σ) be an algebra with involution.

2 EVA BAYER–FLUCKIGER We say that the virtual cohomological dimension of k is ≤ n. Then H 1 (k. III. denoted by 0 0 vcd(k) ≤ n. then the canonical map H 1 (k. 1.5. A classical result of Pfister says that if q ⊗ φ ' q 0 ⊗ φ. Recall that we have H 1 (k) ' k ∗ /k ∗2 and H 2 (k) ' Br2 (k). Proof.1.4. If q '< a1 .1. The aim of this § is to give a survey of the results obtained in this direction. then the canonical map H 1 (k. as pointed out in [18] and [21]. Galois cohomology and quadratic forms. Theorem 2.3. Let U be the norm–one–group of a finite dimensional k– algebra with involution.. See [1]. where U is a subgroup of U 0 . 1. U ) → H 1 (L. . This is for instance the case of Pfister’s theorem : 2. . Galois cohomology mod 2. we define the discrim- n(n−1) inant of q by disc(q) = (−1) 2 a1 . U 0 ). Set H i (k) = H i (Γk . and asks for generalisations of this result to other linear algebraic groups. Let q. if there exists a finite extension √ k of k such that cd(k ) ≤ n. 1.1. It is known that this holds if and only if cd(k( −1)) ≤ n. q 0 and φ be non–degenerate quadratic forms over k. U ) is injective. This can be reformulated as . U ) → H 1 (k. an ∈ k ∗ /k ∗2 .2. If L is an odd degree extension of k. aj ) ∈ Br2 (k). The above results concern injectivity after a base change.1. Pfister’s theorem. then q ' q 0 (see [15]. Serre makes this observation in [18]. . Suppose that the dimension of φ is odd. 5. Z/2Z).). . . 4). This can be reformulated in terms of Galois cohomology as follows. prop. . some well–known results about quadratic forms can be reformulated as injectivity statements of maps between Galois cohomology sets H 1 (k. Oq ) → H 1 (L. One has the following Theorem 2. Springer’s theorem [22] states that if q and q 0 become iso- morphic over an odd degree extension. Let q be a non–degenerate quadratic form over k and let Oq be its orthogonal group.5. Springer’s theorem. especially in the case of the classical groups.2. If L is an odd degree extension of k. 1.2. Let q and q 0 be two non–degenerate quadratic forms defined over k. an > is a non–degenerate quadratic form. see for instance [4]. 2. where O is an orthogonal group.6. Oq ) is in bijection with the set of isomorphism classes of non–degenerate quadratic forms over k that become isomorphic to q over ks (equivalently. Let Oq be the orthogonal group of q. [20]. 2. This reformulation suggests generalisations to other linear algebraic groups. Injectivity results Some classical theorems of the theory of quadratic forms can be formulated in terms of injectivity of maps between Galois cohomology sets H 1 (k. then they are already isomorphic over k. O). those which have the same dimension as q) (cf. 2. Oq ) is injective. As noted in [21]. and the Hasse–Witt invariant by w2 (q) = Σi<j (ai .

we reduce to the case where A and B are central simple algebras with involution.2.2. Oq ) → H 1 (k. that is either central over k with an involution of the first kind. Let (A. U ) → H 1 (k.3. We conclude the proof by the argument of [2]. σ) and (B. Proof of 2. σ). Using 2.3. .. III. Denote by Oq the orthogonal group of q. see for instance [8] or [15]. Then the canonical map H 1 (k. then H 1 (k. and by UA⊗B the norm–one–group of the tensor product of algebras with involution (A.1. Note that Theorem 2.5.2. P ) → H 1 (k. Oq⊗φ ) is injective. U ) → H 1 (L. and to formulate classification results in cohomological terms. Then the map H 1 (k.2. In 1937. Witt proved the “cancellation theorem” for quadratic forms [26] : if q1 .1 does not extend to the case where both algebras have even degree. proof of Theorem 4. The cohomological description makes it possible to use various exact sequences related to subgroups or coverings. 3. Then the canonical map H 1 (k.2. Oq ) is the set of isomorphism classes of non–degenerate quadratic forms over k of dimension n.2. This is explained in [20]. or central over a quadratic extension k 0 of k with a k 0 /k-involution of the second kind. We have the exact sequence 1 → SOq → Oq → µ2 → 1.2. τ ) be finite dimensional k–algebras with involution. 1. U 0 ) is injective. Classification of quadratic forms and Galois cohomology Recall (cf. τ ). Then H 1 (k.2. 2. For the proof of 2. Theorem 1.1.2. Witt’s theorem. Exercice 1) Let G be a connected reductive group. we need the following consequence of Theorem 2.2. UA⊗B ) is injective. we may assume that B is split and that the involution is given by a symmetric or hermitian form. Let us denote by UA the norm–one–group of (A. and also a result of Lewis [10]. Suppose that dimk (B) is odd. III. q2 and q are quadratic forms such that q1 ⊕ q ' q2 ⊕ q. By a “dévissage” as in [1]. and by Oq⊗φ the orthogonal group of the tensor product q ⊗ φ.1. Hence determining this set is equivalent to classifying quadratic forms over k up to isomorphism.) that if Oq is the orthogonal group of a non–degenerate. ([20]. σ) ⊗ (B. GALOIS COHOMOLOGY OF THE CLASSICAL GROUPS 3 follows. G) is injective. Suppose that there exists an odd degree extension L of k such that H 1 (L.2. and P a parabolic subgroup of G. then q1 ' q2 . n– dimensional quadratic form q over k.3.2.. Let U and U 0 be norm–one–groups of finite dimensional k–algebras. U 0 ) is also injective. One can extend this result to algebras with involution as follows : Theorem 2.1 implies Pfister’s theorem quoted above. UA ) → H 1 (k. as follows : Let SOq be the special orthogonal group.1. These results can also be deduced from a statement on linear algebraic groups due to Borel and Tits : Theorem 2. The analog of this result for hermitian forms over skew fields also holds.1.1. It is easy to see that Theorem 2.1. Corollary 2.

w2 (q 0 ) + w2 (q) ∈ Br2 (k) (cf. We have the exact sequence 1 → µ2 → Spinq → SOq → 1. Suppose that dim(q) ≥ 3. Let G be a connected linear algebraic group over k. Oq ) → k ∗ /k ∗2 . Suppose that k is a finite field. we have H 1 (k.1. disc(q) = disc(q 0 ) to the sum of the Hasse–Witt invariants of q and q 0 . [20]. SOq ) → Br2 (k) sends the class of a quadratic form q 0 with dim(q) = dim(q 0 ). the class of a quadratic form q 0 is sent to the class of disc(q)disc(q 0 ) ∈ k ∗ /k ∗2 . and that non–degenerate quadratic forms are classified by dimension. cf.1. It is well–known that non–degenerate quadratic forms over k are determined by their dimension and discriminant. we have H 1 (k. it is necessary and sufficient that the following two conditions be satisfied : (i) The spinor norm SOq (k) → k ∗ /k ∗2 is surjective . (cf. Hence we see that Proposition 3. then H 1 (k. Hence by 3. SOq ) = 0 it is necessary and sufficient that every quadratic form over k which has the same dimension and the same discriminant as q is isomorphic to q. III. and consider an H 2 –invariant (the Hasse–Witt invariant) that will suffice. Spinq ) → H 1 (k. made in 1962 (cf. 3.2. Let k be a p–adic field. . Example. if k is a p–adic field and dim(q) ≥ 3. SOq ) = 0 for all q. Note that SOq is connected. SOq ) → H 1 (k.2. δ ∆ where SOq (k) → k ∗ /k ∗2 is the spinor norm. More precisely. Oq ) → k ∗ /k ∗2 is given by the discriminant. [20]. Spinq ) = 0. disc The map H 1 (k. [18]. 4. Spinq ) = 0 for all q. Spinq ) = 0. together with dimension and discriminant. det Note that the map Oq (k) → µ2 is onto (reflections have determinant −1). We can go one step further. discriminant and Hasse–Witt invariant. chap. to classify non–degenerate quadratic forms over certain fields. Hence by 3. In order that H 1 (k. simply connected. Conjectures I and II In the preceding §. and that Spinq is semi–simple.2. (ii) Every quadratic form which has the same dimension. and H 1 (k.) In order that H 1 (k. Example. [23]). we have seen that if k is a finite field then H 1 (k. G) = 0. These examples are special cases of Serre’s conjectures I and II. the same discriminant and the same Hasse–Witt invariant as q is isomorphic to q. SOq ) = 0. Let Spinq be the spin group of q. (ex–Conjecture I) Let k be a perfect field of cohomological di- mension ≤ 1. Hence we obtain the following : Proposition 3. SOq ) → Br2 (k). Then it is well–known that the spinor norm is surjective. See also [20]. This exact sequence induces the cohomology exact sequence δ ∆ SOq (k) → k ∗ /k ∗2 → H 1 (k. [24]. III) : Theorem 4.1.2. III. This was proved by Steinberg in 1965.4 EVA BAYER–FLUCKIGER This exact sequence induces an exact sequence in cohomology det disc SOq (k) → Oq (k) → µ2 → H 1 (k. Then H 1 (k.

GALOIS COHOMOLOGY OF THE CLASSICAL GROUPS 5

Conjecture II. Let k be a perfect field of cohomological dimension ≤ 2.
Let G be a semi–simple, simply connected linear algebraic group over k. Then
H 1 (k, G) = 0.
This conjecture is still open in general, though it has been proved in many
special cases (cf. [20], III.3). The main breakthrough was made by Merkurjev and
Suslin [13], [25], who proved the conjecture for special linear groups over division
algebras. More generally, the conjecture is now known for the classical groups.
Theorem 4.2. Let k be a perfect field of cohomological dimension ≤ 2, and
let G be a semi–simple, simply connected group of classical type (with the possible
exception of groups of trialitarian type D4 ) or of type G2 , F4 . Then H 1 (k, G) = 0.
See [3]. The proof uses the theorem of Merkurjev and Suslin [13], [25] as well
as results of Merkurjev [12] and Yanchevskii [28], [29], and the injectivity result
Theorem 2.1.1. More recently, Gille proved Conjecture II for some groups of type
E6 , E7 , and of trialitarian type D4 (cf. [7]).

5. Hasse Principle Conjectures I and II
Colliot–Thélène [5] and Scheiderer [16] have formulated real analogues of Con-
jectures I and II, which we will call Hasse Principle Conjectures I and II. Let us
denote by Ω the set of orderings of k. If v ∈ Ω, let us denote by kv the real closure
of k at v.
Hasse Principle Conjecture I. Let k be a perfect field of virtual coho-
mological dimension ≤ 1. Let G be a connected linear algebraic group. Then the
canonical map
Y
H 1 (k, G) → H 1 (kv , G)
v∈Ω
is injective.
This has been proved by Scheiderer, cf. [16].
Hasse Principle Conjecture II. Let k be a perfect field of virtual cohomo-
logical dimension ≤ 2. Let G be a semi–simple, simply connected linear algebraic
group. Then the canonical map
Y
H 1 (k, G) → H 1 (kv , G)
v∈Ω

is injective.
This conjecture is proved in [4] for groups of classical type (with the possible
exception of groups of trialitarian type D4 ), as well as for groups of type G2 and
F4 .
If k is an algebraic number field, then we recover the usual Hasse Principle. This
was first conjectured by Kneser in the early 60’s, and is now known for arbitrary
simply connected groups (see for instance [13] for a survey).
In the case of classical groups, these results can be expressed as classification
results for various kinds of forms, in the spirit outlined in §3. This is done in [17]
in the case of fields of virtual cohomological dimension ≤ 1 and in [4] for fields of
cohomological dimension ≤ 2.

6 EVA BAYER–FLUCKIGER

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GALOIS COHOMOLOGY OF THE CLASSICAL GROUPS 7

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Laboratoire de Mathématiques de Besançon
UMR 6623 du CNRS
16, route de Gray
25030 Besançon
France

E-mail address: bayer@Math.univ-fcomte.fr

Contemporary Mathematics
Volume 00, 2000

SYMPLECTIC LATTICES

ANNE-MARIE BERGÉ

Introduction
The title refers to lattices arising from principally polarized Abelian varieties,
which are naturally endowed with a structure of symplectic Z-modules. The density
of sphere packings associated to these lattices was used by Buser and Sarnak [B-S]
to locate the Jacobians in the space of Abelian varieties. During the last five years,
this paper stimulated further investigations on density of symplectic lattices, or
more generally of isodual lattices (lattices that are isometric to their duals, [C-S2]).
Isoduality also occurs in the setting of modular forms: Quebbemann introduced
in [Q1] the modular lattices, which are integral and similar to their duals, and thus
can be rescaled so as to become isodual. The search for modular lattices with the
highest Hermite invariant permitted by the theory of modular forms is now a very
active area in geometry of numbers, which led to the discovery of some symplectic
lattices of high density.
In this survey, we shall focus on isoduality, pointing out its different aspects in
connection with various domains of mathematics such as Riemann surfaces, modu-
lar forms and algebraic number theory.

1. Basic definitions
1.1 Invariants. Let E be an n-dimensional real Euclidean vector space,
equipped with scalar product x.y, and let Λ be a lattice in E (discrete subgroup
of rank n). We denote by m(Λ) its minimum m(Λ) = minx6=0∈Λ x.x, and by det Λ
the determinant of the Gram matrix (ei .ej ) of any Z-basis (e1 , e2 , · · · en ) of Λ. The
density of the sphere packing associated to Λ is measured by the Hermite invariant
of Λ
m(Λ)
γ(Λ) = .
det Λ1/n
The Hermite constant γn = supΛ⊂E γ(Λ) is known for n ≤ 8. For large n,
Minkowski gave linear estimations for γn , see [C-S1], I,1.

2000 Mathematics Subject Classification. Primary 11H55; Secondary 11G10,11R04,11R52.
Key words and phrases. Lattices, Abelian varieties, duality.

c
°2000 American Mathematical Society
9

10 ANNE-MARIE BERGÉ

Another classical invariant attached to the sphere packing of Λ is its kissing
number 2s = |S(Λ)| where
S(Λ) = {x ∈ Λ | x.x = m(Λ)}
is the set of minimal vectors of Λ.
1.2 Isodualities. The dual lattice of Λ is
Λ∗ = {y ∈ E | x.y ∈ Z for all x ∈ Λ}.
An isoduality of Λ is an isometry σ of Λ onto its dual; actually, σ exchanges
Λ and Λ∗ (since tσ = σ −1 ), and σ 2 is an automorphism of Λ. We can express this
property by introducing the group Aut# Λ of the isometries of E mapping Λ onto
Λ or Λ∗ . When Λ is isodual, the index [Aut# Λ : Aut Λ] is equal to 2 except in
the unimodular case, i.e. when Λ = Λ∗ , and the isodualities of Λ are in one-to-one
correspondence with its automorphisms.
We attach to any isoduality σ of Λ the bilinear form
Bσ : (x, y) 7→ x.σ(y),
which is integral on Λ × Λ and has discriminant ±1 = det σ.
Two cases are of special interest:
(i) The form Bσ is symmetric, or equivalently σ 2 = 1. Such an isoduality is
called orthogonal. For a prescribed signature (p, q), p + q = n, it is easily checked
that the set of isometry classes of σ-isodual lattices of E is of dimension pq. We
recover, when σ = ±1, the finiteness of the set of unimodular n-dimensional lattices.
(ii) The form Bσ is alternating, i.e σ 2 = −1. Such an isoduality, which only
occurs in even dimension, is called symplectic. Up to isometry, the family of sym-
plectic 2g-dimensional lattices has dimension g(g + 1) (see the next section); for
instance, every two-dimensional lattice of determinant 1 is symplectic (take for σ a
planar rotation of order 4). Note that an isodual lattice can be both symplectic and
orthogonal. For example, it occurs for any 2-dimensional lattice with s ≥ 2. The
densest 4-dimensional lattice D4 , suitably rescaled, has, together with symplectic
isodualities (see below), orthogonal isodualities of every indefinite signature.

2. Symplectic lattices and Abelian varieties
2.1 Let us recall how symplectic lattices arise naturally from the theory of
complex tori. Let V be a complex vector space of dimension g, and let Λ be a
full lattice of V . The complex torus V /Λ is an Abelian variety if and only if there
exists a polarization on Λ, i. e. a positive definite Hermitian form H for which
the alternating form Im H is integral on Λ × Λ. In the 2g-dimensional real space
V equipped with the scalar product x.y = Re H(x, y) = Im H(ix, y), multiplication
by i is an isometry of square −1 that maps the lattice Λ onto a sublattice of Λ∗ of
index det(Im H) (= det Λ). This is an isoduality for Λ if and only if det(Im H) = 1.
The polarization H is then said principal.
Conversely, let (E, .) be again a real Euclidean vector space, Λ a lattice of
E with a symplectic isoduality σ as defined in subsection 1.2. Then E can be
made into a complex vector space by letting ix = σ(x). Now the real alternating
form Bσ (x, y) = x.σ(y) attached to σ in 1.2(ii) satisfies Bσ (ix, iy) = Bσ (x, y)
(since σ is an isometry) and thus gives rise to the definite positive Hermitian form

SYMPLECTIC LATTICES 11

H(x, y) = Bσ (ix, y) + iBσ (x, y) = x.y + ix.σ(y), which is a principal polarization
for Λ (by 1.2 (ii)).
So, there is a one-to-one correspondence between symplectic lattices and prin-
cipally polarized complex Abelian varieties.
Remark. In general, if (V /Λ, H) is any polarized abelian variety, one can find
in V a lattice Λ0 containing Λ such that (V /Λ0 , H) is a principally polarized abelian
variety. For example, let us consider the Coxeter description of the densest √
six-
−1+i 3
dimensional lattice E6 . Let E = {a + ωb | a, b ∈ Z} ⊂ C, with ω = 2 be the
Eisenstein ring. InPthe space V = C3 equipped with the Hermitian inner product
1
H((λi ), (µi )) = 2 λi µi , the lattice E 3 ∪ (E 3 + 1−ω (1, 1, 1)) is isometric to E6 ,
1 3
and the lattice ω−ω {(λ1 , λ2 , λ3 ) ∈ E | λ1 + λ2 + λ3 ≡ 0 (1 − ω)} to its dual
1 1
E∗6 (see [M]). The rescaled lattice Λ = 3 4 E∗6 satisfies iΛ ⊂ 3− 4 E 3 ⊂ Λ∗ : while
1
the polarization H is not principal for Λ, it is principal on Λ0 = 3− 4 E 3 , and the
3 0
principally polarized abelian variety (C /Λ , H) is isomorphic to the direct product
of three copies of the curve y 2 = x3 − 1.

2.2 We now make explicit (from the point of view of geometry of numbers)
the standard parametrization of symplectic lattices by the Siegel upper half-space
Hg = {X + iY, X and Y real symmetric g × g matrices, Y > 0}.
Let Λ ⊂ E be a 2g-dimensional lattice with a symplectic isoduality σ. It pos-
sesses a symplectic basis B = (e1 , e2 , · · · , e2g ), i.e. such that the matrix (ei .σ(ej ))
has the form µ ¶
O Ig
J= ,
−Ig O
(see for instance [M-H], p. 7). This amounts to saying that the Gram matrix
A := (ei .ej ) is symplectic. More generally, a 2g × 2g real matrix M is symplectic if
t
M JM = J.
We give E the complex structure defined by ix = −σ(x), and we write B =
B1 ∪ B2 , with B1 = (e1 , · · · , eg ). With respect to the C-basis B1 of E, the generator
matrix of the basis B of Λ has the form ( Ig Z ), where Z = X + iY is a g × g
complex matrix. The isometry −σ maps the real span F of B1 onto its orthogonal
complement F ⊥ , and the R-basis B1 onto the dual-basis of the orthogonal projection
p(B2 ) of B2 onto F ⊥ . Since Y = Re Z is the generator matrix of p(B2 ) with respect
to the basis (−σ)(B1 ) = (p(B2 ))∗ , we have Y = Gram(p(B2 )) = (Gram(B1 ))−1 ; the
matrix Y is then symmetric, and moreover Y −1 represents the polarization H in
the C-basis B1 of E (since H(eh , ej ) = eh .ej + ieh .σ(ej ) = eh .ej for 1 ≤ ³h, j ≤ g). ´
Y −1 O
Now, the Gram matrix of the basis B0 = B1 ⊥ p(B2 ) of E is Gram(B0 ) = .
³O Y ´
Ig X
Since the (real) generator matrix of the basis B with respect to B0 is P = O Ig ,
we have A = Gram(B) = tP Gram(B0 )P , and it follows from the condition “A
symplectic” that the matrix X also is symmetric, so we conclude
µ ¶ µ −1 ¶µ ¶
Ig O Y O Ig X
A= , with X + iY ∈ Hg .
X Ig O Y O Ig
On the other hand, such a matrix A is obviously positive definite, symmetric and
symplectic.

) but with a lot of symmetries (Autσ (Λ) has index 120 in the full group of automorphisms. so it is no wonder if the known symplectic lattices of dimension 2g ≤ 6 correspond to Jacobians of curves: the lattices A2 .512 . Here the interesting lattice is the summand Mg (its density is that of L2g . Appendix 1). see [B-S]. with γ = 1. D4 and E8 . | Autσ (Λ)| = | Aut(Jac C)| ≤ 2| Aut C| ≤ 2 × 84(g − 1). Buser and Sarnak proved that. D4 and the Barnes lattice P6 are the respective period lattices for the curves y 2 = x3 − 1. In the recent paper [Be-S]. from Torelli’s and Hurwitz’s theorems. to be associated to the exceptional Wiman curve y 3 = x4 − 1 (the unique non-hyperelliptic curve with an automorphism of order 4g. . Conway and Sloane give some explicit representations X + iY ∈ Hg of them. 3. Most of the well known lattices in low even dimension are proportional to symplectic lattices. The first example of this obstruction being effective is the Leech lattice.577 . . than the Barnes lattice P6 (γ = 1. This lattice was shown in [Bav1]. Bernstein and Sloane discussed the period lattice associated to the hyperelliptic curve y 2 = x2g+2 − 1. Calculations by Conway and Sloane (in [B-S]. and independently in [Qi]. .12 ANNE-MARIE BERGÉ Changing the symplectic basis means replacing A by tP AP . up to genus 3. Investigating the special properties of the Jacobians among the general principally polarized Abelian varieties. . the Barnes-Wall lattice BW16 . and then the corresponding period lattice is symplectic. almost all principally polarized abelian varieties are Jacobians. the Barnes lattice P6 . the general linear upper bound is to be replaced. The present record for six dimensions (γ = 1. viewed in [Qi] as the most symmetric Picard curve). and proved it to have the form L2g = Mg ⊥ Mg0 . y 2 = x5 − x and the Klein curve xy 3 + yz 3 + zx3 = 0 (see [B-S]. ) was established √ in [C- S2] by the Conway-Sloane lattice M (E6 ) (see section 7) defined over Q( 3). with the noticeable exception of the above-mentioned E6 : the roots lattices A2 . and one million in the case of the Leech lattice! However.5. where Mg is a g-dimensional isodual lattice. 29). slightly less dense. In Appendix 2 to [B-S]. ³ ´ αβ One can check that the corresponding action of P = γ δ on Hg is the homography Z 7→ Z 0 = (δZ + γ)(αZ + β)−1 . . we must have. A more systematic use of such a parametrization is dealt with in section 6. and thus one does not expect large-dimensional symplectic lattices of high density to be Jacobians. for period lattices. with P in the symplectic modular group Sp2g (Z) = {P ∈ SL2g (Z) | tP JP = J}. the Leech lattice Λ24 . the Coxeter-Todd lattice K12 . . and Mg0 a copy of its dual. Jacobians The Jacobian Jac C of a curve C of genus g is a complex torus of dimension g which carries a canonical principal polarization. p. while the linear Minkowski lower-bound for the Hermite constant γ2g still applies to the general symplectic lattices. by a logarithmic one (for explicit values. . Appendix 2) showed that | Autσ (Λ)| is one hundred times over this bound in the case of the lattice E8 . The Fermat quartic x4 +y 4 +z 4 = 0 gives rise to the lattice D+ + 6 (the family D2g is discussed in section 7). . A more conclusive argument in low dimension involves the centralizer Autσ (Λ) of the isoduality σ in the automorphism group of the σ-symplectic lattice Λ: if Λ corresponds to a curve C of genus g. .

we restrict to even dimensions and even lattices. If a form f ∈ M is uniquely P determined by the first d coefficients P a0 . In the following. Then. Note that level one corresponds to unimodular lattices. there exists even `-modular lattices of dimension n if and only if ` ≡ 3 mod 4 or n ≡ 0 mod 4 (see [Q1]). we call Λ a modular lattice of level. 4. for g ≤ 3. So far. Let Λ be an even lattice of minimum m. Modular lattices 4. up to isometry. its norm ` (σ multiplies squared lengths by `) is an integer which does not depend on the choice of σ. Such a (hypothetical) extremal lattice has the highest possible minimum.1 Definition. Λ ⊂ Λ∗ ). as usual m we are looking for the largest possible minimum m (the Hermite invariant γ = √ ` depends only on it). 11 and 23. Remark. no connection between its systole and the Hermite invariant of the period lattice seems to be known. the unimodular case remains somewhat special. ad−1 of its q-expansion f = k≥0 ak q k . a1 . · · · . and let ΘΛ be its theta series X ΘΛ (z) = q (x. If σ is a similarity such that σ(Λ∗ ) = Λ. From the algebraic structure of the corresponding space M of modular forms. chapter 7. 7. when Λ is `-modular (` > 1). namely 2. equal to 2d unless the coefficient ad of FM vanishes. the unique form FM = 1 + k≥d ak q k is called `. the (hypothetical) modular lattices have a prescribed deter- minant `n/2 . which is similar to its dual. Quebbemann derives the notion of extremal modular lattices extending that of [C-S1].e. Still. Following Quebbemann. The Hermite problem is part of a more general systole problem (see [Bav1]). Let d = dim M be the dimension of M.2 Connection with modular forms. the modular properties of the theta series of such lattices yield constraints for the dimension and the density analogous to Hecke’s results for ` = 1 ([C-S1]. there are only finitely many of them. 4. Let Λ be an n-dimensional integral lattice (i. SYMPLECTIC LATTICES 13 and its group has only index 2): it turns out to be. the densest isodual packing in g dimensions. Quebbemann proved that the above method is valid in particular for prime levels ` such that ` + 1 divides 24. we refer the reader to [Q1]. For example. No general results about the coefficients of the extremal modular form and more generally of its eligibility as a theta series seem to be known. (For a more general setup. a subgroup of SL2 (R) which contains Γ0 (`) with index 2 (here again. 4. for some aspects of these questions. 3. chapter 7).) The dimension of the space of modular forms is then d = 1 + b n(1+`) 48 c (which reduces .3 Special levels. 5. given a prime `. extremal. and an even `-modular lattice with this theta series is called an extremal lattice. thus. the unimodular case is exceptional). [Q2] and [S-SP]. ΘΛ must be a modular form of weight n/2 with respect to the so-called Fricke group of level `. `). x∈Λ Now.x)/2 = 1 + 2sq m/2 + · · · ( where q = e2πiz ). although a compact Riemann surface is determined by its polarized Jacobian. For a given pair (n.

In section 4. Voronoi’s theory 5. These families share a common structure: their connected components are orbits of one lattice under the action of a closed subgroup G of GL(E) invariant under transpose. In the present section. 0194 independently by Elkies and Shioda. `) = (16. we looked for extremal lattices. they found 395 isometry classes. 1)). and among them no extremal modular lattice. We give in section 7 Hermitian constructions for most of the above extremal lattices. except for n = 72. While ad+1 first goes negative at n = 30. 2)). k > 0 of the extremal modular form: all of them are even integers. making obvious their symplectic nature. 4. (n. D4 ((n. established at 8. • Extremal even unimodular lattices are known for any dimension n ≡ 0 mod 8. since they often achieve the best known density. `) = (12. E8 ((n. `Λ∗ is also even) with det Λ = `n/2 . Scharlau and Hemkemeier proved that no 7-extremal lattice exists in dimension 12: their method √ consists in classifying for given pairs (n. So. `) = (8. and a “cyclo-quaternionic” lattice by Nebe. The same argument applies when we study the local maxima of density in some natural families of lattices such as isodual lattices.e. at jump dimensions (where the minimum may increase) n ≡ 0 mod 6. 1): 3 known lattices P48p . `) = (24. `) = (12. K12 ((n. n ≤ 80. `) = (18. `). The case n = 80 was recently solved by Bachoc and Nebe. the Leech lattice ((n. lattices with prescribed automorphisms etc. The corresponding Hermite invariant γ = 8 (largely over the upper bound for period lattices) does not hold the present record for dimension 80. the existence of such lattices stems from Mahler’s compactness theorem. Minimum 6. 7).4 Examples. the leading one ad is positive.1 Local theory. Bachoc and Venkov proved recently in [B-V2] that no such lattice exists: their proof involves spherical designs. 7). `) = (32. P48q from coding theory. `) the even lattices Λ of level ` (i.14 ANNE-MARIE BERGÉ to Hecke’s result for ` = 1). `) = (48. we go back to the classical notion of an extreme lattice. . BW16 ((n. 1)). it would set new records of density. which would set a new record of density. • Extremal lattices of jump dimensions are specially wanted. Schulze-Pillot. there are (at most) only finitely many extremal lattices. for a given level in the above list. for (n. (n. Here. The same phenomenon appeared at dimension 56. Other kinds of obstructions may exist. 2): 4 known lattices. 2)). which (if any) maximize the Hermite invariant in the (finite) set of modular lattices for a given pair (n. 5. • ` = 7. where the Hermite invariant γ achieves a local maximum. Minimum 4. 3)). `) = (4. by investigating the coefficients ak . Quebbemann discovered the first one (denoted Q32 in [C-S1]) in 1984. like in the following examples: Minimum 2. If an extremal lattice were to exist for (n. The proof of the upper bound ¹ º n(1 + `) m≤2+2 48 was completed in [S-SP] by R. but ad+1 is negative for n large enough. Scharlau and R.

These definitions reduce to the traditional ones when we take for F the whole set of positive n × n matrices (and TA = Symn (R)). The F-Voronoi domain of A is DA = convex hull {∇v . >) of the function F → R+ A 7→< A. Let σ be an isometry of E with a given integral repre- sentation S. We say that A is F-perfect if the affine dimension of DA is maximum (= dim TA ). • The matrix A is called F-extreme if γ achieves a local maximum at A among all matrices in F. v tv > det A−1/n is the orthogonal projection ∇v = projTA (v tv) of v tv onto the tangent space at A. Let G be a closed subgroup of SLn (R) stable under transpose. But in this survey we focus on families F naturally normalized to determinant 1: the tangent space at A to such a family is orthogonal to the line RA−1 . Then we can parametrize the family of σ-isodual lattices by the Lie group and symmetrized tangent space at identity G = {P ∈ GLn (R) | tP −1 = SP S −1 }. and let F = {tP AP. N >= Trace(M N ). The gradient at A (with respect to <. v ∈ S(A)}. A0 6= A. i. The matrix A is strictly F-extreme if and only if it is F-perfect and F-eutactic. It was proved by Voronoi in the classical case. and the eutaxy condition reduces to ◦ “0 ∈ DA ”.2 Perfection. that its minimal vectors should span the space Rn . we can give a unified characterization of the strict local maxima of density. 5. A sufficient condition is that any F-extreme matrix should be well rounded. and eutactic if the projection of the matrix A−1 lies in the interior of DA . and we recall that S(A) stands for the set of the minimal vectors of A. • The above concepts are connected by the following result. • Let v ∈ Rn . The answer to the question does σ-extremality imply strict σ-extremality? . we mostly adopt in the following the point of view of Gram matrices. 5. eutaxy and extremality. The value at v ∈ Rn of a quadratic form A is then t vAv =< A. We denote by Symn (R) the space of n × n symmetric matrices equipped with the scalar product < M.e. v tv >. P ∈ G} be the orbit of a positive definite matrix A ∈ Symn (R).3 Isodual lattices. The crucial step in studying the Hermite invariant in an individual family F is then to check the strictness of any local maximum. TI = {X ∈ Symn (R) | SX = −XS}. Theorem ([B-M]). We say that A is strictly F-extreme if there is a neighbourhood V of A in F such that the strict inequality γ(A0 ) < γ(A) holds for every A0 ∈ V . SYMPLECTIC LATTICES 15 For such a family F. In order to point out the connection with Voronoi’s classical theorem a lattice is extreme if and only if it is perfect and eutactic. We denote by TA the tangent space to the manifold F at A.

in taking the dual polyhedron. There may exist some more. they were successfully tested for isodualities σ of orthogonal type (of respective signatures (4. Voronoi established that there are only finitely many equivalence classes of perfect matrices. Recently implemented by Batut in dimension 8. An extremal `-modular lattice is not necessarily extreme: the even unimodular lattice E8 ⊥ E8 has minimum 2. His attempt for dimension 6 was completed in 1957 by Barnes. Conway and Sloane proved by classification and direct calculation that the so called m. and n ≡ 0. with a finite number of hyperplane faces. Such a face H of DA is simultaneously a face for the domain of exactly one other perfect matrix. In dimension 3. m. and n ≡ 0. and he used it up to dimension 5 to confirm the clas- sification by Korkine and Zolotarev.) In dimension 5 et 7. by neighbouring only matrices with s = N. called the neighbour of A across the face H.5 Classification of extreme lattices. Bachoc and Venkov proved ([B-V2]) that this phenom- enon could not appear near the “jump dimensions”: in particular. Voronoi’s condition for symplectic lattices was given a suitable com- plex form. and n ≡ 0. testing perfection modulo small primes.16 ANNE-MARIE BERGÉ depends on the representation afforded by σ ∈ O(E). the most likely candidates for densest isodual lattices were also discovered by Conway and Sloane. That the set of minimal vectors of a lattice be a spherical 2. 3)). In [Qi-Z]. a graph whose edges describe the neigh- bouring relations. 8 mod 24). A minimal counter-example is given by a three-dimensional rotation σ of order 4: the corresponding isodual lattices are decomposable (see [C-S2].c. there are only 2 well rounded isodual lattices. 1). Complete classification for dimension 7 was done by Jaquet in 1991 using this method. or (` = 3. By use of the modular properties of some theta series with spherical coefficients. using the automorphism groups (for eutaxy). isodual lattice is the densest one (actually. (An alternative proof involving differential geometry was given in [Bav1]. It is a polyhedron of maximal dimension N = n(n + 1)/2.c.or 4-design is a strong form of the conditions of eutaxy (equal coefficients) or extremality. 5. hence is extremal. and the Hermite invariant for this family attains its maximum 1 on a subvariety of dimension 2 (up to isometry). th. This applies to the famous lattices quoted in section 4.c. is extreme. or inductively in the case of laminated lattices. alternative proofs of the Voronoi conditions could be done. Let A be a perfect matrix. It holds for the Conway and Sloane lattice M (E6 ) (and of course for the Barnes lattice P6 which is extreme in the classical sense) but not for the lattice D+6 .4 Extreme modular lattices. exactly 10916 inequivalent perfect lattices. N + 1 and N + 2. This algorithm was extended in [B-M-S] to matrices invariant under a given finite group Γ ⊂ GLn (Z)): it works in the centralizer of Γ in Symn (R). Voronoi proved that this graph is connected.] 5. and he gave an algorithm for their enumeration. It is positive for symplectic or orthogonal lattices.c. 4 mod 16). [For some of them. and DA its traditional Voronoi domain. The classical theory of extreme lattices was recently revisited by B. Voronoi’s algorithm produced. 1) and (4. but as a decomposable lattice. any extremal `-modular lattice of dimension n such that (` = 1. it could not be perfect. . We get. 2 mod 12). Venkov [Ve] in the setting of spherical designs. and the cubic lattice). or (` = 2. this graph has finitely many inequivalent vertices.

The convenient frame for these constructions is the Siegel space hg = {X + iY ∈ Symg (C) | Y > 0}. BW16 . the densest lattices E6 and E7 and their respective duals are Voronoi neighbours of each other. 5. these paths were constructed by gluing theory. we attach the complex matrix zM = xM + iyM ∈ hg . y > 0 in the Poincaré upper half plane h. we use the regular representation Γ of the cyclic group of order 5. and the eutactic lattices are exactly its non-degenerate critical points. The first proof of the finiteness of the set of eutactic lattices (for a given dimension and up to similarity) was given by Ash ([A]) by means of Morse theory: the Hermite invariant γ is a topological Morse function. In these families most of the important lattices (E8 . Hyperbolic families of symplectic lattices This section surveys a recent work by Bavard: in [Bav2] he constructs families of 2g-dimensional symplectic lattices for which he his able to recover the local and global Voronoi theory. z ∈ h} ⊂ hg . For dimensions 3 and 5. But the present extensions of Voronoi’s algorithm are very partial (see section 6). A ∈ SL2 (R) s. m(A) > 1}. Actually.7 Eutaxy. such as the following set of symplectic-eutactic 4 × 4 matrices ³ ´ { OI O A .6 Voronoi’s paths and isodual lattices. and we consider the family F = {zM. ) and many others appear with fine Siegel’s representations Z = X + iY . The above mentioned paths Λ − Λ∗ are precisely the corresponding neighbouring paths. in particular. in the lattice space.t. In dimensions 6 and 7. Leech . modulo homographic action by the symplectic group Sp2g (Z). In the following we fix an integral positive symmetric g × g matrix M . and the path D5 − D∗5 contains the Γ-neighbouring path leading from D5 to the perfect lattice A35 .1 Definition. K12 . 6. The densest known isodual lattices discovered by Conway and Sloane up to seven dimensions were found on paths connecting. 5. as well as Morse’s theory. SYMPLECTIC LATTICES 17 That there are only finitely many isodual-extreme lattices of type symplectic or orthogonal stems from their well roundness. the Voronoi algorithm for perfect lattices provides another interpre- tation of them. This last matrix is . . In [C-S2]. for dimension 3. To any complex number z = x + iy. and the isodual lattice M (Λ) is the fixed point for this involution. and the Conway and Sloane path Λ − Λ∗ is part of the Γ-neighbouring path leading from Λ = A3 to the Γ-perfect lattice called “axial centered cuboidal” in [C-S2]. we need a group action: for dimension 5. . one can construct continuous arcs of critical points. ³ ´ αβ On can check that the homographic action of γ δ ∈ PSL2 (R) on h corresponds ³ ´ αI βM to the homographic action of γM −1 δI ∈ Sp2g (R) on F. 6. the densest lattice Λ to its dual Λ∗ : such a path turns out to be stable under a fixed duality. we use the augmentation representation of the cyclic group of order 4. Bavard proved in [Bav1] that γ is no more a Morse function on the space of symplectic lattices of dimension 2g ≥ 4.

In the classical theory. p) ≤ d(z. The Voronoi conditions of eutaxy and perfection for the family F. Bavard represents any vector v ∈ R2g by a point p ∈ h∪∂h in such a way that for all z ∈ h. as defined in 2. is given by µ ¶ 1 M −1 xI Az = . • The next step towards a global study of γ in F was to get an hyperbolic interpretation of the values tvAz v.18 ANNE-MARIE BERGÉ ³ ´ αβ integral when γ δ lies in a convenient congruence subgroup Γ0 (d) of SL2 (Z) (one may take d = det M ). we call principal the corresponding minimal vectors. tvAz v is an exponential function of the hyperbolic distance d(p. In particular. AsPdefined in 5. Bavard showed that Voronoi’s and Ash’s theories hold for the family F: Strict extremality ⇔ extremality ⇔ perfection and eutaxy. its critical points are the eutactic ones. and we recover the usual representation in h/P SL2 (Z) of the 2-dimensional lattices. and the F-eutactic points are those which lie in the interior of their Delaunay cell. • There is now a simple description of the Voronoi theory for the family F. Actually. we refer the reader to [Bav2]. this is the general 2 × 2 positive matrix of determinant 1. We consider the Dirichlet-Voronoi tiling of the metric space (h. q) for all q ∈ P}. can be translated in the space h of the parameters. hence it can figure the Voronoi domain Dz . v ∈ S(Az ). as defined in 5. there is a discrete set P corresponding to the principal minimal vectors. 1 or 2. • Fix z ∈ h.2 Voronoi’s theory.6. this is no more true in its various extensions. the only gradients that matter are the extremal points of the convex Dz .2. and finite modulo the convenient congruence subgroup.5 and 1. Following Bavard. To this purpose. it has affine dimension 0. Hermite’s function is a Morse function. 1. equipped with its Poincaré metric ds = |dz| y . We then introduce the dual partition: the Delaunay cell of z ∈ h is the convex hull of the points of P closest to z (for the Poincaré metric). For a detailed description of the algorithm. .2. z is eutactic if there exist strictly positive coefficients cv such that v∈S(Az ) cv ∇v = 0. y > 0 ∈ h. Remark. we can represent the Voronoi domain of Az by the convex hull Dz in C of the ∇v . The 1-skeleton of the Dirichlet-Voronoi tiling is the graph of the neighbouring relation between perfect points. 6. In the above theory. one can restrict the parameter z to a fundamental domain for Γ0 (d) in h.2. thus up to symplectic isometries of lattices. this maximal value means “perfection” for z. The symplectic Gram matrix Az associated to z = x + iy. As one can imagine. and for any v ∈ R2g denote by ∇v the (hyperbolic) gradient at z of the function z 7→ tvAz v. all minimal vectors are principal. y xI |z|2 M For g = 1 and M a positive integer. d) attached to the set P: the cell around p is Cp = {z ∈ h | d(z. the F-perfect points are the vertices of the Dirichlet-Voronoi tiling. these results are connected to the strict convexity of the Hermite function on the family F (see [Bav1] for a more general setting). z) (suitably extended to the boundary ∂h). Bavard proved that it is connected.

j − i) for k odd (resp. 1) − e) of Cg . x. . SYMPLECTIC LATTICES 19 6. . • For M = Dg (g ≥ 3). . • The densest lattices in the families attached to the Barnes lattices M = Pg . Let K be a C. We consider in Cg equipped with the scalar product 21 trace(x. where trace is the reduced trace K/Q. Using their logarithmic bound for the density of a period lattice. we define inductively the right and left M-modules k+2 Mk+1 = {(x. then the sets D2g = D2g ∪ (e + D2g ) and D−2g = D2g ∪ (e + D2g ) turn out to be dual lattices. As usual. Here M = Z[i] ⊂ C is the ring of Gaussian inte- gers. Barnes-Wall lattices BW2k . • The choice M = Ag . are extreme in the Voronoi sense). and adding transpositions and sign changes. we have L0 ∼ D4 .∞ defined over Q by elements i. among them A2 . Buser and Sarnak proved that the Barnes-Wall lattices are certainly not Jacobians for k ≥ 5. Here. An obvious group of Hermitian automorphisms consist of permutations of the xi ’s and even sign changes. Lattices D+ 2g . j such that i2 = j 2 = −1. A−1 Lk ) onto Lk . k even) provides a symplectic similarity σ from L∗k = Lk (resp.3 Some examples.y). an argument of automorphisms extends this result for 1 ≤ k ≤ 4: the group Autσ (Lk ) embeds diagonally into Autσ (Lk+2 ). g ≥ 1 is much less disappointing: it produces many symplectic-extreme lattices. K12 . ji = −ij. A−1 Mk ). j.y). . except for g = 3. the union of the hyperbolic families of given dimension 2g has only dimension g(g + 1)/2 + 1. for instance the lattice M (E6 ).y) the lattice {x = (x1 . · · · . except for g = 3. starting from the subgroup of automorphisms of D4 given by . All the above-mentioned famous lattices (in even dimensions) can be constructed as M-modules of rank k equipped with the scalar product trace(αx. Other constructions 7. 1) + and e (= ie = (1. Now we consider the conjugate elements e = 1+i (1. all lattices. D4 . k ≥ 2. ω) where ω = 1/2(1 + i + j + ij)). For the scalar product 1 2 trace(x. g ≥ 3. We see in the following examples that such a construction often provides natural symplectic isodualities and automorphisms. xg ) ∈ Mg | x1 + x2 + · · · + xg ≡ 0 mod (1 + i)} which is isometric 1 to the root lattice D2g . L1 ∼ E8 and generally Lk ∼ BW22k+2 . corresponding to the so-called lattice D+ 2g (see next section). even) we put Lk = Mk (resp. and we consider the two-sided ideal A = (1 + i)M of M. E8 . x2 .1 Hermitian lattices. 1. one sees that. 12 are the Barnes-Wall lattice BW16 and the Leech lattice. M is the Hurwitz order (Z-module generated by (1. comparing its order 2g g! to the Hurwitz bound (2)84(g − 1). and let M be a maximal order of K. P6 . the algorithm only produces one perfect point z = 1+i2 . field or a totally definite quater- nion algebra. one obtains a subgroup of Autσ (Lk+2 ) of order 27 × Autσ (Lk ). and for k odd (resp. · · · . K is the quaternion field Q2.y the standard Hermitian inner product on R ⊗Q K k and α ∈ K some convenient totally positive element (see for example [Bay]).M. Starting from M0 = A. • However. These lattices are alternatively 2-modular and unimodular: the right multiplication by i (resp. Thus. y) ∈ Mk × Mk | x ≡ y mod AMk } ⊂ K2 . 1. g = 8. i. In any case. hence it is no wonder that it misses some beautiful symplectic lattices. that coincide when g is even. the multiplication by i provides a symplectic isoduality. 7. no lattice of the family is a Jacobian (in the opposite direction.

2 Exterior power. one can shift from one level to another. I am also grateful for the improvements they suggested after reading the first drafts of this paper. Exterior even powers of unimodular lattices are unimodular lattices of special interest for the theory of group representations. one sees that (for the usual scalar product) the Z-lattices Lr . the lattice ( L) is modular of level det L. and hopefully. the canonical map Aut L → Aut L has Vk kernel ±1. one sees that | Autσ (Lk )| is largely over the Hurwitz bound. V2 V3 For instance. Bachoc and Nebe show in [B-N] that by tensoring over M a modular M-lattice. Martinet for helpful discussions when I was writing this survey. M is the ring of integers of the quadratic field of discriminant −7. its exterior powers carry a natural scalar product which Vn−k Vk Vn−k Vk makes the canonical map σ : E → ( E)∗ an isometry E → ( E) of square (−1)k(n−k) . this construc- tion preserves the symplectic nature of the isoduality.→ Aut L. 7. and respective dimensions 40 and 80. unimodular with respect to its Hermitian structure. In particular. In [B-N]. in 20 dimensions. with minimum 4. the minimum.3 Group representations. is 3-modular of symplectic type. we refer to [Cou]. Let us come back to the Vk notation of this subsection. if k moreover L is integral. Following [G]. thus extremal. Let Lr be an M-lattice of rank r. and consider the M-lattices L2r = (A2 ⊥ A2 ) ⊗M Lr and L4r = E8 ⊗M Lr . or from the group Autσ (E8 ). Remark. σ is a symplectic ¡ ¢ Vk or orthogonal similarity of the 2k kV-dimensional lattice ( L) onto its dual. For even k. and led to the first known extremal modular lattices of minimum 8. Bavard and J. Hermitian extensions of scalars. Let M the ring of integers of a imaginary quadratic field. Gross obtained the Coxeter-Todd lattice K12 and the Leech lattice. Let 1 ≤ k < n be two integers. L2r and L4r are symplectic modular lattices of respective levels 7. By a determinant argument. Plesken ([N-P]) and Souvignier ([Sou]) while investigating finite rational matrix groups. The same procedure was applied in [B-N] to a 20-dimensional lattice appearing in the ATLAS in connection with the Mathieu group M22 . the lattice D4 is isometric to D+ 6 . In [S-T]. For this last question.20 ANNE-MARIE BERGÉ left multiplication by the 24 units of M. Scharlau and Tiep. an alternative “à la Kitaoka” proof is given in [Cou]. of minimum 4. .√Let L be a lattice in E. Note that while coding theory was involved in the original proof of the extremality of the unimodular lattices of dimension 80. Many important symplectic modular lattices were discovered by Nebe. the exte- rior squares of the lattice E8 and the Leech lattice provide faithful representations of minimal degrees of the group O8+ (2) and of the Conway group Co1 respectively. and let E be a Euclidean space of dimension n. using symplectic groups over Fp . and induces an embedding Aut L/(±1) . and the lattice E6 . 7. Starting from the Barnes lattice P6 . Actually. It is shown in [Cou1] that σ maps the Vn−k Vk lattice L onto det L( L)∗ . I am indebted to C. 3 and 1. construct large families of symplectic unimodular lattices. among them that of dimension 28 discovered by combinatorial devices by Bacher and Venkov in [B-V1]. when n = 2k.

1998. 116 (1995). Martinet. Acta Arith. Lattices and Groups.. Conway. J. 494 (1998). Souvignier. Sarnak Eds. H. Conway. Nouvelles applications des paramètres continus à la théorie des formes quadratiques : 1 Sur quelques propriétés des formes quadratiques positives parfaites. Sphere Packings. preprint. Ex- tremal Riemann Surfaces. [M-H] J. 1163–1176. L’Enseignement Mathématique 41 (1995). Application aux réseaux isoduaux. pp. Zhang. [M] J. Math. Max-Planck Inst. reine angew. L. 482 (1997). Heidelberg.A. [B-N] C. J. G. [Qi] J. Sloane. Ergebnisse 73. 1997. B. Heidelberg. On the period matrix of a Riemann surface of large genus (with an Appendix by J. 509–538. 97–178. P. Vol 201). Comment. [B-M] A. Springer-Verlag . Extremal Symplectic Lattices. G. Bor- deaux. [Q2] H. Soc. N. B. Number Theory 54 (1995). Martinet.R. Paris. Lattices and association schemes: a unimodular example without roots in dimension 28. Irreducible finite integral matrix groups of degree 8 and 10. . Nebe. Soc. Bonn (1991). lattices and spherical designs. Bergé. Bavard. Contemp. Bachoc. Nebe. Math. Venkov. 59 (1984). Familles hyperboliques de réseaux symplectiques. 93–120. J. Martinet. Hiss ed. Fourier.H. Number Theory 60 (1996). [S-T] R. 335–365. Quine. Bayer-Fluckiger. Coulangeon. Comp. Tensor products of Hermitian lattices. 27–56. J. Jacobian of the Picard Curve.-G. 263–279. Les réseaux parfaits des espaces euclidiens. On eutactic forms. Math. 1973. 63 (1994). Invent. [Cou] R. Scharlau. 1999. Masson. Memoirs A. 92 (2000). Ash. Groups over Z. Nebe. Modular Lattices in Euclidean Spaces. J. 201 (1997). Algorithmic Algebra and Number Theory. Voronoı̈. 237–251. reine angew.M. Gross. R. W. Inst. Math. Math. F.H.R.A. Math 133 (1908). P. 124 (1996).-M. Densité dans des familles de réseaux. math. 1996. Systole et invariant d’Hermite. Math. N. J. Conway and N. Providence. RI. Quebbemann.J. [C-S2] J. Ann. Quine and P. [Sh] T. [Be-S] M. Astérisque 209 (1992). Israel J. 1997. G. Extremal lattices.A Sloane. Bordeaux.J. Husemoller. preprint. Symplectic group lattices. [V] G. 335–350. Some lattices obtained from Riemann surfaces. 310–317. Sigrist. 1999. Finite rational matrix groups. [B-S] P. Shioda. 55–65. Quine. Scharlau. 139–170. Sloane). 1–144. Math. [Sou] B. [Bav1] C. Matzat. (Contemporary Math. 190–202. Martinet. 1999.J. Definite unimodular lattices having an automorphism of given characteristic polynomial. Bacher. Trans. [N-P] G. 29–32. Third edition. [S-SP] R. Plesken. On Lattices Equivalent to Their Duals. Sloane.. 108 (1998). Can. Symmetric Bilinear Forms. Amer. Une généralisation de l’algorithme de Voronoı̈.-M. 2101–2131.. 351 (1999). reine angew. [Bav2] C. J. Helvet. J. R. Venkov. Number Theory 48 (1994). Buser. pp. Greul. 117 (1994). Math. B. Sarnak.A. Math. P. 137–158. J. Bernstein and N. [B-V1] R. Milnor. Tiep. 1040–1054.H.H. 29 (1977). Springer-Verlag. 155–171. Nonexistence of Extremal Lattices in Certain Genera of Modular Lattices. Quebbemann. Réseaux et “designs” sphériques. Heidelberg. SYMPLECTIC LATTICES 21 References [A] A. [Q1] H. D. Modular forms. Bavard.S. [N-V] G. [B-M-S] A. Math. notes by J. preprint. Schulze-Pillot. Invent.J. Atkin-Lehner eigenforms and strongly modular lattices. [Ve] B. 115–130. Math. [Bay] E. Springer-Verlag. Grenoble 45 (1995). Bergé. Grundlehren 290.-M. Venkov.-G. B. [G] B. Amer. A Collection: Mordell-Weil Lattices. 373–382. Venkov. L’Ensei- gnement Mathématique 43 (1997). J. Extremal lattices of minimum 8 related to the Mathieu group M22 . [Qi-Z] J. [C-S1] J. Bordeaux. Bachoc. [B-V2] C.

u-bordeaux. France E-mail address: berge@math.fr .22 ANNE-MARIE BERGÉ Institut de Mathématiques Université Bordeaux 1 351 cours de la Libération 33405 Talence Cedex.

S. Conway Abstract. we found that the only Number Theory textbook in the Cambridge Mathematical Library that handled every case was still the Disquisitiones! Gauss’s initial exploration of ternary quadratics was continued by his great disciple Eisenstein. In the next century. Euler gave proofs of these and some similar assertions about other simple binary quadratics. The new century was opened by Gauss’s Disquisitiones Arithmeticae of 1801. notably H. Legendre also created a very general theory of binary quadratics. which gives a short and elegant proof of the Conway-Schneeberger Fifteen Theorem on the representation of integers by quadratic forms. other investigators. start- ing in the seventeenth century with Fermat’s assertions of 1640 about the numbers represented by x2 + y 2 . The representation theory of quadratic forms has a long history. Smith and Hermann Minkowski. This paper is an extended foreword to the paper of Manjul Bhargava [1] in these proceedings. Indeed. which in current language is expressed by saying that the form x2 +y 2 +z 2 +t2 is universal. they contributed greatly to setting the theory on a firm foundation. and although these proofs had some gaps. J. when Neil Sloane and I wanted to summarize the classification theory of binary forms for one of our books [3]. which brought that theory to essentially its modern state. In his Theorie des Nombres of 1830.Contemporary Mathematics Universal Quadratic Forms and the Fifteen Theorem J. while Dirichlet started the analytic theory by his class number formula of 1839. Lagrange started the theory of universal quadratic forms in 1770 by proving his celebrated Four Squares Theorem. this found exactly which numbers needed all four squares. H. As the nineteenth century wore on. and introduced some invariants for the genus from which in this century Hasse was able to obtain a complete c °0000 (copyright holder) 23 . explored the application of Gauss’s concept of the genus to higher-dimensional forms. The eighteenth century was closed by a considerably deeper statement – Legendre’s Three Squares Theorem of 1798.

2. since that is about the values of forms. 7]. [1. which was ea- gerly taken up. [1. 13]. 1. [1. In 1916. 2. [1. 5]. 2. In 1940. [1. 2. 1. according to the definition of “integral” that one adopts. 2. [1. 2. 3]. 2. made it clear that Willerding’s work had been unusually defective. However. 2. [1. 1. 2. [1. [1. 4. 5]. 2. [1. [1. 2. The easier one is that for Gauss’s notion. 1. 3]. 13]. 1. 2. [1. which has dominated the theory ever since. 2. 2. 1. 5. 6]. 1. 2. 1. 3. 1. 14]. 2. 3. 3. 1. [1. 6]. In his paper in these proceedings. 5. under which a form is integral merely if all its coefficients are. 2. 2. 8]. Ramanujan started the byway that concerns us here by asserting that [1. Although Ramanujan’s assertion later had to be corrected slightly by the elision of the diagonal form [1. [1. “form” will mean “positive-definite quadratic form”. 2. We describe such a form as “integer-valued”. 1. 7]. 3]. 9]. 4. 5]. 14]. [1. 1. [1. 4]. the 15-theorem. 4. [1. while simultaneously Burton Jones found a system of canonical forms for it. 3. [1. 2. 1. and derives the complete list of universal quaternaries. 5]. 1. [1. 4. represented every positive inte- ger. Pall also gave a complete system of invariants for the genus. 2. [1. 1. [1. 1. 1. [1. 2. [1. 1. 1. 1. 1. This is sometimes called “classically integral”. [1. 6]. 2. 11]. [1. 10]. Willerding. 2. 1. since what is required is that the matrix of the form be comprised of integers. [1. 1]. 4. 5.24 J. 8]. 3. [1. 4. so giving two equally definitive solutions for a problem raised by Smith in 1851. and “universal” will mean “universal in the above sense”. 2. [1. but we prefer to use the more illuminating term “integer-matrix”. [1. 2. 4]. CONWAY and very simple classification of rational quadratic forms based on Hensel’s notion of “p-adic number”. it aroused great interest in the problem of enumerating all the universal quaternary forms. [1. 4]. but the off-diagonal ones are even. [1. 2. As he remarks. 2. and listed 9 non- universal forms! . [1. 3. 3. 2. that is. 3]. 2. 4. 10]. 2. [1. 5. 2. [1. 2. 9]. 1. 4. 3. 4]. by Gordon Pall and his students in particular. listed 1 form twice. 2. 5. [1. 2. 2]. 2. who purported to list all such forms in 1948. Willerding’s purportedly complete list of 178 contains in fact only 168. 5]. 7]. 6]. For nearly 50 years it has been supposed that the universality problem for quaternary integer-matrix forms had been solved by M. 3. 6]. 1. [1. [1. 3. 2]. 4. Manjul Bhargava [1] gives a very simple proof of the 15-theorem. 2. [1. [1. 2. 10]. [1. [1. 2. 3]. 2. 2. [1. [1. 1. 1. 8]. 4. 2. 8]. [1. [1. 9]. which I proved with William Schneeberger in 1993. [1. 2. 5]. 3. 7]. 12]. There are actually two universal quadratic form problems. 5. 3. 2. 4]. 6]. 1. 5]. 2]. and remark that this kind of integrality is the one most appropriate for the universality problem. 7]. 2. 9]. [1. 1. 2. because she missed 36 forms. 7]. of the 204 such forms. 5. 12]. 1. 11]. In the rest of this paper. 4. 2. [1. according to which a form is integral only if not only are all its coefficients integers. [1. The difficult universality problem is that for the alternative notion introduced by Legendre. H. 5]. [1. [1. 6]. 2. 2. [1. 2. 1. [1. 2. since the condition is precisely that all the values taken by the form are integers. 1. [1. 4]. 10] were all the diagonal quaternary forms that were universal in the sense ap- propriate to positive-definite forms.

I remarked that a rework- ing of Willerding’s enumeration was very desirable. and wrote on the board a putative Theorem 0. In Boston I tackled seven of these. In the afternoon that followed. I feared that per- haps these constants would be very large indeed. and could probably be achieved very easily in view of recent advances in the representation theory of quadratic forms. and a similar but probably larger constant C for integer-valued forms. In a 1993 Princeton graduate course on quadratic forms. We started to prove that theorem. notably William Schneeberger and Christopher Simons. and then complete this to a proof of the 15-theorem. because a form is universal provided only that it represent the numbers up to 15. then it was universal. These calcula- tions strongly suggested that c was in fact 15. most particularly the work of Duke and Schultze-Pillot.) I shall now briefly describe the history of the 15-theorem. . which had en- abled the nineteenth-century workers to extend Legendre’s Three Squares theorem to other ternary forms. At that time. it was an easy consequence of this work that there must be a con- stant c with the property that if a matrix-integral form represented every positive integer up to c. (It is known that no form in three or fewer variables can be universal. and by the end of the lecture had found the 9 ternary “escalator” forms (see Bhargava’s article [1] for their definition) and realised that we could almost as easily find the quaternary ones. In fact the 15-theorem largely reduces to proving a number of such analogues of Legendre’s theorem. took the problem further by produc- ing these forms and exploring their universality by machine. Expressing the arguments was greatly simplified by my own symbol for the genus. UNIVERSAL QUADRATIC FORMS AND THE FIFTEEN THEOREM 25 The 15-theorem closes the universality problem for integer-matrix forms by providing an extremely simple criterion. Schneeberger and I managed to polish the remaining two off. where the number of universal forms is no longer finite.1. Moreover. although it has since been established more simply. We no longer need a list of universal quaternaries. so that when I had to leave for a meeting in Boston only nine particularly recalcitrant ones remained. Moreover. this criterion works for larger numbers of variables. and when I returned to Princeton. The arguments made heavy use of the notion of genus. modulo some computer calculations that were later done by Simons. several class members. and made it seem likely that c was much smaller than we had expected. see for instance my recent little book [2]. If an integer-matrix form represents every positive inte- ger up to c (to be found!) then it is universal. which was originally derived by comparing Pall’s invariants with Jones’s canonical forms. In subsequent lectures we proved that most of the 200+ quaternaries we had found were universal. I started the next lecture by saying that we might try to find c. but fortunately it appeared that they are quite small.

The sensual (quadratic) form. and now he has discovered the particularly simple proof he gives in the following paper. References [1] M. Sphere packings. in one of our semi-regular conversations I tempted Manjul Bhar- gava into trying his hand at the difficult job of proving the 290-conjecture. though obtaining a proof of the resulting “290-conjecture” would be very much harder indeed.edu .princeton. Manjul has also proved the “33-theorem” – much more difficult than the 15-theorem – which asserts that an integer-matrix form will represent all odd numbers provided only that it represents 1. Manjul has made significant progress on the 290-conjecture. Conway.26 J. Grundlehren der Mathematischen Wissenschaften 290. 7. Finally. 15. [2] J. 11. CONWAY Our calculations also made it clear that the larger constant C for the integer-valued problem would almost certainly be 290. Manjul started the task by reproving the 15-theorem. H. A. which has made it unnecessary for us to publish our rather more complicated proof. H. This result required the use of some very clever and subtle arithmetic arguments. NJ 08544 E-mail address: conway@math. On the Conway-Schneeberger Fifteen Theorem. Carus Mathematical Monographs 26. and I would not be surprised if the conjecture were to be finished off in the near future! He intends to publish these and other related results in a subsequent paper. 3. Bhargava. [3] J. Sloane. as well as new analytic tech- niques. Department of Mathematics Princeton University Princeton. 1999. lattices and groups. these proceedings. using these arithmetic arguments. Springer-Verlag. and 33. New York. 5. Conway and N. Last year. MAA. H. 1997.

Hence we shall oscillate freely between the language of forms and the language of lattices. Our proof is in spirit much the same as that of the original unpublished arguments of Conway and Schneeberger. The Fifteen Theorem deals with quadratic forms that are positive-definite and have integer matrix. In 1993. Preliminaries. For brevity. This paper gives a proof of the Conway-Schneeberger Fif- teen Theorem on the representation of integers by quadratic forms. by a “form” we shall always mean a positive-definite quadratic form having integer matrix. and by a “lattice” we shall always mean a lattice having integer inner products. 1. for further background and a brief history of the Fifteen Theorem. Conway and Schneeberger announced the following remarkable result: Theorem 1 (“The Fifteen Theorem”). A sketch of this original proof was given by Schneeberger in [4]. Introduction. however. we are able to treat the various cases more uniformly. there is a natural bijection between classes of such forms and lattices having integer inner products. see Professor Conway’s article [1] in these proceedings. 2. thereby obtaining a significantly simplified proof.Contemporary Mathematics On the Conway-Schneeberger Fifteen Theorem Manjul Bhargava Abstract. The purpose of this paper is to give a short and direct proof of the Fifteen Theorem. As is well-known. The original proof of this theorem was never published. precisely. a quadratic form f can be regarded as the inner product form for a corresponding lattice L(f ). to which the paper of Conway [1] in these proceedings is an extended fore- word. If a positive-definite quadratic form having integer matrix represents every positive integer up to 15 then it represents every positive integer. perhaps because several of the cases involved rather intricate arguments. c °0000 (copyright holder) 27 .

however. If we escalate each of these two-dimensional escalators in the same man- ner. a2 ≤ 2. The choices a = ±1 lead to isometric lattices. we prove that in fact 201 of the 207 four-dimensional escalator lattices are universal..  0 1 0  . define the truant of f (or of its corresponding lattice L(f )) to be the smallest positive integer not represented by f . The question arises: how many of the four-dimensional escalators are universal? 4. so a equals either 0 or ±1. we find that we obtain exactly 9 new nonisometric escalator lattices. In this section. [ 1 ]) which fails to represent the number 2. This lattice corresponds to the form x2 (or. Important in the proof of the Fifteen Theorem is the notion of “escalator lattice. only 6 of the four-dimensional escalators can be escalated once again.  namely  those  lattices having Minkowski-reduced 1 0 1 0 Gram matrices 0 1 and 0 2 .  0 2 0  .28 MANJUL BHARGAVA A form (or its corresponding lattice) is said to be universal if it represents every positive integer. namely those having Minkowski-reduced Gram matrices           1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0  0 1 0  . they are universal). . If a form f happens not to be universal. An escalator lattice is a lattice which can be obtained as the result of a sequence of successive escalations of the zero-dimensional lattice.e. and  0 2 0 . that is to say. 0 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 3 0 0 2 0 0 3         1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0  0 2 1 . so we obtain only two nonisometric two-dimensionalescalators. in matrix form. which is classically known to represent all inte- gers. Four-dimensional Escalators. a2 + b2 + c2 + d2 . one of the four-dimensional esca- lators turns out to be the lattice corresponding to the famous four squares form.  0 2 0 .  0 2 0 . we find exactly 207 nonisomorphic four-dimensional escalator lattices. All such lat- tices are of the form [1] ⊕ L. and the 207 values of L are listed in Table 3. The unique escalation of the zero- dimensional lattice is the lattice generated by a single vector of norm 1. 0 1 4 0 0 4 0 1 5 0 0 5 Escalating now each of these nine three-dimensional escalators. Small-dimensional Escalators. When attempting to carry out the escalation process just once more.  0 1 0 . Hence an escalation of [ 1 ] has inner product matrix of the form · ¸ 1 a . 3.  0 2 1 .” An escalation of a nonuniversal lattice L is defined to be any lattice which is generated by L and a vector whose norm is equal to the truant of L. we find that many of the 207 four-dimensional lattices do not esca- late (i. For instance. a 2 By the Cauchy-Schwartz inequality.

 an 1 0 0 explicit calculation shows that only two escalations of L3 = 0 2 0  are 0 0 2 exceptional (while the other 24 are not). so u must be of the form 2e (8k + 7). these exceptional cases are listed in Table 2.1. Similarly. We wish to show that L3 ⊕ [m] represents all sufficiently large integers. the argument fails for those L4 for which m is a multiple of 8.. then r = u/t2 is also not represented by L4 . such exceptional escalations are few and far between. and are easily handled. so a quick local calculation shows that it represents all positive integers not of the form 2e (8k+7). In each such four-dimensional lattice L4 . and we have u ≡ 7 (mod 8). if m ≡ 3 or 7 (mod 8). we simply choose L3 to be unique in its genus. ON THE CONWAY-SCHNEEBERGER FIFTEEN THEOREM 29 The proof of universality of these 201 lattices proceeds as follows. where e is even. in that case. for which the value of m is not a multiple of 8.e. Thus if m 6≡ 0 (mod 8). Of course. Therefore e = 0. Typically. and let u be the first integer not represented by L4 . and given that u ≥ 4m. suppose L4 is not universal. Then. Fortunately. It follows that any escalator L4 arising from L3 . As is also indicated in the table. we locate a 3-dimensional sublattice L3 which is known to represent some large set of integers. 3 or 7 (mod 8). we then show that the direct sum of L3 with its orthogonal complement in L4 represents all sufficiently large integers n ≥ N . the universality of these four-dimensional lattices L4 is still not any more difficult  to prove. To this end. although these lattices did escape our initial attempt at proof. Moreover. We call such an escalation “exceptional”. over each p-adic ring Zp ). u is represented by L3 ⊕ [m] (a sublattice of L4 ) for u ≥ 4m. Let the orthogonal complement of L3 in L4 have Gram matrix [m]. we consider in detail the escalations 1 0 0 L4 of the escalator lattice  0 2 0  (labelled (4) in Table 1). and apply the same argument! . L3 represents all integers that it represents locally (i. u must be squarefree. then clearly u − m is not of the form 2e (8k + 7). for if u = rt2 with t > 1. then either u − m or u − 4m is represented by L3 . in particular. contradicting the minimality of u. A check of representability of n for all n < N finally reveals that L4 is indeed universal. Now if m 6≡ 0. Armed with this knowledge of L3 . then u − 4m cannot be of the form 2e (8k + 7).  we simply change the 1 0 0 sublattice L3 from the escalator lattice  0 2 0  to the ones listed in the 0 0 2 table. u is not represented by L3 . To see this argument in  practice. An explicit calculation shows that m never exceeds 28. For instance. that is. and a computer check verifies that every escalation L4 of L3 represents all integers less than 4 × 28 = 112. The latter 0 0 2 3-dimensional lattice L3 is unique in its genus. is universal.

all five-dimensional escalators are uni- versal. it does represent all numbers locally represented by it except possibly those  which  are 7 or 10 (mod 12). Again. Two arise for escalator (4). while the second represents all such num- bers not congruent to 1 (mod 3). the answer is no. there are 6 four- dimensional escalators which escalate again. and the lattices  -2 5 2  and 0 2 8 2 2 8   3 0 0  0 5 4 . except for the one labeled (6). all parts of the proof of universal- ity outlined in the second paragraph of Section 4 go through—except for the final check. and hence have already been handled. Hence once a single vector of norm n is inserted in such a lattice. all the relevant information is provided in Table 2. Therefore all five-dimensional escalators are . this escalator contains  the lattice  1 0 0 2 -2 2  0 4 2  . “Exceptional” cases arise only for escalators (4) (as we have already seen). Indeed. the lattice must au- tomatically become universal. which together form a genus. As mentioned earlier. Fortunately. Similarly. Five-dimensional Escalators. so the univer- sality of their escalations can be proved by essentially identical arguments. A rather large calculation shows that these 6 four-dimensional lattices escalate to an addi- tional 1630 five-dimensional escalators! With a bit of fear we may ask again whether any of these five-dimensional escalators escalate. The relevant portions of the proofs 0 1 4 for all nonexceptional cases are summarized in Table 1. which is unique in its genus. The desired conclusion follows. they have been italicized in Table 3 and are listed again in the first column of Table 4.30 MANJUL BHARGAVA It turns out that all of the 3-dimensional escalator lattices listed in Ta- ble 1. we may now  proceed  with essentially the same arguments 1 0 0 on the escalations of L3 = 0 2 1 . with just a few exceptions. 5. (This fact has been independently proven by Kaplansky [3] using different methods. a local check shows that the first 0 4 5 genus represents all numbers locally represented by escalator (6) which are not congruent to 2 or 3 (mod 4). The proof is much the same as the proof of universality of the four-dimensional escalators. and these are listed in Table 2. although not unique in its genus. are unique in their genus. other three-dimensional sublattices unique in their genus are given for which essentially identical arguments work in proving universality. The final check then reveals that each of these 6 lattices represent every positive integer except for one single number n. two arise for escalator (7). As for escalator (6).) Knowing this. We simply observe that. but easier. Although four arise for escalator (6). for the 6 four-dimensional nonuniversal escalators. two of them turn out to be nonexceptional escalations of (1) and (8) respectively. Thus only five truly exceptional four-dimensional escalators remain. and (7). (6). In these five exceptional cases. but one is a nonexceptional escalation of (9).

Since no five-dimensional escalator can be escalated. 3. 6] with truant 5. 6] with truant 3. 6. . 5. This is because there are only four escalator lattices having truant 15. A list of the 6 nonuniversal four-dimensional lattices. 2. and then from Sections 4 and 5. For we can construct an escalator sequence 0 = L0 ⊆ L1 ⊆ . 1 of dimension one. 14. [1. 3. 1. then it represents every number above 15. (ii) If a positive-definite quadratic form having integer matrix represents the nine critical numbers 1. 11] with truant 10. 3. 6. [1. then there is a quaternary diagonal form that fails to represent t. 5] with truant 15. [1. (Equivalently. In fact: . ON THE CONWAY-SCHNEEBERGER FIFTEEN THEOREM 31 universal. 6. in the following sense. 1. for a total of 1850. and 1630 of dimension five. 4] with truant 1.) This is because examination of the proof shows that only these numbers arise as truants of escalator lattices. Nine such forms of minimal determinant are [2. Fifteen is the smallest number for which Remark (iv) holds. we see that either L4 or (when defined) L5 gives a universal escalator sublattice of L. and 15. [1. 15] with truant 14. [1. the truant of any nonuniversal form must be one of these nine numbers. [1. It is now obvious that (i) Any universal lattice L contains a universal sublattice of dimension at most five. 9 of dimension three. each of these four escalators represents every number greater than 15. 7. 5. there is another slight strengthening of the Fifteen Theorem. which shows that the number 15 is rather special: (iv) If a positive-definite quadratic form having integer matrix represents every number below 15. 3. 2. within L. is given in Table 4. but represents every other positive integer. (iii) If t is any one of the above critical numbers. Remarks on the Fifteen Theorem. 1. 2. . 10. and [1. 7] with truant 6. 1. 3. However. then it represents every positive integer. 5] with truant 2. 1. 207 of dimension four. together with the single numbers they fail to represent. We note that Remark (ii) is the best possible statement of the Fifteen Theorem. 2. it follows that there are only finitely many escalator lattices: 1 of dimension zero. 9] with truant 7. 3. [1. 2. and as was shown in Section 5. Our next remark includes the Fifteen Theorem. 2. 4. 2 of dimension two.

Indeed. Ph. Conway. Arithmetic and Geometry of Integral Lattices. A list of all 204 universal quaternary forms is given in Table 5. [4] W. Ph. no. [2] J.32 MANJUL BHARGAVA (v) There are forms which miss infinitely many integers starting from any of the eight critical numbers not equal to 15.D. a systematic use of the Fifteen Theorem then yields the desired result. Acknowledgments. Thesis. who found that there are exactly 178 universal quaternary forms. or three. H. Sphere packings. Louis University. A. St. listed one universal form twice. Comp. [3] I. . Grundlehren der Mathematischen Wissenschaften 290. in each case one may simply take an appropriate escalator lattice of dimension one. Princeton University. lattices and groups. 1999. 1948. A. 1995. Springer-Verlag. two. The first non-trivial genus of positive definite ternary forms. The author wishes to thank Professors Conway and Kaplansky for many wonderful discussions. New York. 64 (1995). Sloane. Schneeberger. Determination of all classes of positive quaternary quadratic forms which represent all (positive) integers. Universal quadratic forms and the Fifteen Theorem. E. and for helpful comments on an earlier draft of this paper. and listed 9 non-universal forms. H. References [1] J. Kaplansky. We note that the enumeration of universal quaternary forms was announced previously in the well-known work of Willerding [5]. An upper bound for the discriminant of such a form is easily determined. the three entries not appearing among the list of escalators in Table 3 have been italicized. (vi) There are exactly 204 universal quaternary forms. Thesis. a comparison with our tables shows that she missed 36 universal forms. however. Conway and N. [5] M.D. 209. these proceedings. 341–345. Willerding. Math.

4m. ON THE CONWAY-SCHNEEBERGER FIFTEEN THEOREM 33 Three-dimensional Represents nos. or 9m 3087 ≡ 0 (mod 49) does not arise - ≡ 0. 3. 9 (mod 12) 0 1 4 7. Proof of universality of four-dimensional escalators (nonexceptional cases) . 3. 10 (mod 12) &6≡ 0 (mod 49) m. 9 (mod 12) [See Table 2] -   1 0 0 (7)  0 2 0  14 2 d u7 6≡ 0 (mod 16) m or 4m 224 0 0 4 ≡ 0 (mod 8) [See Table 2] -   1 0 0 (8)  0 2 1  7 2 e u7 6≡ 0 (mod 8) m or 4m 252 0 1 5 ≡ 0 (mod 8) does not arise -   1 0 0 (9)  0 2 0  10 5 d u− 6≡ 0 (mod 25) m or 4m 4000 0 0 5 ≡ 0 (mod 25) does not arise - Table 1. Check escalator lattice Truant not of the form∗ If m Subtract up to   1 0 0 (1)  0 1 0  7 2 e u7 6≡ 0 (mod 8) m or 4m 112 0 0 1 ≡ 0 (mod 8) does not arise -   1 0 0 (2)  0 1 0  14 2 d u7 6≡ 0 (mod 16) m or 4m 224 0 0 2 ≡ 0 (mod 16) does not arise -   1 0 0 (3)  0 1 0  6 3 d u− 6≡ 0 (mod 9) m. or 16m 864 0 0 3 ≡ 0 (mod 9) does not arise -   1 0 0 (4)  0 2 0  7 2 e u7 6≡ 0 (mod 8) m or 4m 112 0 0 2 ≡ 0 (mod 8) [See Table 2] -   1 0 0 (5)  0 2 0  10 2 d u5 6≡ 0 (mod 16) m or 4m 1440 0 0 3 ≡ 0 (mod 16) does not arise -   1 0 0 (6)  0 2 1  7 7d u− or 6≡ 0. 4m.

if p = 2. and if p is odd. [It turns out there is no sublattice unique in its genus that single-handedly proves universality in this case!] . the sublattice given here shows only that all even numbers are represented. 3 d u+ 1 1 7 0 1 1 7   1 0 0 1    0 2 1 1  2 1 0    1  0 4 0  2d u7 1 m. with m = 315) shows that all odd numbers are represented. u+ (resp. † In this exceptional case. However. 7). 3.  0 2 1  1 m 14 0 2 1  2 d u3 . the original argument of Table 1 (using escalator (6) as sublat- tice. 2 e u5 . so the desired universality follows. pe ) denotes an odd (resp. or 9m 9 1 4 3  1 0 4 1 0 3 7   1 0 0 0 †    0 2 0 0  2 1 1    0  0 4 2  2d u7 90 m or 4m 504 1 4 0  0 2 10 0 1 0 7   1 0 0 1    0 1 0 0  2 0 0    0  0 4 2  2 d u5 .34 MANJUL BHARGAVA “Exceptional” New unique in Unrepresented Check Lattice genus sublattice numbers m Subtract up to   1 0 0 2    0 1 0 0  2 0 1    0  0 2 1  5 d u+ 40 m or 4m 160 0 2 1  0 1 3 2 1 1 7   1 0 0 0    0 2 0 1  2 0 1    0 2 e u1 . 4m. u− ) denotes a number which is a quadratic residue (resp. uk denotes a number of the form 8n + k (k = 1. even) power of p. Proof of universality of four-dimensional escalators (exceptional cases) ∗ We follow the notation of Conway-Sloane [2]: pd (resp. 2 e u3 2 m or 4m 8 0 4 2  0 2 13 1 0 2 14 Table 2. 5. non-residue) modulo p. 2 d u7 .

Ternary forms‡ L such that [1] ⊕ L is an escalator. (The six entries not appearing in Table 5 have been italicized. e/2 d/2 c . ON THE CONWAY-SCHNEEBERGER FIFTEEN THEOREM 35 1: 1 1 1 0 0 0 16: 2 3 3 2 0 0 30: 2 4 4 2 0 0 49: 2 3 9 2 2 0 72: 2 5 8 4 0 0 2: 1 1 2 0 0 0 17: 1 2 9 2 0 0 31: 2 3 6 2 2 0 49: 2 4 7 0 0 2 74: 2 4 10 2 2 0 3: 1 1 3 0 0 0 17: 1 3 6 2 0 0 31: 2 4 5 0 2 2 49: 2 5 6 0 2 2 76: 2 4 10 0 2 0 3: 1 2 2 2 0 0 17: 2 3 4 0 2 2 32: 2 4 4 0 0 0 50: 2 4 7 2 2 0 77: 2 5 9 4 2 0 4: 1 1 4 0 0 0 18: 1 2 9 0 0 0 32: 2 4 5 4 0 0 50: 2 5 5 0 0 0 78: 2 4 10 2 0 0 4: 1 2 2 0 0 0 18: 1 3 6 0 0 0 33: 2 3 6 0 2 0 51: 2 3 9 0 2 0 78: 2 5 8 2 0 0 4: 2 2 2 2 2 0 18: 2 2 5 2 0 0 33: 2 4 5 2 0 2 52: 2 3 9 2 0 0 80: 2 4 10 0 0 0 5: 1 1 5 0 0 0 18: 2 3 3 0 0 0 34: 2 3 6 2 0 0 52: 2 5 6 2 0 2 80: 2 4 11 4 0 0 5: 1 2 3 2 0 0 18: 2 3 4 2 0 2 34: 2 4 5 2 2 0 52: 2 5 6 4 0 0 80: 2 5 8 0 0 0 6: 1 1 6 0 0 0 19: 1 2 10 2 0 0 34: 2 4 6 4 0 2 53: 2 5 6 2 2 0 82: 2 4 11 2 2 0 6: 1 2 3 0 0 0 19: 2 3 4 2 2 0 35: 2 4 5 0 0 2 54: 2 3 9 0 0 0 82: 2 5 9 4 0 0 6: 2 2 2 2 0 0 20: 1 2 10 0 0 0 36: 2 3 6 0 0 0 54: 2 4 7 2 0 0 83: 2 5 9 2 2 0 7: 1 1 7 0 0 0 20: 2 2 5 0 0 0 36: 2 4 5 0 2 0 54: 2 5 6 0 0 2 85: 2 5 9 0 2 0 7: 1 2 4 2 0 0 20: 2 2 6 2 2 0 36: 2 4 6 4 2 0 54: 2 5 7 4 2 2 86: 2 4 11 2 0 0 7: 2 2 3 2 0 2 20: 2 4 4 4 2 0 36: 2 5 5 4 2 2 55: 2 3 10 2 2 0 87: 2 5 10 4 2 0 8: 1 2 4 0 0 0 21: 2 3 4 0 2 0 37: 2 5 5 4 2 0 55: 2 5 6 0 2 0 88: 2 4 11 0 0 0 8: 1 3 3 2 0 0 22: 1 2 11 0 0 0 38: 2 4 5 2 0 0 55: 2 5 7 4 0 2 88: 2 4 12 4 0 0 8: 2 2 2 0 0 0 22: 2 2 6 2 0 0 38: 2 4 6 0 2 2 56: 2 4 7 0 0 0 88: 2 5 9 2 0 0 8: 2 2 3 2 2 0 22: 2 3 4 2 0 0 39: 2 3 7 0 2 0 56: 2 4 8 4 0 0 90: 2 4 12 2 2 0 9: 1 2 5 2 0 0 22: 2 3 5 0 2 2 40: 2 3 7 2 0 0 57: 2 3 10 0 2 0 90: 2 5 9 0 0 0 9: 1 3 3 0 0 0 23: 1 2 12 2 0 0 40: 2 4 5 0 0 0 58: 2 3 10 2 0 0 92: 2 4 13 4 2 0 9: 2 2 3 0 0 2 23: 2 3 5 2 0 2 40: 2 4 6 2 0 2 58: 2 4 8 2 2 0 92: 2 5 10 4 0 0 10: 1 2 5 0 0 0 24: 1 2 12 0 0 0 40: 2 4 6 4 0 0 58: 2 5 6 2 0 0 93: 2 5 10 2 2 0 10: 2 2 3 2 0 0 24: 2 2 6 0 0 0 41: 2 4 7 4 0 2 58: 2 5 7 0 2 2 94: 2 4 12 2 0 0 10: 2 2 4 2 0 2 24: 2 2 7 2 2 0 42: 2 3 7 0 0 0 60: 2 3 10 0 0 0 95: 2 5 10 0 2 0 11: 1 2 6 2 0 0 24: 2 3 4 0 0 0 42: 2 4 6 0 0 2 60: 2 4 9 4 2 0 96: 2 4 12 0 0 0 11: 1 3 4 2 0 0 24: 2 4 4 0 2 2 42: 2 4 6 2 2 0 60: 2 5 6 0 0 0 96: 2 4 13 4 0 0 12: 1 2 6 0 0 0 24: 2 4 4 4 0 0 42: 2 5 5 4 0 0 61: 2 5 7 2 0 2 98: 2 4 13 2 2 0 12: 1 3 4 0 0 0 25: 1 2 13 2 0 0 43: 2 3 8 2 2 0 62: 2 4 8 2 0 0 98: 2 5 10 2 0 0 12: 2 2 3 0 0 0 25: 2 3 5 2 2 0 43: 2 5 5 2 0 2 62: 2 5 7 4 0 0 100: 2 4 13 0 2 0 12: 2 2 4 0 0 2 26: 1 2 13 0 0 0 44: 2 4 6 0 2 0 63: 2 5 7 0 0 2 100: 2 4 14 4 2 0 13: 2 2 5 2 0 2 26: 2 2 7 2 0 0 45: 2 4 7 0 2 2 63: 2 5 7 2 2 0 100: 2 5 10 0 0 0 13: 2 3 3 2 2 0 26: 2 4 4 2 2 0 45: 2 5 5 0 2 0 64: 2 4 8 0 0 0 102: 2 4 13 2 0 0 14: 1 2 7 0 0 0 27: 1 2 14 2 0 0 45: 2 5 6 4 2 2 66: 2 4 9 2 2 0 104: 2 4 13 0 0 0 14: 1 3 5 2 0 0 27: 2 3 5 0 2 0 46: 2 3 8 2 0 0 67: 2 5 8 4 2 0 104: 2 4 14 4 0 0 14: 2 2 4 2 0 0 27: 2 4 5 4 0 2 46: 2 4 6 2 0 0 68: 2 4 9 0 2 0 106: 2 4 14 2 2 0 15: 1 2 8 2 0 0 28: 1 2 14 0 0 0 46: 2 5 6 4 0 2 68: 2 4 10 4 2 0 108: 2 4 14 0 2 0 15: 1 3 5 0 0 0 28: 2 2 7 0 0 0 47: 2 4 7 2 0 2 68: 2 5 7 2 0 0 110: 2 4 14 2 0 0 15: 2 2 5 0 0 2 28: 2 3 5 2 0 0 47: 2 5 6 4 2 0 70: 2 4 9 2 0 0 112: 2 4 14 0 0 0 15: 2 3 3 0 2 0 28: 2 4 4 0 2 0 48: 2 3 8 0 0 0 70: 2 5 7 0 0 0 16: 1 2 8 0 0 0 28: 2 4 5 4 2 0 48: 2 4 6 0 0 0 72: 2 4 9 0 0 0 16: 2 2 4 0 0 0 30: 2 3 5 0 0 0 48: 2 5 5 2 0 0 72: 2 4 10 4 0 0 Table 3.) ‡We use the customary shorthand “D: a b c d e f ” to represent the three-dimensional   a f /2 e/2 lattice  f /2 b d/2  of determinant D.

) .36 MANJUL BHARGAVA Nonuniversal four-dimensional escalator Unique number not represented   1 0 0 0  0 2 0 1    10  0 0 3 0  0 1 0 4   1 0 0 0  0 2 1 0    10  0 1 4 1  0 0 1 5   1 0 0 0  0 2 0 0    15  0 0 5 1  0 0 1 5   1 0 0 0  0 2 0 0    15  0 0 5 0  0 0 0 5   1 0 0 0  0 2 0 1    15  0 0 5 2  0 1 2 8   1 0 0 0  0 2 0 1    15  0 0 5 1  0 1 1 9 Table 4. (The 1630 five-dimensional escalators are obtained from these. Nonuniversal four-dimensional escalator lattices.

) Department of Mathematics.edu .princeton. NJ 08544 E-mail address: bhargava@math. Ternary forms L such that [1] ⊕ L is universal. Princeton University. ON THE CONWAY-SCHNEEBERGER FIFTEEN THEOREM 37 1: 1 1 1 0 0 0 16: 1 2 8 0 0 0 28: 2 3 5 2 0 0 48: 2 3 8000 72: 2 4 9 0 0 0 2: 1 1 2 0 0 0 16: 2 2 4 0 0 0 28: 2 4 4 0 2 0 48: 2 4 6000 72: 2 4 10 4 0 0 3: 1 1 3 0 0 0 16: 2 3 3 2 0 0 28: 2 4 5 4 2 0 48: 2 5 5200 72: 2 5 8 4 0 0 3: 1 2 2 2 0 0 17: 1 2 9 2 0 0 30: 2 3 5 0 0 0 49: 2 3 9220 74: 2 4 10 2 2 0 4: 1 1 4 0 0 0 17: 1 3 6 2 0 0 30: 2 4 4 2 0 0 49: 2 4 7002 76: 2 4 10 0 2 0 4: 1 2 2 0 0 0 17: 2 3 4 0 2 2 31: 2 3 6 2 2 0 49: 2 5 6022 77: 2 5 9 4 2 0 4: 2 2 2 2 2 0 18: 1 2 9 0 0 0 31: 2 4 5 0 2 2 50: 2 4 7220 78: 2 4 10 2 0 0 5: 1 1 5 0 0 0 18: 1 3 6 0 0 0 32: 2 4 4 0 0 0 51: 2 3 9020 78: 2 5 8 2 0 0 5: 1 2 3 2 0 0 18: 2 2 5 2 0 0 32: 2 4 5 4 0 0 52: 2 3 9200 80: 2 4 10 0 0 0 6: 1 1 6 0 0 0 18: 2 3 3 0 0 0 33: 2 3 6 0 2 0 52: 2 5 6202 80: 2 4 11 4 0 0 6: 1 2 3 0 0 0 18: 2 3 4 2 0 2 34: 2 3 6 2 0 0 52: 2 5 6400 80: 2 5 8 0 0 0 6: 2 2 2 2 0 0 19: 1 2 10 2 0 0 34: 2 4 5 2 2 0 53: 2 5 6220 82: 2 4 11 2 2 0 7: 1 1 7 0 0 0 19: 2 3 4 2 2 0 34: 2 4 6 4 0 2 54: 2 3 9000 82: 2 5 9 4 0 0 7: 1 2 4 2 0 0 20: 1 2 10 0 0 0 35: 2 4 5 0 0 2 54: 2 4 7200 85: 2 5 9 0 2 0 7: 2 2 3 2 0 2 20: 2 2 5 0 0 0 36: 2 3 6 0 0 0 54: 2 5 6002 86: 2 4 11 2 0 0 8: 1 2 4 0 0 0 20: 2 2 6 2 2 0 36: 2 4 5 0 2 0 54: 2 5 7422 87: 2 5 10 4 2 0 8: 1 3 3 2 0 0 20: 2 3 4 0 0 2 36: 2 4 6 4 2 0 55: 2 3 10 2 2 0 88: 2 4 11 0 0 0 8: 2 2 2 0 0 0 20: 2 4 4 4 2 0 36: 2 5 5 4 2 2 55: 2 5 6020 88: 2 4 12 4 0 0 8: 2 2 3 2 2 0 22: 1 2 11 0 0 0 37: 2 5 5 4 2 0 55: 2 5 7402 88: 2 5 9 2 0 0 9: 1 2 5 2 0 0 22: 2 2 6 2 0 0 38: 2 4 5 2 0 0 56: 2 4 7000 90: 2 4 12 2 2 0 9: 1 3 3 0 0 0 22: 2 3 4 2 0 0 38: 2 4 6 0 2 2 56: 2 4 8400 90: 2 5 9 0 0 0 9: 2 2 3 0 0 2 22: 2 3 5 0 2 2 39: 2 3 7 0 2 0 57: 2 3 10 0 2 0 92: 2 4 13 4 2 0 10: 1 2 5 0 0 0 23: 1 2 12 2 0 0 40: 2 3 7 2 0 0 58: 2 3 10 2 0 0 92: 2 5 10 4 0 0 10: 2 2 3 2 0 0 23: 2 3 5 2 0 2 40: 2 4 5 0 0 0 58: 2 4 8220 93: 2 5 10 2 2 0 10: 2 2 4 2 0 2 24: 1 2 12 0 0 0 40: 2 4 6 2 0 2 58: 2 5 6200 94: 2 4 12 2 0 0 11: 1 2 6 2 0 0 24: 2 2 6 0 0 0 40: 2 4 6 4 0 0 58: 2 5 7022 95: 2 5 10 0 2 0 11: 1 3 4 2 0 0 24: 2 2 7 2 2 0 41: 2 4 7 4 0 2 60: 2 3 10 0 0 0 96: 2 4 12 0 0 0 12: 1 2 6 0 0 0 24: 2 3 4 0 0 0 42: 2 3 7 0 0 0 60: 2 4 9420 96: 2 4 13 4 0 0 12: 1 3 4 0 0 0 24: 2 4 4 0 2 2 42: 2 4 6 0 0 2 60: 2 5 6000 98: 2 4 13 2 2 0 12: 2 2 3 0 0 0 24: 2 4 4 4 0 0 42: 2 4 6 2 2 0 61: 2 5 7202 98: 2 5 10 2 0 0 12: 2 2 4 0 0 2 25: 1 2 13 2 0 0 42: 2 5 5 4 0 0 62: 2 4 8200 100: 2 4 13 0 2 0 12: 2 3 3 0 2 2 25: 2 3 5 0 0 2 43: 2 3 8 2 2 0 62: 2 5 7400 100: 2 4 14 4 2 0 13: 2 2 5 2 0 2 25: 2 3 5 2 2 0 44: 2 4 6 0 2 0 63: 2 5 7002 100: 2 5 10 0 0 0 13: 2 3 3 2 2 0 26: 1 2 13 0 0 0 45: 2 4 7 0 2 2 63: 2 5 7220 102: 2 4 13 2 0 0 14: 1 2 7 0 0 0 26: 2 2 7 2 0 0 45: 2 5 5 0 2 0 64: 2 4 8000 104: 2 4 13 0 0 0 14: 1 3 5 2 0 0 26: 2 4 4 2 2 0 45: 2 5 6 4 2 2 66: 2 4 9220 104: 2 4 14 4 0 0 14: 2 2 4 2 0 0 27: 1 2 14 2 0 0 46: 2 3 8 2 0 0 68: 2 4 9020 106: 2 4 14 2 2 0 15: 1 2 8 2 0 0 27: 2 3 5 0 2 0 46: 2 4 6 2 0 0 68: 2 4 10 4 2 0 108: 2 4 14 0 2 0 15: 1 3 5 0 0 0 27: 2 4 5 4 0 2 46: 2 5 6 4 0 2 68: 2 5 7200 110: 2 4 14 2 0 0 15: 2 2 5 0 0 2 28: 1 2 14 0 0 0 47: 2 4 7 2 0 2 70: 2 4 9200 112: 2 4 14 0 0 0 15: 2 3 3 0 2 0 28: 2 2 7 0 0 0 47: 2 5 6 4 2 0 70: 2 5 7000 Table 5. Princeton. (The three entries not appearing in Table 3 have been italicized.

there exists some integer e ≥ 0 such that 2e q(X) is an annihilating polynomial.2 we give an example of a 1991 Mathematics Subject Classification. Unfortunately we are not able to present a unified approach which yields a minimal monic annihilating polynomial. Hence there exists a monic annihilating polynomial of minimal degree in our situation. which divides any annihilating polynomial. 11E04.E. During the last decade several examples of annihilating polynomials have ap- peared in the literature. Beaulieu and Palfrey [BP97] and recently Lewis and McGarraghy [LM00] recover these results by giving annihilating polynomials which divide the corresponding Beaulieu-Palfrey polynomials. Since the only torsion in the Witt ring is 2-torsion. Introduction Let L/K be a finite separable field extension. depending only on the Galois action of G on the set of left cosets of G/G(N/L).Contemporary Mathematics On Trace Forms and the Burnside Ring Martin Epkenhans Abstract. such that p(X) annihilates the trace form of L/K in the Witt ring W (K) of K. P. with char(K) 6= 2. An improvement of these results is obtained by using a reduction to 2-groups. First D. In some cases we are able to give a further improvement by using some explicit calculations of the trace ideal T (G) of the Burnside ring B(G) of G. In section 5. We improve the Lewis- McGarraghy theorem on trace forms of field extensions by using Springer’s theorem on the lifting of quadratic forms to odd degree extensions. In [Epk98] we defined a polynomial q(X). In this paper we discuss all these polynomials. We discuss the annihilating polynomials of trace forms arising in the literature. we more like to get monic polynomials. 1. c °0000 (copyright holder) 39 . Conner [Con87] gave a polynomial of lower degree which annihilates trace forms. We are interested in a (monic) polynomial p(X) ∈ Z[X] of minimal degree. Let N be a normal closure of L/K and let G = G(N/K) be the Galois group of N/K. Further. We show that the Lewis- McGarraghy result improves the Beaulieu-Palfrey theorem. In section 3 we give several examples which show that all the definitions of annihilating polynomials are essentially different. Lewis [Lew87] defined a monic polynomial Ln (X) which annihilates any quadratic form of dimension n. In several cases we determine the minimal monic annihilating polynomial of trace forms with given Galois action. called the signature polyno- mial.

where Qn contains all quadratic forms of dimension n. Lewis in [Lew87].Ln (k)=0 (X − k) is the positive part of Ln (X). Let ψ be a quadratic form of dimension n over the field K. The Polynomials We start by defining the different annihilating polynomials arising in the liter- ature. Then A → K : x 7→ traceA/K x2 defines a quadratic form of dimension n over K.E. Then IM = {f ∈ Z[X] : f (ψ) = 0 ∈ W (K) for all ψ ∈ M } is the vanishing ideal of M . (X 2 − n2 ) if n is odd. Let Tn be the class of trace forms of dimension n of fields of characteristic 6= 2. (X 2 − n2 ) if n is even. 2. Let A be an étale K-algebra of dimension n over the field K of characteristic 6= 2. . Then Cn (< L >) = 0 ∈ W (K). Definition 2. Let L/K be a separable field extension of degree n. 2.40 MARTIN EPKENHANS group G acting transitively on a set S such that the signature polynomial is not an annihilating polynomial. From unpublished notes of P. . The results of Lewis and Conner are optimal in the following sense.1. Cn (X) = (X − 1)(X − 3) . For n ∈ N the Conner polynomial Cn (X) is defined to be Cn (X) = X(X − 2)(X − 4) . We denote the trace form by < A/K > or simply by < A > if no confusion can arise. . Let M be a class of quadratic forms. Let L/K be separable field extension of degree n. Conner [Con87] we get Theorem 2. For n ∈ N the Lewis polynomial is defined as Ln (X) = X(X 2 − 22 )(X 2 − 42 ) . Theorem 2. The first polynomial is given by D. . . Then the transitive action .4. Then ITn = (Cn (X)) (see [Epk98]).2. The Lewis polynomial Ln (X).2. We now restrict our attention to trace forms. Denote the Galois group of N/K by G(N/K) and set H = G(N/L). Hence the signatures are the only obstructions. Let f (X) ∈ K[X] be a polynomial with L ' K[X]/(f ). Ln (X) generates the principal ideal IQn . . Ln (X) = (X 2 − 12 )(X 2 − 32 ) . (X − n) if n is even.3. Choose a normal closure N ⊃ L of L/K. 2. We know by Sylvester and Jacobi that trace forms have non-negative signatures. called the trace form of A/K. (X − n) if n is odd. . . Then Ln (ψ) = 0 ∈ W (K) in the Witt ring W (K) of K. Definition 2. The Conner polynomial Cn (X). Regarding the signatures of quadratic forms we observe the following result. that the zeros of Ln (X) are exactly those integers which arise as signatures of quadratic forms of dimension n.1. Q Hence Cn (X) = k≥0. Observe.

ON TRACE FORMS AND THE BURNSIDE RING 41

of G on the roots of f (X) is equivalent to the faithful action of G on the set of left
cosets of H in G. Instead of fixing a field extension L/K we choose a finite group
G and a subgroup H < G such that the action
G × G/H → G/H
is faithful. We know that the action is transitive. Further G acts faithfully if and
only if ∩σ∈G σHσ −1 = 1 if and only if H contains no subgroup 6= 1 which is normal
in G.
Definition 2.5. Let H < G be finite groups with ∩σ∈G σHσ −1 = 1. Let
M (G, H) denotes the class of all quadratic forms ψ such that there is an irreducible
and separable polynomial f (X) ∈ K[K] with Galois group Gal(f ) ' G and such
that
(1) the action of Gal(f ) on the roots of f (X) is equivalent to the action of G
on G/H, and
(2) ψ and the trace form of K[X]/(f (X)) over K are isometric.
We look for a polynomial mG,H (X) ∈ Z[X] such that mG,H (X) annihilates any
quadratic form in M (G, H). Actually we are interested in a (monic) polynomial of
minimal degree with the property cited above.
Beaulieu and Palfrey [BP97] gave an annihilating polynomial which divides
Conner’s polynomial. In general their polynomial has smaller degree.

2.3. The Beaulieu-Palfrey polynomial BG,H (X). Let G be a finite group
acting on a finite set S. For σ ∈ G let χ(σ) = ]S σ be the number of fixed point of
σ acting on S. Then the Galois number tG,S is defined to be the maximum value
of 1 + χ(σ) as σ runs over all elements of G which do not act as the identity on S.
Beaulieu and Palfrey proved the following theorem.
Theorem 2.6. Let G be a finite group and let H < G be a subgroup with
∩σ∈G σHσ −1 = 1. Let t = tG,H denote the Galois number of the action of G on
G/H. Set
t−1
Y
BG,H (X) = (X − n) (X − k),
k=0,k≡0 mod 2

where n = [G : H]. Then BG,H (X) annihilates any ψ ∈ M (G, H).
In [EG99] we find a complete list of the Galois numbers of all doubly transitive
permutation groups. Let us give some examples and consequences. We get Cn (X) =
Bn (X) in the case of the symmetric group Sn acting on n letters.
A Frobenius group G of degree n has Galois number 2. Hence the Beaulieu-
Palfrey polynomial is X − n, if n is odd and X(X − n) if n is even.
Recently Lewis and McGarraghy [LM00] gave an annihilating polynomial for
trace forms which divides the Beaulieu-Palfrey polynomial.

2.4. The Lewis-McGarraghy polynomial pG,H (X). Again let a finite group
G act on a finite set S. For any subgroup U < G let
S U = {s ∈ S : sσ = s for all σ ∈ U }
be the set of fixed points of U . Set ϕU (S) = ]S U .

42 MARTIN EPKENHANS

Definition 2.7. Let the finite group G act on set S. Let n = ]S and set
ϕ(S) = {ϕU (S) : U < G, ϕU (S) ≡ 0 mod 2}.
Now define
Y
pG,S = (X − k).
k∈ϕ(S)

Set pG,H = pG,G/H .
The result of Lewis and McGarraghy is as follows.
Theorem 2.8. Let A = K[X]/(f (X)) be an étale K-algebra. Consider the
action of the Galois group G of f (X) on the set S of roots of f (X). Then pG,S (X)
annihilates the trace form < A >.
As we will see, this theorem improves the Beaulieu-Palfrey result in two direc-
tions. It also holds for étale algebras and, as we see later, there are examples where
the degree of pG,S (X) is strictly smaller then the degree of BG,H (X). Observe the
following. Let σ ∈ G be a non-identity element. Then χ(σ) = ϕ<σ> (S). Further
ϕU (S) ≤ χ(σ) for all σ ∈ U . Hence pG,S (X) divides BG,H (X) and the maximal
root 6= n of both polynomials coincide.

(2) (2)
2.5. The dyadic annihilating polynomials BG,H (X)and pG,H (X). The
proofs of the trace form results cited above are in two steps. Consider the Burnside
ring B(G) of G. Let χH be an element defined by the subgroup H < G. First we
have to find a polynomial g(X) ∈ Z[X] such that g(χH ) = 0. Let N/K be a Galois
extension with Galois group isomorphic to G. Then there is a homomorphism
hN/K : B(G) → W (K) which maps χH onto < N H >. Hence g(X) annihilates the
trace form of the fixed field N H of H over K. By the fact that there are no non-
trivial zero divisors of odd degree in W (K), we can omit several roots of g(X). We
call it the even-odd trick. Hence the results of Conner, Beaulieu-Palfrey, and Lewis-
McGarraghy follow from identities in the Burnside ring via a ring homomorphism
together with the even-odd trick.
Next we show that we get better results by using Springer’s theorem on the
lifting of quadratic forms according to odd degree extensions.
Definition 2.9. Let G be a finite group and let H < G be a subgroup of index
n such that ∩σ∈G σHσ −1 = 1. Let G2 be a Sylow 2-group of G. Let t = tG2 ,G/H
be the Galois number of the action of G2 on G/H. Set
t−1
Y
(2)
BG,H (X) = (X − n) (X − k)
k=0,k≡n mod 2

and
(2)
Y
pG,H = pG2 ,G/H (X) = (X − k),
k∈ϕ(G/H)

where ϕ(G/H) = {ϕU (G/H) : U < G2 }.
Observe, that ϕU (G/H) ≡ n mod 2 for any 2-group U . Hence the application
of the even-odd trick in this situation does not yield polynomials of lower degree.

ON TRACE FORMS AND THE BURNSIDE RING 43

Theorem 2.10. Consider the situation of theorem 2.6 and set H = G(N/L).
We get
(2) (2)
BG,H (< L >) = pG,H (< L >) = 0 ∈ W (K).
.
(2) (2)
Proof. As above, we see that pG,H (X) divides BG,H (X). Let F be the fixed
field of G2 in N . Then < L/K > lifts to the trace form of an étale algebra over
(2)
F . By [LM00] pG,H (X) annihilates < L/K > ⊗K F in W (F ). Since F/K has odd
degree, we are done by Springer’s theorem [Sch85][I.5.5.9]. ¤
Next we define a polynomial which turns out to divide any annihilating poly-
nomial.
2.6. The signature polynomial qG,H (X). We are interested in an optimal
annihilating polynomial. In [Epk98] we defined the following polynomial. Let G
act on S. For any σ ∈ G with σ 2 = 1 let signσ (S) = ]S σ be the signature of S
defined by the involution σ. Set
Y
qG,S (X) = (X − k).
k∈{signσ (S):σ∈G,σ 2 =1}

For S = G/H set qG,H (X) = qG,S . In [Epk98] we proved
Theorem 2.11. Let H, G be as above. Then
IM (G,H) ⊂ (qG,H (X)).
There exists some integer e ≥ 0, which only depends on G and H, such that
(2e qG,H (X)) ⊂ IM (G,H) .
We call ]S σ a signature, since this value corresponds to signatures of trace
forms via the homomorphism hN/K .

3. The main result on annihilating polynomials
In this section we analyze the known vanishing results.
Theorem 3.1. Let G be a finite group with Sylow 2-group G2 and let H < G
be a subgroup of index n with ∩σ∈G σHσ −1 = 1. Then
qG,H (X) | pG,H (X) | BG,H (X) | Cn (X) | Ln (X)
and
(2) (2)
qG,H (X) | pG,H (X) | BG,H (X).
All polynomials except the signature polynomial qG,H (X) are contained in IM (G,H) .
There are examples, where qG,H (X) ∈ / IM (G,H) . In general, these polynomials are
different.
We already proved the results on the divisibility of the polynomials. In section
5.2 we give an example with qG,H (X) ∈/ IM (G,H) .
Cn (X) and Ln (X) are different by definition. Since the maximal root 6= n of
Cn (X) is n − 2 we get
Lemma 3.2. BG,H (X) = Cn (X) if and only if G contains a transposition.
In [EG99] we find a lot of example with tG,H ≤ n − 3. As already mentioned
above, BG,H has degree ≤ 2 if G is a Frobenius group.

44 MARTIN EPKENHANS

Lemma 3.3. Let H < G be finite groups with ∩σ∈G σHσ −1 = 1.
(1) Let [G : H] be odd. If G acts doubly transitive, then
(2)
X − 1 | pG,H (X).
(2)
(2) Let [G : H] be even. Then X | pG,H (X).
X | qG,H (X) if and only if G contains an involution which is not conjugate
to any element in H.
(2)
Hence pG,H (X) 6= qG,H (X) if [G : H] 6≡ ]H ≡ 1 mod 2. And X 6 |qG,H (X) if G
contains only one class of involutions and H has even order. The Ree group R(q)
and any group with cyclic or generalized quaternion Sylow 2-group contain only
one conjugacy class of involutions.
Proof. 1. A two point stabilizer does not contain a Sylow 2-group. Hence
ϕG2 (G/H) = 1.
2. A one point stabilizer contains a Sylow 2-group of G if and only if H has odd
index in G. Hence ϕG2 (G/H) = 0. Now see corollary 11 in [Epk99]. ¤
We now prove that the Lewis-McGarraghy result improves the Beaulieu-Palfrey
theorem.
Proposition 3.4. Let R(q) =2 G2 (q), q = 32n+1 , where n ≥ 1 be the Ree group.
Consider R(q) in its doubly transitive representation of degree q 3 + 1. Let H be a
one-point stabilizer. Then
q+1
Y
(2)
BG,H (X) = BG,H (X) = (X − n) · (X − k),
k=0,k≡0 mod 2

qG,H (X) = (X − (q + 1)) · (X − (q 3 + 1)),
pG,H (X) = X(X − 2) · qG,H (X),
(2)
pG,H (X) = X · qG,H (X).
Further
IM (G,H) = (qG,H ).
Proof. See [HB82][XI 13.2] for some basic facts on the Ree group. By
[EG99][proposition 17] the Galois number is q + 2. Further q + 1 is the num-
ber of fixed points of a non-trivial involution in R(q). This gives the result for
(2)
both Beaulieu-Palfrey polynomials BG,H (X), BG,H (X). Since all involutions are
(2)
conjugate in R(q), qG,H (X) has degree 2. By lemma 3.3 X divides pG,H .
Now let V < R(q) be a subgroup with ϕV (S) ≥ 3, where S = G/H. Then V
is contained in the stabilizer of three letters, which has order 2. Hence ϕV (S) = n
if V = 1 and ϕV (S) = q + 1 otherwise.
Finally, let V be the stabilizer of two letters. Then ϕV (S) = 2, since V has
order q − 1 6= 2. Since 0 ≡ q 3 + 1 ≡ 2 ≡ q + 1 ≡ n mod 2, the even-odd trick
does not reduce the number of roots. We later prove that qG,H (X) is already an
annihilating polynomial (see proposition 4.3). ¤
Recently, McGarraghy found some other examples which show that the Lewis-
McGarraghy-polynomial improves the Beaulieu-Palfrey result. Let us give another
example.

ON TRACE FORMS AND THE BURNSIDE RING 45

Proposition 3.5. Let G = AGL(n, q), n ≥ 2 be the affine linear group over Fq .
Consider the action of G on the vector space V = Fnq by semilinear transformations
and let H = G0 be the stabilizer of the zero vector. Then H = GL(n, q). We get
n−1
qY
(2) n
BG,H (X) = BG,H (X) = (X − q ) · (X − k).
k=0,k≡q mod 2

If q is odd, then
n
Y
(2)
pG,H (X) = pG,H (X) = qG,H (X) = (X − q k ).
k=0
If q is even, we get
n
Y
(2)
pG,H (X) = pG,H (X) = X · (X − q k )
k=1
and
n
Y
qG,H (X) = X · (X − q k ).
k=1,2k≥n

Proof. Let U < G be a subgroup with ϕU (V ) ≥ 1. We can assume that U
is a subgroup of G0 = GL(n, q). Hence the set of fixed points of U in V is the
intersection of all eigenspaces of the eigenvalue 1 of all φ ∈ U . Therefore ϕU (V ) is
a power of q.
For any k = 0, . . . , n there is a linear map σ ∈ GL(n, q) which has 1 as an
eigenvalue of geometric multiplicity q k . If q is odd, choose the diagonal matrix
Ek ⊕ (−En−k ).
Let q be even. Then x 7→ x + t(1, . . . , 1) is a fixed point free involution. For
k = 2, . . . , n set  
1 1 0
 
 0 ... ... 

Jk =  .  ∈ Mk (Fq )
. . 
 .. .. .. 1 
0 ... 0 1
and Bk = Jk ⊕ En−k . Then Bk is an element of 2-power order having q n−k+1 fixed
points. Any involution has a Jordan matrix of the form r · J2 ⊕ En−2r . ¤
(2) (2)
It remains to give an example with BG,H (X) 6= BG,H (X). Note that BG,H (X) =
BG,H (X) if and only if the Galois number tG,H is given by an involution.
Proposition 3.6. Let G be a doubly transitive permutation group acting on
F63 with a one point stabilizer H = G0 ' SL(2, 13). Then
4
Y
BG,H (X) = (X − 36 ) (X − (2k + 1)),
k=0
pG,H (X) = (X − 36 )(X − 9)(X − 1),
(2) (2)
BG,H (X) = (X − 36 )(X − 1) = pG,H (X) = qG,H .
Hence
IM (G,H) = (qG,H ).

46 MARTIN EPKENHANS

Proof. A two point stabilizer has order 3. Hence any non-trivial involution
has exactly one fixed point. By proposition 9 in [EG99] the Galois number equals
10. ¤
The next example is due to Pierre Conner.
Proposition 3.7. Let G be a group of odd order and let H be a non trivial
subgroup with ∩σ∈G σHσ −1 = 1. Then
(2) (2)
qG,H = pG,H (X) = BG,H (X) = (X − n) 6= pG,H (X), BG,H (X).
Proof. Observe, that tG,H ≥ 2, if H 6= 1. Now see [Epk98] proposition 4. ¤

4. The trace ideal
4.1. Definitions and basic properties. To make further progress on anni-
hilating polynomials we introduce the Burnside ring B(G) and the trace ideal T (G)
of a finite group G (see [Epk98], [Epk99], [Hup98][p. 159]). We briefly recall the
definitions. For any subgroup H of G let χH = χG H denote the character induced
by the representation of G on the left cosets of H.
Definition 4.1. The Burnside ring B(G) is a free abelian group. The set
{χH : H runs over a set of representatives of conjugacy classes of subgroups of G}
is a free set of generators of B(G). The multiplication is induced by the tensor
product of the underlying representations. Hence
M
χH · χU = χH∩σU σ−1 .
σ∈H\G/U

Let σ ∈ G be an element with σ 2 = 1. The number of fixed points signσ χH =
ϕ<σ> (G/H) of σ on G/H is called the signature of χH . This definition extends by
linearity to a ring homomorphism signσ : B(G) → Z. Let
L(G) = ∩σ∈G,σ2 =1 ker(signσ )
be the kernel of the total signature homomorphism.
Now let N/K be a Galois extension with Galois group G(N/K) ' G. Then
there is a unique homomorphism
hN/K : B(G) → W (K) : hN/K (χH ) =< N H >
(see [Dre71], [BP97], [Epk98], [Epk99]). Now the trace ideal T (G) in B(G) is
defined to be the intersection of all kernels of homomorphisms hN/K , where N/K
runs over all Galois extensions with Galois group ' G of fields of characteristic
6= 2. From [Epk99] theorem 6 we know that L(G)/T (G) is a finite 2-group. We
calculated several examples in [Epk98], [Epk99]. Now we focus our attention on
the polynomial qG,H (X).
Proposition 4.2. Let H < G be finite groups with ∩σ∈G σHσ −1 = 1. Then
qG,H (χH ) ∈ L(G).
If G has even order, then deg(qG,H (X)) ≥ 2.
Proof. The roots of qG,H (X) are by definition the possible signature values of
hN/K (χH ) =< N H > . Any non-identity involution σ does not act as the identity
on G/H. Hence signσ χH 6= [G : H] = sign1 χH . ¤

Let G be a finite group with Sylow 2-group G2 6= 1. Since L(G2 )/T (G2 ) has exponent 2. given by a system of linear equations modulo 2. regarded as a submodule of L(G2 ).H ) in proposition 3.H (χG H ) under the restriction homomor- phism resG G2 : B(G) → B(G2 ) lies in the trace ideal T (G2 ). where d = deg(qG. Lemma 4. By assumption any subgroup U < G2 is normal in G2 . Proposition 4.H (χH )) modulo 2. . We prove that the image of qG. The assumption of the proposition above holds if G2 is cyclic.H ).4.2 d ≥ 2. Hence it remains to consider the coefficients of resG G G G2 (qG. the ideal T (G2 ) is. By proposition 4.H (χG H ) ∈ T (G) Hence IM (G. ¤ As an application we get IM (G. where the field extensions can chosen to consist of Hilbertian fields.4. In this section we prove that T (G) is an inter- section of finitely many kernels of homomorphisms hN/K .H) = (qG. 2 σ∈G2 \G/H U <G2 Then mG2 = ϕG2 (G/H) ≡ [G : H] mod 2. Therefore (χG 2 2 G2 U ) = [G2 : U ]χU . Now use proposition 6 [Epk98]. Let H be a subgroup with ∩σ∈G σHσ −1 = 1. which implies X X G2 2 (resG G G2 (χH ) − [G : H]χG2 ) ≡ m2U (χG 2 2 U ) ≡ mU [G2 : U ]χG U 2 U 6=G2 U 6=G2 ≡ 0 mod 2 · B(G2 ).H (resG2 (χH )) G2 d ≡ (resG G G2 (χH ) − [G : H]χG2 ) mod 2B(G2 ). Is L(G2 )/T (G2 ) elementary abelian if G2 is abelian? 4.H) = (qG. since the Sylow 2-group of R(q) is an elementary abelian group of order 8. Then qG. A finiteness theorem.H (χH )) = qG. ON TRACE FORMS AND THE BURNSIDE RING 47 We now illustrate how the concept of the trace ideal yields an optimal annihi- lating polynomial in some cases. For any finite group G there exists a finite set M of Galois exten- sions N/K with Galois group G(N/K) ' G such that T (G) = ∩N/K∈M ker(hN/K ). that any subgroup of G2 is normal in G2 and that L(G2 )/T (G2 ) has exponent 2.H (χH )) ≡ qG. Let X X resG G G2 (χH ) = χG G2 ∩σHσ −1 = 2 mU χG U . Suppose. Proof. By lemma 4 [Epk98] resG G G G G2 (qG. From signσ χH ≡ [G : H] mod 2 we get resG G G G G2 (qG.2. These examples yield the question.H (X)).H (resG2 (χH )) ∈ L(G2 ). or elementary abelian or a direct product of two cyclic groups.3.

¤ Lemma 4.48 MARTIN EPKENHANS Proof. Hence τ is well defined.G(N/K)'G ker(hN/K ) ⊂ ∩σ ker(hNσ /Kσ ) ⊂ L(G). Set K1 = K0 (a0 . Let N 0 ⊂ N be a splitting field of f (X) over K1 and set K 0 = N 0 ∩ K. For any finite group G there exists a finite set M of Galois extensions N/K of Hilbertian fields with G(N/K) ' G such that T (G) = ∩N/K∈M ker(hN/K ). am−1 ). that L ∩ N = K implies that G(N L/L) and G(N/K) are isomorphic. Then N 0 /K 0 is a Galois extension with Galois group isomorphic to G. For any element σ ∈ G of order ≤ 2 we can choose a Galois extension Nσ /Kσ of algebraic number fields such that G(Nσ /Kσ ) ' G and σ corresponds to the complex conjugation on Nσ (apply lemma 2 [Epk99]).6. Let N/K be a Galois extension with G(N/K) ' G. then equality holds. ¤ Theorem 4. By theorem 2 p. . Therefore the results follows. We get ker(hN/K ) ⊂ ker(hN L/L ). Proof. . Now lemma 4.155 [Lan62] the field K1 is a finite field or a Hilbertian field. We get T (G) = ∩N/K. Note. Let N/K be a finite Galois extension and let L/K be any field extension such that L ∩ N = K. By theorem 2 [Epk99] the index of T (G) in L(G) is finite.5. Hence we are done. Proof.5 implies ker(hN 0 /K 0 ) ⊂ ker(hN/K ). where K0 is the prime field of K. If s? is injective. . Choose m−1 X f (X) = X m + ai X i ∈ K[X] i=0 with N ' K[X]/(f (X)). Then the restriction homomorphism G(N L/L) → G(N/K) induces an isomorphism τ such that hN L/L- B(G(N L/L)) W (L) 6 6 τ s? hN/K B(G(N/K)) - W (K) commutes. . The isomorphism τ is defined by G(N/K) G(N L/L) τ (χH ) = χG(N H L/L) for H ≤ G(N/K). .

If K1 is a Hilbertian field then so is K 0 ([FJ86] Cor 11. Then χ ∈ T (G) if and only if resG G (χ) ∈ T (G2 ). < τ σ >. 4. < σ >. Let N/K be a Galois extension of Hilbertian fields with G(N/K) ' G2 .3 Satz 2 the split embedding problem defined by N/K and the exact sequence 1 −→ A −→ G −→ G2 −→ 1 has a proper solution L/K. For any N/K ∈ M choose some N 0 /K 0 as above. τ −1 στ = σ −1 > be the dihedral group of order 2n . am−1 ) K0 First suppose that K1 is finite. σ 2 >. ¤ Together with [Epk99] proposition 23 we get Corollary 4. Let G be a finite group with Sylow 2-group G2 . In [Epk98] we determined the trace ideal of an elementary abelian 2-group. Then R(D8 ) = {1. Then G is cyclic. Now we consider the dihedral group D2n of order 2n . ON TRACE FORMS AND THE BURNSIDE RING 49 N ¡¡ @@ N0 K @@ ¡ ¡ K0 = N 0 ∩ K K1 = K0 (a0 . τ | σ 2 = τ 2 = 1. of a cyclic 2-group and of the quaternion group of order 8. < σ 2 >. By [Mat87] IV. Suppose G2 has a normal abelian complement A in G. . Lemma 4.6 and [Epk99] proposition 21(2). In general. By proposition 5 in [Epk98] T (G) is the intersection of finitely many kernels of homomorphisms hN/K which are defined via algebraic number fields N/K. V =< τ. . . 2 Proof.5 together with Springer’s theorem implies ker(hN/K ) = ker(hL/LG2 ). we only show that L(D2n )/T (D2n ) has exponent 2.8. We conclude T (G) ⊂ ∩N 0 /K 0 ∈M0 ker(hN 0 /K 0 ) ⊂ ∩N/K∈M ker(hN/K ) = T (G). We explicitly determine the trace ideal of D8 . D8 } is a complete set of representatives of the conjugacy classes of subgroups of D8 .7). By lemma 4. Let G be an abelian group with Sylow 2-group G2 . Further 2 L(G)/T (G) ' L(G2 )/T (G2 ). Then χ ∈ T (G) if and only if resG G (χ) ∈ T (G2 ). . The trace ideal of the dihedral group D2n of order 2n .3. Let n−1 D2n =< σ. < τ >. Now the assertion follows from lemma 4. ¤ Proposition 4.7.4 there exists a finite set M of Galois extensions N/K with Galois group isomorphic to G and such that T (G) = ∩N/K∈M ker(hN/K ). This defines a set M0 . . σ 2 >. W =< τ σ.

−2ab(a2 − 4b) > 2 < σ > K( b. ¤ Proposition 4. χσ = χ G <σ> and χ V = χG V . Then Gal(f ) ' D8 . 2(a2 − 4b) > W K( b) < 2. 2b(a2 − 4b) > V 2 K(√a − 4b) < 2. The system of linear equations defining L(D8 ) is given by mG +2mV +2mW +2mσ +4mτ +4mσ2 +4mτ σ +8m1 =0 mG +2mV +2mτ =0 mG +2mV +2mW +2mσ +4mσ2 =0 mG +2mW +2mτ σ =0 Let N/K be a Galois extension with G(N/K) ' D8 . σ 2 >. 2 . −2 > ⊗ψ 6= 0. The relevant intermediate fields of N/K and their trace forms are as follows H NH < NH > G K <1> <τ > K(α) √ √ < 1. χτ = χG <τ > . Set Lτ := N <τ > . Then L(D2n )/T (D2n ) is an elementary abelian 2-group. a2 − 4b. X1 =χ1 − 2χτ + 2χV − 2χσ ∈ B. 2 b − a) < 1. f = X 4 + X1 X 2 + X2 . −a.9 we can assume n ≥ 4. −a.50 MARTIN EPKENHANS Proposition 4. −b(a2 − 4b) > . −ab(a2 − 4b) > Calculating the image of χ in W (K) we get hN/K (χ) = mτ σ × < 1. −ab. Let χ = mG χG + mτ χ<τ > + mσ2 χ<σ2 > + mτ σ χ<τ σ> +mσ χ<σ> + mV χV + mW χW + m1 χ1 ∈ T (D8 ). 2b > < id > N 2× < 1. −ab(a2 − 4b) > <σ> K(√ b(a2 − 4b)) < 2. b(a2 − 4b).9. then mτ σ × < 1. By proposition 6 [Epk98] and by proposition 4. We easily observe. −2 > ⊗ < b > ⊗ < 1. Further ψ =< 1. b. −2 >= 0. Set G = D2n . that the following set B of elements in B(D2n ) defines a basis of L(D2n ). m<τ > ≡ m<τ σ> ≡ 0 mod 2}. Hence < 1. The case f = X 4 + b is left to the reader. V =< τ. X2 ). b(a2 − 4b) > √ √ < τ σ > K(pb. −X1 X2 . Xτ σ =χτ σ − χτ + 2χV − χσ − 2χG ∈ B. −a(a2 − 4b). U ∈R(D8 ) Proof. We get X T (D8 ) = {χ = mU χU : χ ∈ L(G). If mτ σ is even. Consider the generic situation: K = Q(X1 . −X1 (X12 − 4X2 ). For any cyclic group U ⊂< σ 2 >. We only give a sketch of the proof. Let n ≥ 2. Proof. −2a. Assume a 6= 0. χτ σ = χG<τ σ> . U 6= 1 set [G : U ] XU =χU − χσ ∈ B. There is an irreducible polynomial f = X 4 + aX 2 + b ∈ K[X] such that N is the splitting field of f over K. pa − 4b)2 2× < 1.10. −X2 (X12 − 4X2 ) > does not represents 2.

V ∈ G2 be non-trivial subgroups of G2 such that U is normal in G2 and V 6= G. 3. ab are not squares in K ? and such √ the qua- dratic forms √ < 1.H (X)). Since L(D8 )/T (D8 ) has exponent 2. b. −qb > implies √ 2× < 1. where d = deg(qG. b >. set [G : U ] − 2 XU =χU − χ2 − χσ ∈ B. Proof. which is cyclic over K( b) if and only if < 1.U 6=G2 For any normal subgroup U we get (χG 2 2 G2 U ) = [G : U ]χU . −2. we are done. Then for any subgroup H < G with ∩σ∈G σHσ −1 = 1 we get IM (G. Groups with dihedral Sylow 2-group. Let a.H (χH )) modulo 2. −a. set [G : U ] XU =χU − χσ + χV − 2χG ∈ B. Hence mG2 ≡ [G : H] mod 2. q ∈ K ? parametrizes √ the D8 -extensions which contain √ a.H (X) ≡ (X − [G : H])d mod F2 [X]. Then χG G2 U ·χV ∈ 2B(G2 ). Then χ = aU χG U + 2χ̃. −q. we only have to consider the coefficients of resG G G2 (qG. ab > are isometric.3]. 2qΘ). We know that mG2 is the number of fixed points of the action of G2 on G/H. −2. 2 U ∈R(D8 ) We get qG. b >' 2× < q. 2 since mτ ≡ mτ σ mod 2 for any element in L(D8 ). q. 2a >'< 1. b. Let G be a finite group with Sylow 2-group a dihedral group of order 2n ≥ 8. ON TRACE FORMS AND THE BURNSIDE RING 51 If U ⊂< τ. b > and < a. The complete classification of groups with dihedral Sylow 2-group can be found in [Gor68][16. b and which are cyclic √over K( b). Hence G2 G2 χ ≡ m2τ (χG 2 2 2 G2 2 G2 G2 τ ) + mτ σ (χτ σ ) ≡ mτ (2χτ + χ1 ) + mτ σ (2χτ σ + χ1 ) ≡ (mτ + mτ σ )χG 1 ≡ 0 mod 2B(G).H (X)). 2 If U = 6 G is a non-cyclic subgroup with τ σ ∈ U . b ∈ K ? . ¤ 5. where U runs over all nontrivial 2 2 cyclic subgroups of < σ >. a. Let X resG G G2 (χH ) = mU χGU . Further χ̃ ∈ B(G2 ). Further L/K is contained in a D16 exten- sion. Proposition 5. 2 Now we have to prove 2χ ∈ T (D2n ) for any χ ∈ B. a.1. Let n = 3. qb > . if K( 2qθ) is contained in a D16 - extension. −q. Since d = 2.H) = (qG. This follows by induction using corollary 4 [DEK97] and a fact from the theory of embedding problems which we recall now (Theorem 6 [Kim90]). Let U. b. Set Θ = a + a. Some applications 5. such that a. Hence 2× < K( 2qθ) >' 2× < 1. P Now consider n ≥ 4. 2× < 1. 4. 2 . a. Therefore X G2 2 χ = (resG G G2 (χH ) − [G : H]χG2 ) ≡ m2U (χG 2 2 U ) mod 2B(G). qb > . We get p < K( 2qΘ) >'< 1. b. σ 4 > is a non-cyclic group. qab >'< 1. The case b = −1 in [Kim90] has to be treated separately. 2a √>= 0 = 2× < 1.1. qa. −a. Then √ √ L =√K( a. 1. −qb >. U ∈R(D8 ).

H3 of order 4 in Q8 }. By [Epk98] proposition 7 we get Proposition 5. . ˜ ˜ ∈ T (G2 ) ⊂ L(G2 ). 2 i=1 Further bi = ]{τ ∈ G2 \G/H : G2 ∩ τ Hτ −1 = Hi }. mH1 ≡ mH2 ≡ mH3 mod 4 for all H<Q8 subgroups H1 . 2 ¤ 5.2. (2) ]H ≡ 2 mod 4. Hence 3 X resG 2 G G (qG.2 we have to determine the coefficients of χG G2 G Hi in resG (qG. Let d = 2. We will prove resG G G (qG. U 6= 1. Therefore rχG where r ∈ Z. By corollary 4 [DEK97] χU ≡ [G22:U ] χG σ mod 2 2 G G G2 T (G2 ) for any U ⊂< σ >.52 MARTIN EPKENHANS G2 We conclude χ · (resG G G2 (χH ) − [G : H]χG2 ) ∈ 2 · B(G2 ).H (X) does not annihilate < L >. (3) ]H ≡ 0 mod 4 and the permutation representation defined by G on G/H contains only even permutations. Let G be a finite group with Sylow 2-group G2 a quaternion group of order 8.H) = (qG.3. H2 . Set n := [G : H] and s := signσ χG H . Groups with quaternion Sylow 2-group.H (X) = (X − n)(X − s). Let us first recall the determination of the trace ideal of the quaternion group Q8 of order 8. Hence b1 = b2 = b3 = 0 if ]H 6≡ 0 mod 4.2. 2 i=1 Since all subgroups of G2 are normal we get χG 2 G2 G2 U χV = [G2 : V ]χ1 if U ⊂ V G2 G2 χHi χHj = χG σ 2 if i 6= j. Since G2 has a unique involution σ we get qG.H (χH )) = a0 χG G2 2 + c0 χG σ 2 + d0 χG 1 2 + bi (2bi + 2a − n − s)χG Hi . Proof. Hence we are done if d = deg(qG. The aim of this section is to give an example where qG. By proposition 2 5.H (χH )) = 2rχσ + 2χ̃ + χ̃. Observe.H (X)) ≥ 3.H (X)) = ((X − n)(X − s)) if one of the following cases occur (1) H is of odd order. Let 2 3 X resG 2 G G2 G2 G2 G (χH ) = aχG2 + cχσ + dχ1 + bi χ G Hi . Then IM (G. Hence resG2 (qG. Let H be a subgroup of G such that G acts faithfully on G/H. that a1 is even. X T (Q8 ) = {χ = mH χH : χ ∈ L(Q8 ).H (χH )). Proposition 5. χ̃ σ + χ̃ ∈ L(G2 ).H (χH )) ∈ T (G2 ) in the cases cited above.

Let H < G be a subgroup with (1) ]H ≡ 0 mod 4 (2) G acts faithfully on G/H. Let G be a finite group with Sylow 2-group G2 ' Q8 . . its Sylow 2-group are cyclic of order 4. Let U be the kernel of the homomorphism sign : G → {1. Let i = 6 j. b3 . Hence σ is the unique involution in G. where {i. We get s = signσ χG H = a + 2b1 + 2b2 + 2b3 + 4c ≡ n mod 8.H (χG G H ) 6∈ T (G). Then bi (2bi + 2a − n − s) − bj (2bj + 2a − n − s) s+n = 2(bi − bj )(bi + bj + a + ) 2 ≡ 0 mod 4 if and only if (bi − bj )(bi + bj + a + n) is even. Hence G is a semidirect product of G2 and A. Proof.H (χH )) 6∈ T (G2 ). k} = {1. but 2qG. that G contains an odd permutation if and only if σi is odd for some i = 1.6.1 U contains a normal subgroup A of index 4 in U . Let Φ : G2 → Aut(A) : π 7→ (x 7→ πxπ −1 ) Assume.5. Since σ is commutes with every π ∈ G2 it lies in the center of G. G can not act faithfully on G/H. 2. which implies σπ = πσ for all π ∈ A. By [Gor68] 7. (2) resG G G (qG. we have to determine the parity of b1 .H (χH ) ∈ T (G). Now we would like to consider the following situation: ]H ≡ 0 mod 4 and G contains an odd permutation. Then (1) G is a semidirect product of G2 and a normal subgroup A of odd order. The con- jugation of G2 on A induces a monomorphism Φ : G2 → Aut(A).4. a contradiction. Since H has even order. Lemma 5. Then σ lies in the kernel of Φ. 2 (3) If A is abelian.4. 3}. that Φ is not injective. b2 . The action of G2 on G/H has the following types of orbits: order of orbit number of orbits isotropy group 1 a G2 2 bi Hi 4 c <σ> 8 d 1 Hence the sign of σi regarded as a permutation on G/H equals (−1)bj +bk . ¤ Observe. j. ON TRACE FORMS AND THE BURNSIDE RING 53 Now suppose ]H ≡ 0 mod 4. By [Hup67] I. (3) the action of (2) contains odd permutations.9 A is a normal subgroup of G. Let σi be a generator of Hi . then qG. 2. ¤ Proposition 5. −1} defined by the action of G on G/H. Since a ≡ n mod 2. Hence s+n 2 ≡ n mod 4. 3. Under the condition above we get: G is a semidirect product of G2 and a normal subgroup A of odd order. Since U is a normal subgroup of index 2.

Since 18 = n = 2b1 + 8d. (2) follows from the remark following the proof of proposition 5. 2(X − 18)(X − 2) ) = {(X − 18)(X − 2)f (X) : f (X) ∈ Z[X]. We get ½ (2) X(X − n)(X − s). Then H2 ⊂ τ Hτ −1 for some τ ∈ G = AQ8 . Hence resQ G Q8 Q8 Q8 G (qG.7. The ideal of the left hand side has index 2 in ((X − 18)(X − 2)). By proposition 5. which contains a quaternion group of order 8.H (X) = X(X − n)(X − s)(X − 2b1 ). Let H = H1 < Q8 be a group of order 4.H) = ( X(X − 18)(X − 2).H) ⊂ ((X − 18)(X − 2)). We conclude that b1 is odd. Let A = Z3 × Z3 and set G = A ×Φ Q8 . Then Aut(A) ' S IM (G. Therefore ϕQ8 (S) = ϕH2 (S) = 8 ϕH3 (S) = 0. Claim: b2 = b3 = 0.6.5. Claim: c = ]{τ ∈ H\G/Q8 : Q8 ∩ τ Hτ −1 =< σ >} = 0. which is impossible. As above. Let Φ : Q8 → Aut(A) be a monomorphism and set G = A ×Φ Q8 . Observe. 2(X − 18)(X − 2)) ⊂ IM (G.5 in [Hup98] gives 18 · ](Gσ ∩ H) 18 s= = 6= 10. We can assume that H1 < Q8 is a Sylow 2-group of H. d 6= 0 we get s = 2. Assume σ ∈ τ Hτ −1 for some non-trivial element τ ∈ A.H (X) = p(X). We get n = [G : A] = 18. Now ( X(X − 18)(X − 2). if c = 0 pG. Hence we are in the situation of proposition 5.H (χH )) = b1 χH1 + cχσ + dχ1 . Then τ is an eigenvector according to the eigenvalue 1 of the linear map defined by Φ(σ). ¤ Now choose a group A of odd order such that the automorphism group of A contains a quaternion group of order 8.5(3) we are done. ϕ1 (S) = n. (3) is a consequence of (2) and proposition 4. ϕσ (S) = s = 2b1 + 4c and ϕH1 (S) = 2b1 . we can choose τ ∈ A.3. that the automorphism group of A is a double cover of the symmetric group S4 . Proof. ]Gσ ]Gσ Hence s = 2. We now (2) determine the polynomial pG. Since H2 is normal in Q8 .H (X) = (X − 18)(X − 2) and p2 (X) = X(X − 18)(X − 2). Hence a = 0. if c 6= 0. which implies qG. f (0) ≡ 0 mod 2}. Assume b2 6= 0.54 MARTIN EPKENHANS Proof. ¤ . Let H be a subgroup of G with ]H ≡ 4 mod 8. where Φ : Q8 → f4 is a monomorphism. But Φ(σ) = −id. Now we give a concrete example. Hence signσ χGH = s = 2b1 = φH (S). Lemma 11. By Sylow’s theorem we get H2 = τ H1 τ −1 for some τ ∈ A. or s = 10. Example 5. 8 i=1 U <Q8 We know mU = ]{τ ∈ Q8 \G/H : Q8 ∩ τ Hτ −1 = U }. let 3 X X resQ8 G G (χH ) = aχQ Q8 8 + cχQ σ 8 + dχQ 1 8 + bi χQ Hi = 8 mU χQ U .

Ann. Then qG. Then pG. The result on IM (P M L(2. 209–234.H) = (qG. P GL(2.H (X) = (X −2)(X −n). By lemma 3.H (X) = (X − 1)(X − 3)(X − p) and IM (G. q). Math. . The Galois number is 4 in each case (see proposition 11. Algebra 192 (1997).H ) = (pG. p) of degree p. We calculate qG. Atlas of finite Groups.H ) = (qG. then IM (G.H ) = (qG. qG. Curtis. Dress. Some examples We close by giving some more examples. Martin Epkenhans.T. 81–96.q). ON TRACE FORMS AND THE BURNSIDE RING 55 6. Conner.H ) = (pG. S.2. P M L(2. (2) Consider A7 in its doubly transitive representation of degree 15. Let G be a Frobenius group of degree n.H) = (qG.H) = (qG. We know G = P SL(2. [Dre71] A. On the computation of the trace form of some Galois extensions.24 in [EG99]). [Con87] P. (1) If n is odd.H (X) with the help of the character table in the ATLAS [CCN+ 85]. 309 (1997). J. Beaulieu and T. Let G be a Zassenhaus group of degree n.H ). Clarendon Press London. 137–157. Proposition 6.M. Proposition 6.3 X − 1 divides pG. q). Wilson.H) = (BG. then IM (G. Palfrey. Conway. Al- gebra 18 (1971). If G = P SL(2. and R.H (X) = (X − 1)(X − 3)(X − 15) and IM (G.H) = (BG. then (2) IM (G. (2) Proof. A proof of the conjecture concerning algebraic Witt classes.H ) = X(X − n). Then (2) pG. 11 consider the doubly transitive group (2) P SL(2. Parker. then (2) IM (G. Then pG.H ) = ((X − 1)(X − n)). 1985. The Grothendiek ring of monomial permutation representations. 1999. ¤ Proposition 6. References [BP97] P.A. R.3. Norton.W. (1) For p = 7.H) = (qG. q). (2) (2) Let n be even. R.P. Then IM (G. to appear. and Martin Krüskemper. (2) Let n be even.H (X).H ). unpublished. (b) If q ≡ 1 mod 4 and G 6= P GL(2.A. q) with q odd.14.E.H (X) = X(X − 2)(X − n). [EG99] Martin Epkenhans and Oliver Gerstengarbe.H) = (qG.1. On the Galois number and minimal degree of doubly transitive groups. J. (a) If q ≡ 3 mod 4 or G = P GL(2. [DEK97] Christof Drees.H ) = (X − n).H) is unknown at present. [CCN+ 85] J.H (X) is an annihilating polynomial since the Sylow 2-groups are elementary abelian or dihedral of order 8. (1) If n is odd. 1987.H ) = ((X − 3)(X − p)). q). q).H.H ) = ((X − 3)(X − 15)). The Galois number.

New York. Walter de Gruyter. 90 (1987). 1987. Theorie des Nomb. Tokyo. 631–633. Acta Mathematica et Informatica Universitatis Ostraviensis 6 (1998). Heidelberg. Lon- don. [Hup98] Bertram Huppert.de . Berlin. Diophantine geometry. Springer-Verlag. London. Heinrich Matzat. Heidelberg.Folge. New York. An analogue of Pfister’s local-global principle in the Burnside ring. 1962. Ergebnisse der Mathematik und ihrer Grenzgebiete. Tokyo. Witt rings as integral rings. Field arithmetic. Quadratic and hermitian forms. 116–120. 11. étale algebras. 75 (2000). Springer-Verlag. Heidelberg. Berlin. Bd. Heidelberg. J. [Gor68] D. 1986. New York. Explicit classifications of some 2-extensions of a field of characteristic dif- ferent from 2. 1967. Berlin. Finite groups III. Lewis. Gorenstein. Paris. Heidelberg. Berlin. Annihilating polynomials. Grundlehren der mathematischen Wissenschaften 270. [Lan62] Serge Lang. Harper and Row. [Hup67] Bertram Huppert. Math. trace forms and the Galois number. Springer-Verlag. Math. XLII (1990). Lecture Notes in Mathematics 1284. Finite Groups. [Lew87] D. London. 1998. Endliche Gruppen I. New York. Expositions in Mathematics. W. Berlin. Grundlehren der mathema- tischen Wissenschaften 243. Springer-Verlag. Arch. Character theory of finite groups. Tokyo. [LM00] D. 825–855.56 MARTIN EPKENHANS [Epk98] Martin Epkenhans. 1982. McGarraghy. [HB82] Bertram Huppert and Norman Blackburn. [Epk99] Martin Epkenhans. Grundlehren der mathematischen Wis- senschaften 134. 1968. Can. Lewis and S. New York. FB Mathematik University of Paderborn D-33095 Paderborn Germany E-mail address: martine@uni-paderborn. Springer-Verlag. Konstruktive Galoistheorie. Fried and Moshe Jarden. W. Bordeaux 11 (1999). New York. [FJ86] Michael D. J. [Sch85] Winfried Scharlau. On Vanishing Theorems for Trace Forms. 69–85. Paris. [Kim90] Ian Kiming. 1985. Berlin. Invent. [Mat87] B. New York. 31–44. New York. 3. Mat. Interscience.

Wall Introduction Suppose A an algebra over a field K (e. It is our object here to outline the main features of this theory.g. we also omit the discussion of automorphisms which was included in the earlier manuscript.Contemporary Mathematics Equivariant Brauer groups A. [6]).g. This programme is performed in detail (for finite.or. provided with an involutory anti-automorphism σ (e. super-algebras. Suppose A semi-simple: then we may decompose A as a sum of simple algebras. induced by g 7→ g −1 for g ∈ G). However a further lengthy (1971) preprint ‘Generalisations of the Brauer group I’1 never attained final form. when the quadratic forms also decompose. most of which involve verifications of identities.C.never written . The next section is devoted to the construction of categories of modules and of algebras which satisfy these conditions. We will omit the proofs. and to seek to calculate such groups.was to include Brauer groups of graded . Part of our motivation came from algebraic number theory: an example was developed in [2]: see also [3. and this was the manuscript in which the extension to include anti-automorphisms was developed. [2]. We are thus led to contemplate a Brauer group of central simple algebras with involution. Fröhlich and C. as they later became known. or look at higher K-groups on the other. We begin with general definitions and results about Γ-graded monoidal categories. and the single anti-automorphism of order 2 by a group Γ of automorphisms and anti- automorphisms. There are natural generalisations in several directions. §8]. c °0000 (copyright holder) 57 . We then obtain a number of exact sequences relating the groups and 1II .T. There are natural definitions of σ-symmetric bilinear and quadratic forms (see e. local and global fields) in [6]. we may seek to simplify A. In order to classify forms. and then use a Morita-type theory of algebras- with-involution to reduce to the case when A is a division ring. Also. The plan of the paper is as follows. a group algebra K[G]). A theory encompassing several of these generalisations was worked out by us about 30 years ago. [3] and [7]. We may replace K by an arbitrary commutative ring R (or even by an arbitrary scheme).g. along with the Brauer group. and parts of it were published in [1]. we may consider projective class groups and unit groups on one hand.

C) to be the category of Γ-functors F : Γ → C and natural transformations (of grade 1): we omit Γ from the notation if it is clear which group Γ is. and we have a (forgetful) natural transformation T : Rep → Ker. an object E of C. Write U (C) for the abelian group (of ‘units’) of automorphisms (of grade 1) of the identity element E of C. There is a natural action of Γ on U (C) defined as follows. γ ∈ Γ there is an equivalence f ∈ C with domain C and grade γ. A Γ-graded monoidal category consists of a stably Γ-graded category (C. We have a category Γ − MC of Γ-graded monoidal categories. An object of Rep(C) thus consists of an object C of C together with a representation of Γ by automor- phisms of C. there is a natural action of Γ on k(C) defined as follows. FRÖHLICH AND C. a covariant Γ-functor ∇ : C ×Γ C → C (so only morphisms of the same grade can be ‘added’). Up to this point the group Γ is fixed: in the final section we indicate the effect of varying it.C. If u ∈ U (C). If Γ is an abstract group. a Γ-grading on a category C is a functor g : C → Γ. with image contained in the invariant part H 0 (Γ. c and e. c. choose a morphism h : E → E of grade γ and define uγ := h−1 ◦ u ◦ h. The functor T (C) induces a homomorphism kRep(C) → kKer(C). kKer(C)): we will denote the map kRep(C) → H 0 (Γ. In §5 we return to the abstract theory to seek a justification for this pattern: this leads to some open questions. In [3] we defined a category MC of monoidal categories.T. The grading is stable if for all C ∈ ob C. and natural equivalences (of grade 1) a. For C a Γ-graded monoidal category.58 A. . a covariant functor ∇ : C ×C → C. A monoidal category consists of a category C. and give explicit interpretations of several groups previously defined abstractly. [4]). if ∆ is a subgroup of Γ we have a functor Γ − MC → ∆ − MC defined by forget- ting all morphisms other than those whose grade belongs to ∆. 1. g). choose a mor- phism f : X → Y of grade γ and define [X]γ := [Y ]. we denote this by Ker : Γ − MC → MC. From now on we drop g from the notation. WALL monoids we have defined. For any morphism f . kKer(C)) by TC . and natural equivalences a : A∇(B∇C) → (A∇B)∇C. These form a particularly satisfying pattern when the grading group Γ is finite. we refer to g(f ) as the grade of f . Graded monoidal categories The concept of monoidal category is now classical (see e. though we may make Γ explicit when needed. An object A of C is said to be invertible if there exist an object B and an isomorphism A∇B → E. Here and below we will omit discussion of compatibility with the natural equivalences a. If X ∈ ob (C) and γ ∈ Γ. e satisfying the standard identities. We have a functor Rep : Γ − MC → MC. a covariant Γ-functor E : Γ → C (whose image object is also denoted E). If C is stably graded. we define Rep(Γ. we write k(C) for the abelian monoid of iso- morphism classes of objects of C. Thus k(C) is a group if and only if all objects of C are invertible. More trivially.g. For any monoidal category C. If ∆ is trivial. c : A∇B → B∇A and e : E∇A → A satisfying certain standard identities.

We aim to obtain exact sequences to calculate such groups. 7. and is exact if all objects are invertible. c. U (C)) which is exact up to kRep(C). a strictly coherent group-like category is equivalent to a group category. C) (zero in negative degrees). the map cC.C δn.5] yield a sequence of abelian monoids φ µ ω S(C) : 1 → H 1 (Γ. U (C)). H 0 (Γ. H 1 (Γ. Γ) := Kn (Rep(Γ. which is functorial in an appropriate sense.C H(C) : . but will be satisfied in important examples below. and establish an exact sequence [3. and K1 (C) with the group U (C). it is convenient here to recall the general construction of ‘twisting’ described in [3. and in particular some group categories. These conditions on a monoidal category are very restrictive. Let C be a monoidal category. s2 : C → D to be equivalent if. It is shown in [3.2] αn. we need to construct some stable Γ-graded monoidal categories. In particular. . §5] that if. EQUIVARIANT BRAUER GROUPS 59 We have [7] algebraic K-theory groups Kn (C) := Kn (Ker(C)). and define the equivariant algebraic K-groups to be Kn (C. The equivariant Brauer group which is our main interest is an equivariant K2 group (but of a 2-category: we return to this in §5). A more K-theoretic formulation of this was given in [7]. the formula θC (u) := eC ◦ (u∇1C ) ◦ e−1C defines an automorphism (of grade 1) of C. . elementary arguments [3. C) ∼ = kRep(C). e. and θC : U (C) → Aut C (C) is a homomorphism. If C is a Γ-graded group category. s2 = s1 ◦ θC (u). Moreover we have an isomorphism S(C) ∼ = H 1 (C). C) −→ H n−1 (Γ. §11]: we again omit details relating to compatibility with the equivalences a. The projective category (so-called because of the relation to projective rep- resentations) P C is defined as follows. before proceeding to explicit examples. We define a {±1}-graded category C ∗ by setting Ker C ∗ := C and . we can define cohomology groups H n (Γ. U (C)) and H 2 (Γ. If C is a precise monoidal category we say that C is group-like if every object and every morphism is invertible. U (C)). Given a stable Γ-graded monoidal category C. 4. Again. In order to use all this. U (C)) . k(C)) −→ H n+1 (Γ. We can identify K0 (C) with the ‘Grothendieck group’ of the monoid k(C). for some u ∈ U (C).C βn. Define two morphisms s1 . k(C)) ∼ = kRep(P C). If the objects of C form a group under the composition law ∇. C) ∼ = H 0 (Γ. However. c and e is equal to the corresponding identity. . which is an isomorphism if C is invertible. and D : C → C a morphism in MC such that there is a natural equivalence j : I → D ◦ D with Dj = jD. we call C a group category. C). we have isomorphisms H 0 (Γ. We will discuss it in more detail in §5. C)). for all C ∈ ob (C).C : C∇C → C∇C is the identity — we then say that C is strictly coherent — then C is equivalent to a precise category. where H 1 (C) denotes the part of H(C) between H 1 (Γ. For u ∈ U (C) and C ∈ ob (C). H n (Γ. Then P C has the same objects as C and its morphisms are the equivalence classes of those of C (equivalence respects the grade). A monoidal category is called precise if each of the natural equivalences a. A functor F : C → D induces a morphism S(F ) of sequences. . U (C)) −→ C C kRep(C) −→ C kRep(P C) −→ H 2 (Γ. U (C)) −→ H n (Γ. See also [5] for a reinterpretation of the groups H n (Γ.

Then Rep(E ModF ) is equivalent to the category of bimodules with Γ-action. so the action of Γ on E is given by an involution σ. Fix a group Γ and a homomorphism w : Γ → {±1}. f ∈ F . j) and (C 0 . If C is Γ-graded. for each P ∈ ob C. m ∈ M. we add an affix + to the notation to signify if (Γ. First suppose w trivial. From now on we fix a commutative ring R. D. If w(γ) = −1. The pair (Γ. w)-ring consists of a ring E and an action of Γ on the additive group such that (e1 e2 )γ = eγ1 eγ2 if w(γ) = +1 and eγ2 eγ1 if w(γ) = −1. w) is replaced by (Γ. finitely generated projective R-modules. γ) where φ : M → N is a morphism of additive groups with φ(emf ) = eγ φ(m)f γ for all e ∈ E. 1). Then ModR is a Γ-graded monoidal category. If G is a further Γ-ring there are functors ⊗F : (E ModF ) ×Γ (F ModG ) → E ModG . a morphism of grade γ from an E-F -bimodule M to an F -E-bimodule M 0 is a group homomorphism φ such that φ(emf ) = f γ φ(m)eγ for all e ∈ E. Define GenR to be the subcategory of ModR whose objects are the R-progenerators. WALL letting the morphisms of grade −1 from P to P 0 correspond to C-morphisms from DP to P 0 . f ∈ F. w) will be fixed throughout §2-§5. write ModR (= Z ModR ) for the category of R-modules. Composition with a morphism P 0 → P 00 of grade +1 is defined in the natural way. i. we can enhance a functor T : C → C 0 to T ∗ : C ∗ → C 0 ∗ provided we are given a natural transformation h : D0 ◦ T → T ◦ D such that.C. and will usually be omitted from the notation. Construction of categories of modules and algebras We use ‘ring’ to mean ring with identity element. However.e. given two triples (C. Similarly. HomF : (E Modop F ) ×Γ (G ModF ) → G ModE of Γ-graded monoidal categories. FRÖHLICH AND C. which we say is obtained from C by twisting. the same construction works to give a Γ × {±1}-graded monoidal category C ∗ . the composite with f : P → P 0 or with f : DP → P 0 is defined by g ◦ Df or by g ◦ Df ◦ jP respectively. R) of objects and inverse duals f ∗ for morphisms gives an . A (Γ. 2. first observe that taking duals M ∗ = HomR (M. If Γ is a group. the category E ModF of E-F -bimodules is enhanced to a Γ- graded category by defining a morphism M → N of grade γ to be a pair (φ. and consider only R-modules (and algebras) such that the left and right actions of R agree.60 A. A case of particular interest for the application to quadratic forms is when w is an isomorphism. and whose morphisms are the invertible ones of all grades. we may restrict to the morphisms whose grades belong to Γw to obtain a Γw -graded monoidal category. if g : DP 0 → P 00 defines a morphism in C ∗ of grade −1. This is a stable Γ-graded monoidal category. a Γ-ring consists of a ring E together with an action of Γ by ring automorphisms. Now if w : Γ → {±1} is a homomorphism. D0 . where — as throughout §2-§4 — we take tensor product ⊗ as the operator ∇. with graph Γw ⊂ Γ × {±1}. This composition is associative since Dj = jD. If E and F are Γ-rings. T jA = hDA ◦ D0 hA ◦ jT A. faithful. m ∈ M . To deal with the case when w is non-trivial.T. j 0 ) satisfying the conditions.

The category CR is strictly coherent. if σ 2 = 1. anti-homomorphism h : A → B. M 0 . µ) with M and M 0 progenerators and µ non-singular. φ : M → N 0 . φ : M → N . the embedding functor M 7→ (M. We can interpret a morphism M → N of grade γ in GenR with w(γ) = −1 is a morphism M ∗ → N of grade γ in Gen+ R . We may thus work with the latter when this is more convenient. u∗ = u−1 . µ) with M an E-F - bimodule. φ0 .e. m1 ). φ0 : M 0 → N . We can now use the twisting construction defined earlier. γ) where φ and φ0 are morphisms of grade γ and if w(γ) = 1. N 0 .e. Given h : Γ → Aut E PairF (M. Since morphisms in GenR of grade γ with w(γ) = −1 correspond to ho- momorphisms M ∗ → N . µσ is hermitian. Then if h. hence equivalent to a group category. m2 ) = µ(m1 . The objects are associative R-algebras with identity and if w = 1. . The unit group U (CR ) = U (GenR ) = U (ModR ) is identified with the group U (R) of units of R. satisfies h(xy) = h(y)h(x)). M 0 . i. which is a morphism of grade γ in ModR . φ0 : M 0 → N 0 . ν) of grade γ is a triple (φ. µ). define µσ : M × M → E by µσ (m1 . we may reformulate the definitions as follows. We may thus again apply the twisting construc- tion. rank 1 projectives: these form a category CR . m0 )γ . φ0 (m0 )) = µ(m. M 0 . m2 ) = µσ (hσ2 (m2 ). µ) → (N. Taking op- posite algebras defines an equivalence op : AlgR ∼= AlgR of Γ-graded monoidal categories. The invertible objects of GenR are the invertible R-modules. and k(CR ) is the Picard group or class group C(R) of R. and in both cases ν(φ(m). Write iR : CR → GenR for the inclusion functor. A morphism (M. i) is an equivalence of Γ-graded monoidal categories from GenR onto GenPairR . i : M × M ∗ → R is the canonical pairing. First define the category E PairF (where E and F are rings) to have objects triples (M. EQUIVARIANT BRAUER GROUPS 61 equivalence ∗ : GenR ∼ = GenR of Γ-graded monoidal categories so that ∗∗ ∼ = 1GenR . There is a functor ⊗F : (E PairF ) ×Γ (F PairG ) → E PairG of monoidal Γ-graded categories. M 0 . Then µσ is sesquilinear and reflexive: µσ (m1 . i. so that op ◦op ∼= 1. Thus a morphism (h. and let GenPairR de- note the full subcategory of PairR whose objects are triples (M. a morphism (h. leading to a well-defined Γ-graded monoidal category GenR . Note that the class cl (M ) ∈ C(R) of M ∈ ob (CR ) satisfies cl (M ∗ ) = cl (M )−1 and for u ∈ U (GenR ). M ∗ . Now for R commutative define PairR := Z PairR . We now define the category AlgR . or equivalently to pairings between M ∗ and N ∗ . The induced action of Γ on both C(R) and U (R) is thus obtained from the + corresponding action for CR by tensoring by w: care is needed with signs in all cases when w is not trivial. hσ (m2 )). h. γ) : A → B of grade γ is given by a ring homomorphism h which is a morphism of grade γ in ModR . There is a natural definition of composition in each case. We inherit actions of Γ on U (R) and C(R). if w(γ) = −1. γ) : A → B of grade γ with w(γ) = −1 is given by a ring homomorphism of Aop to B (equivalently. M 0 an F -E-bimodule and µ : M × M 0 → E a pairing that defines an E-E-bimodule map M ⊗F M 0 → E.

τA ). We define new stable Γ-graded monoidal categories QAlgR and QAzR whose objects are those of AlgR or AzR respec- tively. FRÖHLICH AND C. (iii) τAop (aop ) = τA (a). If w is trivial. γ) be morphisms in GenR .T.1. (iv) if f : A → B is a Γ-ring isomorphism of grade γ. which we can take as h.62 A.C. then Rep(End R )(X. End R : GenR → AzR . (g. γ) = (u. and hence induces a morphism from AzR to GenR . a2 ) = τA (a1 a2 ) is non- singular. Taking the endomorphism ring defines a morphism in Γ − MC in the op- posite direction. γ) if and only if. for some u ∈ C(R). which allows us to extend to the twisted case. 1) ◦ (g. (f. (ii) we have τA (a2 a1 ) = τA (a1 a2 ). If (X. GenR ). whose image Inn (A) con- sists of the inner automorphisms. Both AlgR and AzR are stable Γ-graded monoidal categories. where γ acts by conjugation with the semi-linear automorphism or anti-auto- morphism h(γ) according as w(γ) = 1 or −1. this induces functors Lin R : AlgR → ModR and Lin R : AzR → GenR of Γ-graded monoidal categories. (i) Let M. which is defined for Azumaya algebras and has the properties: (i) the pairing TA : A × A → R given by TA (a1 . γ). More directly. This is clear if w is trivial. γ) = End R (g. Here (i) shows that the map A → A∗ induced by TA has an inverse. h) is an object of Rep(Γ. Then End R (f. M = N ⊗R P . AzR ) given by the algebra End R (X). N ∈ ob (GenR ). (iii) The functor End R : GenR → AzR factors as RP P End GenR −→ P GenR −→R AzR . The fibre of the functor End is described by Lemma 2. and there is an equivalence End R ◦ ∗ ∼ = op ◦ End R of functors of Γ-graded monoidal cate- gories. Then End R (M ) = ∼ End R (N ) if ∼ and only if. (ii) and (iii) imply compatibility with the equivalences ‘j’. and check that this defines a functor of Γ-graded monoidal categories. For this we use the reduced trace τA : A → R. γ). for some P ∈ ob (CR ). To extend to the case when w is non-trivial we require a natural equivalence h : (Lin R A)∗ → Lin R (Aop ). we can define Lin R : AzR → GenPairR by Lin R (A) := (A. Thus the functor op End R is cofinal. τB (f (a)) = τA (a)γ . h) is the object of Rep(Γ. Write Lin R : AlgR → ModR for the forgetful functor from an algebra to the underlying module. and (v) with sums. WALL We pick out the subcategory AzR of AlgR whose objects are the Azumaya (central separable) algebras and whose morphisms are the invertible ones only. but morphisms are equivalence classes of morphisms under the relation f ∼ g : if f = g ◦ a for some a ∈ A× . Taking inner automorphisms gives a homomorphism A× → Aut (A) of the multiplicative group A× of invertible elements of A. (v) τA⊕B = τA ⊕ τB . (ii) Let (f. so that h : Γ → Aut GenR (X). There is now a Γ − MC- equivalence 1AzR ⊗R op ∼ = End R ◦ Lin R induced by the standard isomorphism ∼ jA : A ⊗R A = End R (A) given by jA (a ⊗ bop )(c) = acb. (iv) yields the commutative diagram required for compatibility. A.

to have objects R-algebras. M ∼ = M. Then BR is a stable Γ-graded monoidal category. M1op ⊗R M2op ∼ = (M1 ⊗R M2 )op . since End R (A) is equivalent in Mod − AlgR to R. If w is trivial. a morphism A → B of grade γ with w(γ) = −1 is a B op − A- bimodule M such that mr = rγ m for r ∈ R. Then we have an endofunctor op which uses opposite algebras. i. δ ∈ Γ there exists a(γ. Equivalently. γ) ◦ ((M ).g. M op ⊗Aop M ∼ = A or equivalently. γ) is an identity morphism. γ) : A → B with w(γ) = 1 to the bimodule Bf whose left B-module structure is that of B and right A module structure given by bf . An object of Rep(Γ. There are natural definitions of composition. and a morphism A → B of grade γ is a B − A- bimodule M such that mr = rγ m for r ∈ R. for each γ. and defining M op as the inverse to M so that e. M ) with A an R-algebra and M an Aop − A- bimodule so that vr = rγ v as above. Then W ◦ op ∼ = op ◦ W . so the functor W extends by twisting to the case w(γ) = −1. and op ◦ op ∼ = 1Mod−AlgR . the construction passes to the twisted case. Thus if w is trivial. The category QAzR is strictly coherent. m ∈ M . Thus BR is equivalent to a group category. M 1 ⊗R M 2 ∼ = M1 ⊗R M2 . an object of Rep(Γ. h) with A an R-algebra and.a = (bf (a))f . an object of Rep(Γ. and ((M ). We now define a functor W : AlgR → Mod − AlgR of Γ-graded monoidal categories. Finally we define the Brauer category BR of R to be the subcategory of Mod − AlgR consisting of Azumaya algebras and invertible morphisms. if w(γ) = −1 we must replace B by B op . and is strictly coherent. QAlgR ) is an R-algebra A together with a family {gγ } of ring automorphisms or antiautomorphisms according as w(γ) = ±1 such that gγ restricts to γ on R. the isomorphism jA : A ⊗R Aop ∼ = End R (Lin R (A)) shows that. m ∈ M . and since QAR ◦ op ∼ = op ◦ QAR . B MA are invertible bimodules. We now extend the definition of Mod − AlgR by twisting to allow non-trivial w. An object A of the category is invertible if and only if there exists another object B with A ⊗ B equivalent to R. It follows that A must be an Azumaya algebra. and if C NB . Aop provides an inverse object to A. Equivalently. and for each γ. QAR : AzR → QAzR . There are quotient functors QAR : AlgR → QAlgR .e. Then op is an equivalence of Γ-graded monoidal categories. if A is Azumaya. then N ⊗B M ∼ = M ⊗B op N and N op ⊗B op M op ∼ = (N ⊗B M )op . The functor W restricts to define a functor . W is the identity on objects. viewing M as an Aop − B op - bimodule M . Conversely. EQUIVARIANT BRAUER GROUPS 63 (the notation draws on the analogy with the construction of the projective cat- egory). and sends the morphism (f. δ)) ◦ gγδ . Now restrict to the subcategory of invertible morphisms. δ) ∈ A× such that gγ ◦ gδ = i(a(γ. v ∈ V and there are isomorphisms Mγ ⊗ Mδ ∼ = Mγδ of A − A-bimodules. identity and tensor product giving the structure of Γ-graded monoidal category. We define the category Mod − AlgR . In the case where w is an isomorphism. Mod − AlgR ) is a pair (A. h(γ) = Mγ an A − A-bimodule such that vr = rγ v for all r ∈ R. in the case when w is trivial. Mod − AlgR ) is a pair (A. isomorphism in this category corresponds to Morita equivalence of algebras.

P GenR )) QAz(R. U (BR ) ∼ = C(R).64 A. Γ). m. and this factors through QAR : AzR → QAzR to define W 0 : QAzR → BR .T. b. Γ)) ∼ = C(R. Exact sequences of k groups and monoids We now introduce notations for the monoids k of the categories Gen. U (B(R. Alg and Mod − Alg were merely used in the constructions). we obtain Proposition 3. b ∈ B and m ∈ M . for the maps of equivariant k groups we add Γ to the subscript. Moreover. ↓PR %P EndR ↓QAR %WR0 P GenR QAzR we denote the induced maps of k groups by the same letters. f ) → (B. FRÖHLICH AND C.Γ : Rep(Γ. If w is non-trivial.1. We need more care in defining the equivariant versions of the Brauer group. Γ). Γ) −→ k(B(R. m0 )) and hγ (amb) = gγ (b)hγ (m)fγ (a) for all a. a morphism (A. Γ) := k(Rep(Γ. . The unit groups of the categories are trivial for P GenR . Here we cannot use the twisting construction since we are not defining a graded category. Γ). Γ) := k(Rep(Γ. Γ) of monoidal categories such that the sequence EndR. Set Gen(R) := k(GenR ) Az(R) := k(AzR ) Gen(R. Its objects are those of Rep(Γ. Γ) := k(Rep(Γ. After some (pages of) checking. However. QAzR )) C(R) := k(CR ) B(R) := k(BR ) C(R. which are R−Γ-algebras A with groups f (Γ) of (anti)automorph- isms. AzR )) P Gen(R. φ. g) is an isomorphism class of pairs (M. 3. and the equivariant class group C(R. First we define the equivariant Brauer category B(R. Az and B. We have various maps induced by the functors R i End W C(R) −→ Gen(R) −→R R Az(R) −→ B(R). a non-singular pairing φ : M × M 0 → A over B with φ(hγ m. Γ) −→ Az(R. BR )) Then also k(P GenR ) = Gen(R) and k(QAzR ) = Az(R). C. The category B(R. Γ) := k(Rep(Γ. we may identify U (GenR ) = U (CR ) = U (R). AzR ) → B(R. M 0 . GenR )) Az(R. h0γ m0 ) = fγ (φ(m. and their projective and equivariant versions (the categories Mod. h. CR )) RB(R. A PairB ) and consider isomorphism classes of quintuplets (M.Γ Gen(R. Γ) := k(Rep(Γ. WALL W : AzR → BR . h0 ) with bimodules A MB .Γ WR. the notations for maps to versions of B(R) will be defined ad hoc. AzR ). The functor WR induces a functor WR. Γ) is a strictly coherent group-like category. Γ) := k(Rep(Γ. Γ) is the maximal subgroup of the monoid Gen(R. B MA0 . If w is trivial.C. AzR and QAzR . h) where M = A MB is an invertible bimodule and h a homomorphism of Γ to the automorphism group of the additive group M such that hγ (amb) = fγ (a)hγ (m)gγ (b) for all a ∈ A. then to define morphisms A → B we start with the category Rep(Γ. Γ)) is exact.

these are . Thus B(R. Γ) is a group. B0 (R. Γ) is the group identified in the introduction as of particular importance. We denote the cokernel — which is a group — by QB(R. more importantly. This construction induces a homomorphism QEndR. so (EndR (M ). Γ) → Az(R.Γ Gen(R. so the isomorphism expresses the fact that equivariant Brauer equivalence is the same as equivariant Morita equiva- lence.0 : P Gen(R. We also add a suffix 0 to denote the restrictions of various maps. EQUIVARIANT BRAUER GROUPS 65 Define B(R. Γ) −→ QB(R. We also have exact sequences S(C) with C any of CR . Γ) −→ Az(R. We write Az0 (R. Γ) ↓TGen ↓QAR. (ii) The following diagram commutes and the top two rows are exact. Γ) := k(B(R. Γ)-Azumaya algebras. Since hγ hδ h−1 γδ has grade −1 1. Az(R)) −→R H 0 (Γ.Γ 1→H 0 (Γ. Γ). C(R)) −→R H 0 (Γ. Γ) −→ B(R. Gen(R)) −→ H 0 (Γ.Γ WR. Explicitly. Γ) −→ Az(R.Γ WR. Γ) → B(R) whose image is contained in the invariant subgroup H 0 (Γ.Γ QEndR. Γ) for the kernels of the respective induced maps to B(R). Γ). Γ) −→ Gen(R. Γ))) ∼ = Coker EndR. Γ) → RB(R.Γ ↓QBR.Γ EndR.Γ ↓QBR. If M ∈ ob(GenR ) represents a class in H 0 (Γ. Γ). B(R)) Exactness for sequences of monoids is interpreted in accordance with the definitions in the appendix to [3]: here. Γ) →1 ↓TC ↓TGen ↓QAR. Gen(R)) → QAz(R. k(B(R.Γ 1→ C(R.Γ QWR. Γ) → RB(R. Γ) −→ B(R. Γ) Since kRep WR0 : QAz(R. (i) End R induces an exact sequence of Γ-modules R i End W 1 → C(R) −→ Gen(R) −→R Az(R) −→ R B(R) → 1. Theorem 3.Γ : H 0 (Γ. Gen(R)) −→ QAz(R. Γ) and QB0 (R. Γ)) is the group of Morita equivalence classes. the functor End R is cofinal. e. Forgetting the group Γ induces a homomorphism QB(R. QAz0 (R. Γ). Γ). an equivariant Morita equivalence induces isomorphisms of categories of quadratic forms. Gen(R)). Define hγ := End(hγ ). there exists a section h to Aut Gen(R) (M ) → Γ. in particular. GenR and BR and. B(R)).2. Γ) −→ QB(R. Recall that if w is an isomorphism.Γ : Gen(R. Here the cokernel is the group of Brauer equivalence classes of (R. hγ hδ hγδ is an inner automorphism of EndR (M ). we have an induced homomorphism θ : QB(R. Γ). Then B(R. Γ) vanishes on the image of H 0 (Γ. Γ) → Az0 (R. Γ). P EndR. Gen(R)) −→ QAz(R.Γ H 0 (Γ. whose maps we denote as follows EndR. Gen(R)). h) defines an object of Rep(Γ.g.Γ H 0 (i ) QEndR. iR. and thus obtain a commutative diagram. Γ) →1 |↓ |↓ ↓ TQAz ↓ TQB H 0 (i ) H 0 (EndR ) H 0 (W ) H 0 (Γ.Γ. C(R)) −→R H 0 (Γ. the equivariant Brauer group.Γ QWR. This object depends only on M and is denoted QEnd(M ). H(C) with C either of CR and BR . QAzR ).

Mγ is an invertible A − A-bimodule of grade γ. .C. we first establish that an algebra representing an element of Ker θ is in Im QEndR. Define κA : Aut + (A) → Aut (A× ) by κA (t)(u) = t(u) if t is an automorphism. We now give two direct constructions of maps to H 3 (Γ. f is a homomorphism of Γ to the quotient Aut + (A)/Inn (A). If (A. γ3 ) := b(γ1 . U (R)). so can be identified with an element of U (R). there is an induced map ξ.B δn. U (R)). U (R)). B(R)) To prove this.B β1. recall that A× denotes the multiplicative group of invertible elements. We thus obtain a well defined cohomology class χ(A. WALL αn. . then to any homomorphism h : Γ → Out (G) is associated a cohomology class c(h) ∈ H 3 (Γ. Given 3 elements γ1 . If G is a group.δ : Mγop ⊗Aop Mδ ∼ = Mγδ . γ3 ) : Mγ0 1 ⊗ Mγ0 2 ⊗ Mγ0 3 −→ Mγ0 1 γ2 γ3 . Set u(γ1 . hence we have a homomorphism κA ◦ f : Γ → Out (A× ) and hence — since we can identify Z(A× ) = U (R) — a cohomology class ρ(A. and if w(γ) = w(δ) = 1 we may choose isomorphisms fγ. BR ) −→ H 0 (Γ. . and then apply Theorem 3. γ3 ). BR ) −→ H n−1 (Γ. .B βn. γ3 )−1 .T. γ2 . C(R)) −→ H 1 (Γ. C(R)) −→ H n (Γ. For A an R-algebra. U (R)) −→ H n (Γ.B H(BR ) .3. This induces a homomorphism κA : Aut + (A)/Inn (A) → Out (A× ). For each γ ∈ Γ with w(γ) = 1. which is injective since θ is. γ2 .B 1 → H 1 (Γ. Z(G)). and the lower is part of H(BR ). γ3 ∈ Γ we get two isomorphisms (of grade 1) a(γ1 .Γ . δ) by multiplying by a fam- ily v(γ. and we get instead an isomorphism fγ. . f ) := c(κA ◦ f ) ∈ H 3 (Γ. Next let (A. This is a grade 1 automor- phism of an invertible module.66 A.2 to see that θ is injective. Further calculations show that u defines a 3-cocycle of Γ with values in U (R). . the obstruction to the existence of a group extension of G by Γ inducing h. If however w(γ) = 1 but w(δ) = −1. C(R)) .C βn. . αn. BR ). Theorem 3. AzR ). γ3 ) · a(γ1 . γ2 . b(γ1 . Mδ is an Aop −A-bimodule. Γ) −→ H 0 (Γ. There is a commutative diagram with exact rows and injec- tive columns 1 → QB0 (R.C H(CR ) . . .δ : Mγ ⊗A Mδ ∼ = Mγδ . γ2 . B(R)) ↓ξ ↓θ |↓ α1. f ) is an object of Rep(Γ. with centre Z(G) and group Out (G) := Aut (G)/Inn (G) of outer automorphisms. and t(u)−1 if t is an anti-auto- morphism. C(R)) −→ H n+1 (Γ. Since the right hand square clearly commutes. (M )) ∈ H 3 (Γ. Now the upper row is trivially exact. Γ) −→ QB(R. (M )) ∈ ob Rep(Γ. and that varying the choice of the isomorphisms f (γ. γ2 . U (R)) . H n (Γ. CR ) −→ H n−1 (Γ. where Mγ0 denotes Mγ or Mγop and the tensor products are over A or Aop according to the values w(γi ). FRÖHLICH AND C. write Aut + (A) for its group of automorphisms and anti- automorphisms.C δn. δ) of elements of U (R) has the effect of multiplying u by the coboundary of v. B(R)) −→ H n+1 (Γ. γ2 . H n (Γ.

g : M1 ⊗R P1 → M2 ⊗R P2 be isomorphisms of additive groups over the morphism α.C α2.5. Then if w(γ) = 1 we have P (γ) ∈ ob (CR ) and a group isomorphism fγ : M → M ⊗R P (γ) such that fγ (am) = tγ (a)fγ (m) for all a ∈ A. C(R)) → RB(R. P iR. Let Γ be finite. The above constructions define (i) a map ρ : QB(R.4. write A M∗R for the category of A − R- bimodules where R acts the same way on both sides. also if w(γ) = −1. Theorem 3. γ2 ) define a cocycle whose class in H 2 (Γ. Finite groups We will now assume Γ to be finite. Γ). so t : Γ → Aut AzR (A). c(γ1 . The following diagram is commutative (up to signs) and the upper row is exact at B0 (R.0 P Gen(R. Γ) → k(Rep(Γ. U (R)) which is zero on the image of B(R.Γ τ QBR. BR )). C(R)) −→ H 2 (Γ. Pi ∈ ob (CR ) for i = 1. The elements c(γ1 . t) ∈ ob (Rep(Γ.Γ.C β2. Γ).0 P C(R. Γ) −→ B0 (R. Mi ∈ ob (Ai M∗R ). Γ) → RB(R. The resulting map ψ 0 : Az0 (R. (ii) A corresponding conclusion holds if Γ acts on R and α is a morphism of grade γ. m ∈ M . Γ) → H 2 (Γ : U (R)) is surjective. Γ) → H 3 (Γ. (i)Let Ai ∈ ob (AzR ). Lemma 3. such that (iii) we have ρ = χ ◦ θ : QB(R. Then (i) the map ωGen : P Gen(R. Let (A. (ii) a homomorphism χ : RB(R.Γ. CR ). Γ). Theorem 4. note that tensor product gives a functor ⊗R :A M∗R × CR →A M∗R . CR ) is independent of the choices of the Pγ and fγ . CR ) is a monoid homomorphism inducing an injective homomorphism ψ : B0 (R. Γ) −→ P Gen(R. γ2 ) : p(γ2 ) → (P (γ1 )∗ ⊗R P (γ1 γ2 ))∗ if w(γ1 ) = −1 such that fγ1 γ2 · fγ−1 2 = [fγ1 .1.6. Γ) → H 3 (Γ.5 we have unique additive isomorphisms ½ P (γ1 )∗ ⊗R P (γ1 γ2 ) if w(γ1 ) = 1 c(γ1 . EQUIVARIANT BRAUER GROUPS 67 Theorem 3. Γ) → H 3 (Γ. With this restriction we can strengthen the foregoing results. Γ) −→ Az0 (R. AzR )). (ii) the following maps are isomorphisms: θ : QB(R. Γ) ↓o ↓ ωGen ↓ψ ↓ξ δ1. Γ) −→ B0 (R. Then there is a unique R-module isomorphism c : P1 → P2 with g = f ⊗R c. Γ) → H 3 (Γ. Denote by τ the composite map P EndR. 2.0 WR. . Suppose we have an invertible A − R-bimodule M . Γ) → H 2 (Γ.Γ. U (R)) up to eventual signs! For A an Azumaya R-algebra. Γ) −→ QB0 (R. m ∈ M . and let α : A1 → A2 be a morphism in AzR and f : M1 → M2 . γ2 )]. U (R)). (iv) we have δCR = χ ◦ αBR : H 1 (Γ. If w(γ) = −1 we have P (γ) ∈ ob (CR ) and a group isomorphism fγ : M → P (γ)∗ ⊗R M ∗ such that fγ (am) = fγ (m)tγ (a) for all a ∈ A. Γ) → H 2 (Γ. From Lemma 3. U (R) −→ H 2 (Γ : CR ) −→ H 1 (Γ. U (R)).C H 0 (Γ. C(R)) 4.

as the rest will follow by diagram chasing using Theorem 3. Then as θ and β1.3 and Theorem 3.124] (with slight change in notation) for the case when w is an isomorphism. as follows (we omit Γ from the notation to make the diagram more readable).C β2. U (R)) ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ QBR. ξ : QB0 (R.2. C(R)).C H 0 (Γ.0 ρ 0 H 0 (Γ. Γ) → B(R.1]. C(R)) −→ H 3 (Γ. Now a few pages of checking show that t defines the desired representation (modulo inner automorphisms) of Γ on B. C(R)) −→ H 2 (Γ. These should form part of an infinite braid involving a new sequence of groups H n (Γ.C. U (R)).C δ2.Γ ρ H 0 (Γ. Γ) → H 0 (Γ. Γ) → H 0 (Γ. Γ) −→ H 3 (Γ. B(R)) → H 3 (Γ.g. We define isomor- phisms gσ : M (σ) ⊗A X ∼ = X by setting gσ (x(σ) ⊗ x(γ)) := fσ. and define fγ (rwδ ) := rγ u(γ.Γ. BR )) repre- sented by an Azumaya algebra A and invertible bimodules M (γ) such that there exist isomorphisms fγ.B are isomorphisms.68 A. We recall the construction. Indeed. Γ) → H 2 (Γ. U (R)) −→ B0 (R.1 is a special case of [3. the lower sequence of (4. suppose C(R) trivial — e. CR ) −→ H 1 (Γ. CR ). take M as the free R-module with basis {wγ | γ ∈ Γ}. Γ) −→ QB0 (R. C(R)) −→ H 2 (Γ. Γ) −→ H 3 (Γ. The exact sequences H(CR ) and H(BR ) in low degrees fit into a commutative braid of exact sequences with the lower sequence of 4. The second map in the second row is defined as ψ −1 ◦ α2. given an element of k(Rep(Γ. The proof of Theorem 4. Γ) → H 1 (Γ. The cocycle property shows that this defines a projective action of Γ. U (R)) Here the upper row is (part of) H(CR ).T. U (R)) → B(R. we set X := ⊕γ∈Γ M (γ) and B := End A (X)op . which we cited in [6. R a field. Then we obtain a commutative diagram with exact rows δ1.6. it suffices to establish the first assertion. U (R)) −→ H 2 (Γ. Prop 11. δ)wγδ . Then M (σ) ⊗A X is an invertible A − B-bimodule. We have already noted that the map is injective.2 and the sequence 0 → B0 (R. Using these and the earlier results we obtain Theorem 4. FRÖHLICH AND C. For example.δ : M (γ) ⊗A M (δ) ∼ = M (γδ) satisfying the appropriate conditions. Let Γ be finite. C(R)) −→ H 2 (Γ. so there is a ring auto- morphism tσ of B such that gσ (m(σ) ⊗ xb) = gσ (m(σ) ⊗ x)tσ (b). p. (i) of Theorem 4. Γ) −→ QB(R.2) reduces to 0 → H 2 (Γ. B(R)). Conversely.C : there is no direct construction. U (R)) k k ↑oψ ↑oξ k QBR. As to (ii). U (R)) −→ B(R. −→ −→ −→ % & % & % & H n−1 (C(R)) H n+1 (U (R)) H n+1 (ER ) H n−1 (B(R)) & % & % & % H n−1 (BR ) H n+1 (CR ) H n (BR ) % & % & % & H n (ER ) H n−2 (B(R)) H n (C(R)) H n+2 (U (R)) & % & % & % −→ −→ −→ . Given a cocycle u : Γ × Γ → U (R). WALL ψ : B0 (R.γ (x(σ) ⊗ x(γ)). ER ). rather in the manner of Hilbert’s ‘Satz 90’.C α2.1 uses the existence of a second operation besides ⊗: namely the direct sum ⊕.

For n = 1 the extension is possible since the Γ-grading on BR is stable - given A there exist invertible bimodules of all grades.k : i Mj ⊗Aj j Mk → i Mk . Define a simplicial space E as follows. and we may then complete the diagram uniquely. Further [7.k ⊗1 ↓fi. 4 and omit the symbol M for brevity: . and higher simplices are filled in when possible. Since Λn−1 contains the (n − 2)-skeleton of ∆n . 2. EQUIVARIANT BRAUER GROUPS 69 Here it follows from the diagram that we need to identify H 0 (ER ) ∼ = H 0 (CR ) ∼ = 0 1 ∼ 1 2 H (U (R)) and H (ER ) = H (CR ).l fi. which is naturally identified with H(C). K−q (C)) and abutment K−n (C. The 1-simplices are the invertible bimodules i Mj = Ai MAj (of all grades). Then BC fibres over BΓ and the fibre BKer C is an infinite loop space with K0 (C) := π0 (BC) = k(C). this is trivial for n ≥ 5. the spectral sequence reduces to an exact sequence. we complete the map of Λ1 defined by the modules i Mj and j Mk by the isomorphism i Mj ⊗Aj j Mk → i Mk . The 0-simplices are the Azumaya R- algebras Ai .l i Mj ⊗ j Mk ⊗ k Ml −→ i Mj⊗ j Ml ∆ijkl : ↓fi. We need to show. that any map into E of the complex Λn−1 (obtained from the standard n-simplex ∆n by deleting the interiors of the n-simplex and of one of its (n − 1)-dimensional faces) extends to a map of ∆n . where we take the subscripts as 0.k. 3. For n = 2 if the missing face is the third. 1. Γ) (we have changed some signs to conform with standard notation for a cohomology spectral sequence). and vanishing higher groups. Finally for n = 4 we are given 4 commutative diagrams and need to establish commutativity of a fifth. This follows from the following diagram. First. 5. K1 (C) := π1 (BC) = U (C). while H (ER ) = B(R. The 3-simplices are the commutative diagrams 1⊗fj.j.q = H p (Γ. For the present purpose we need a slightly more elaborate construction. the argument is essentially the same. and we may use their inverses. If the missing face is different. Since only two groups Kq (C) are non-vanishing. suppose C is a Γ-graded group like category.k. Γ) is our central object of interest. Define a simplicial space BC whose 0-simplices are objects of C. For n = 3 a map of Λ2 gives (perhaps after tensoring with some identity maps) the isomorphisms on 3 edges of the desired commutative diagram. An abstract approach In this section we recall and slightly amplify some results from [7]. We claim that E is a Kan complex. Theorem] there is a spectral sequence with E2p. 2-simplices are commutative triangles of morphisms.j. for each n.j. 1-simplices are morphisms (of all grades). and hence that E → BΓ is a Kan fibration. We turn to the methods of [7] to seek a direct approach to this conjecture.l i Mk ⊗ k Ml −→ i Ml and the n-simplices for n > 3 are the maps of the 3-skeleton of the standard n-simplex to the partial complex just constructed. There is a map to the classifying complex BΓ which takes each 1-simplex to its grade. since all the bimodules are invertible. The 2-simplices are the bimodule isomorphisms fi.

and hence. that if Γ has finite order N . as desired. and i : ∆ → Γ the inclu- sion of a subgroup. γ) : x → xγ | x ∈ X.7] N annihi- lates H n (Γ. composing e. Change of groups For the case of graded monoidal categories.T. as in the case first described. B(R) if q = 0. with k. 7. the spectral sequence is that of a filtered complex 0 ⊂ F0 ⊂ F1 ⊂ F2 of free Γ-modules. γ ∈ Γ}. H(X) := HomΓ (XΓ . zero in negative degrees. C) for n ≥ 2: this result is useful in some applications. C(R) and B(R) respectively. There is thus again a spectral sequence. WALL (01) ⊗ (12) ⊗ (23) ⊗ (34) −→ −→ −→ (01) ⊗ (12) ⊗ (24) ↓ & . the fibre is an infinite loop space. of the right square from ∆0124 . We content ourselves here with a brief summary. of the left square follows from taking the tensor product of M34 with the simplex ∆0123 . and so is not easily interpreted. C) → H i (∆. and H defines a Mackey functor from the category of finite Γ-sets to the homotopy category of MC. there is an algebraic model for the spectral sequence. 6. For Γ a group. If. We conjecture that. Unfortunately. ↓ (02) ⊗ (23) ⊗ (34) −→ (02) ⊗ (24) ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ (03) ⊗ (34) −→ (04) ↓ % . If C is a Γ-graded monoidal category. and 0 otherwise. FRÖHLICH AND C. for example. Thus the two ‘new’ sequences at the end of §4 would be the exact cohomology sequences belonging to F0 → F2 → F2 /F0 and F1 → F2 → F2 /F1 respectively.C. ↓ (01) ⊗ (13) ⊗ (34) −→ −→ −→ (01) ⊗ (14) Here commutativity of the outer square follows from taking the tensor product of M01 with the simplex ∆1234 . a rather full discussion of con- structions involving change of groups was given in [3.g. §9]. then [3. It follows. given in terms of some cochain model. We then expect that. and the hypercohomology groups of F1 and F2 /F0 give the equivariant cohomology groups of the categories CR and BR . If C is group-like we may compose with H i (Γ. of the centre square from ∆0234 . and of the upper square from the identity (f ⊗ 1)(1 ⊗ g) = (1 ⊗ g)(f ⊗ 1) where f and g are the morphisms corresponding to the 1-simplices 012 and 234. −) to get a Mackey functor to abelian groups. up to chain homotopy equivalence. such that F0 . C(R) if q = 1. of the lower square from ∆0134 . C) . Let C be a Γ-graded group-like monoidal category. Then there are restriction maps i∗ : H i (Γ.70 A. to the category of abelian monoids. F1 /F0 and F2 /F1 give free resolutions of U (R). C) can be considered a monoidal category. commutativity of any one square follows from that of the rest. Since all the maps are isomorphisms. as seems fairly certain. the E 2 term is determined since we can identify Kq (Ker C) with U (R) if q = 2. and X a finite Γ-set. The most general formulation is as follows. the abutment is given only in terms of homotopy groups of the space of sections. we form the Γ-graded category XΓ whose object set is X and morphism set {(x.

C). 2) with equaliser ∆: write Γi ⊂ Γ × {±1} for the graph of wi . Invent. 108 (1969) 12–27. Γ2 ). corestriction maps i∗ in the opposite direction: in particular. This applies to the case C = CR . EQUIVARIANT BRAUER GROUPS 71 and.C. On cohomology of graded group categories. Compositio Math. Finally we return to the twisting relation. Wall. C) → Rep(Γ. References [1] A. H(∆. C). . Foundations of equivariant algebraic K-theory. Wall. C) −→ H i (Γ2 . H(Γ2 . Wall. Γ2 ) → B0 (R. Natural associativity and commutativity. U (R)) → C(R. 9.-H. France Mémoire 25 (1971) 91–96. Wall. Fröhlich and C. 28 (1974) 229–286. Springer lecture notes in Math. Perhaps the most interesting case is the simplest. C) has the natural structure of Γ/∆-graded monoidal category. and exact cohomology sequences with coefficients U (R) and C(R).C. Studies 49iv (1963) 28-46. these satisfy the standard relations: in fact [1] K0 Rep is a Frobenius functor. and ∆ is trivial. MacLane. Suppose given two homomorphisms wi : Γ → {±1} (i = 1. Presumably if C is a group category there is a spectral sequence with E 2 - term H p (Γ/∆. Let C be a Γ-graded monoidal category. [6] C. so w1 is an isomorphism and w2 is trivial (or vice-versa). H q (∆. Equivariant algebraic K-theory. C). C).7] the expected exact sequence of terms of low degree. C) −→ H i (∆. 63 (1987) 409–417. Γ) if Γ is finite. C)) ∼ = Rep(Γ. [5] K. C). Γ1 ) → C(R. Bull. Rep(∆. If ∆ is a normal subgroup of Γ. We may also construct a braid with the exact sequences H(Γ1 . On the classification of Hermitian forms II: semisimple rings. and [1] Rep(Γ/∆. U (R)) → H 0 (∆.T.T. and D : C → C a morphism allowing us to extend the grading to Γ × {±1}.T. Math. Soc. Fröhlich and C. w1 |∆). Wall. Since H is a Mackey functor. 18 (1972) 119-141.2] there is a long exact sequence · · · H i (Γ1 . C). Soc. Graded monoidal categories. if the subgroup ∆ has finite index. Fröhlich and C. when Γ has order 2. lecture notes 11 (1974). Math. The exactness of these sequences may be verified directly. C) and i∗ : Rep(∆.C. ∆) → B0 (R. Specialising to CR . [2] A.C. London Math.T. Compositio Math. Γ1 ) → B0 (R. U (R)) → H 0 (Γ2 . then Rep(∆. Ulbrich. Then [3.T. C) → Rep(∆. i∗ : Rep(Γ. Equivariant Brauer groups in algebraic number theory. 10. [7] C. this gives 0 → H 0 (Γ1 . Rice Univ. at least we have [3. C)) and abutment H n (Γ. and in view of the isomorphism ψ gives information about B0 (R. pp 111–118 in New developments in topol- ogy. [3] A. C) −→ · · · where the first map is restriction and the second is corestriction. and ∆ := (∆. C) −→ H i+1 (Γ1 . ∆) → → C(R.C. [4] S.

ac.C. of Mathematical Sciences Liverpool University Liverpool L69 3BX United Kingdom E-mail address: ctcw@liverpool.uk .T.72 A. WALL Robinson College Cambridge CB3 9AN United Kingdom Dept. FRÖHLICH AND C.

such as the classical invariants dimension. which we shall also denote by H. i. 1Throughout this paper. 12D15. In this = situation. we only consider fields of characteristic different from 2. −1. i. namely. −1i. when does the form ϕ represent zero nontrivially ?1 An answer to this question would automatically lead to an answer of another central problem.e. signed discriminant. and qua- dratic forms are always assumed to be finite-dimensional and nondegenerate. Hoffmann Dedicated to the memory of Oleg Izhboldin Abstract. we write η ⊂ µ for short. then their isometry is equivalent to ϕ ⊥ −ψ 1991 Mathematics Subject Classification. and invariants of fields pertaining to quadratic forms. Introduction One of the central questions in the algebraic theory of quadratic forms is the following : When is a given quadratic form ϕ over a field F isotropic. the Pythagoras number. 2We say that η is a subform of µ if there exists a form τ such that µ ∼ η ⊥ τ . if it is isometric to an orthogonal sum of hyperbolic planes. −1i is called a hyperbolic plane. the Hasse number. −1.2 If two forms ϕ and ψ are of the same dimension. This paper is intended to give a survey for non-specialists in the algebraic theory of quadratic forms on the question of isotropy of quadratic forms and how certain answers to this question can be obtained by considering invariants of quadratic forms. the level. 11E81. and the l-invariant. such as the u-invariant. H ⊥ H ⊥ · · · ⊥ H. Clifford invariant. when are two forms ϕ and ψ of the same dimension isometric (in which case we write ϕ ∼ = ψ).e. 11E04. when does there exist a linear isomorphism t : V → W of the underlying vector spaces V of ϕ and W of ψ such that ϕ(v) = ψ(tv) for all v ∈ V ? This can be seen as follows. 1. We will interpret these field invariants as the supremum of the dimensions of certain types of anisotropic quadratic forms defined over the ground field.” 1. · · · . A form is called hyperbolic if it has a diagonalization of the form h1. Now ϕ being isotropic is equivalent to ϕ containing H as a subform. 11E25. and on methods of how to construct such fields “generically.Contemporary Mathematics Isotropy of quadratic forms and field invariants Detlev W. 12F20. The diagonal form h1. 11E10.e. i. 1. We will often simply write “form” by which we shall refer to quadratic forms in the above sense. c °0000 (copyright holder) 73 . Particular emphasis is laid on the question of which values can be realized as invariants of a field.

n not all equal to 0. i.2. where one can choose for a any integer prime to p which is not a quadratic residue modulo p. If ϕ = ∼ ha1 . bi ∼ = h1. −ai. If the ground field is R. is well understood. there exists a z ∈ Q∗p such that −a−1 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 (a1 x + a2 y ) = z . −1i differ by a square if and only if −ab ∈ F 2 . ϕ will be isotropic if and only if n ≥ 2. i. Over Q. for example. Are there criteria of that type for forms of dimension ≥ 3 ? To illustrate this question. hence every form of dimension ≥ 3 will be isotropic over Fq . The quadratic form theory over a p-adic field Qp . By the Witt cancellation theorem. . then a is a square in Qp if and only if a is a square modulo p by Hensel’s Lemma. Rephrasing the initial isotropy question. Thus. Again. let us look at some examples which will also serve us later. bj integers prime to p. −api. and over R (see. then ϕ is isotropic. suppose we have diagonalized the form ϕ. Now each square class of Qp can be represented by some element in Z. [L1. bi and −1 of h1. a1 x + a2 y + a3 z = 0. and if a ∈ Z is prime to p. with ai . 3. HOFFMANN being hyperbolic. 1.74 DETLEV W. whether ϕ P is isotropic. Example 1. e. p. i. By the previous example. the ai are not all of the same sign. But this alone does not suffice as. Let Fq be a finite field with q = pn elements. 5. In particular. an i is a form over C. in which case we can write ϕ ⊥ −ψ ∼ = H ⊥ τ for some form τ . Example 1. Again.1. and an induction argument on the dimension then yields that an answer to the isotropy question would provide an answer to the isometry question.§ 6]). 1i. say. and again it is easy to tell from the coefficients whether a form over Qp is isotropic or not (cf. 1. bn i. the situation is already more complicated. 1 and a. and hence ϕ is anisotropic. [S. How can one tell. ϕ would have to be indefinite in order to be isotropic. am i ⊥ phb1 .1]. y such that a1 x2 + a2 y 2 ≡ −a3 mod p. So first we have to check whether ϕ ⊥ −ψ is isotropic. such that 0 = i=1 ai x2i ? Now 1-dimensional forms are obviously anisotropic. p an odd prime. bi is isotropic if and only if ha. −a. 1. The Hasse-Minkowski theorem tells us that a form ϕ over Q is isotropic if and only if it is isotropic over Qp for each prime p. Ch. just by “looking” at the coefficients ai . an i with ai ∈ F ∗ = F \{0}. The case p = 2 is a little more technical but can also be treated in a rather elementary way. · · · . · · · . there exists exactly one anisotropic 4-dimensional form. we know that there exist integers x. the isotropy can easily be checked simply by looking at the signs of the ai .e. 1. A 2-dimensional form ha.e. each form ϕ over Qp has a diagonalization of the form ha1 . By what was said before. whether there exist x1 . It is also not too difficult to show (and we leave this to the reader) that up to isometry. p a prime. VI. and up to isometry the only anisotropic form over Fq will be h1. there exists exactly one anisotropic 4-dimensional form. −7i is anisotropic as 7 is not a sum of three squares in Q. An easy computation shows that any form of dimension 2 will represent both square classes. and up to isometry. Suppose that (after possibly scaling) m ≥ 3. h1. · · · . xn ∈ F . then ϕ will be isotropic iff n ≥ 2 and ϕ is indefinite. then since C is algebraically closed. say.g. ϕ ∼ = ha1 .3.e.4. if dim ϕ ≥ 5. In fact. Example 1. Ch. namely h1. it then suffices to verify whether τ is hyperbolic in order to establish that ϕ ⊥ −ψ is hyperbolic. −1i if and only if the determinants ab of ha. Then Fq has two nonzero square classes. h1. This is a criterion which is quite explicit and which in many cases can be readily verified. any form of dimension ≥ 5 over Q2 will be isotropic. · · · . Clearly. · · · . Example 1. suppose that p is odd.

3 Hence. § 1]. We leave the details to the reader. there are many orderings which can be described explicitly (cf. Example 1. the rational function field in one variable. 4An ordering on a field F is a subset P ⊂ F such that P + P ⊂ P . 1. Example 1. Example 1. Then ϕ ⊥ T ψ is anisotropic over K if and only if ϕ and ψ are anisotropic over F . [S. there exist orderings on Q(T ). Ch. Now consider the rational function field Q(T ) in one variable X over the rationals. an i then for each ordering P ∈ XR(T ) there exist ai and aj depending on P such that ai <P 0 <P aj . 3. In particular. then there exist forms ϕ and ψ over F such that γ ∼ = ϕ ⊥ T ψ. Cf. Theorem 7.5. An obvious necessary condition for a form ϕ to be isotropic over R(T ) is that ϕ be totally indefinite. However. h1. −2i and σn = n × h1i = h1. Using the previous example. ISOTROPY OF QUADRATIC FORMS AND FIELD INVARIANTS 75 [S. 1. The first part can easily be proved by a degree argument.4 On R(T ). Let XR(T ) be the space of orderings.8. i. Again. −2i ⊥ T σn is 3A field F is called a C -field if every homogeneous polynomial over F of degree d in at least i di + 1 variables has a nontrivial zero. p 6= 2. 1i over Q. However. (ii) If γ is a form over K = F ((T )). P ∪ −P = F . it is anisotropic over Q2 since h1. we see that h1. −7i is isotropic over each Qp . 2.7. −7i ∼ = h1. 1.6. II. this knowledge alone won’t help us much as there exist anisotropic totally indefinite forms of any dimension ≥ 2 over Q(T ). Lemma 1. [KS. Then 2 is a sum | {z } n of squares and hence 2 ∈ P for all P ∈ XQ(T ) . the field is formally real. 1i over Q2 . C(T ) is a C1 -field (cf. Ch. Using the explicit description of the orderings. or K = F ((T )). In particular. anisotropic forms stay anisotropic over purely transcendental extensions.e. a result essentially due to Witt [Wi1]. § 9]). the indefiniteness can in principal be checked using the coefficients of a diagonalization. each indefinite form of dimension ≥ 5 over Q will be isotropic. the power series field in one variable over F . 15. 1. It induces the order relation “≥P ” defined by x ≥p y if and only if x − y ∈ P . (i) Let ϕ and ψ be forms over F and let K = F (T ). C is algebraically closed and therefore it is a so-called C0 field. i. we shall mention a little lemma which we shall use quite often regarding forms over purely transcendental extensions. 5. As for R(T ). one may assume that γ is diagonalized and then use the fact that to each x ∈ K ∗ there exists a y ∈ F ∗ such that either x ≡ y mod K ∗2 or x ≡ yT mod K ∗2 . if ϕ ∼ = ha1 . . Before we consider rational function fields in one variable over the above fields. Kap. which implies that every form of dimension ≥ 3 over C(T ) will be isotropic. This can be seen as follows.2]). As for the second part. 1. 1. Ch. P · P ⊂ P . Consider the anisotropic forms h1. there exists exactly one ordering. the situation is more complicated. and a necessary condition for a form ϕ to be isotropic is that ϕ be indefinite with respect to all orderings P in the space of orderings XQ(T ) . [S. and over R.e. Th. On R. by the previous example.2]). P ∩ −P = {0}. · · · . It can also be shown that totally indefinite forms of dimension ≥ 3 over R(T ) are always isotropic. In particular. · · · .

For general fields. In section 2. p 6= 2. the Hasse number (section 3.1. once these invariants have been determined for a certain field F . All these examples give us already a glimpse of the difficulties which we en- counter concerning the isotropy of forms. one normally develops and uses a set of tools and methods to which quadratic forms over the field in question are amenable. there does exist an anisotropic 4-dimen- sional form ϕp over Qp for all primes p.3). After saying a little about the Witt ring of a field and how these invariants can be interpreted as invariants of elements in this ring in section 2. One could say that with respect to many questions regarding quadratic forms. to tell us something about isotropy of forms. and the main idea behind this method as well as some of the necessary tools will be introduced in section 4. This will yield the anisotropic 8-dimensional form ϕp ⊥ T ϕp over Qp (T ).9. signed discriminant. Example 1.4). HOFFMANN totally indefinite and anisotropic over Q(T ) for all n (the anisotropy follows from Lemma 1. one approach to derive information on the isotropy of forms is to consider certain invariants of quadratic forms resp.2.1. determinant resp. yield information on the (an)isotropy of forms over F . p 6= 2. 3. One can justifiably say that we have no systematic method whatsoever to decide whether an arbitrarily given form over Q(T ) is isotropic or not.3 how the classical invariants lead us inevitably to higher cohomological invariants and the Milnor conjecture (see also Pfister’s survey article [P5]). The method we shall introduce may be called Merkurjev’s method since it was Merkurjev who brought the method we shall describe to full fruition in his construction of fields with even u-invariant [M2].76 DETLEV W. the field Q(T ) is of a complexity which is beyond our current reach. we explain how these invariants lead to classification results on quadratic forms and mention how the invariants of a form ϕ (resp.6) The main theme of this article will be to construct fields whose field invariants take prescribed values. algebraic and real algebraic geometry. In section 2. The case p = 2 is still open. the Pythagoras number (section 5. the level (section 3. who proved that in fact all forms of dimension > 10 over Qp (T ). we introduce the classical invariants dimension. Clifford invariant and total signature.2).1. this was improved by Parimala and Suresh [PS]. The . are isotropic. in section 2. are isotropic. Later on. we introduce field invariants which can be defined as the suprema of the dimensions of certain types of anisotropic forms over a field F and which therefore. When dealing with forms over a particular field. Although the quadratic form theory over Qp is in a certain sense easier to handle than that over Q. In section 3. These methods often come from num- ber theory. As we have already remarked above. when it was shown in [HVG2] that all ϕ of dimension > 22 over Qp (T ).2).5). the “place” where the form finds itself in the Witt ring) can provide information on isotropy. The invariants we shall introduce are the “old” and the “new” u-invariant (sections 3. we shall introduce quadratic form invariants and show how they can be used to classify forms resp. It is conjectured that all forms of dimension > 8 over Qp (T ) are isotropic. and the length of a field. of the underlying field and how these invariants influence the isotropy behaviour. not much was known about the isotropy of forms over Qp (T ) until recently. First.4. also called the l-invariant (section 3. we show in section 2. The basic method of construction will be sketched in section 4.

its Brauer class is therefore an element in the exponent-2-part Br2 F of the Brauer group. and the even part will be denoted by C0 (ϕ). Note that it is Sylvester’s law of inertia which tells us that this is indeed an invariant of ϕ independent of the chosen diagonalization. we add some remarks on the Hasse number and on how some of these field invariants relate to each other (section 6. see also Pfister’s article [P5].1). denoted by c(ϕ).3. The classical invariants.e. A natural question is whether one can get invariants for quadratic forms also in the H n F for n ≥ 3. The Clifford L∞ invariant is defined via the Clifford algebra of a quadratic form. where the examples of fields given above (plus many more examples) and their invariants have been mentioned. H 1 F with F ∗ /F ∗2 . This will be made more precise below and it will lead to the famous Milnor conjecture. i. As a good general reference. The easiest to determine is obviously the dimension.1). we see that the classical invariants take their values in the first three of these groups. we define n the determinant det(ϕ) to be the class of i=1 ai in F ∗ /F ∗2 .2. The Clifford invariant of ϕ. Finally. We close by mentioning some further results concerning field invariants pertaining to quadratic forms and where Merkurjev’s method had some impact in their proofs. and the Clifford invariant. · · · . is defined to be the Brauer class of C(ϕ) if dim ϕ is even (resp. to be #{ai | ai >P 0} − #{ai | ai <P 0}. as one has to know how to multiply in the field F . and some of them have been treated in detail. A little more difficult is the determinant. an i and let P be an ordering on F . We then apply this technique in section 5 to prove Pfister’s results on the level (section 5. We can already notice that these invariants (if we consider dim mod 2 rather than the dimension itself) take values in certain Galois cohomology groups. If dim ϕ is even (resp. and give some results on the l-invariant (section 6. and Merkurjev’s results on the u-invariant (section 5. the author’s results on the Pythagoras number (section 5. in particular on field invariants. The classical invariants of quadratic forms are the dimension. This can be shown to be a Z/2Z-graded 2n -dimensional algebra over F (n = dim ϕ). C0 (ϕ)) is a central simple algebra over F whose class in the Brauer group Br F can be represented by a tensor product of quaternion algebras. Now let H n F = H n (G. Identifying H 0 F with Z/2Z. and H 2 F with Br2 F . we recommend Pfister’s beautiful book [P4]. C0 (ϕ) if dim ϕ is odd).1. if there exist orderings on F . Then the Clifford algebra C(ϕ) is defined to be the quotient T (V )/I where I is the 2-sided ideal generated by {x⊗x−ϕ(x) | x ∈ V }. let ϕ = ha1 . Invariants of quadratic forms 2. If X . 4. ISOTROPY OF QUADRATIC FORMS AND FIELD INVARIANTS 77 main tools will be function fields of quadrics and Pfister forms.2). Con- sider the Galois group G of a separable closure Fsep over F . Let T (V ) = i=0 V ⊗n be the tensor algebra of the underlying vector space of the form ϕ. Since our invariants should be invariants of Qthe isometry class of a form. · · · . An invariant of a somewhat different type exists if the field F is formally real. We define the signature of ϕ with respect to P . More precisely.3). odd) then C(ϕ) (resp. Let ϕ = ha1 . Z/2Z) be the n-th Galois cohomology group with G acting trivially on Z/2Z. and we shall collect some of their basic properties in sections 4. sgnP ϕ.2). an i. the determinant. in section 6. 2.

an ii for short (note the sign convention which will become clearer later on). In the sequel. and we shall write hha1 . which is maximal with W F/IF ' Z/2Z. We call ϕ Witt equivalent to ψ. The Witt decomposition theorem states that each form ϕ decomposes into an orthogonal sum ϕan ⊥ iH where ϕan is anisotropic. The same problem arises when we consider the determinant if −1 is not a square in F ∗ because [ϕ] = [ϕ ⊥ H].3. we thus have isomorphisms en : I n F/I n+1 F → H n F for n = 0. and we write ϕ ∼ ψ. These . The Milnor conjecture. The Witt ring. · · · . [ϕ]·[ψ] = [ϕ⊗ψ]. · · · . 2 induced by the classical invariants. an bm i. We have that [ϕ] = [ψ] iff ϕan ∼ = ψan . It is called the anisotropic part of ϕ. the signed discriminant (resp. Using the cohomology groups introduced above.3. · · · . by abuse of notation. 1. The class of a form ϕ with respect to this equivalence relation will be called Witt class of ϕ and be denoted for now by [ϕ]. The Witt cancellation theorem states that if ϕ. The classes of forms of even dimension form the so-called fundamental ideal IF of W F . The higher powers I n F of IF play a crucial role in the whole theory. I n F is additively generated by the so-called n-fold Pfister forms. The Clifford invariant is already an invariant of the Witt class of a form as a direct computation shows.2. By a straightforward computation. It is a deep theorem due to Merkurjev [M1] that the map c is surjective with kernel I 3 F . the isomorphism being in fact induced by the dimension index map dim mod 2 : W F → Z/2Z. the Clifford invariant) induces a homomorphism of groups d± : IF → F ∗ /F ∗2 (resp. then each form ϕ defines a map ϕ̂ : X → Z by ϕ̂(P ) = sgnP ϕ. but det(ϕ) = − det(ϕ ⊥ H). we shall simply write ϕ to denote the class [ϕ] of a form ϕ over a field F . if ϕ ⊥ −ψ is hyperbolic. That I 3 F is in the kernel can still be readily shown. It is also not too difficult to show that d± is surjective with kernel I 2 F . The ring thus obtained is called the Witt ring of F and denoted by W F . The Witt cancellation theorem implies that this is indeed an equivalence relation. −a1 i ⊗ · · · ⊗ h1. The zero element is given by the class of hyperbolic forms. where for diagonal forms ϕ = ha1 . One should. The Clifford invariant map is rather more difficult to treat. and that ϕan is determined uniquely up to isometry. This map ϕ̂ is called the total signature of ϕ. Note that the dimension will not be an invariant for a Witt class [ϕ]. Hence. 2. where n = dim ϕ. This does normally not cause any problems and makes the notations less clumsy. an i and ψ = hb1 . This signed discriminant is then an invariant of the Witt class of ϕ. −an i. i is called the Witt index of ϕ denoted by iW (ϕ). carefully distinguish between isometry ϕ ∼ = ψ and Witt equivalence ϕ ∼ ψ. addition by [ϕ]+[ψ] = [ϕ ⊥ ψ]. so as a set the Witt ring may be identified with isometry classes of anisotropic forms. however. · · · . c : I 2 F → Br2 F ). These classes can be made into a ring as follows. · · · . one introduces the signed discriminant d± ϕ = (−1)n(n−1)/2 det(ϕ). An n-fold Pfister form is a form of type h1. ai bj . but we get an invariant if we replace it by the dimension index dim mod 2 which takes values in Z/2Z. and multiplication is induced by the tensor product of quadratic forms. 2. These Pfister forms and their many nice properties are of fundamental importance and we shall say more about them in section 4. bm i. this product is given by ϕ ⊗ ψ = ha1 b1 . then ϕ ∼ = ψ.78 DETLEV W. ψ and η are forms over a field F and if ϕ ⊥ η ∼ = ψ ⊥ η. HOFFMANN denotes the space of all orderings.

whether ϕ ⊥ −ψ is hyperbolic. If dim ϕ < 2n then F is hyperbolic. suppose we can show that ϕ ⊥ −ψ ∈ I n F and en (ϕ ⊥ −ψ) = 0. Quadratic form invariants and the classification and isotropy problems. and they are functorial with respect to field H extensions E/F .) Let ϕ be a form over F such that ϕ ∈ I n F . by Szyjewski [Sz]. Arason [A] showed that in general e3 cannot be extended to the whole Witt ring and stay functorial with respect to field extensions. Actually. d± and c are defined for all elements of the Witt ring. The Arason- Pfister Hauptsatz shows that it suffices to compute the en up to the smallest n such that 2n > dim(ϕ ⊥ −ψ) to decide whether ϕ ∼ = ψ. Hauptsatz and Kor. the existence of such a homomorphism en : I n F/I n+1 F → H n F has been established by Arason [A]. A proof of the Milnor conjecture regarding the existence of isomorphisms Kn F/2Kn F → H n F was an- nounced by Voevodsky [Vo]. The Milnor conjecture states that for each n there exists a group isomorphism en : I n F/I n+1 F → H n F sending the class of an n-fold Pfister form to the corresponding n-fold cup product. i. This conjecture would then lead to a natural generalization of the classical invariants and in a certain sense to a complete set of invariants. it remains to compute the en . 3]. If not.) 2. we can continue.e. one could say that the classification problem is solved once we have the above invariants en for all n. Returning to our classification problem.2. and in collaboration with Orlov and Vishik [OVV] also the corresponding result on the maps en . an ii modulo I n+1 F to the n-fold cup product (a1 ) ∪ · · · ∪ (an ) (this is one of the main reasons for the sign convention for Pfister forms). Theorem 2.e. Now if this is the case.5 We will Trefer to this theorem simply by APH. = . by Rost [R1]. then for example rE/F ◦ c = c ◦ rE/F . in the introductory remarks. If dim ϕ = 2n then ϕ is similar to an n-fold Pfister form. ISOTROPY OF QUADRATIC FORMS AND FIELD INVARIANTS 79 maps en send the class of an n-fold Pfister form hha1 . The fact that e3 is an isomorphism was shown by Merkurjev-Suslin [MSu] and.3 and §6 of his article [Mi]. For n = 3. and it is equally easy to check whether their values in the target groups H 0 F = Z/2Z resp. let ϕ and ψ be forms over F . Milnor stated his conjecture in terms of Milnor K-groups Kn F/2Kn F . In a certain sense. Conversely. and for n = 4 by Jacob-Rost [JR] and. It should be noted that the classical invariants dim mod 2. Indeed. then clearly ϕ ⊥ −ψ ∈ I n F for all n and en (ϕ ⊥ −ψ) = 0. n ≥ 3 if one assumes the results of Voevodsky [Vo]. · · · . (Arason-Pfister [AP. independently. H 1 F = F ∗ /F ∗2 are trivial or not.1. inde- pendently. It should be remarked that the only known proofs of APH always use function field techniques as will be introduced in section 4. i. If this equals 0.4. Then ϕ ⊥ −ψ ∈ I n+1 F and we can compute en+1 (ϕ ⊥ −ψ). and he asked whether the canonical homomorphisms Kn F/2Kn F → H n F and Kn F/2Kn F → I n F/I n+1 F are always isomorphisms. (His argument can be modified to yield explicit counterexamples for all en . then ϕ 6∼ = ψ. Classifying forms just means deciding whether ϕ is isometric to ψ. Suppose 5Two forms ϕ and ψ are similar if there exists an a ∈ F ∗ such that ϕ ∼ aψ. Note that APH implies in par- ∞ ticular that n=0 I n F = 0. if rE/F : H n F → H n E and rE/F W : W F → W E denote the H W restriction maps by passing from F to E. Question 4. Now e0 and e1 are easily computed.

We have c(hha. bii ⊥ ψ) = c(hha. it is still quite a different matter (if not impossible) to check whether this element is trivial in Br2 F . i. an i. n ≥ 3. We have dim ψ = 2n and ψ ∈ I 2 F . bii mod I 3 F and thus c(hha. so that we may assume after scaling that ϕ ∼ 3 = h1. signed discriminant. · · · . abi ∼ = xhha. j. ij = −ji. Clifford invariant. there exist orderings on F . the situation is even worse. n×ϕ = ϕ ⊥ · · · ⊥ ϕ ∼ 0 | {z } n times in W F . bii ⊥ ψ in W F with ψ ∼ = h−abi ⊥ ϕ0 . j 2 = b. Then h1. n ≥ 1.) Now suppose that n ≥ 2 and let ϕ ∈ I 2 F . HOFFMANN ϕ ∈ I 2 F . x ∈ F ∗ such that ϕ ∼ = xh1.e. Let ϕ be a form in I 2 F of dimension 2n + 2. b. i. −xiϕ ∈ I F and thus ϕ ≡ xϕ mod I 3 F . If F is formally real. bii) = [(a. The following theorem of Elman-Lam tells us exactly for which fields the clas- sical invariants (plus the signatures) are sufficient to classify quadratic forms. a. −a. hence hha. Then there are a. · · · . bii ∼= hha. Now hhx. · · · . Proof. i. Then ϕ ∼ hha.) If F is not formally real. −a. For the en . so that ϕ is a 4-dimensional form in I 2 F .2. ij = k and relations i2 = a. The homomorphism property of c on forms in I 2 implies c(hha. bii) ∈ Br2 F . Suppose we could show that ϕ ∈ I n F and suppose we have given ϕ in diagonal form ha1 . b)F . with trivial signed discriminant. If F is not formally real. the cup product (a) ∪ (b) corresponds to the Brauer class of (a.80 DETLEV W. then Pfister has also shown that the following sequence is exact : (sgnP ) Y 0 −→ Wt F −→ W F −→ Z. (Under the identification H 2 F = Br2 F . This is also referred to as Pfister’s local-global principle and it essentially . Lemma 2. bii. b)F denotes the quaternion algebra with F - basis 1. i. −b. bii ∈ I 3 F . P ∈X where Wt F denotes the torsion part of the Witt ring and X the space of orderings of F . then quadratic forms over F are classified by dimension. −bi ⊥ ϕ0 . and total signature if and only if I 3 F is torsion free. then every element is torsion and its order will divide the level s of the field (see section 5.e. there exist by induction quaternion algebras Q1 .3. and Clifford invariant if and only if I 3 F = 0. where (a. which is equivalent by the Artin-Schreier theorem. If F is formally real. bii) = c(xhha.1). Qn over F such that c(ϕ) = [Q1 ⊗ · · · ⊗ Qn ] ∈ Br2 F . An element ϕ in W F is called torsion if for some n ∈ N. −1 cannot be written as a sum of squares or. then quadratic forms over F are classified by dimension. bii)c(ψ) = [Q1 ⊗· · ·⊗Qn ] with Qn = (a. ¤ Although we can explicitly write down an element in Br2 F which represents the Clifford invariant of ϕ. There is no known formula for how to express en (ϕ) as sum of n-fold cup products using the coefficients ai in a way similar to what we did in the proof of the above lemma. Thus. Pfister [P3] has shown that a torsion element in W F has always (additive) order a power of 2. Then c(ϕ) = e2 (ϕ) ∈ H 2 F = Br2 F can also explicitly be computed as the following lemma and its proof show. 3]. Suppose first that n = 1. Theorem 2. bii ≡ xhha. if −1 is a sum of squares in F . dim ϕ = 2n + 2. b)F . (Elman-Lam [EL3.e. bii ⊥ −xhha. Classification Theorems 30 . Qn−1 such that c(ψ) = [Q1 ⊗ · · · ⊗ Qn−1 ] ∈ Br2 F . signed discriminant. b)F ] ∈ Br2 F . Then there exist quaternion algebras Q1 .

up to similarity. Recall that APH tells us that anisotropic forms in I n F must be of dimension ≥ 2n . (Pfister [P3. However.5. Vishik [Vi2] has shown that Conjecture 2. Satz 14.4 is true for all n provided the field F is of characteristic 0. Zusatz] for n = 3. It is just the supremum of the dimensions of anisotropic forms over F . B. So one might venture the following conjecture. Main Theorem] for n = 4. The proof is based on techniques developed by Voevodsky in his proof of the Milnor conjecture and which were further elaborated in Vishik’s thesis [Vi1]. fields of transcendence degree ≤ 2 over finite fields or over the real numbers.1.4 is true and let ϕ be an anisotropic form over F such that ei (F ) = 0 for 0 ≤ i ≤ n. Let ϕ be an anisotropic form in I n F of dimension > 2n . Furthermore. Let n ∈ N.5 (resp. Hoffmann [H4. It is also true for n = 3 and 4. Fields to which the previous theorem by Elman-Lam can be applied include local and global fields. we have seen how invariants of quadratic forms yield information on the classification problem or on the isotropy problem.4. We define supdim(C(F )) = sup{dim ϕ | ϕ anisotropic form over F. APH and Theorem 2. the field invariant supdim(Call (F )) coincides with the “old” u-invariant of F as originally defined by Kaplansky [Ka] (who calls it C(F )). Conjecture 2. ϕ ∈ C(F )} . 3. If C(F ) is empty or if it only contains isotropic forms. The old u-invariant. .4 is true for n ≤ 4. Let F be a field and let C(F ) be a set of quadratic forms over F . this conjecture is trivially true. the only anisotropic forms of dimension 2n in I n F will be anisotropic n-fold Pfister forms. Kahn informed me that A. Let us conclude this section with a result which extends APH. If we consider all quadratic forms over F .4) can be interpreted as (an)isotropy results on forms whose invariants en are trivial up to a certain n (where we assume of course the Milnor conjecture): Suppose that Conjecture 2. ISOTROPY OF QUADRATIC FORMS AND FIELD INVARIANTS 81 says that a form in W F is torsion if and only if its total signature is identically zero. Vishik’s proof does not rely on the Milnor conjecture. Call (F ) = {quadratic forms over F } . for example all forms which share a certain property. Then dim ϕ ≥ 2n + 2n−1 . Let us consider some examples. we put supdim(C(F )) = 0. But how about anisotropic forms of higher dimension in I n F ? Pfister [P3] has shown that there are no anisotropic forms of dimension 10 in I 3 F . n ≥ 2. we want to exhibit certain field invariants which by their very definition tell us something about isotropy of quadratic forms (or certain types of quadratic forms). Theorem 2. 3. It is not difficult to construct fields for which there exist anisotropic forms of dimension 2n + 2n−1 in I n F .) Conjecture 2. In this section. For n = 2. Field invariants In the previous section. Then dim ϕ = 2n+1 or dim ϕ ≥ 2n+1 + 2n . Conjecture 2.

we obviously get u(F ) ≤ ũ(F ). For example. then ũ(F ) = 0 (see also Example 1. The generalized u-invariant. the function field in n variables over the complex numbers. tn ). Since dim ϕ − sgnP ϕ ≡ 0 mod 2 for all orderings P of a formally real F . 1i are anisotropic over R(T ).4. On the other hand.82 DETLEV W. tn ii is anisotropic (cf. Hence. then h1. which then are necessarily totally indef- inite forms. since 1 + T 2 is not a square in R(T ). we see that for formally real fields the u-invariant will always be even or infinite.1. Since Ctor (F ) ⊂ Cti (F ). Then it can be shown by an inductive argument that the form hht1 .1). By what we remarked in Example 1. Then. · · · .2. the form ϕ is anisotropic. all forms of dimension ≥ 2n + 1 will be isotropic. and it will be anisotropic for all n ∈ N as h1. If F is formally real. but which for formally real F contains only forms which satisfy some necessary conditions for isotropy. The invariant u(F ) = supdim(Ctor (F )) is called the (generalized) u-invariant as defined by Elman-Lam [EL1]. If F is not formally real. ũ(R(T )) ≥ 2. 3. cf. It follows that ũ(R(T. Therefore. We define Ctor (F ) = {torsion quadratic forms over F } . So suppose that F is formally real and let P be an ordering on F . We now put Cti (F ) = {totally indefinite quadratic forms over F }. | sgnP ϕ| < dim ϕ. If F is formally real. positive at each ordering P of R(T )) and −(1 + T 2 ) is totally negative. HOFFMANN Example 3. X)) = ∞. in which case we say that ϕ is totally indefinite.3. for formally real F the invariant supdim(Call (F )) contains no useful information. Hence. · · · . there are no orderings and in this case we define each form to be totally indefinite to avoid case distinctions. Hence. we thus get ũ(R(T )) = 2.e.5. tn ii = 2n . hence the form h1. It coincides by definition with supdim(Call (F )) for nonformally real F . −(1 + T 2 )i ⊥ X(n × h1i) will be totally indefinite. if F = R (or any real closed field). If we consider the function field R(T. we have supdim(Call (F )) ≥ dim hht1 . We have ũ(Q) = 4. if F is not formally real then all forms are torsion forms. Consider the form ϕ = h1. The Hasse number. The invariant supdim(Cti (F )) we thus obtain is referred to as the Hasse number and denoted by ũ(F ). · · · . Lemma 1. Consider F = C(t1 . For formally real F .5). Lemma 1. will be anisotropic for all n ∈ N. −(1 + T 2 )i and h1. Let FP be a real closure of F with respect to P and consider the form ϕFP = ϕ ⊗ FP obtained by passing from F to FP via scalar extension. It is also totally indefinite as 1 is totally positive (i. it seems reasonable to replace Call (F ) by another class of forms which for nonformally real F coincides with Call (F ). Example 1. i. As already remarked. n × h1i. X) in two variables. Then ϕFP is isotropic if and only if ϕFP is indefinite. cf. Let ϕ be a form over F . In particular. for ϕ to be isotropic. −(1 + T 2 )i over R(T ). 3. This leads to another modification of Call (F ) which yields meaningful information in the formally real case.e. then the form defined by a sum of n squares. · · · . . F will be a Cn - field by Tsen-Lang theory. This yields supdim(Call (F )) = 2n . then torsion forms are exactly the forms with total signature zero.7. a necessary condition is that ϕ be indefinite at each ordering P of F . −(1 + T 2 )i is still totally indefinite. Example 3. In particular.2. it yields useful further information.

x ∈ F 2 } .e.. · · · . on the other hand we get that p(F ) ≤ s + 1. e. for example. This definition can be reformulated as follows. Each field F has a pythagorean closure Fpyth inside an algebraic closure Falg . Since −1 is by definition of the level not a sum of s − 1 squares. This shows on the one hand that universal. the Hasse-Minkowski theorem implies that for each global field K one has ũ(K) = u(K) = 4. then we put p(F ) = ∞. −1i is F ∗ . 3. i. we have to consider P Cp (F ) = {h1. It can be obtained by taking the union of all fields K in Falg such that there exists a tower F = K0 ⊂ . −1i as a subform. Ch. s(F ) = s(F (T )). Now let p(F P )2 be the smallest n ∈ N (if such an integer exists) such that each element in F can be written as a sum of ≤ P n 2squares. hence u(R(T. for nonformally real F . | {z } n and we get p(F ) = supdim(Cp (F )). the level will not change. p(F ) can be finite or infinite. Hence u(Q) = 4. Define F 2 to be the set of all elements in F ∗ which can be written as a sum of squares. If s(F ) = s < ∞. thus we have an interpretation of the level in terms of the supremum of the dimensions of certain anisotropic forms. −(1 + T 2 )i over R(T ) is in fact a torsion form and thus u(R(T )) = ũ(R(T )) = 2. Clearly.3. p ≡ 3 mod 4). If such an integer does not exist. −7i. has signature zero and is anisotropic. We have u(R) = ũ(R) = 0. For finite fields Fp . Now h1. Consider Cs (F ) = {h1. n ∈ N} . Another invariant which has been P studied extensively is the so-called Pythagoras number p(F ) of a field.e. Example 3. The Pythagoras number. · · · . n ∈ N ∪ {0}. Example 3. cf. 1.e. we have s(Fp ) = 1 (resp. On the other hand. | {z } n Then s(F ) = supdim(Cs (F )). i. we have p(F ) ≥ s and hence. X)) = 4 or 6. if to each n there exists x ∈ F which cannot be written as sum of ≤ n squares. 2.e. −(1 + T 2 )i is a torsion form and anisotropic over R(T. see. The level s(F ) (s for the German word “Stufe”) of a field F is defined to be as follows. u(Q) ≤ ũ(Q) = 4.4. X). 8. §6].g. [S. X)) ≤ 6. −(1 + T 2 )i ⊥ Xh1. Fields with p(F ) = 1 are called pythagorean fields. [P4. i. The level. One can show that u(R(T. then the form (s + 1) × h1i will be isotropic and it will therefore contain H = h1. so u(R(T. s(F ) + 1}. For formally real F .5. p(F ) ∈ {s(F ). 1i ⊥ h−xi. i. 6. 2) if and only if −1 is a quadratic residue (resp. 1i. s(F ) is the smallest integer n ≥ 1 such that −1 can be written as a sum of n squares in F . In fact.12]. p an odd prime. Fpyth is the smallest field inside Falg with Pythagoras number 1. If we want to interpret p(F ) as the supremum of the dimensions of certain anisotropic forms. Th. Note that by passing to a rational function field. if F is not formally real.e. and s(Q2 ) = 4. it represents every element in P ∗ F is not formally real if and only if F = F 2 . i.4. −7.5. then we put s(F ) = ∞. i. if F is formally real. If −1 is not a sum of squares in F . nonresidue) modp iff p ≡ 1 mod 4 (resp. the form h1. The precise value is not known at present. X)) ≥ 4.e. Ch. 3. For Qp we have s(Qp ) = s(Fp ) for p odd. The form h1. Otherwise. The form h1. ISOTROPY OF QUADRATIC FORMS AND FIELD INVARIANTS 83 Example 3.

−an i. 3) if p ≡ 1 mod 4 (resp. · · · . 52]).1. If F is not formally real. In this case. all ai are in F . it becomes a natural question to ask which values can appear for each of these invariants. how can one construct such a field ? 4. p ≡ 3 mod 4). hence l(Q) = 4. or. l(R(T )) = ũ(R(T )) = 2. say ϕ. n ∈ N. This invariant gF (n) has been introduced in [CDLR].15]. The whole idea will be reminiscent of certain direct limit constructions which the reader might have encountered in other contexts. such as the construction of an algebraic closure of a field. who showed that gQ (n) = n + 3. and if so. Note that Cp (F ) ⊂ Cl (F ) ⊂ Cti (F ). Again. We want to construct a field F such that supdim(C(F )) = n for a certain n ∈ N. an i is called totally positive defi- nite if all ai are totally positive. Construction of fields with prescribed invariants : Basic ideas and tools Having introduced field invariants such as the level. p. 4. Similarly. The basic idea of construction. The length l(F ) of a field F is defined to be the smallest n ∈ N (if such an integer exists) such that each totally positive definite form over F of dimension n represents all totally positive elements in F . The invariant l(F ) has been introduced in [BLOP] where it is shown among many other things that gF (n) = n + l(F ) − 1 for all n ≥ l(F ) − 1. and we have to verify that all forms of dimension > n in C(F ) are anisotropic. hence p(F ) ≤ l(F ) ≤ ũ(F ).84 DETLEV W.4 shows that p(Q) = 4.e. we want to interpret the invariant l(F ) as the supremum of the dimen- sions of certain anisotropic forms. F0 is the desired field. which is equivalent. Again.e. for example. 3. P 2 Example 3.and u-invariants and the Hasse number. n ∈ N. . and p(Qp ) = 2 (resp. we want to have an anisotropic form of dimension n in C(F ). all ai are positive with respect P 2to each ordering of F (if there are any). i. The l-invariant. let us consider a certain class of forms C as in the examples above. an−1 . the l. ai ∈ F 2 . For odd primes p . We thus get l(F ) = supdim(Cl (F )). one has p(Fp ) = 2. This invariant is significant in the study of another invariant gF (n) which denotes the smallest r ∈ N such that every sum of squares of n-ary F -linear forms can be written as a sum of r squares of n-ary F -linear forms. i. bi ∈ Ki (cf. R and C are pythagorean.. the Pythagoras number. we put Fi = F0 for all i ∈ N. forms over nonformally real fields are always totally positive def- inite. · · · . If not. ai . Th. If all forms in C(F0 ) of dimension > n are isotropic. such that Ki+1 = Ki ( a2i + b2i ). [S. then F = F ∗ and we have ũ(F ) = u(F ) = l(F ). but it has implicitly already been studied by Mordell [Mo] for F = Q. can there exist a field F such that supdim(C(F )) = n. Step 1. [BLOP. We have p(Q) = 4 ≤ l(Q) ≤ ũ(F ) = 4. We define P Cl (F ) = {ha1 . HOFFMANN p K1 ⊂ · · · ⊂ Kn = K. Example 1. continue with step 2. 2. 1 ≤ i ≤ n} . For a given n ∈ N. Choose a field F0 such that there exists an anisotropic form ϕ of dimension n in C(F0 ).6.6. Note that by this definition. A form ϕ = ha1 .

Repeating this construction. 1)) . xn ]. Let ϕ be a form over F of dimen- sion n ≥ 3. such that ϕF1 is anisotropic. · · · . xn−1 . For example. repeat this construction. We will refer to the above step by step procedure using function field extensions as Merkurjev’s method. This can be achieved “generically” by passing to function fields as we shall explain in the next section. If not.e. bi is a binary form. Therefore. Another obvious problem is how to control the (an)isotropy behaviour for many forms simultaneously by passing from Fi to Fi+1 . We let F be the direct limit of ∞ this tower of fields. u(F ) will always be even.1. xn−1 . bi is anisotropic . Then ϕF ∈ C(F ). 1) is irreducible. If we consider a field extension L/K such that an anisotropic form µ over K becomes isotropic over L. By construction. In section 5. it could a priori be impossible to have supdim(C(F )) = n for certain n ∈ N. we have already seen that for formally real F . · · · . This is consistent with the previous expression and it gives a quadratic extension if ha. xn−1 ]. we get a tower of fields F0 ⊂ F1 ⊂ · · · ⊂ Fi ⊂ · · · which may or may S not become stationary. · · · .) Step 4. Indeed. Then the function field of ϕ. but that µ should be one of the forms which do become isotropic. (For many types of C. Hence. an i. there would be an i ∈ N such that already ϕFi were isotropic. F = i=0 Fi . ρFi+1 is isotropic. xn−1 )( −a−1 0 1 ϕ (x2 . First. consider ϕ = ha1 . ϕF is anisotropic. which is not possible because of the way the Fi were constructed. Construct a field extension F1 of F0 in such a way such that ψF1 ∈ C(F1 ) for all ψ ∈ C(F0 ). 1) in F [x1 . In many cases. · · · . we still don’t know precisely which values can be realized.2. · · · . If we put ϕ0 = ha2 . this is just a formality and often self-evident. xn−1 . xn ) = i=1 ai x2i .3. Then it can readily be shown that the polynomial ϕ(x1 . for some i ∈ N there exists ρ ∈ C(Fi ) such that γ ∼ = ρF . If all forms in C(F1 ) of dimension > n are isotropic. and such that ψF1 is isotropic for all ψ ∈ C(F0 ) of dimension > n. 4. Function fields of quadratic forms. we shall see that s(F ) will always be a 2-power or infinite. Step 3. such as Cs = sums of squares. Now let γ ∈ C(F ) with dim γ > n. So the aim is to choose L in such a way that as few anisotropic forms over K become isotropic over L as possible. F is then again a field. · · · . Of course. then we have q F (ϕ) = F (x2 . supdim(C(F )) = n. xn−1 ]/I. ϕ(x1 . We claim that F is the desired field. denoted by F (ϕ). as it was Merkurjev who demonstrated the power of this method most spectacularly by constructing fields with prescribed even u-invariant. ISOTROPY OF QUADRATIC FORMS AND FIELD INVARIANTS 85 Step 2. Then. supdim(C(F )) ≥ n. Furthermore. · · · . More explicitly. i ≥ 2. This shows that supdim(C(F )) ≤ n. an i asP a homogeneous polynomial in the n polynomial ring F [x1 . then F (ϕ) is the quotient field of the integral domain F [x1 . then in general many more anisotropic forms over K will also become isotropic over L. · · · . F1 is the desired field and we put Fi = F1 for all i ∈ N. is the function field of the projective quadric defined by the equation ϕ = 0. consider ϕF . and if we denote by I the ideal generated by ϕ(x1 . Hence ρF ∼ = γ is isotropic. We have to verify that for a form γ over F we have γ ∈ C(F ) if and only if there exists some i ∈ N and some ρ ∈ C(Fi ) such that γ ∼ = ρF . This result will be the theme of section 5. i. we put F (ϕ) = F ( −ab). if it were isotropic. √ If ϕ = ha. · · · . · · · .

and it is F itself if ha. An almost complete answer is also known for dim ϕ = 6. This shows in particular that if K/F is an extension such that ϕK is isotropic. [L1. 4. −di ⊂ ψ. 6A place λ : K → L∪∞ is a pseudo-homomorphism with the properties λ(a+b) = λ(a)+λ(b). In [HLVG]. Let ψ be a form over F such that dim ψ ≥ 3 or dim ψ = 2 and anisotropic. λ(ab) = λ(a)λ(b) whenever the right hand sides are defined. But these function fields have already appeared earlier. Which anisotropic forms ψ become isotropic over F (ϕ) ? (ii) Let ϕ be an anisotropic form over F . Lemma 5. then there exists an F -place λ : F (ϕ) → L ∪ ∞.6 Among the most important problems in the theory of function fields of quadrics are the following questions : Question 4.g. and F (ϕ)/F is purely transcendental if and only if ϕ is isotropic (here. a∞ = ∞ for a ∈ L∗ ∪ ∞. Laghribi [Lag1]. [IK3]. among others by Rost [R2]. HOFFMANN (i. [Lag3]. Partial results have been obtained in dimensions 7 and 8 (e. and where the expressions ∞ + ∞ and 0∞ are not defined. Let ϕ be a form over F with dim ϕ = n ≥ 2. bi is isotropic. then ϕ will be isotropic over F (ϕ) by definition of the function field. We refer to [S. Let d ∈ F ∗ \ F ∗2 . In fact. 1/0 = ∞. Hoffmann [H1]. Ch. Then ψF (√d) is isotropic if and only if there exists a ∈ F ∗ such that ah1. [IK2]. we put F (ϕ) = F for dim ϕ ≤ 1 (sometimes it is useful to consider 0-dimensional quadratic forms).1]) : Lemma 4. The case of dim ϕ ≥ 4 is largely open and only some partial results are known. we consider F to be purely transcendental of transcendence degree 0 over itself in order to include the case ϕ ∼ = H). [S. the following is easy to show (cf. The case of dim ϕ = 3 has been studied by various authors. [K2]. To avoid case distinctions.2. §5] for details. [Lag2]. 2. Izhboldin and Karpenko [IK1]. for example in [P1] and [AP]..e. −ab 6∈ F ∗2 ). It follows that if ψ is another form over F . Leep [Le3]. Ch.86 DETLEV W. For which anisotropic forms ψ over F is ϕF (ψ) isotropic ? A complete answer to the first question is known for dim ϕ = 2. [H2]. a rather complete description is known if ϕ is an 8-dimensional form in I 2 F ). then K(ϕ)/K is purely transcendental. [HVG1]. If dim ϕ ≥ 2. The second question has attracted a lot of attention over the last few years. We collect some useful facts which we will use later.1. Lemma 3. [HLVG]. A complete answer is known if dim ϕ ≤ 5. VII. Then F (ϕ) is of transcendence degree n−2 over F . . Hoffmann. F (ϕ) is also called a generic zero field for the form ϕ as it has the property that if L is any field over F such that ϕL is isotropic.1]. One of the first systematic studies of function fields of quadratic forms and the behaviour of quadratic forms over such function fields has been undertaken by Knebusch [K1]. (i) Let ϕ be an anisotropic form over F . 1/∞ = 0. where one applies the obvious rules a + ∞ = ∞ for a ∈ L. Among the authors who contributed to these results on forms of small dimension are Wadsworth [W]. then if ψ is anisotropic over K it will be anisotropic over F (ϕ) (go up to K(ϕ) and then down to F (ϕ)). Lewis and Van Geel [LVG]. a reasonably complete answer is given in terms of so-called splitting sequences and minimal forms. Ch.

1]. 4. 3.5]. Th. ISOTROPY OF QUADRATIC FORMS AND FIELD INVARIANTS 87 If in Question 4. 2.4. General results on the isotropy problem are even harder to obtain or so it seems. This is known for Pfister forms as we shall see in the next section. One of the most general and most useful results on the “hyperbolic” question is the following subform theorem due to Wadsworth [W. then the above just means GF (ϕ) = DF (ϕ) for ϕ ∈ Pn F . Then ϕ stays anisotropic over F (ψ). Knebusch [K1. if ϕ ∈ Pn F . 4. the problem becomes somewhat easier but by no means trivial. (Hoffmann [H3. Part (i) will then become the problem of determining the kernel of the ring homomorphism W F → W F (ϕ).4]. see also [L1. Suppose that ψF (ϕ) is hyperbolic. Theorem 4. ϕ ∼ 6 H. Lemma 4. K-theory and cohomology theory. An n-fold Pfister form over F is a form of type h1. similar) to n-fold Pfister forms by Pn F (resp. Ch. xn ) over the rational function field in n variables F (x1 . [F]). and we write hha1 . See also [S. IX.3. · · · . Then ψ represents ϕ(x1 . [S. xn ) if and only if ϕ ⊂ ψ. 4. Karpenko and Izhboldin who invoke highly sophisticated machinery such as Chow groups and Chow motives of quadrics. · · · . CPST for short. then a ∈ F ∗ is represented by ϕ if and only if ϕ ∼ = aϕ.1 we replace the word “isotropic” by “hyperbolic”. Then for each a ∈ F ∗ represented by ϕ and each b ∈ F ∗ represented by ψ. −an i. Ch. independently. unramified cohomology and graded Grothendieck groups of quadrics to tackle this and related problems.) Let ϕ and ψ be anisotropic forms over F such that dim ϕ ≤ 2n < dim ψ. = and ψ nonhyperbolic. but also for other types of forms. Th. GPn F ). dim ψ ≥ dim ϕ. Further progress in the algebraic theory of quadratic forms in general and on the isotropy problem in particular will most likely necessitate more and more the use of such highly developed techniques originating in algebraic geometry.2 as being the generators of I n F . Th. Let ϕ and ψ be forms over F such that dim ϕ ≥ 2. 2] and. We have already recognized them in section 2. Th.3. We collect some of these properties which will be useful later on. This theorem is often referred to (as we shall do) as the Cassels-Pfister subform theorem. First of all. A somewhat different proof from the one in [H3] was given by Hurrelbrink- Rehmann [HuR]. Pfister forms. 5. [P2]. We will denote the set of forms isometric (resp. In particular. · · · . Ch. 2. §10]). Cf. Th. ai ∈ F ∗ . an ii for short. and if GF (ϕ) represents the similarity factors of ϕ over F . If DF (ϕ) denotes the elements in F ∗ represented by ϕ. so for example in the case dim ϕ ≤ 5 (cf. although the original theorem which goes by this name (and which is the main ingredient in the proof of the theorem above) states the following : Let ϕ be a form of dimension n over F and let ψ be another form over F . They have first been studied systematically by Pfister [P2] who proved their basic properties. Ch. Pfister forms share many nice and useful properties which make them into a powerful tool and place them at the core of the whole algebraic theory of quadratic forms. In . although great progress has been made recently in the work of Vishik. we have that abϕ ⊂ ψ. An important general result which nevertheless can be proved in a fairly elemen- tary fashion using properties of Pfister forms (see section below) is the following : Theorem 4. Many of these proofs have been simplified later by Witt [Wi2] (see also [S.7].8]. −ai ⊗ · · · ⊗ h1.

. X § 2] and Scharlau’s book [S. Th.4]). Th. consider K = F (πr ). Ch. 5. HOFFMANN particular. where the (πi )K are anisotropic. If dim ϕ = 2n . 4. We have that if ϕ ∈ GPn F and ψ are anisotropic forms over F . and we have dim ϕ = 2n . In Scharlau’s book [S. ¤ An important notion is that of a Pfister neighbor. If F is formally real and P is an ordering of F . Y = (y1 . otherwise sgnP ϕ = 0. they are always multiplicative. A form ψ with the property GF (ψ) = DF (ψ) is called round (this definition is due to Witt [Wi2] who also provided an elegant proof of the roundness of Pfister forms). § 10. ϕ ∈ GPn F . This can easily be shown using the fact that Pfister forms become hyperbolic over their own function field. by what we mentioned above. 4. Def. then ϕF (ϕ) is isotropic and therefore hyperbolic. Conversely. Ps In particular dim ϕ = 2n dim τ ≥ 2n . independently. · · · . or anisotropic and round. 10. yj . yn ) there exist an n-tuple of rational functions Z = (z1 . If r ≥ 2. see also Lam’s book [L1. · · · . Satz 5. then ϕ ∈ GPn F for some n ≥ 1. and if ψF (ϕ) is hyperbolic. Pfister forms are multiplicative. n ≥ 1. an ii we have sgnP ϕ = 2n = dim ϕ if all ai <P 0. This result also leads to a proof of APH. Pfister forms are either anisotropic or hyperbolic.1].e. invoking CPST and doing an induction on the dimension of ψ. if ϕ is isotropic then π is isotropic and hence hyperbolic. 1 ≤ i. · · · . Induction on r shows that dim ϕ ≥ dim(ϕK )an ≥ 2n . by Knebusch [K1. then (ϕK )an = i=1 (πi )K .4]). and thus. 5. zn ). if π is hyperbolic than ϕ is isotropic as follows readily from the fact that dim ϕ > 12 dim π and the following rather obvious but useful observation (whose proof is left as an easy exercise to the reader) : 7Some authors call a form multiplicative if it is round. Ch. j ≤ n) such that ψ(X)ψ(Y ) = ψ(Z). This shows that if ϕ ∈ GPn F is anisotropic. Ch. The converse of this statement is also true : Let ϕ be an anisotropic form over F of dimension ≥ 2 such that ϕF (ϕ) is hyperbolic. 4. a form is called multiplicative if it is either hyperbolic. 1 ≤ s < r (after deleting all hyperbolic (πi )K and rearranging the remaining ones : s ≥ 1 because ϕK is not hyperbolic.7 Since isotropic forms are universal. s < r because (πr )K is hyperbolic). dim ϕ = 0. 2. · · · . If r = 1 then ϕ∼ = π1 (as ϕ and π1 are anisotropic). then there exists a form τ over F such that ψ ∼ = ϕ ⊗ τ . xn ). If ϕK is not hyperbolic. Pfister [P2. zk ∈ F (xi . Let ϕ be an anisotropic form in I n F and write ϕ ∼ i=1 πi with anisotropic πi ∈ GPn F . With this definition. We leave the details as an exercise to the reader. If ϕK is hyperbolic then ϕ ∼ = τ ⊗ πr for a certain form τ over F by the preceding paragraph.88 DETLEV W. An n-dimensional form ψ over F is called multiplicative if for the n-tuples of variables X = (x1 . Th. 5] and. If r = 0 then ϕ ∼ 0. Pr Proof of APH. ϕ is called a Pfister neighbor if there exists a form π ∈ Pn F for some n ≥ 0 and an a ∈ F ∗ such that aϕ ⊂ π and dim ϕ > 21 dim π = 2n−1 . then for ϕ = hha1 . Pfister showed that an anisotropic form ϕ over F is a Pfister form if and only if ϕ is multiplicative if and only if DL (ϕ) is a group for all field extensions L/F iff ϕL is round for all field extensions L/F (cf. Th. This has been shown by Wadsworth [W. 2]. Ch. Th. which by the above shows that ϕF (ϕ) is hyperbolic. i. In this case.8] (see also [S. In this situation. we say that ϕ is a Pfister neighbor of the Pfister form π. then dim(ϕF (ϕ) )an < 2n and (ϕF (ϕ) )an ∈ I n F (ϕ). 2. Ch. DF (ϕ) is a group.

σn will stay anisotropic over F = K(ψ) as follows from Theorem 4. one can also invoke CPST : If (σn )F were isotropic. If ϕ is a Pfister neighbor of the Pfister forms π1 and π2 . (Kaplansky does not use the word level and calls this invariant B(F ). −1ii ∈ Pn F .1. 5. a + T 2 is a sum of m squares in K if and only if −1 or a is a sum of m − 1 squares in F . Recall that by definition the level s(F ) is the supremum of the dimensions of anisotropic forms of type h1. see the historical remarks in [P4. in the beginning in the context of number fields. 8 or a multiple of 16. (ii) Let K be any formally real field and consider the n-fold Pfister form σn defined as above. Let m ∈ N and suppose that s(F ) ≥ m. 4. there exists n ∈ N such that π1 . Satz 2] (see also . if F is not formally real) is always of the form 1. 2. and the anisotropy of ϕ implies that of σn .5. 4 or a multiple of 8. Hence ψ would be similar to a subform of σn . if finite (i. a2 π1 − a1 π2 ∼ a2 τ1 − a1 τ2 . Note that dim τi < 12 dim πi = 2n−1 . Of course. it would be hyperbolic as it is a Pfister form. Indeed. in W F . Then ϕ is a Pfister neighbor of σn . The left hand side is in I n F . Let ai ∈ F ∗ and τi such that ai ϕ ⊥ τi ∼ = πi . If dim τ > dim ψ − iW (ψ). Then there exists n ∈ N ∪ {0} such that s(F ) = 2n . Theorem 5. then π1 ∼ = π2 . i. Mutliplicativity of Pfister forms then readily implies that π1 ∼ π = 2 . The level. hence. This results has been shown by Cassels [Ca] and has been generalized by Pfister [P2. 42]. π2 ∈ Pn F . K corresponds to the field F0 . 5. We have already seen that if F is not for- mally real. K(ψ) to F1 . s(F ) + 1}. there were no examples known of nonformally real F with s(F ) > 4. 1i. then consider the rational function field in one variable K = F (T ). i = 1. Let us just mention that H. Construction of fields with prescribed invariants : Examples 5.1. p. n ∈ N}. then τ is isotropic. The Pythagoras number. published in [P1]. Let ϕ = m × h1i. Kneser [Kn] proved in 1934 that the level of a field F . (ii) For each n ∈ N ∪ {0} there exists a field F with s(F ) = 2n . Then ψK is isotropic.e. a2 π1 − a1 π2 ∼ 0. (Pfister) (i) Let F be a nonformally real field. 2n + 1} for some integer n ≥ 0. Now for a ∈ F ∗ . Let n be such that 2n−1 < m ≤ 2n . Proof. which immediately yields the desired result. · · · . The aim of this section is to prove Pfister’s famous results on the level. we have that ϕ is anisotropic. which is impossible for dimension reasons. hence m × h1i is isotropic for all m > 2n . and ψ = (2n +1)×h1i. where Cs (F ) = {n × h1i.2. σn to ϕ. and thus p(F ) ∈ {2n . Kaplansky [Ka] proved in 1953 the weaker result that the level for nonformally real F is 1.e. 2. then p(F ) ∈ {s(F ). a2 π1 ∼ = a1 π2 . the right hand side is of dimension < 2n . Let F = K(ψ). · · · . Then. for dimension reasons.) Back then.1. On the other hand. and our construction stops after the second step. Let ψ and τ be forms over F such that τ ⊂ ψ. 2. (i) Define σn = 2n × h1i = hh−1. If F is any field with s(F ) = 2n . Then by definition of the level as supdim Cs (F ). ¤ In the notations of section 4. by APH.4. Obviously unaware of Kneser’s result. ISOTROPY OF QUADRATIC FORMS AND FIELD INVARIANTS 89 Lemma 4. Hence s(F ) ≥ 2n . This is one of the first field invariants pertaining to quadratic forms which has been studied.

These fields are inductively ordered by inclusion. it was finally shown that in fact all n ∈ N can appear as Pythagoras number of formally real fields. Ch. Then ϕL is a Pfister neighbor if and only if ϕL ⊂ (πn )L iff ψL is isotropic. so there exists a intermediate field K 0 which is maximal with respect to this property. Then there exists an integer n ≥ 0 such that s(F ) = 2n and p(F ) ∈ {2n . hence ϕ contains the Pfister neighbor (2m + 1) × h1i of πn . each element of K 0∗ will be a sum of ≤ 2n squares. all forms over F of dimension 2 +1 are isotropic. and fields F 00 with p(F 00 ) = ∞. with n and m as above. Let m. then ϕF (ψ) is an anisotropic Pfister neighbor. then it must be a . Let n ∈ N and let m ∈ N ∪ {0} such that 2m−1 < n ≤ 2m . such that 2n × h1i is isotropic over Fi (this is the case for F0 as s(F0 ) = 2n ). First. 2. Let us define n(0) = n and n(1) = 2m − n.90 DETLEV W. Lemma 5. Proof. On the other hand. n. Note that if n(i) > 1. In [H6]. 2n + 1}. For more details. there exist formally real fields F . Conversely. but by construction −1 will not be a sum of 2n − 1 squares. Then it is not to difficult to show that 2n × h1i will be universal over K 0 . In particular. if n(i) ≥ 1 then n(i + 1) = n(i)(1). We put σn = n × h1i and πn = σn ⊥ σn(1) . since anisotropic forms of dimension ≤ 2n stay anisotropic over function fields of forms of dimension ≥ 2n +1. If ϕL is a Pfister neighbor. then there exists k ∈ N ∪ {0} such that n(i) > 2k > n(i + 1). F 0 such that s(F ) = p(F ) = s(F 0 ) = 2n and p(F 0 ) = 2n + 1. πn = hh−1. −1ii ∈ Pm F . Then let Fi+1 be the free compositum over Fi of all n function S∞ fields Fi (ϕ). Ch. p(F 0 ) = 2n + 1. This readily implies that −1 + T 2 cannot be written as a sum of 2n squares and we have p(K) = 2n + 1. some notations. (i) We have πn = σn ⊥ σn(1) = 2m+1 × h1i. Suppose we have constructed Fi . Prop. Let us give the proof which is essentially the one to be found in [H6]. and inductively. F 0 such that p(F ) = 2n . let Kalg be an algebraic closure of K and consider all intermediate fields K ⊂ L ⊂ Kalg with the property that 2n × h1i is anisotropic over L. · · · . Put ϕ = σn ⊥ hxi and ψ = σn(1) ⊥ h−xi. In particular.3. We construct a tower of fields F0 ⊂ F1 ⊂ · · · as follows. We immediately get p(F ) = s(F ) = u(F ) = 2n . Then. Theorem 5. In other words. we see that 2n × h1i stays anisotropic over F . let F0 be any field of level 2n . (ii) If ϕ is anisotropic. HOFFMANN the “Second Representation Theorem” [L1.5]. Indeed. ϕF (ψ) ⊂ (πn )F (ψ) and (πn )F (ψ) is anisotropic. Let F = i=0 . p(K 0 ) = 2n . to each integer n ≥ 0 there exist nonformally real fields F . except that there some of the auxiliary results are proved in greater generality. Let F be a nonformally real field. and let x ∈ F ∗ . Hence. Let us summarize the above. To get a field K 0 with p(K 0 ) = 2n . [P4. i ≥ 0. cf. Then the following holds : (i) Let L/F be any field extension. r ∈ N such that n = 2m + r and 1 ≤ r ≤ 2m − 1. We can also construct such fields using our method. We begin with a lemma which is essentially due to Izhboldin [I1].2. the situation is more complicated. he could construct such fields inside R using a technique called “intersection of henselian fields”. 1. where ϕ runs over all forms of dimension 2 n + 1 over Fi . In fact. and σn is a Pfister neighbor of πn . 7. IX. u(F ) ≤ 2n . Th. In particular. by construction. For formally real F . Prestel [Pr2] showed that to each integer n ≥ 0.1]).

Suppose that ϕF (ψ) is isotropic. Note that 2 ≤ dim τ < dim ρ ≤ 2m with m ≥ 2. So suppose that (ii) holds. and . Then ϕF (ψ)(ρ) is isotropic. the statement follows from Theorem 4. and by CPST and because πn and ψ represent 1. implies that τF (ρ) is isotropic. say. Hence. Let k ≥ 1 such that 2k + 1 ≤ dim ρ ≤ 2k+1 ≤ 2m . The converse is obvious. that ψ is a Pfister neighbor. Then 2k + 2 ≤ dim ρ ≤ 2k+1 . hence of (πn )L . Now F (ψ)(ρ) and F (ρ)(ψ) are F -isomorphic. it follows from Lemma 5. x.3. Then ϕF (ψ) is anisotropic. −1. By a similar argument as before. Proof. then F (ψ)/F is purely transcen- dental and ϕ stays therefore anisotropic over F (ψ). −1ii ∈ Pm+1 F . Then (πn )F (ψ) is hyperbolic. · · · . Suppose ϕF (ψ) is isotropic. a contradiction. ISOTROPY OF QUADRATIC FORMS AND FIELD INVARIANTS 91 neighbor of the same Pfister form as (2m + 1) × h1i. Note that if dim ϕ = 2m +1. y ∈ F ∗ . ϕF (ψ) is anisotropic. ψ = σn(1) ⊥ h−xi ⊂ πn implies that σn represents −x and hence that ϕ is isotropic. and let ϕ = σn0 ⊥ hxi. and since σn is a Pfister neighbor of πn .4. Thus. In particular. by Lemma 5. multiplicativity of Pfister forms implies ϕL ⊂ (πn )L . if ϕ is a Pfister neighbor. or (ii) 2m + 1 ≤ dim ϕ < dim ψ ≤ 2m+1 and ψ is not a Pfister neighbor. for dimension reasons. we have (σn ⊥ hxi)L ⊂ (πn )L = (σn ⊥ σn(1) )L iff (σn(1) )L represents x if and only if (σn(1) ⊥ h−xi)L = ψL is isotropic. Hence. ψF (ρ) is a Pfister neighbor which. −yii ∈ Pm+1 F . The proof is by induction on m. Then γ becomes hyperbolic over F (ψ). this implies m ≥ 2. In the situation of (i). · · · . which. then σn is anisotropic. contrary to our assumption. Since ϕ and ψ are not Pfister neighbors. of γ ∈ Pm+1 F .4. and that (πn )F (ρ) is anisotropic. If dim τ ≤ 2k then we are in case (i) which by the above implies that τF (ρ) is anisotropic. we have that πn is anisotropic. Since both ϕL and (πn )L represent 1. Recall that τ = σn(1) ⊥ h−yi and ρ = σn0 (1) ⊥ h−xi are anisotropic with dim τ < dim ρ. Let ρ = σn0 (1) ⊥ h−xi. ¤ Proposition 5. By Witt cancellation. then ϕ is a Pfister neighbor of hh−1. τ = σn(1) ⊥ h−yi. ψ = σn ⊥ hyi. By CPST and since both ψ and πn represent 1. Let 1 ≤ n0 < n be integers.3 that ρ and τ are anisotropic and that ϕF (ρ) ⊂ (πn )F (ρ) . πn = πn0 = hh−1. Suppose that ϕ is anisotropic and that one of the following conditions holds : (i) dim ϕ ≤ 2m . Recall that in this situation. So suppose that dim τ ≥ 2k + 1. ϕF (ψ) is a Pfister neighbor of (πn )F (ψ) . Suppose first that ϕ is a Pfister neighbor. what remains to check is the case 2m + 2 ≤ dim ϕ < dim ψ ≤ 2m+1 with ϕ and ψ not being Pfister neighbors. If ψ is isotropic. Let m ≥ 0 be an integer such that 2m + 1 ≤ dim ψ ≤ 2m+1 . In this situation. by CPST implies that ψ is similar to a subform of γ and hence. If ϕ is anisotropic. we have ψ ⊂ πn . We will show that τF (ρ) is anisotropic. by part (i). in particular if m = 0. Suppose that ϕF (ψ) is isotropic. Hence we may assume that ψ is anisotropic. in contradiction to what we have shown above under the assumption that ϕF (ψ) is isotropic. (ii) ψF (ψ) is isotropic and thus. we have 1 ≤ dim σn(1) < dim σn0 (1) ≤ 2m −1. we have ψF (ρ) ⊂ (πn )F (ρ) and hence. Then γ is anisotropic as ϕ is supposed to be anisotropic. ϕF (ρ)(ψ) is isotropic and thus (πn )F (ρ)(ψ) is hyperbolic.

· · · . 7 (note that if F is formally real. b ∈ K 2 } . Hence. If ∞ > u(F ) > 1 then u(F ) is even. this implies that σn0 (2) ⊥ hxi is isotropic. then ψ is not a Pfister neighbor (note that this case can only occur if n + 1 ≥ 4 and Pthus m ≥ 1). but it cannot be written as a sum of n squares in F0 (in E(x1 . then u will necessarily be even) : Proposition 5. This result was a major breakthrough in the algebraic theory of quadratic forms and it triggered a renewed interest in the isotropy problem for quadratic forms over function fields of quadrics. it suffices to verify that ϕF is anisotropic. Then an is a sum of n+1 squares. are isotropic. p(F ) ≤ n. ¤ Theorem 5. So suppose ρ = σn0 (1) ⊥ h−xi is a Pfister neighbor. contradicting the anisotropy of ϕ. HOFFMANN if we can show that ρ is not a Pfister neighbor then we are in case (ii) and the anisotropy of τF (ρ) follows by induction because k < m. · · · . ¤ 5. . this follows by induction from the “Second Representation Theorem” [L1. Let n ∈ N ∪ {∞}. and Kaplansky [Ka] conjectured that this would always be the case. With the notations as above and by Lemma 5. By Lemma 5. We claim that F is formally real and p(F ) = n.5]. Now let n ∈ N and let ϕ = (n − 1) × h1i ⊥ h−an−1 i. Th. Let E be a formally real field. · · · ) be the rational function field in an infinite number of variables xi over F0 . then ϕK(ψ) is anisotropic. the only known values for the u-invariant were powers of 2. Then there exists a formally real field extension F of E such that p(F ) = n. Then we put F = i=0 Fi . By construction. Let an = 1 + x21 + · · · + x2n . We have P(K) ⊂ Cp (K). Hence ρ is not a Pfister neighbor and the proof is complete. Proof. Let F be nonformally real and I 3 F = 0.3. This shows that all orderings on F0 extend to orderings on F and F is therefore P 2 formally real. and if ψ ∈ P(K). 3. To show equality. let us define P P(K) = {n × h1i ⊥ h−bi. Suppose we have shown that Fi is formally real. 5.1] which we already mentioned above. In particular. [M2]. we want to describe the main ideas behind Merkurjev’s construction of fields whose u-invariants have as value any given even n ∈ N. up to Merkurjev’s results. cf. 2. Up to then. In particular. b ∈ K 2 . But this follows from the previous proposition if we can show that if m ∈ N is such that 2m +1 < n+1 = dim ψ ≤ 2m+1 . Ch. The u-invariant.92 DETLEV W. 2m + 1 ≤ n ≤ 2m+1 − 1. Then all forms in P(Fi ) are by construction totally indefinite. In this section. Let F0 = E(x1 . b ∈ F . x2 . is a Pfister neighbor iff σn(1) ⊥ hbi is isotropic. this shows that p(F0 ) = ∞. Th. By [ELW. ψ = σn ⊥ h−bi. which is anisotropic by the above.3. IX. all forms of type n × h1i ⊥ h−bi. For a field K.6. u(F ) 6∈ {3. xn ). the only values which could be ruled out were 3.3. But σn0 (2) ⊥ hxi ⊂ σn0 ⊥ hxi = ϕ. This follows if we can show that if K is a formally real extension of F with ϕK anisotropic.5. xn ) is purely transcendental). hence Fi+1 will be formally real. 5. 7}. this implies that all orderings on Fi will extend to orderings on Fi+1 . hence σn(1) ⊥ hbi is anisotropic and ψ is not a Pfister neighbor. P 2 But σn(1) ⊥ hbi is positive definite at each ordering of K as b ∈ K . and for F0 this follows from the fact that F0 /E(x1 . We construct a tower of fields F0 ⊂ F1 ⊂ F2 ⊂ · · · by putting Fi+1 to be the free compositum S∞ of all function fields Fi (ψ) over Fi with ψ ∈ P(Fi ). However.

g. Merkurjev’s original proofs use Swan’s computation of the K-theory of quadrics. Proof. DF (ψ) is a division algebra. In Tignol’s formulation. −di ⊗ ψ is hyperbolic and ϕ is therefore isotropic as ϕ ⊂ h1. (i) Let ψ be a form over F of dimension 2n + 3. 2. Hence. the result on index reduction reads as follows. Then u(F ((T )) ) = 2m by Lemma 1.5]). ¤ We have already encountered examples of fields with u(F ) = 2n in Example 3. ISOTROPY OF QUADRATIC FORMS AND FIELD INVARIANTS 93 Proof. At the core lie the index reduction formulas which tell us when a central division algebra D over F will have zero divisors over F (ψ). there exists a central simple F -algebra A such that C0 (ψ) ' A × A and C(ψ) ' A ⊗F M2 (F ) (see. we may assume that ψ represents 1. But this is impossible if D is division as A has zero divisors. [L1. −di ⊗ ψ and dim ϕ > 21 dim(h1. u(F ) is even. e. we get all 2-powers by taking iterated power series extensions. On the other hand. After scaling. In particular. Then DF (ψ) is a division algebra. hence h1. where the Qi ’s are quaternion algebras over F . i.7. ¤ . the function field of a quadric ψ over F .8. we have ψ ∈ I 2 F . (ii) If ψ is isotropic. and by comparing signed discriminants. V. −di ⊗ ψ) (see Lemma 4. It is known that since ψ ∈ I 2 F . I 3 F = 0. Since dimF C(ψ) ≥ 28 . then F (ψ)/F is purely transcendental. (ii) Let ψ be a form over F in I 3 F .e. and since division algebras stay division over purely transcendental extensions. A has zero divisors. Then ϕ ∼ = ψ ⊥ h−di ⊂ h1. Since dim ψ is odd. −di ⊗ ψ ∈ I 3 F = 0. Now ψ ∈ I 3 F implies that [C(ψ)] = 0 ∈ Br2 F . for dimension reasons. Thus. then ϕ ∼= ψ ⊥ h−di. in our situation. Let n ∈ N and let ϕ be form over F of dimension 2n + 1. and any homomor- phic image of C0 (ψ) is therefore isomorphic to C0 (ψ). the even part of the Clifford algebra of ψ. D cannot contain a homomorphic image of C0 (ψ). so the second part follows from the first. by APH. it follows that A is a matrix algebra over F of rank ≥ 8. All this shows that either ϕ is isotropic or u(F ) ≥ 2n + 2.. Let us now turn to Merkurjev’s construction. C0 (ψ) is a central simple F -algebra. Theorem 5. Hence. Let F be a field with u(F ) = m. Then DF (ψ) is a division algebra. Then DF (ψ) = D ⊗F F (ψ) is not a division algebra if and only if D contains a homomorphic image of C0 (ψ). and since C(ψ) is isomorphic to a matrix algebra over F . then . dim ψ ≥ 8. Let d ∈ F ∗ such that d± (ϕ ⊥ hdi) = 1. D contains a homomorphic image of C0 (ψ) iff D contains a subalgebra isomorphic to A.5. (i) We have dimF D = 4n and dim C0 (ψ) = 21 dim C(ψ) = 22n+2 = n+1 4 .5). ϕ ⊥ hdi ∈ I 2 F . If ϕ ⊥ hdi is anisotropic. starting with any field with u = 1. Th. Let n ≥ 1 and let D = Q1 ⊗ · · · ⊗ Qn be a central division algebra over F . Now suppose that I 3 F = 0. by APH. Corollary 5. Another possibility to construct such fields is as follows. If ϕ ⊥ hdi is isotropic. A more elementary proof has been given by Tignol [T2]. Let D be a central division algebra over F and let ψ be a form over F of dimension ≥ 2. By the above theorem. If u(F ) < 8. then u(F ) ≥ 2n + 2.1. DF (ψ) is a division algebra. So we may assume that ψ is anisotropic and thus. Ch.

Then ϕ0 ∈ I 2 F . then ϕ is anisotropic. By Corollary 5. · · · . This equality no longer holds in general when F . c(ϕ) = [A] ∈ Br2 F . yi )F0 and A = i=1 Qi .94 DETLEV W.9 and we have u(F ) ≥ 2n + 2.9. If F is non- formally real. Some final examples and remarks 6. bi ii. 2. By construction. which is anisotropic as A is division. all forms in I 3 F are isotropic. 6. AF is a division algebra. Let N n ∈ N. dim ψ = 2n.8. Let E be any field. [T1. in W F . and dim ϕ0 = 2n. ψ ∈ I 3 K}. dim ϕ = 2n + 2. we shall need the following lemma which can be considered as some sort of converse of Lemma 2. ynL ) be the n rational function field in 2n variables over E. ¤ In view of Proposition 5. bi ii in W F . c(ϕ) = c(ϕ0 ). and let F0 = E(x1 . if A is a division algebra. e. 1 ≤ i ≤ n − 1. xn . Let ϕ be an Albert form associated with A as in Lemma 5. U2 (K) = {ψ form over K. AK(ψ) will be division if ψ ∈ U1 (K) ∪ U2 (K). Let Qi = (xi . Let K be a field extension of F0 such that AK is division.9.10. Lemma 5. in particular. We now construct a tower of fields F0 ⊂ F1 ⊂ · · · as follows. In particular. hence u(F ) ≤ 2n + 2. hence A ∼ = M2 (B) is not division.1. Also. Let Qi = (ai . HOFFMANN For the construction of the fields themselves. say. By Lemma 2. −bn . (Merkurjev) Let m ∈ N be even. Also. b)F ] ∈ Br2 F . Now let m = 2n + 2 with n ≥ 1. bii mod I 3 F to [(a. Now dimF B = 4n−1 < dimF A = 4n . there exist quaternion algebras B1 . ϕ ∼ ψ − rhhan . Then A is a division algebra (see.2. Having constructed Fi . bn ii.1). u(F ) = 2n + 2.8. The proof is by induction on n. Proof. then ũ(F ) = u(F ). ϕ ∈ I 2 F . 1 ≤ i ≤ n. we put ϕ = hhai . ϕ ∼ = ϕ0 ⊥ H.6. Suppose n ≥ 2 and we have constructed Pn−1 ri ∈ F ∗ .g. such that ψ ∼ ∼ 0 i=1 ri hhai . bi ii in W F . y1 . section 3. be quaternion algebras n ∗ over F . Proof. by Corollary 5. hence I 3 F = 0. · · · . we call ϕ an Albert form associated with A. and with rn = −r we have the desired form. Let Ealg be an algebraic closure of E. ψ ∈ U1 (F1 ) ∪ U2 (F2 ). Then there exist Pn ri ∈ F . ¤ In the situation of the above lemma. Then. we see that for m ∈ N. and a form ϕ over F such that dim ϕ = 2n + 2 and ϕ ∼ i=1 ri hhai . Bn−1 over F such that for B = B1 ⊗ · · · ⊗ Bn−1 we have [B] = c(ϕ0 ) = c(ϕ) = [A]. Theorem 5. Write ψ = hri ⊥ ψ and 0 consider ϕ = ψ ⊥ −rh−an . Hence. Then. an bn i. a necessary and sufficient condition for a field F with I 3 F = 0 and u(F ) = m to exist is that m be even. and ψ ∈ I 2 F .2.12]). 1 ≤ i ≤ n. all forms of dimension 2n + 3 are isotropic over F . Then there exists a (nonformally real) field F over E with u(F ) = m and I 3 F = 0. and define U1 (K) = {ψ form over K. Values of ũ and u and relations between invariants. and let A = i=1 Qi . Thus. dim ψ = 2n + 3}. Put F = i=0 Fi . ϕF is anisotropic by Lemma 5. bi )F . Then we have u(Ealg ) = 1 and u(Ealg (T )) = 2 (cf. let Fi+1 be the free S∞ compositum over Fi of all function fields Fi (ψ). Furthermore. c(ϕ) = [A] ∈ Br2 F follows from the fact that c yields an isomorphism from I 2 F/I 3 F to Br2 F mapping rhha. Suppose that ϕ is isotropic.. If n = 1.

If u(F ) ≤ 2 then ũ(F ) ∈ {u(F ). 3 such that for all these fields I is torsion free and such that for n ∈ N∪{0} 0 0 we have u(F2n ) = u(F2n ) = ũ(F2n ) = 2n and ũ(F2n ) = ∞. We have the following result which gives the analogue of Proposi- tion 5. XY i is totally indefinite with respect to each order- ing on R((X))((Y )). We will not prove this theorem but only give some relevant references.5 that ϕm is anisotropic. and that u(F ) ≤ ũ(F ). [I2]. but this can readily be achieved by a slight generalization of his construction.5 twice. Theorem 6. E. but it can be shown that also for his 00 0 example one gets u(F2n ) = 2n. 2n+2}. 3. then ũ(F ) is even. 0 00 (iii) There exist formally real fields F2n .10 for formally real fields. ϕm is totally indefinite.) Finally. The methods of construction are a variation of Merkur- jev’s method of constructing fields with even u-invariant. ISOTROPY OF QUADRATIC FORMS AND FIELD INVARIANTS 95 in formally real. Th. then there exists a formally real field F with u(F ) = n if and only if n is even. examples of the type F2n can be found in [H7]. In particular. XY i = −1. All this together yields that ũ(R((X))((Y )) ) = ∞. then ũ(F ) ∈ {u(F ). 7 are not possible. 7}. Part (i) has been proved in [ELP. Since binary totally indefinite forms are torsion. then it will be shown in a forthcoming paper [H7] that I 3 F being torsion free implies ũ(F ) ∈ {2n. Recall that for formally real F . Since m × h1i is anisotropic over R for all m ∈ N. then u(F ) = ũ(F ). If u(F ) = 2n for some integer n ≥ 2. for ũ in the formally real case). ∞}. X. Y. u(F )+ 2. Y. until recently when Izhboldin announced the construction of a (necessarily nonformally real) field F with u(F ) = 9. ∞}. 00 Examples of fields F2n and F2n for n ≥ 2 have been constructed by Hornix [Hor5] and by Lam [L3]. The method of construction is again of Merkurjev type. Consider the form ϕm = m × h−1. we see that u(F00 ) = 4u(R) = 0. XY i. 5.F]. we can conclude that if n ∈ N ∪ {0}. X. Using this result. We also know that 3. and for n ≥ 2 00 00 we have u(F2n ) = 2n and ũ(F2n ) = 2n + 2. Y. ũ(F ) 6∈ {1. As for the existence. So one might conjecture that there exists a nonformally real F with u(F ) = n if and only . By applying Lemma 1. this implies that if u(F ) ∈ {0. H]. He 00 00 shows for his F2n only that u(F2n ) ≤ 2n.6 and Theorem 5. Ths. Let F be a formally real field. the techniques and auxiliary results needed to show that a certain 9-dimensional form stays anisotropic after taking successively function fields of 10-dimensional forms are highly sophisticated and go far beyond the scope of this article (see also the remarks preceding Theorem 4. Now 1 and all even n ∈ N can be realized as u(F ) for a suitable nonformally real F . F2n . (i) If I 3 F is torsion free and ũ(F ) < ∞. If u(F ) = 2n for an integer n ≥ 2. u(F ) is either even or infinite. The first open case was 9. F00 with the desired properties are given by F0 = R and F00 = R((X))((Y )). X. Also det h−1. examples of fields F0 . 2} and if ũ(F ) < ∞. 5. (ii) Suppose that I 3 F is torsion free and u(F ) < ∞. The fact that u(F ) ≤ 2 implies ũ(F ) ≤ 2 (provided ũ(F ) < ∞) was shown in [ELP. we have again by Lemma 1. (Lam actually doesn’t construct the above fields having the additional property of I 3 being torsion free.1.4). and if ũ(F ) < ∞. The question remains which values can occur for u in the nonformally real case (resp. however. n ∈ N ∪ {0}. Hence. which shows that the 4- dimensional form h−1. and F2n for n ≥ 2.

3. 1. 7}. Hence. 5. Note that sgnP ϕK = 8 < dim ϕ = 12 for all orderings on F . 7}. i ≥ 0. 1i ⊗ α is anisotropic over F0 (cf. dim ψ ∈ {10. then by a simple signature argument it is clear that a 12-dimensional form with signature 8 at each ordering cannot contain a 10. 12} }. Since ψ is indefinite at each ordering on K.4. Lemma 1. all orderings on Fi . HOFFMANN if n 6∈ {3. Using a result announced by Izhboldin [I3]. Also. announced. if we put α = h1. hence. −7. and such that ϕK is anisotropic. −7i are aniso- tropic over Q. −7i ⊥ T h1. and we put F = i=0 Fi . ϕK(ψ) will be anisotropic. The above examples show that ũ(F ) − u(F ) = 2 is possible. hence ũ(F ) ≤ 12. By construction. 1. Let ψ ∈ U1 (K) ∪ U2 (K). then ϕ = h1. 1i⊗h1. All totally indefinite forms over F of dimension ≥ 13 are isotropic. It should also be noted that Izhboldin’s results can readily be used to construct formally real F with ũ(F ) = 9. Now any 8-dimensional anisotropic form over F0 will stay anisotropic over F by Theorem 4. Let F0 = Q(T ).) Let ϕ and ψ be forms over F such that ϕ is anisotropic. Then ϕF (ψ) is isotropic if and only if ψ is similar to a subform of ϕ. But it should be noted that it seems that Izhboldin’s methods cannot easily be generalized to yield odd values ≥ 11. Then there exists a formally real field F with ũ(F ) = n if and only if n 6∈ {1. Define U1 (K) = {ψ torsion form over K. Proof. extend to orderings on F . Now we construct a tower of fields F0 ⊂ F1 ⊂ · · · with Fi+1 being the free compositumS∞ over Fi of all function fields Fi (ψ) with ψ ∈ U1 (Fi ) ∪ U2 (Fi ). hence ϕF is totally indefinite and thus ũ(F ) = 12. But all torsion forms of dimension 10 or 12 are isotropic. 1i ⊗ h1. one can construct a formally real field F with u(F ) = 8 and ũ(F ) = 12. Theorem 6. ϕF will be anisotropic. 7i and h1. −7.or 12-dimensional subform with total signature 0. dim ϕ = 12. it follows that each ordering on K extends to an ordering on K(ψ). sgnP ϕ = 8 for all orderings P on F0 . by Izhboldin’s result. Now h1. −7i is torsion. 7}. Hence. u(F ) ≤ ũ(F ) = 12. (i) Let n ∈ N. and if ψ ∈ U1 (K). 1. 1. 5. −7. 1. 7i ⊥ T h1. hence u(F ) ≤ 8. Suppose that K is a field extension of F0 such that all orderings on F0 extend to orderings on K.96 DETLEV W. 1. Let us summarize these conjectures. −7i. ϕ ∈ I 3 F and dim ψ ≥ 9. 1. 5. Hence. −7. (Izhboldin. 3.2. 1. This is obvious for dimension reasons if ψ ∈ U2 (K). 1. −7i. There exists a formally real field F with u(F ) = 8 and ũ(F ) = 12. 1. Then there exists a nonformally real field F with u(F ) = n if and only if n 6∈ {3.5) and in I 3 F0 as α ∈ I 2 F0 and h1. 1i ∈ IF0 . Then h1. 7i is positive definite and h1. ψ is not similar to a subform of ϕ.4. in particular the anisotropic torsion form h1. Clearly. Conjecture 6. dim ψ ≥ 13}. (ii) Let n ∈ N ∪ {0}. A natural question to ask is how much ũ(F ) (if finite) can actually differ from u(F ) for a formally real F . Corollary 6. u(F ) = 8 ¤ . We get a conjecture analogous to the u-invariant case. U2 (K) = {ψ totally indefinite form over K.

suppose that p(F ) ≥ 2m + 1. Recall that for nonformally real F . Theorem 6. or the field C((X))((Y ))((Z)). Let F be formally real. y. The properties SAP and S1 together are equivalent to the property ED (effective diagonalization). cf.5. xyi is weakly isotropic). 2. Let F be a linked field. −1. x. Satz 3.2. Theorem 6. u(F ) ≥ 2m+1 and it follows immediately that p(F ) ≤ u(F ). which states that each form ϕ over F has a diagonalization ha1 . In this situation.7. In fact. One class of such fields is the class of so-called linked fields. equality of u and ũ could be established. Let F be formally real and ED. xyi is isotropic (we then say that h−1. y. Then l(F ) 6≡ 1 mod 4.8. Th. The following has been shown by Elman-Lam [EL2] and Elman [E]. namely the properties SAP (for strong approximation property) and S1 . 2 It should be notedPthat p(F ) ≤ u(F ). . ≤ 2) over R (resp. · · · . Hence. 2]. It is not difficult to show that fields with ũ(F ) ≤ 4 are always linked. · · · .6. Theorem 6. Each of these values can be realized. and which is torsion as it is totally indefinite. ai >P 0 implies ai+1 >P 0 for 1 ≤ i < n. Some remarks on the l-invariant. The examples of linked fields we mentioned above show that all these values can indeed be realized. Let F be formally real. Note that the value 0 (resp. There are quadratic form characterizations of these properties. For some types of fields. Theorem 6. 2. xii ∈ Pm+1 F . Then p(F ) ũ(F ) ≤ (u(F ) + 2) . C). Then there exists x ∈ F 2 such that 2m × h1i ⊥ h−xi is anisotropic. [ELP. Finite. The following is known.5]. Th. This can be answered in terms of certain properties of the space of orderings of F (equipped with a suitable topology).1]. y ∈ F ∗ there exists n ∈ N such that n × h−1. which is therefore also anisotropic. 4. The equivalence has been shown in [PrW. this just means that the classes of quaternion algebras constitute the whole Br2 F ). 6. [Pr1. C]. The following was proved by Elman-Prestel [EP. where the following is shown. cf. ISOTROPY OF QUADRATIC FORMS AND FIELD INVARIANTS 97 An obvious question is when u(F ) < ∞ implies ũ(F ) < ∞. the latter being a field of u-invariant 8. These bounds are improved in [H7]. 1. (i) Suppose that I 3 F is torsion free and 1 < l(F ) < ∞. A field is called linked if the classes of quaternion algebras form a subgroup of the Brauer group (by Merkurjev’s theorem. as well as fields of transcendence degree ≤ 1 (resp. Th. A field hasPproperty S1 if and only if for each binary torsion form β over F one has DF (β) ∩ F 2 6= ∅. But this is a Pfister neighbor of hh−1. local and global fields belong into this class. A field is SAP if and only if for all x. Then u(F ) = ũ(F ) ∈ {0. 8}. so the interesting case is the formally real one. SAP and S1 . they also derive bounds on ũ in terms of u and the Pythagoras number. x. Then ũ(F ) < ∞ if and only if F satisfies u(F ) < ∞. 1) necessarily means that F is formally real (resp. [EP]. an i such that for each ordering P on F . we have l(F ) = u(F ). not formally real).

then how do u(L) and u(K) relate to each other ? For example. The first part has been proved in [BLOP. Proposition 6. −a4 i with ai ∈ F 2 are isotropic. so we will not give the definitions here. −7i is anisotropic over F . 3}. Another important problem is the behaviour of field invariants under algebraic extensions of the ground field. forms ha1 . Remark 3. For instance. hence all orderings on K will extend to K(ψ). Related results. There exists a formally real F with l(F ) = 3 and I 3 F torsion free. 8. By construction. Also. Let us show how to get the case l(F ) = 3. The second part was shown by Hornix for n ≥ 4. a2 . [Le2]. then Leep [Le1] proves that u(L) ≤ 1 2 [L : K]u(K). This is still the case if ψ is a torsion form in I 3 K. it follows from CPST that ϕK(ψ) is anisotropic.11]. On the other hand. most notably in the work of Hornix [Hor1]–[Hor5]. [EL4]. Proof.98 DETLEV W. [Le1]. cf. Mináč-Wadsworth [MinW]. let Fi+1 be the free compositum over Fi of all function ∼ P 2 fields Fi (ψ) where ψ S = ha1 . in particular under quadratic extensions. [Hor3]. We put F = i=0 Fi . which shows that l(F ) = 3. a certain filtration u(0) ≤ u(1) ≤ · · · ≤ u of the u-invariant has been defined and the question was asked whether this sequence is actually always constant (cf. there are no anisotropic torsion forms in I 3 F . ψ will be totally indefinite. Questions of this type have been studied for instance in [E]. HOFFMANN (ii) To each integer n ≥ 1 with n 6≡ 1 mod 4 if n ≥ 2. In other words. [EL1]. Ch. Lemma 4.3. . a3 . and if ψ is anisotropic then dim ψ ≥ 8 by APH. [Hor5. Since ϕK(ψ) is a Pfister form and hence anisotropic or hyperbolic. [EP]. Again. §2]).8]. a3 . or ψ is a torsion form in ∞ I 3 Fi . a3 . Furthermore. with further generalizations by Mináč [Min]. let ψ ∼ = ha1 . Merkurjev’s method has been used and modified in many ways to yield examples of fields with prescribed invariants. Also in this context. Let F0 = Q and consider ϕ = h1. there exists a formally real F such that l(F ) = n and I 3 F is torsion free. Note that in any case. also [P4. Now l(R) = 1 and l(R(T ) ) = 2 as is rather obvious. but some of these invariants are of a rather technical nature. Having constructed Fi such that the ordering on F0 extends to Fi and such that ϕFi is anisotropic. hence I 3 F is torsion free. a2 . if L/K is a field extension. We have only mentioned a few of them. the construction is a variation of Merkurjev’s method. This was done by Leep-Merkurjev [LeM]. If K is any extension of F0 such that the unique ordering of F0 extends P 2 to K and such that ϕK is anisotropic. and in both cases I 3 is clearly torsion free. equality can occur in the cases [L : K] ∈ {2. P the ordering on F0 extends to F . 1. −7. if K is not formally real. ϕF is anisotropic. ¤ 6. Merkurjev’s method has been put to good use in [Hor5] in the construction of fields where these invariants attain prescribed values. Merkurjev’s method could be modified suitably to show that in Leep’s estimate above. For if ψ is isotropic then K(ψ)/K is purely transcendental. hence h1. Note that ψ has signature 2 at each ordering and that therefore ψ is not similar to a subform of (and hence similar to) ϕK . By the definition of l this yields l(F ) ≤ 3. in [EL1]. a2 . There are many other field invariants pertaining to dimensions of anisotropic quadratic forms with additional properties. −7i which is torsion and anisotropic. A variation of Merkurjev’s method was used in [H5] to construct various types of nonconstant such sequences. Several others have been defined and studied. −a4 i with ai ∈ Fi . 1.9. −a4 i with ai ∈ K .

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Route de Gray F-25030 Besançon Cedex France E-mail address: detlev@math.fr . HOFFMANN Département de Mathématiques UMR 6623 du CNRS Université de Franche-Comté 16.102 DETLEV W.univ-fcomte.

The first-named author was supported by Alexander von Humboldt Stiftung. The computation of this group is connected to Milnor’s conjecture and plays an important role in K-theory and in the theory of quadratic forms. we show that if we assume additionally that dim φ ≥ 2n − 7. Of particular interest is the group H n (F (φ)/F ) = ker(H n (F ) → H n (F (φ))). he computed the group H n (F (φ)/F ) for the case n ≤ 3. we denote by H n (L/F ) the kernel of the natural homomorphism H n (F ) → H n (L). let φ be a quadratic form over F . The case n = 4 was completely studied by Kahn. Let F be a field and φ be a quadratic form over F . An important part of the algebraic theory of qua- dratic forms deals with the behavior of the groups H n (F ) under the field extension F (φ)/F . then these three conditions hold if and only if φ is an anisotropic n-fold Pfister neighbor. Z/2Z) → H n (F (φ). (ii) φ has absolutely maximal splitting. The higher Witt indices of φ are defined recursively by the rule ik+1 (φ) = ik ((φan )F (φan ) ). there are only partial results depending on Milnor’s conjecture: the group H n (F (φ)/F ) was computed for all Pfister neighbors ([26]) and for all 4-dimensional forms ([33]).e. The second-named author was supported by Max-Planck Institut für Mathematik. The first nontrivial result in this direction is due to J. In [1]. 1. (iii) φ has maximal splitting (i. where i0 (φ) = iW (φ) is the usual Witt index of the form φ. For a given extension L/F . Introduction Let F be a field of characteristic 6= 2 and let H n (F ) be the Galois cohomol- ogy group of F with Z/2Z-coefficients.. 2000. K. Moreover. Voevodsky in his proof of Milnor’s conjecture. In the cases where n ≥ 5. Now. the following three conditions are equivalent: (i) the kernel of the natural homomorphism H n (F. All known results make natural the following conjecture. Z/2Z) is nontrivial. Arason.Contemporary Mathematics Quadratic forms with absolutely maximal splitting Oleg Izhboldin and Alexander Vishik Abstract. i1 (φ) = dim φ − 2n−1 ). c °0000 (copyright holder) 103 . We say that anisotropic form φ has absolutely maximal splitting if i1 (φ) > ik (φ) for all k > 1. In our proof we use the technique developed by V. Rost and Sujatha ([13]). One of the main results of this paper claims that for all anisotropic forms φ satisfying the condition 2n−1 + 2n−3 < dim φ ≤ 2n . The first-named author died on 17th April.

Let n be such that 2n−1 < dim φ ≤ 2n and m be such that dim φ = 2n−1 + m. 14. all Pfister neighbors and all forms of dimension 2n + 1 have maximal splitting.1. Let us recall some basic definitions and results. Let us explain some known results concerning this classification. then i1 (φ) = m. (2) the form φ is an anisotropic n-fold Pfister neighbor. then φ has maximal splitting and H n (F (φ)/F ) ' Z/2Z. we give only a partial answer to the conjecture.1. 13. • φ can be written in the form φ = hhaii q.3 (see [4]). and requires char(F ) = 0): Let φ and n be as in Conjecture 1. it follows that any 17-dimensional form has maximal splitting.1. This theorem gives rise to the following Definition 1. Since φF (φ) is isotropic. In [4] Hoffmann proved the following Theorem 1. The . and let φ be an F -form of dimension > 2n−1 . these examples present an exhaustive list of forms with maximal splitting of dimension ≤ 9. where q is a 5-dimensional form. • if φ is a Pfister neighbor. the first higher Witt index of φ is defined as follows: i1 (φ) = iW (φF (φ) ).5. The implication (1)⇒(2) seems much more difficult. Moreover. Let F be a field. In [9]. On the other hand.104 OLEG IZHBOLDIN AND ALEXANDER VISHIK Conjecture 1. Forms with maximal splitting.2. Since 17 = 24 + 1. see Proposition 7. there are many other problems depending on the classification of forms with maximal splitting. For an anisotropic quadratic form φ. the problem of classification of forms with maximal splitting is closely related to Conjecture 1. and 16 is very simple: they are Pfister neighbors (see [5] or [7]).1 is closely related to a conjecture concerning so-called forms with maximal splitting. If H n (F (φ)/F ) 6= 0.2. By iW (φ) we denote the Witt index of φ. The structure of quadratic forms with maximal splitting of dimensions 11. 15. By [5]. Our interest in forms with maximal splitting is motivated (in particular) by the following observation (which depends on the Milnor conjecture. It turns out that Conjecture 1. and the fact that the norm-residue homomorphism is injective on α (see [36]). it was proved that a 10-dimensional form φ has maximal splitting only in the following cases: • φ is a Pfister neighbor. where π is the n-fold Pfister form associated with φ. The proof of the implication (2)⇒(1) follows from the fact that the Pfister quadric is isotropic if and only if the corresponding pure symbol α ∈ KMn (k)/2 is zero. Therefore. By Theorem 1. The case dim φ = 10 is much more complicated. Then • i1 (φ) ≤ m. then the group H n (F (φ)/F ) is isomorphic to Z/2Z and is generated by en (π). Let φ be an anisotropic quadratic form. Let φ be an anisotropic quadratic form.1. In this paper. n be a positive integer. 1. we obviously have i1 (φ) ≥ 1. 12. Let us write dim φ in the form dim φ = 2n−1 + m. Then the following conditions are equivalent: (1) the group H n (F (φ)/F ) = ker(H n (F ) → H n (F (φ))) is nonzero. We say that φ has maximal splitting if i1 (φ) = m. if these conditions hold. where 0 < m ≤ 2n−1 .

4. However.4. we show that for any form φ satisfying the condition 2n−1 + 2n−3 < dim φ ≤ 2n . Let φ be an anisotropic form such that 2n−1 + 2n−3 < dim φ ≤ 2n .6 in the case n ≥ 5. QUADRATIC FORMS WITH ABSOLUTELY MAXIMAL SPLITTING 105 previous discussion shows that we have a complete classification of forms with maximal splitting of dimensions ≤ 17. . This conjecture is true in the cases n = 3 and n = 4 (see [5]. Prop. y5 ) and let q = hhx1 . For the proof.7. ((*M*). Let n ≥ 3 and F be an arbitrary field. .4 only in the case where 2n−1 + 2n−3 < d ≤ 2n .8. Moreover. Conjectures 1.1. Theorem 1.1 together with our previous discussion make the following prob- lem natural: Problem 1. y5 i . Here. On the other hand. we state the following Conjecture 1. then φ also has maximal splitting (see [4]. and q has maximal splitting . y1 . . . where 2n−1 ≤ dim φ ≤ dim q ≤ 2n . Let F be the field of rational functions k(x1 . see the end of Section 1) Let n be an integer ≥ 4 and F be a field of characteristic 0. Let us return to Problem 1. . y2 . xn−3 . (2) H n (F (φ)/F ) 6= 0. We obviously have dim q = 2n−1 + 2n−3 . Then the following conditions are equivalent: (1) φ has maximal splitting. [7]). The following example is due to Hoffmann. For any anisotropic quadratic F -form with maximal splitting the condition 2n−1 + 2n−3 < dim φ ≤ 2n implies that φ is a Pfister neighbor. (ii) q is a Pfister neighbor. y3 . y4 . At the time we cannot prove Conjecture 1. Find the condition on the positive integer d such that each d- dimensional form φ with maximal splitting is necessarily a Pfister neighbor.1 and 1. . Let n ≥ 5 and q be an anisotropic form such that 2n − 7 ≤ dim q ≤ 2n . . By Proposition 1. we can define φ as an arbitrary d-dimensional subform of the form q constructed above. we prove the following partial case of the conjecture. Theorems 1.6 are equivalent for all fields of characteristic zero (here we use the Milnor conjecture). .8 give rise to the proof of the following partial case of Conjecture 1. . We remind that if φ ⊂ q is a subform. Conjecture 1. Then there exists a field F and a d-dimensional F -from φ with maximal splitting which is not a Pfister neighbor.5. Then the following conditions are equivalent: (i) q has maximal splitting. xn−3 ii ⊗ hy1 . Let d be an integer satisfying 2n−1 ≤ d ≤ 2n−1 + 2n−3 for some n ≥ 4. . . This example gives rise to the following Proposition 1. The equivalence of the conjectures follows readily from the following theorem.4). .6. Then q has maximal splitting and is not a Pfister neighbor. Theorem 1. it suffices to study Problem 1.5.7 and 1. .

Then H n (F (φ)/F ) 6= 0. ((*M*). see the end of Section 1) Let F be a field of charac- teristic zero. Our proof is based on the following ideas of Bruno Kahn ([11]): First of all. This shows. we introduce the notion of “forms with absolutely maximal splitting”. It is well known that the function fields of the forms φ and q are stably equivalent. Then Knebusch’s theorem says that q is a Pfister neighbor. ((*M*). we prove Theorem 1. This completes the proof of Theorem 1. or that φ is an AMS-form.8. then q is a Pfister neighbor. we study the motive of the projective quadric Q cor- responding to a subform q of φ of codimension i1 (φ) − 1. see the end of Section 1) Let F be a field of char- acteristic zero and let n ≥ 5. we recall some result of M. Therefore. the following conditions are equivalent: (1) the group H n (F (φ)/F ) = ker(H n (F ) → H n (F (φ))) is nonzero. To prove this theorem. we need the Milnor conjecture.7. we show that the motive M (Q) of the quadric Q has some specific endomorphism ω : M (Q) → M (Q) which we call the Rost projector.11. AMS implies maximal splitting (see Theorem 7. If the F (q)-form (qF (q) )an is defined over F . the form φ belongs to the image of the homomorphism W (F ) → W (F (q)). By the definition of forms with maximal splitting. First. where d = dim Q. We say that ω ∈ End(M (Q)) is a Rost projector.7.7 (in particular. Hence. To explain the plan. we prove that all forms of dimension ≤ 7 belonging to Wnr (F (q)) are necessarily defined over F (provided that dim q > 16). this implies that φ = (qF (q) )an is defined over F .8. is necessarily an AMS-form. that if the form φ has maximal splitting and satisfies the condition 2n−1 + 2n−3 < dim φ ≤ 2n . we recall that for any F -form φ. In particular. To prove Theorem 1. In §5. We say that φ has absolutely maximal splitting.1). Let φ be an anisotropic quadratic form. if ω is an idempotent (ω ◦ ω = ω). It is not difficult to show. we obviously have dim φ ≤ 7. Knebusch: let q be an anisotropic F -form. that the form φ satisfying the condition (1) of Theorem 1. we can define the higher Witt indices by the following recursive rule: is+1 (φ) = is ((φan )F (φan ) ). Such terminology is justified by the fact that at least in the case char(F ) = 0. Definition 1.106 OLEG IZHBOLDIN AND ALEXANDER VISHIK Corollary 1. it suffices to prove the following theorem. Plan of works. Then for any F -form φ satisfying the condition dim φ ≥ 2n − 7. The implication (1)⇒(2) is the most difficult part of the theorem.9.2. By the construction. let q be an F -form satisfying the hypotheses of Theorem 1. (2) the form φ is an anisotropic n-fold Pfister neighbor.10. Let φ be an AMS-form satisfying the condition 2n−1 < dim φ ≤ 2n . The existence of the Rost projector means that M (Q) contains a direct sum- mand N such that Nk is isomorphic to the direct sum of two so-called Tate-motives . if i1 (φ) > ir (φ) for all r > 1. This implies that φ belongs to the unramified part Wnr (F (q)) of the Witt group W (F (q)). then φ is an AMS-form (see Lemma 4. In section 3. Now. Using some deep results concerning the group Wnr (F (q)). 1. Let us consider the F (q)- form φ = (qF (q) ))an . First. dim q > 16). Theorem 1. we recall that the set of endomorphisms M (Q) → M (Q) is defined as CHd (Q × Q). Let us give the definition of the latter. and the identity ωF̄ = pt × QF̄ + QF̄ × pt holds over the algebraic closure F̄ of F .1). it suffices to prove that H n (F (q)/F ) 6= 0.

Acknowledgements. then the form φ is neces- sarily similar to a Pfister form. . Moreover. H n (F (φ)/F ) = H m (F (q)/F ) 6= 0. Under GPn (F ) we mean the set of forms over F which are similar to n-fold Pfis- ter forms. The support of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation for the first author is gratefully acknowledged. −a1 i ⊗ · · · ⊗ h1. in [14. it follows that n = m (this follows eas- ily from Hoffmann’s theorem [4]). All needed results of Voevodsky’s preprints are collected in Appendix A. Therefore. They will be used extensively in the next two sections. H m (F (q)/F ) 6= 0. Ulf Rehmann who made possible the visit of the second author to Bielefeld. Finally.8. Then dim q = 2m−1 + 1 for suitable m. . . −an i. We would like to express our gratitude to these institutes for their support and hospitality. Remark 3.12 is given in section 6. Also. where hha1 . and the extensions F (φ)/F and F (q)/F are stably equivalent. an ). we are grateful to the referee for the numerous suggestions and remarks which improved the text substantially. Assume that Q admits a Rost projector.[30]. It is based on the technique developed by V.]).3. 2n−1 < dim φ ≤ 2n . Aside from the Appendix we also use the main results of [26] (in Theorem 7. an ii for the Pfister form h1. we would like to thank Prof. The proof of Theorem 1.Voevodsky for the proof of Milnor’s conjecture (see [36]). see the end of Section 1) Let F be a field of character- istic zero. Here we should point out that these results can be obtained from those of the Appendix in a rather simple way (the recipe is given. We recall that the Arason–Pfister Hauptsatz (APH in what follows) states that: every quadratic form over F of dimension < 2n which lies in I n (F ) is necessarily hyperbolic.12. Let Q be the projective quadric corresponding to an anisotropic F -form q. The following statements describe the relationship between the Witt ring W (F ) and the cohomology H n (F ). An essential part of this work was done while the first author was visiting the Bielefeld University and the second author was visiting the Max-Plank Institute für Mathematik. The n-fold Pfister forms provide a system of generators for the abelian group I n (F ). . for example. . it is very easy to complete the proof of the implication (1)⇒(2) of The- orem 1. an ii 7→ (a1 . Theorem 1. Since 2m−1 < dim q ≤ 2m . The final step in the proof of theorem 1. QUADRATIC FORMS WITH ABSOLUTELY MAXIMAL SPLITTING 107 Z ⊕ Z(d)[2d] (since the mutually orthogonal projectors QF̄ × pt and pt × QF̄ give direct summands isomorphic to Z and Z(d)[2d]. . 2. Notation and background In this article we use the standard quadratic form terminology from [19].3). This completes the proof of the implication (1)⇒(2). All the major statements of the current paper which are using the abovementioned unpublished results are marked with (*M*) with the reference to this page. . .8 is based on the following theorem. . ((*M*). . Now. We use the notation en for the generalized Arason invariant 1 I n (F )/I n+1 (F ) → H n (F ). 1The existence of en was proven by Arason for n ≤ 3. We use the notation hha1 . and by Jacob-Rost/Szyjewski for n = 4. . . . if φ ∈ I n (F ) and dim φ = 2n . respectively).

108 OLEG IZHBOLDIN AND ALEXANDER VISHIK

Theorem 2.1. ([24],[1],[10],[32],[21],[23],[27],Rost-unpublished)
For n ≤ 4, we have canonical isomorphisms en : I n (F )/I n+1 (F ) → H n (F )
Theorem 2.2. (Arason[1], Kahn-Rost-Sujatha[13], Merkurjev[22])
Let 0 ≤ m ≤ n ≤ 4 and π be an m-fold Pfister form over F . Then H n (F (π)/F ) =
em (π)H n−m (F ).
Theorem 2.3. (Arason[1], Kahn-Rost-Sujatha[13])
Let n ≤ 4 and ρ be a form over F of dimension > 2n . Then H n (F (ρ)/F ) = 0.
The following statement is an evident corollary of the theorems above.
Corollary 2.4. Let ρ be a form over F and n be a positive integer ≤ 5. Let
ξ be a form over F such that ξF (ρ) ∈ I n (F (ρ)). Then
• if ρ is a Pfister neighbour of a Pfister form π, then ξ ∈ πW (F ) + I n (F ),
• if dim ρ > 2n−1 , then ξ ∈ I n (F ).
Remark 2.5. Actually, the restriction on the integer n here is unnecessary (at
least in characteristic 0) - see Theorem 7.3.
In section 5 we use the notation Z for the trivial Tate-motive (which is just
the motive of a point M (Spec(k))), and Z(m)[2m] for the tensor power Z(1)[2]⊗m
of the Tate-motive Z(1)[2], where the latter is defined as a complementary direct
summand to Z in M (P1 ) (M (P1 ) = Z ⊕ Z(1)[2]). For this reason, we use the
notation Z for all groups and rings Z throughout the text. In section 5 we work
in the classical Chow-motivic category of Grothendieck (see [3],[20],[31],[29]). We
remind that in this category the group Hom(M (P ), M (Q)) is naturally identified
with CHdim(Q) (P × Q), for any smooth connected projective varieties P and Q over
k.
In this connection we should mention that the motive of a completely split
quadric P (of dimension d) is a direct sum of Tate-motives:
M (P ) = ⊕0≤i≤d Z(i)[2i], if d is odd;
M (P ) = (⊕0≤i≤d Z(i)[2i]) ⊕ Z(d/2)[d], if d is even.
The corresponding mutually orthogonal projectors in End(M (P )) are given by hi ×
li , and li × hi , where 0 ≤ i < d/2, and hi ⊂ P is a plane section of codimension i,
and li ⊂ P is a projective subspace of dimension i (in the case d even, we also have
1 2 2 1 1 2
ld/2 × ld/2 and ld/2 × ld/2 , where ld/2 , ld/2 ⊂ P are the projective subspaces of half
the dimension from the two different families).
ef f
In section 6 we work in the bigger triangulated category of motives DM− (k)
constructed by V.Voevodsky (see [34]). This category contains the category of
Chow-motives as a full additive subcategory closed with respect to direct sum-
mands. All the necessary facts and references are given in the Appendix.

3. Descent problem and forms with maximal splitting
The main goal of this section is to prove Theorem 1.7. It should be noticed
that in all cases except for dim q = 2n − 7 this theorem was proved earlier:
• if dim q = 2n or 2n − 1, the theorem was proved by M. Knebusch and A.
Wadsworth (independently);
• if dim q = 2n − 2 or 2n − 3, the theorem was proved by D. Hoffmann [4];
• if dim q = 2n − 4 or 2n − 5, the theorem was proved by B. Kahn [11,
remark after Th.4] (see also more elementary proofs in [5] or [7]);

QUADRATIC FORMS WITH ABSOLUTELY MAXIMAL SPLITTING 109

• In the case dim q = 2n − 6, the theorem follow easily from a result of A.
Laghribi [18].
To prove the theorem in the case dim q = 2n − 7 we use the same method as in
the paper of Bruno Kahn [11]. Namely, we reduce Theorem 1.7 to the study of a
descent problem for quadratic forms (see Proposition 3.8 and Theorem 3.9). As in
the paper of B. Kahn, we work modulo a suitable power I n (F ) of the fundamental
ideal I(F ).
We start with the following notation.
Definition 3.1. Let ψ be a form over F and n ≥ 0 be an integer. We define
dimn ψ as follows:
dimn ψ = min{dim φ | φ ≡ ψ (mod I n (F ))}
Lemma 3.2. Let ψ be a form over F and L/F be some field extension. Then
dimn ψL ≤ dimn ψ. If L/F is unirational, then dimn ψL = dimn ψ.
Proof. The inequality dimn ψL ≤ dimn ψ is obvious. If L/F is unirational, the
identity dimn ψL = dimn ψ follows easily from standard specialization arguments.
¤

Corollary 3.3. Let ψ and q0 ⊂ q be forms over F . Then dimn ψF (q0 ) ≤
dimn ψF (q) .
Proof. Since q0 ⊂ q, it follows that qF (q0 ) is isotropic and hence the extension
F (q, q0 )/F (q0 ) is purely transcendental. By Lemma 3.2, we have dimn ψF (q0 ) =
dimn ψF (q,q0 ) ≤ dimn ψF (q) . ¤

Now, we recall an evident consequence of Merkurjev’s index reduction formula:
if A is a central simple algebra of index 2n and q is a form of dimension > 2n + 2,
then ind AF (q) = ind A. The following lemma is an obvious generalization of this
statement.
Lemma 3.4. Let A be a central simple F -algebra of index 2n and q be a quadratic
form over F . Let F0 = F, F1 , . . . , Fh be the generic splitting tower of q. Let i ≥ 1
be an integer such that dim((qFi−1 )an ) > 2n + 2. Then ind AFi = ind A.
Lemma 3.5. Let A be a central simple F -algebra of index 2n and q be a quadratic
form of dimension > 2n + 4. Then there exists a unirational extension E/F and a
3-dimensional form q0 ⊂ qE such that ind(AE ⊗ C0 (q0 )) = 2n+1
Proof. Let F̃ = F (X, Y, Z), q̃ = qF̃ ⊥ −X hhY, Zii, and à = AF̃ ⊗ (Y, Z).
Clearly, ind à = 2 ind A = 2n+1 . Let F̃0 = F̃ , F̃1 , . . . , F̃h be the generic splitting
tower for q̃. Let q̃i = (q̃F̃i )an for i = 0, . . . , h. Let s be the minimal integer such
that dim q̃s ≤ dim q − 2. We have dim q̃s−1 ≥ dim q > 2(n + 1) + 2. By Lemma 3.4,
we have ind AF̃s = ind à = 2n+1 .
We set E = F̃s . Since q̃E = qE ⊥ −X hhY, Zii, the forms qE and X hhY, Zii
contain a common subform of dimension
1 1
(dim q + dim(X hhY, Zii) − dim(q̃E )an ) = (dim q + 4 − dim q̃s )
2 2
1
≥ (dim q + 4 − (dim q − 2)) = 3.
2

110 OLEG IZHBOLDIN AND ALEXANDER VISHIK

Hence, there exists a 3-dimensional E-form q0 such that q0 ⊂ qE and q0 ⊂ XhhY, ZiiE .
Clearly, C0 (q0 ) = (Y, Z). Hence, ind(AE ⊗E C0 (q0 )) = ind ÃE = 2n+1 .
To complete the proof, it suffices to show that E/F is unirational. To prove
this, let us write q in the form q = x h1, −y, −zi ⊥ q0 with x, y, z ∈ F ∗ . Let us
consider the field
p p p p p p
K = F̃ ( X/x, Y /y, Z/z) = F (X, Y, Z)( X/x, Y /y, Z/z).
Clearly, K/F is purely transcendental. In the Witt ring W (K), we have q̃K =
qK − X hhY, ZiiK = x h1, −y, −ziK + q0 − X h1, −Y, −Z, Y Zi = q0 − hXY Zi. Hence
dim(q̃K )an ≤ dim q0 + 1 = dim q − 3 + 1 = dim q − 2. Since s is the minimal integer
such that dim q̃s ≤ dim q − 2, it follows that the extension (K · F̃s )/K is purely
transcendental (see, e.g., [16, Cor. 3.9 and Prop. 5.13]), where K · F̃s is the free
composite of K and F̃s over F̃ . Since K/F is purely transcendental, it follows that
(K · F̃s )/F is also purely transcendental. Hence F̃s /F is unirational. Since E = F̃s ,
we are done. ¤

Lemma 3.6. Let ρ be a Pfister neighbor of hha, bii and n be a positive integer.
Let ψ be a form such that dimn ψF (ρ) < 2n−1 . Then there exists an F -form µ such
that dim µ = dimn ψF (ρ) and ψF (ρ) ≡ µF (ρ) (mod I n (F )).
Proof. Let ξ be an F (ρ)-form such that dim ξ = dimn ψF (ρ) and ψF (ρ) ≡ ξ
(mod I n (F (ρ))). By [18, Lemme 3.1], we have ξ ∈ Wnr (F (ρ)/F ). By the excellence
property of F (ρ)/F (see [2, Lemma 3.1]), there exists an F -form µ such that ξ =
µF (ρ) . ¤

Corollary 3.7. Let ρ be a Pfister neighbor of hha, bii and n be a positive integer
such that n ≤ 5. Let ψ be a form such that dimn ψF (ρ) < 2n−1 . Then there exist
F -forms µ and γ such that dim µ = dimn ψF (ρ) and ψ ≡ µ + hha, bii γ (mod I n (F )).
Proof. Let µ be a form as in Lemma 3.6. We have (ψ − µ)F (ρ) ∈ I n (F (ρ)).
By Corollary 2.4, we have ψ − µ ∈ hha, bii W (F ) + I n (F ). Hence, there exists γ such
that ψ − µ ∈ hha, bii γ + I n (F ). ¤

Proposition 3.8. Let q be an F -form of dimension > 16 and ψ be a form over
F such that dim5 ψF (q) ≤ 7. Then dim5 ψ = dim5 ψF (q) . In particular, dim5 ψ ≤ 7.
Proof. By Lemma 3.2, we have dim5 ψ ≥ dim5 ψF (q) . Hence, it suffices to
verify that dim5 ψ ≤ dim5 ψF (q) . As usually, we denote as C0 (ψ) the even part
of the Clifford algebra and as c(ψ) the Clifford invariant of ψ. We start with the
following case:
Case 1. either dim5 ψF (q) ≤ 6 or dim5 ψF (q) = 7 and ind C0 (ψ) 6= 8.
By the definition of dim5 ψF (q) , there exists an F (q)-form φ such that dim φ =
dim5 ψF (q) ≤ 7 and φ ≡ ψF (q) (mod I 5 (F (q))). In particular, we have c(φ) =
c(ψF (q) ). Since dim φ ≤ 7 and dim q > 16, the index reduction formula shows that
ind C0 (φ) = ind C0 (ψ). By the assumption of Case 1, we see that
• either dim φ ≤ 6,
• or dim φ = 7 and ind C0 (φ) 6= 8.
Since φ ≡ ψF (q) (mod I 5 (F (q))), it follows that φ ∈ im(W (F ) → W (F (q))) +
I 5 (F (q)). The principal theorem of [18] shows that φ is defined over F . In other
words, there exists an F -form µ such that φ = µF (q) . Therefore, ψF (q) ≡ φ ≡

QUADRATIC FORMS WITH ABSOLUTELY MAXIMAL SPLITTING 111

µF (q) (mod I 5 (F (q)). By Corollary 2.4, we see that ψ ≡ µ (mod I 5 (F )). Hence,
dim5 (ψ) ≤ dim µ = dim φ = dim5 (ψF (q) ). This completes the proof in Case 1.
Case 2. dim5 ψF (q) = 7 and ind C0 (ψ) = 8.
Lemma 3.2 shows that we can change the ground field by an arbitrary uni-
rational extension. After this, Lemma 3.5 (applied to A = C0 (ψ), n = 3 and q)
shows, that we can assume that there exists a 3-dimensional subform q0 ⊂ q such
that ind(C0 (ψ) ⊗ C0 (q0 )) = 16.
Let a, b ∈ F ∗ be such that q0 is a Pfister neighbor of hha, bii.
By Corollary 3.3, we have dim5 ψF (q0 ) ≤ 7. By Corollary 3.7, there exists a
form µ of dimension ≤ 7 and a form λ such that ψ ≡ µ + hha, bii λ (mod I 5 (F )).
First, consider the case where dim λ is odd. Then c(ψ) = c(µ)+(a, b). Therefore
ind C0 (µ) = ind(C0 (ψ) ⊗ (a, b)) = ind(C0 (ψ) ⊗ C0 (q0 )) = 16. On the other hand,
dim µ ≤ 7 and hence ind C0 (µ) ≤ 8. We get a contradiction.
Now, we can assume that dim λ is even. Then λ ≡ hhcii (mod I 2 (F )), where
c = d± λ. Hence, hha, bii λ ≡ hha, b, cii (mod I 4 (F )). Hence, ψ − µ ≡ hha, bii λ ≡
hha, b, cii (mod I 4 (F )). Let π = hha, b, cii. We have ψ ≡ µ + π (mod I 4 (F )).
Since πF (π) is hyperbolic, it follows that ψF (q,π) ≡ µF (q,π) (mod I 4 (F (q, π)).
Since dim5 ψF (q) = 7, there exists a 7-dimensional F (q)-form ξ such that ψF (q) ≡ ξ
(mod I 5 (F (q))). This implies that µF (q,π) ≡ ψF (q,π) ≡ ξF (q,π) (mod I 4 (F (q, π))).
Since dim µ + dim ξ ≤ 7 + 7 = 14 < 24 , APH shows that µF (q,π) = ξF (q,π) . Hence,
ψF (q,π) ≡ ξF (q,π) ≡ µF (q,π) (mod I 5 (F (q, π))). Since dim q > 16, Corollary 2.4
shows that ψF (π) ≡ µF (π) (mod I 5 (F (π))). Hence (ψ − µ)F (π) ∈ I 5 (F (π)).
By Corollary 2.4, there exists an F -form γ such that ψ − µ ≡ πγ (mod I 5 (F )).
Since ψ − µ ≡ π (mod I 4 (F )), it follows that either π is hyperbolic or dim γ is
odd. In any case, we can assume that dim γ is odd. Then γ ≡ hki (mod I 2 (F )),
where k = d± γ. Hence, ψ − µ ≡ πγ ≡ kπ (mod I 5 (F )). Therefore, ξ ≡ ψF (q) ≡
(µ + kπ)F (q) (mod I 5 (F (q))). Since dim ξ + dim µ + dim π = 7 + 7 + 8 < 25 , APH
shows that ξ = (ζF (q) )an , where ζ = (µ ⊥ kπ)an . Since dim ζ ≤ dim(µ ⊥ kπ) ≤
7 + 8 < 24 < dim q, Hoffmann’s theorem shows that ζF (q) is anisotropic. Hence,
ξ = ζF (q) . In particular, dim ζ = 7. We have ψF (q) ≡ ξ ≡ ζF (q) (mod I 5 (F (q))).
Since dim q > 16, Corollary 2.4 shows that ψ ≡ ζ (mod I 5 (F )). Hence, dim5 ψ ≤
dim ζ = 7. On the other hand, dim5 ψ ≥ dim5 ψF (q) = 7. The proof is complete. ¤

The essential part of the following theorem was proved by Ahmed Laghribi in
[18].
Theorem 3.9. (cf. [18, Théorème principal]). Let q be a form of dimension
> 16. Let φ be a form of dimension ≤ 7 over the field F (q). Then the following
conditions are equivalent.
(1) φ is defined over F ,
(2) φ ∈ im(W (F ) → W (F (q))),
(3) φ ∈ im(W (F ) → W (F (q))) + I 5 (F (q)),
(4) φ ∈ Wnr (F (q)/F ).
Proof. This theorem is proved in [18] except for the case where dim φ = 7
and ind C0 (φ) = 8. Implications (1)⇒(2)⇒(3) ⇐⇒ (4) are also proved in [18]. It
suffices to prove implication (3)⇒(1).
Condition (3) shows that there exists a form ψ over F such that ψF (q) ≡ φ
(mod I 5 (F (q))). Therefore dim5 ψF (q) ≤ dim φ ≤ 7. By Proposition 3.8, we have

112 OLEG IZHBOLDIN AND ALEXANDER VISHIK

dim5 ψ ≤ 7. Hence there exists an anisotropic F -form µ of dimension ≤ 7 such
that ψ ≡ µ (mod I 5 (F )). Thus φ ≡ ψF (q) ≡ µF (q) (mod I 5 (F (q))). Since dim φ +
dim µ = 7 + 7 < 25 , APH shows that φan = (µF (q) )an . Since dim µ < 8 < dim q,
Hoffmann’s theorem shows that µF (q) is anisotropic. Hence φan = µF (q) . Therefore
φan is defined over F . Hence, φ is defined over F . ¤

Proof of theorem 1.7. (i)⇒(ii). Let φ = (qF (q) )an . By [17, Th. 7.13], it
suffices to prove that φ is defined over F . Since n ≥ 5, we have dim q ≥ 2n − 7 > 16.
Clearly, φ ∈ im(W (F ) → W (F (q))). Since q has maximal splitting, it follows that
dim φ = 2n − dim q ≤ 7. By Theorem 3.9, we see that φ is defined over F .
(ii)⇒(i). Obvious. ¤

4. Elementary properties of AMS-forms
In this section we start studying forms with absolutely maximal splitting (AMS-
forms) defined in the introduction (Definition 1.10).
Lemma 4.1. Let φ be an anisotropic form and n be an integer such that 2n−1 +
n−3
2 < dim φ ≤ 2n . Suppose that φ has maximal splitting. Then φ has absolutely
maximal splitting.
Proof. Let m = dim φ − 2n−1 . Clearly, dim φ = 2n−1 + m and 2n−3 < m ≤
n−1
2 . Since φ has maximal splitting, we have i1 (φ) = m. Let F = F0 , F1 , . . . , Fh
be the generic splitting tower of φ. Let φi = (φFi )an for i = 0, . . . , h. Let us fix
r > 1. To prove that φ has absolutely maximal splitting, we need to verify that
ir (φ) < m. Clearly, ir (φ) = i1 (φr ). Thus, we need to verify that i1 (φr ) < m. In
the case where dim φr ≤ 2n−2 , we have i1 (φr ) ≤ 21 dim φr ≤ 12 2n−2 = 2n−3 < m.
Thus, we can suppose that dim φr > 2n−2 . Since r ≥ 1, we have dim φr ≤
dim φ1 = dim φ − 2i1 (φ) = 2n−1 + m − 2m = 2n−1 − m. Hence, 2n−2 < dim φr ≤
2n−2 + (2n−2 − m). By Theorem 1.2, we have i1 (φr ) ≤ 2n−2 − m. Since m > 2n−3 ,
we have 2n−2 − m < m. Hence i1 (φr ) ≤ 2n−2 − m < m. ¤

From the results proven in the next sections (see Theorem 7.1) it follows that
in the dimension range we are interested in (2n−1 + 2n−3 < dim φ ≤ 2n ), the form
has maximal splitting if and only if it has absolutely maximal splitting.
Remark 4.2. We cannot change the strict inequality 2n−1 + 2n−3 < dim φ
by 2n−1 + 2n−3 ≤ dim φ in the formulation of the lemma. Indeed, for any n ≥ 3
there exists an example of (2n−1 +2n−3 )-dimensional form φ with maximal splitting
which is not an AMS-form. The simplest example is the following:
φ = hhx1 , x2 , . . . , xn−3 ii ⊗ h1, 1, 1, 1, 1i over the field R(x1 , . . . , xn−3 ).
In this case i1 (φ) = i2 (φ) = 2n−3 .

5. Motivic decomposition of AMS-Quadrics
In this section we will produce some “binary” motive related to an AMS-
quadric.
Let X, Y and Z be smooth projective varieties over k of dimensions l, m and
n, respectively. Then we have a natural (associative) pairing:
◦ : CHn+b (Y × Z) ⊗ CHm+a (X × Y ) → CHn+a+b (X × Z),

QUADRATIC FORMS WITH ABSOLUTELY MAXIMAL SPLITTING 113

∗ ∗
where v ◦ u := (πX,Z )∗ (πX,Y (u) ∩ πY,Z (v)), and πX,Y : X × Y × Z → X × Y ,
πY,Z : X × Y × Z → Y × Z, πX,Z : X × Y × Z → X × Z are the natural projections.
In particular, taking X = Spec(k), we get a pairing:
CHn+b (Y × Z) ⊗ CHr (Y ) → CHr−b (Z).
In this case, we will denote v ◦ u as v(u).
Theorem 5.1. (cf. [33, Proof of Statement 6.1]) Let Q be an AMS-quadric.
Let P ⊂ Q be any subquadric of codimension = i1 (q) − 1. Then P possesses
a Rost projector (in other words, M (P ) contains a direct summand N such that
N |k ' Z ⊕ Z(dim(P ))[2 dim(P )]).
Proof. We say that “we are in the situation (∗)”, if we have the following
data:
Q - some quadric; P ⊂ Q - some subquadric of codimension d;
Φ ∈ CHm (Q × Q), where m := dim(P ).
In this case, let Ψ ∈ CHm+d (P × Q) denote the class of the graph of the natural
embedding P ⊂ Q, and let Ψ∨ ∈ CHm+d (Q × P ) denote the dual cycle. We define
ε := Ψ∨ ◦ Φ ◦ Ψ ∈ CHm (P × P ). Q
The action on CH∗ (Pk ) identifies: CHm (Pk × Pk ) = r End(CHr (Pk )) (see
[29, Lemma 7]), and we will denote as ε(r) ∈ End(CHr (Pk )) the corresponding
coordinate of εk .
• If 0 ≤ s < m/2, then CHs (Pk ) = Z with the generator ls - the class of
projective subspace of dimension s on Pk ;
• if m/2 < s ≤ m, then CHs (Pk ) = Z with the generator hm−s - the class
of plane section of codimension m − s on Pk ;
1 2
• if s = m/2, then CHs (Pk ) = Z ⊕ Z with the generators lm/2 and lm/2
- the classes of m/2-dimensional projective subspaces from two different
families.
This permits to identify End(CHs (Pk )) with Z if 0 ≤ s ≤ m, s 6= m/2, and
with Mat2×2 (Z), if s = m/2. We should mention, that since for an arbitrary
field extension E/k, the natural map CHs (P |k ) → CHs (P |E ) is an isomorphism
(preserving the generators above), we have an equality: (εE )(s) = ε(s) (in Z, resp.
Mat2×2 (Z)).
We will need the following easy corollary of Springer’s theorem. Under the
degree of the cycle A ∈ CHs (Q) we will understand the degree of the 0-cycle A ∩ hs .
Lemma 5.2. Let 0 ≤ s ≤ dim(Q)/2. Then the following conditions are equiva-
lent:
(1) q = (s + 1) · H ⊥ q 0 , for some form q 0 ;
(2) Q contains (projective subspace) Ps as a subvariety;
(3) CHs (Q) contains cycle of odd degree.
Proof. (1) ⇒ (2) and (2) ⇒ (3) are evident. (3) ⇒ (1) Use induction on s.
For s = 0 the statement is equivalent to the Theorem of Springer. Now if s > 0,
then CH0 (Q) also contains a cycle of odd degree (obtained via intersection with
hs ). So, q = H ⊥ q 00 . And we have the natural degree preserving isomorphism:
CHs (Q) = CHs−1 (Q00 ). By induction, q 00 = s · H ⊥ q 0 . ¤

l0 ×Pk ) acts on CH0 (Pk ) (resp. Clearly. the coordinate ε(i) is odd. ¤ . i Proof. the quadric Qk(Q) contains an (i1 (q) − 1)-dimensional projective subspace l(i1 (q)−1) . we have: ε∨ = Ψ∨ ◦ Φ∨ ◦ Ψ.3. Let Φ ∈ CHm (Q × Q) be the class of the closure of ld ⊂ Spec(k(Q)) × Q ⊂ Q × Q. that ε(s) ∈ Z is odd. j 6= i). If for some 0 ≤ i < m/2. Ψ(lm/2 ) = lm/2 ∈ CHm/2 (Qk ).114 OLEG IZHBOLDIN AND ALEXANDER VISHIK Lemma 5. By the definition of AMS-quadrics. On the other hand. In the situation of (∗).5. On the other hand. Φ ◦ Ψ(lm/2 ) ∈ CHm/2+d (Qk ). . so it preserves the degree of the cycle. In the situation of (∗). where c ∈ Z. Clearly. In the same way. Since (A ◦ B)∨ = B ∨ ◦ A∨ . the composition Ψ ◦ Ψ∨ : CHs+d (QE ) → CHs (QE ) is given by the intersec- tion with the plane section of codimension d. we have: qk(Q) = i1 (q) · H ⊥ q1 . In the situation of (∗). then it contains a projective space of dimension (m − s + d).4. we need only to observe that ε(0) = 1 (since Ψ∨ ◦Φ◦Ψ(l0 ) = Ψ∨ ◦Φ(l0 ) = Ψ∨ (ld ) = l0 )(this is the only place where we use the specifics of Φ). where 0 < i < m. that ε(s) ∈ Z is odd. and P ⊂ Q be a subquadric of codimension i1 (q) − 1. Then for an arbitrary field extension E/k. j 6= 0 (resp. On the other hand. So. or i1 (q) > 1 and P is a proper subform of Q.3. the later group is generated by hm/2 (since (m/2) + d > i (m + d)/2). We have: Ψ ◦ Ψ∨ ◦ Φ(ls ) = λ · ls ⊂ CHs (QE ). where b1 . Then for an arbitrary field extension E/k.3. ¤ 1 2 Lemma 5. By the definition of i1 (q). . Now. This implies that Φ(ls ) ∈ image(CHs+d (QE ) → CHs+d (QE )) has odd degree. Let us denote this particular case of (∗) as (∗∗). So. End(CHm (Pk )) = Z).6. Consider the cycle ε∨ ∈ CHm (P × P ) dual to ε.4. the statement follows from Lemma 5. In the situation of (∗∗). ¤ Lemma 5. Proof. if QE contains a projective space of dimension s. Let E/k be such an extension that ls ∈ image(CHs (QE ) → CHs (QE )). either dim(Q) = 0.2. Denote: d := i1 (q) − 1. suppose. and acts trivially on CHj (Pk ). if QE contains a projective space of dimension (m − s). then it contains a projective space of dimension s + d. Pk ×l0 (resp. and Ψ∨ (hm/2 ) = hm/2 . Proof. this can happen only if i = 0. . QE contains a projective space of dimension s + d. P Lemma 5. then by Lemma 5. This implies that on the group CHi (Pk ). Since q is an AMS-form. CHm (Pk )) as a generator of End(CH0 (Pk )) = Z (resp. a ∈ Z. εk = Pk × l0 + 0<i<m bi · (hm−i × hi ) + a · l0 × Pk . for some m/2 < s ≤ m. using Lemma 5. it is enough to consider the second possibility.5. and suppose that ε(s) is odd. ¤ Let now Q be an AMS-quadric. Clearly. we get that for all m/2 < i < m. the coordinates ε(i) are even. suppose. (ε∨ )(s) = ε(m−s) . and m := dim(P ). Proof. . The same holds for i = m/2 by Lemma 5. then εk (lm/2 ) = εk (lm/2 ) = m/2 c·h . for some 0 ≤ s < m/2. the map εk acts as some (integral) multiple of hm−i × hi (notice also that hm−i × hi acts trivially on all CHj (Pk ). By Lemma 5. in the generalized splitting tower k = F0 ⊂ F1 ⊂ · · · ⊂ Fh for the quadric Q (see [16]). if d > 0. i 6= m/2. j 6= m). where λ ∈ Z is odd (since Ψ : CHs (PE ) → CHs (QE ) is an isomorphism). there exists 0 ≤ t < h such that iW (qFt ) ≤ i < i + i1 (q) − 1 < iW (qFt+1 ). bm−1 .

2r ω |k = Pk × l0 + l0 × Pk . Theorem 6. We remind that End(M (P )) is naturally identified with CHm (P × P ) with the composition given by the pairing P◦. The latter possibility is excluded by the following lemma. Binary direct summands in the motives of quadrics The following result was proven (but not formulated) by the second author in his thesis (see the proof of Statement 6.[29]).7. We will reproduce its proof here for the reader’s convenience. dim(P ) Proof. then the restriction wk of our projector to k has no choice but to be Pk × l0 ∈ CHdim(P ) (Pk × Pk ). We will denote its motive by XP .1 is proven.8. Theorem 5. and therefore also on P . . We have: End(M (Pk )) = r End(CHr (Pk )).[31]. The mutually orthogonal idempotents Pk × l0 and l0 × Pk give the direct sum- mands Z and Z(m)[2m] in M (Pk ). we get a point of odd degree. Take ω := ε − 0<i<m bi · (hi × hm−i ) − [a/2] · (hm × P ) ∈ End(M (P )). where M (P ) is a motive of the quadric P . evidently.7. see the end of Section 1) Let k be a field of characteristic 0. By Springer’s Theorem.8). The construction we use here is very close to that used by V. Then ωk is a projector equal to either (Pk × l0 + l0 × Pk ). ([33.see [34]. The category DM− (k) contains the “motives” of all smooth simplicial schemes over k.Voevodsky in [36].8. Lemma 5. So. or Lk = Z. Let w ∈ CHQ (P × P ) be the projector. If P is a smooth projective variety over k. if dim(P ) > 0. then End(M (P )) has a nontrivial projector if and only if det± (p) = 1 (⇔ p is isotropic). or to Pk × l0 (depending on the parity of a).12]) If for some ω ∈ End(M (P )).[20].1 in [33]). Let L be a direct summand of M (P ) such that Lk ' Z. We have the following easy consequence of the Rost Nilpotence Theorem ([29. we get a direct summand L in M (P ) such that either Lk = Z ⊕ Z(m)[2m].1. and by Lemma 5. ([33]) ((*M*). degree(w ∩ ∆P ) = 1. ωk is an idem- r potent. then for some r. ¤ r From Lemma 5. and P be smooth anisotropic projective quadric of dimension n whose Chow-motive M (P ) contains a direct summand N such that N |k = Z ⊕ Z(n)[2n]. Then.1. If dim(P ) = 0. The category of Chow-motives Chowef f (k) which we used in the previous sec- tion is a full additive subcategory (closed under taking direct summands) in the ef f ef f triangulated category DM− (k) . By lemma 5. Lemma 3. Then n = 2s − 1 for some s. ¤ 6. Corollary 10]): Lemma 5. P is isotropic. we denote as Č(P )• the standard simplicial scheme corresponding to the pair P → Spec(k) (see Definition A. Proof of Theorem 6. and on P × P .7 it follows that ω 2 is an idempotent. considered as an object of the classical Chow- motivic category of Grothendieck Chowef f (k) (see [3]. ω 2 is an idempotent. Then P is isotropic. corresponding to L. QUADRATIC FORMS WITH ABSOLUTELY MAXIMAL SPLITTING 115 Now we can use ε to construct the desired projector in End(M (P )).

Since N is a direct summand in M (P ).2. otherwise.116 OLEG IZHBOLDIN AND ALEXANDER VISHIK pr M (pr) From the natural projection: Č(P )• → Spec(k).9. which is equal to (µ0 )∗ (u). pr : XP → Z induces the natural isomorphism for all a. Then 2Since. b: pr∗ : Hom(XP . and πi : XP ⊗ XP → XP are mutually inverse isomorphisms (by Theorem A. X would be a direct summand of N and hence also of M (P ).15. ¤ Sublemma 6. by Theorem A. combined with Sublemma 6. Z(n + c)[2n + d + 1]) = 0. Z(n + c)[2n + d]) = 0. and Hom(N. the only) nontrivial element from Hom(XP . if d − c ≥ 0.3. Proof. and which is surjective if d = c. From this point. ¤ pr We can also consider X̃P := Cone[−1](XP → Z). The map µ ⊗ u : XP ⊗ XP → Z(n)[2n + 1] ⊗ Z(c)[d] coincides with the compo- sition: µ0 pr(n)[2n+1] XP −−−−→ XP (n)[2n + 1] −−−−−−−−→ Z(n)[2n + 1] ⊗ ⊗ ⊗ id u XP −−−−→ XP −−−−→ Z(c)[d] which can be identified with the composition: µ0 u XP → XP (n)[2n + 1] → Z(n + c)[2n + 1 + d].13). µ0 Consider Hom’s from the exact triangle N → XP → XP (n)[2n + 1] → N [1] to Z(n + c)[2n + d + 1]. Clearly. ef f By Theorem A. XP (n)[2n + 1]). Z(c + n)[d + 2n + 1]) coincides with the multiplication by µ ∈ Hom(XP . µ · u = ∆XP (µ ⊗ u). µ0 N := Cone[−1](XP −−−−→ XP (n)[2n + 1]). for b − a > n = dim(P ). P would be isotropic . This. we get that in DM− (k). Denote: µ := pr∗ (µ0 ) ∈ Hom(XP . 2 where µ0 is some (actually. Sublemma 6.4. Multiplication by µ induces a homomorphism Hom(XP . Z(c)[d]) → Hom(XP . Sublemma 6. Hom(N. The same holds for cohomology with Z/2-coefficients.11. The case of Z/2-coefficients follows from the five-lemma. Z(n)[2n + 1]). we will denote M (pr) simply as pr (since we will not use simplicial schemes themselves anymore). M (pr)k is an isomorphism. By Theorem A. The maps ∆XP : XP → XP ⊗ XP . XP (a)[b]) → Hom(XP . We have: Hom(N. Let a and b be integers such that b > a.2(1). Proof. The map (µ0 )∗ : Hom(XP . Z(c + n)[d + 2n + 1]) which is an isomorphism if d − c > 0. if d − c > 0. and by P Lemma 5.2. By Theorem A.8. Z(c)[d]) → Hom(XP . Z(a)[b]) = 0. implies the statement for Z-coefficients. Z(a)[b]). we get a map: XP −→ Z. Z(n)[2n + 1]).

Z/2(n + 2i − 1)[2n + 2i+1 ]). Since Hom(Z. Z(2i − 1)[2i+1 − 1]). Z(a)[b]) → Hom(X|E . Z/2(a)[b]) → Hom(X̃P . Z/2(a)[b]) is an isomorphism. Z/2(a)[b]) → Hom(X̃P .3.5 and A. Z(2i − 1)[2i+1 − 1]) ← Hom(XP (n)[2n + 1].2(2)). Z(n + 2i − 1)[2n + 2i+1 ]) and Hom(XP . Denote η := µ(mod2). Z(a)[b]) is a 2-torsion group for b > a. and (consequently) Hom(N. and over E. the multiplication by µ induces surjections Hom(XP . Z/2(a)[b]) = 0 for any b > a (see Theorem A. ¤ We have the action of motivic cohomological operations Qi on Hom(XP .5. Proof. Denote r = [log2 (n)]. so we have that Hom(XP |E . Z(a)[b]) = 0 for b − a > 0 (by Theorem A. we also have that for b > a. Proof. Z/2(a)[b]). i. Qi (η) = 0.e. Z(a)[b]). In fact. Z(2i − 1)[2i+1 ]) are zero. In fact.9). The third group is zero. Qi (η) ∈ Hom(XP . Z/2(a)[b]). the natural map Hom(XP . Z(a)[b]) embeds into Hom(XP . the image of µ in the cohomology with Z/2 coeffi- cients. and 2-torsion in Hom(XP .4 it follows that η 6= 0. which is induced by the natural map Z → M (Spec(E)) (given by the generic cycle on Spec(k) × Spec(E) = Spec(E)). Z(a)[b]) is a 2-torsion group. In particular.2(1)). ¤ . Z(2i − 1)[2i+1 − 1]) → Hom(XP . Z/2(a)[b]) is injective for b > a.6). Z(∗)[∗0 ]) (see Theorems A. The first group is zero since N is a direct summand in the motive of a smooth projective variety. since n > 2i − 1 (see Theorem A. Z(a)[b]) = 0 for b > 2a (see Theorem A. Z(a)[b]) is the natural restriction. Qi (η) = 0. by Sublemma 6. Z(2i − 1)[2i+1 ]) → Hom(XP . The case of Hom(XP . and the latter group is an extension of 2-cotorsion in Hom(XP . Hom(XP . where j : Hom(X.2(1)). δ • the natural map X̃P → XP induces an isomorphism = Hom(XP . the groups: Hom(XP . The main property of the transfer is that Tr ◦j acts as multiplication by the degree [E : k]. Hence the second is zero as well. From Sublemma 6. Furthermore. The differ- ential Qi acts without cohomology on Hom(X̃P . for all i ≤ r. Z(2i − 1)[2i+1 ]) follows in an analogous manner. Z(n + 2i − 1)[2n + 2i+1 ]). Z(2i − 1)[2i+1 − 1]). Thus. • Hom(XP . Sublemma 6. A quadric P has a point E of degree 2. δ ∗ : Hom(XP . from the exact triangle N → XP → XP (n)[2n + 1] → N [1]. Z(2i − 1)[2i+1 − 1]) ← Hom(XP . Z(∗)[∗0 ]) and Hom(X̃P . Z(n + 2i − 1)[2n + 2i+1 + 1]). Z/2(∗)[∗0 ]) for any i ≤ [log2 (n + 1)] (see Theorem A. Z(a)[b]) → Hom(X. we get an exact sequence: Hom(N.16). Z(n + 2i − 1)[2n + 2i+1 + 1]).1). But. QUADRATIC FORMS WITH ABSOLUTELY MAXIMAL SPLITTING 117 • Hom(XP . XP becomes Z (by Theorem A. For a finite field extension E/k we have the action of transfers on motivic cohomology: Tr : Hom(X|E . Considering the composition Tr ◦j = ·[E : k] we get that Hom(XP . Z(a)[b]) → Hom(XP .

8. Z/2(∗)[∗0 ]). By Theorem A. where d − c = n + 1 + 2j .18). Z/2(c−2 P +1−n)[d−2 − xi 2n]). and there exists w ∈ Hom(XP . we have: Qm ◦Qm−1 ◦· · ·◦Q0 (ṽ) = Qm ◦Qm−1 ◦· · ·◦Q0 ◦Qm+1 (η̃m ) = Qm+1 ◦Qm ◦Qm−1 ◦· · ·◦Q0 (η̃m ) = Qm+1 (η̃) = 0. it is enough to show that Qm+1 (η̃m ) = 0. Z/2(n)[2n + 1]). Let ṽ ∈ Hom(X̃P . Z/2(∗)[∗0 ]). where ∗0 > 2∗ ≥ 0. Z/2(n + m + 1)[2n + m + 3]). where u0 ∈ Hom(Z. Z/2(c − 2j + 1)[d − 2j+1 + 1]) (since Qj acts .118 OLEG IZHBOLDIN AND ALEXANDER VISHIK Sublemma 6. we have that δ ∗ : Hom(XP . But pr∗ commutes with Qj and ψi . We have γ̃ ∈ Hom(X̃P .1 is proven. That means: Qj (w) = Qj (η · u) = Qj (η) · u = 0. Qj (u) = 0 and ψi (u) = 0. Let 0 ≤ j ≤ r. If Qj (ṽ) = 0. then ṽ = Qj (w̃). Let 0 ≤ m < r. Z/2(n − 2r+1 + 2 + r)[2n − 2r+2 + 4 + r]).6. Qt−1 ◦ · · · ◦ Q0 (ṽ) ∈ Hom(X̃P . then ṽ = Qj (w̃) for some w̃ ∈ Hom(X̃P . But (2n − 2r+2 + 4 + r) − (n − 2r+1 + 2 + r) = n − 2r+1 + 2. Denote ṽ := Qm+1 (η̃m ).4). w = η·u. Z/2(c − 2j + 1)[d − 2j+1 + 1]) (since Qj acts without cohomology on Hom(X̃P . Z(c)[d]). Z/2(c)[d]). Denote γ̃ := η̃r . we get ṽ = 0. u = pr∗ (u0 ). Z/2(c)[d]). Proof. the only possible choice for n is n = 2r+1 − 1. and r = [log2 (n)]. Qj is injective on Hom(X̃P . we have η̃ 6= 0 (by Sublemma 6. Z/2(c)[d]) provided d − c = 2j . Let 0 ≤ j ≤ r. by Sublemma 6. I. Z/2(n − 2m+1 + m + 2)[2n − 2m+2 + m + 4]). But by Theorem A. where d − c = n + 1 + 2t . where xi > 0. we have pr ∗ that Hom(Z. Since Qi commutes with Qj (by Theorem A. from the equality Qm ◦ Qm−1 ◦ · · · ◦ Q0 (ṽ) = 0. Z/2(c)[d]). and η̃ = Qm ◦ · · · ◦ Q1 ◦ Q0 (η̃m ) for some η̃m ∈ Hom(X̃P . So. ¤ Lemma 6. Z/2(a)[b]) is an isomorphism for a ≥ b. Z/2(a)[b]) = 0 for b > a).7 it follows that η̃ = Qr ◦ · · · ◦ Q1 ◦ Q0 (η̃r ). Hence. for some u ∈ Hom(XP . Z/2(c − 2j + 1)[d − 2j+1 + 1]) such that w̃ = δ ∗ (w). But. and η̃ 6= 0.18.. We have: Qj (u0 ) = 0 and ψi (u0 ) = 0 (since Hom(Z. by Theorem A.6(2). Z(c)[d]).e.5. Then Qj is injective on Hom(X̃P . Since η 6= 0. j j+1 By Sublemma 6. if d − c = n + 1 + 2j . Z/2(c)[d]). Then there exists η̃m+1 such that η̃m = Qm+1 (η̃m+1 ). Z/2(s)[s]) = KM s (k)/2. Z/2(c − 2j + 1)[d − 2j+1 + 1]) is an isomorphism. ψi are cohomological operations of some bidegree (∗)[∗0 ].6. Note that c − 2j + 1 − n = d − 2j+1 − 2n =: s. Z/2(a)[b]) → Hom(XP . Theorem 6.3. ¤ From Sublemma 6. Since Qm+1 acts without cohomology on Hom(X̃P .6(1)).5. Z/2(a)[b]) = 0 for a ≥ b (by Theorem A. ¤ Denote η̃ := δ ∗ (η) ∈ Hom(X̃P . Proof.16). So. hence 2r ≤ n < 2r+1 . Let ṽ ∈ Hom(X̃P . Since (d − 2j+1 + 1) − (c − 2j + 1) = n + 1 > 0. for some w̃ ∈ Hom(X̃P . Since we know that Hom(X̃P . Qj (η · u) = Qj (η) · u + η · Qj (u) + {−1} φi (η) · ψi (u). Then Qj is injective on Hom(X̃P . If Qj (ṽ) = 0. by Sublemma 6.7. Z/2(c − 2j + 1)[d − 2j+1 + 1]) → Hom(X̃P . We get: ṽ = Qj (w̃) = Qj ◦ δ ∗ (w) = δ ∗ ◦ Qj (w) = 0. and Qt is injective on Hom(X̃P . by Sublemma 6. for any 0 ≤ t ≤ m. Sublemma 6. and φi . where d − c = 2j . Proof. We have ṽ ∈ Hom(X̃P .

Then n = 2s−1 − 1. it suffices to verify that m ≤ 2s−1 . where m = i1 (φ). Z/2(r +2)[r + 2]) = Hom(Z.1. we have dim φ−i1 (φ) = dim ψ−1 = 2s−1 . Z/2(r+1)[r+2]).1 that n = 2r+1 − 1 for some r.10. η̃|E = 0 ⇔ η|E = 0 ⇔ µ|E = 0.18) Hom(XP . 1) Theorem 6. But (c−2j +1) = (d−2j+1 +1). Therefore dim φ = 2s−1 + m. Then. (compare with [8. Finally.1. and γ̃ = δ ∗ (γ) for some γ ∈ Hom(XP . Z/2(r + 1)[r + 2]) such that η̃ = Qr ◦ · · · ◦ Q1 ◦ Q0 (γ̃). the case n = 7 was considered in [15]. α ∈ Ker(KM M s (k)/2 → Ks (k(P ))/2) 6= 0. is equivalent to P |E being isotropic. But γ|E = 0 ⇔ γ̃|E = 0. and there exists α ∈ KM s (k)/2 such that for any field extension E/k.20. by Theorem A. Proof. Theorem 3. ¤ Theorem 7. By Lemma 6.16). This is obvious because 2s−1 + m = dim φ ≥ 2i1 (φ) = 2m. where s is the integer such that 2s−1 < dim φ ≤ 2s . in M (P ). Theorem 6.9 and the isomorphism ks (F ) ' H s (F ). and N be a direct summand in M (P ) such that N |k = Z ⊕ Z(n)[2n]. ((*M*). Hence dim ψ = 2s−1 + 1. Denote as α the element corresponding to τ ◦γ via identification (by Theorem A. (2) Obvious in view of Theorem 6. To prove that φ has maximal splitting. see the end of Section 1) Let φ be an anisotropic qua- dratic form over a field F of characteristic 0. and Hom(X̃P .1 and Conjecture 1. µ|E = 0 if and only if XP |E is a direct summand in N and. 7. consequently. By Sublemma 6. X possesses a Rost projector. In particular. Proof.9. Let τ be the only nontrivial element of Hom(Z/2.1 shows that dim(X) = 2s−1 − 1 for suitable s. Then (1) φ has maximal splitting. which by Lemma 5. Properties of forms with absolutely maximal splitting In this section we work with fields satisfying the condition char F = 0. By Theorem 5.1]) ((*M*). α|E = 0 if and only if γ|E = 0. the quadric P is a norm-variety for α ∈ KM s (k)/2. ¤ Theorem 6. Z/2(c−2j +1)[d−2j+1 +1]) = 0. by Theorem A.1 make natural the following . By Sublemma 6. the following conditions are equivalent: 1) α|E = 0.4. Z/2(r + 1)[r + 2]) → Hom(X̃P . 2) Taking into account the Milnor conjecture ([36]) and the definition of the Rost projector. 3) It should be mentioned that in small-dimensional cases it is possible to prove the result (in arbitrary characteristic 6= 2) without the use of Vo- evodsky’s technique. for any field extension E/k. Theorem 7.9 basically says that under the mentioned conditions. QUADRATIC FORMS WITH ABSOLUTELY MAXIMAL SPLITTING 119 without cohomology on Hom(X̃P . By the definition of ψ.9 implies Theorem 1. 2) P |E is isotropic. (1) Let ψ be subform of φ of codimension i1 (q) − 1. by Theorem A. P be a smooth n-dimensional anisotropic projective quadric over k. For example.4. (2) the group H s (F (φ)/F ) is nontrivial. We begin with the following modification of Theorem 1. Suppose that φ is an AMS-form. Z/2(r + 2)[r + 2]) = KM r+2 (k)/2. Z/2(1)) = Z/2.18. the map δ ∗ : Hom(XP . we see that Theorem 6.8. Let X be the pro- jective quadric corresponding to ψ. It follows from Theorem 6. Z/2(∗)[∗0 ]). Z/2(r + 1)[r + 2]) is an isomorphism. and there exists γ̃ ∈ Hom(X̃P .12.11. γ̃|E = 0 ⇔ η̃|E = 0.8. see the end of Section 1) Let k be a field of characteristic 0. ¤ Remark 6.

(b) φ is a Pfister neighbor. (see [36]. Let φ be an anisotropic form such that dim φ ≤ 2n . Item (4) of Theorem 7. Then H n (F (φ)/F ) is generated by en (π). (4) The ideal I n (F ) coincides with Knebusch’s ideal Jn (F ). (2) If φ is a Pfister neighbor of π ∈ GPn (F ). Let F0 = F. . By Item (3) of Theorem 7. for any τ ∈ I n (F )\I n+1 (F ). . τh−1 is hyperbolic over the function field of φFh−1 . Lemma 5]. Theorem 7.2. we get |H n (F (φ)/F )| ≤ 2. since H n (F (φ)/F ) 6= 0. see the end of Section 1) Let F be a field of charac- teristic 0. an ).5. Fh be the generic splitting tower of τ . Hence |H n (Fh−1 (φ)/F )| ≤ 2. Therefore. Proof. F1 . ((*M*). τh−1 is a nonhyperbolic form in GPn (Fh−1 ). F1 . . ¤ Corollary 7. . Then H n (F (φ)/F ) ' Z/2Z and φ has maximal splitting. Proof. . ¤ Proposition 7. Fh be the generic splitting tower of τ . Now. there exists an anisotropic τ ∈ I n (F ) such that τ ∈ / I n+1 (F ) and en (τ ) = u ∈ H n (F (φ)/F ). ((*M*). Then for any n ≥ 0 ' (1) there exists an isomorphism en : I n (F )/I n+1 (F ) → H n (F ) such that en (hha1 . see the end of Section 1) Let F be a field of characteristic 0. Let φ be a quadratic form over F and n be such that 2n−1< dim φ ≤ 2n . Suppose that φFj has maximal splitting. Let τi = (τFi )an . . Lemma 7.6.[26]). we have H n (F (φ)/F ) ' Z/2Z. Then φ has maximal splitting. Since the homomorphism en : I n (F )/I n+1 (F ) → H n (F ) is an isomorphism. . Lemma 7. (3) If dim τ > 2n . .120 OLEG IZHBOLDIN AND ALEXANDER VISHIK Conjecture 7. If an anisotropic quadratic form has absolutely maximal splitting. an ii) = (a1 . we have en ((τh−1 )Fh−1 (φ) ) = 0. the Cassels–Pfister subform the- orem shows that φFh−1 is a Pfister neighbor of τFh−1 . . then H n (F (τ )/F ) = 0. ((*M*).3 shows that |H n (Fh−1 (φ)/Fh−1 )| ≤ 2. we have deg τ = n.4 shows that φ has maximal splitting. . . . then it is a Pfister neighbor. .3. Since en (τ ) ∈ H n (F (φ)/F ). Let u be an arbitrary nonzero element of the group H n (F (φ)/F ). Item (2) of Theorem 7. Since φFh−1 is a Pfister neighbor of τFh−1 . Since τh−1 is an anisotropic form in GPn (Fh−1 ). We need also the following easy consequence of a result by Hoffmann. Let j be such that dim(τFj−1 )an > 2n . Hence. see the end of Section 1) Let n ≥ 5 and φ be an anisotropic form such that 2n − 7 ≤ dim φ ≤ 2n Then the following conditions are equivalent: (a) φ has maximal splitting. .3 shows that deg τ = n. . Since τ ∈ I n (F )\I n+1 (F ). Let τ be an anisotropic quadratic form and F0 = F. Since H n (F (φ)/F ) ⊂ H n (Fh−1 (φ)/F ). . In the proof of Theorem 1. Suppose that H n (F (φ)/F ) 6= 0. In other words. .3. Hence φFh−1 has maximal splitting.8 we will need some deep results related to the Milnor conjecture. Obvious in view of [4.4. we have H n (Fh−1 /F ) = 0.

the Eilenberg-MacLane spectrum HZ/2 (as an object of SH(k)) is defined. and there is a functor ef f S : SmSimpl/k → SH(k). for a. we need some facts about triviality of motivic cohomology of smooth simplicial schemes. together with its shifts HZ/2 (a)[b]. then there exist canonical isomorphisms HomSH(k) (S(X). and a triangulated functor G : SH(k) → DM− (k) ef f such that the composition G◦S : SmSimpl/k → DM− (k) coincides with the usual motivic functor: X 7→ M (X) (here SmSimpl/k is the category of smooth simplicial schemes over Spec(k)). Then Hom(M (X)(a)[b]. Theorem A. under Hom(−. In [36] the Stable homotopy category of schemes over Spec(k). then Lemma 4. Z/2(a)[b]).1 and 6. We remind that HomDM ef f (k) (M (X).3.Voevodsky. SH(k) is a triangulated category. (a)⇒(b) follows from Theorem 1. Corollary 2. Z/2) = HomSH(k) (HZ/2 . HZ/2 (a)[b]) = HomDM ef f (k) (M (X). −).2(1)]) Let X be smooth simplicial scheme over k.9. − Definition A. if we suppose that H n (F (φ)/F ) 6= 0. Corollary 2.5 shows that φ has maximal splitting.: Ab. First of all. Theorem A.3.5. which we use in the proof of Theorems 6. i. In the case of a smooth variety we have further restrictions on motivic coho- mology: Theorem A. Z(a)[b]) = 0 in the following cases: 1 If b − a > dim(X).1 shows that H n (F (φ)/F ) 6= 0.8.3.12]) If X is a smooth simplicial scheme.31]) The motivic Steenrod algebra is the algebra of endomorphisms of HZ/2 in SH(k). Z(c)[d]) = 0. Theorem 3. Conversely. Let φ and n be as in Theorem 1. SH(k) was defined (see also [25]). . Section 3. (b)⇒(c) follows from Theorem 7.3]) Let N be a direct summand in M (X). (c)⇒(d) is obvious. ([36. Then Theorem 7. Z) (see [36]). If not specified otherwise.e. If φ has max- imal splitting. (d)⇒(a) is proved in Proposition 7. Then Hom(N. QUADRATIC FORMS WITH ABSOLUTELY MAXIMAL SPLITTING 121 (c) H n (F (φ)/F ) ' Z/2Z. ([36. ([36. HZ/2 (a)[b]). where X is a smooth scheme over k. The same is true about cohomology with Z/2-coefficients.8. Proof. ¤ Proof of Theorem 1. −) we will mean HomDM ef f (k) (−. b ∈ Z.a (k.4. 2 If b > 2a. ([36. then Proposition 7. (d) H n (F (φ)/F ) 6= 0. In [36].7.2. p.a identified with HB (X.1 shows that φ has absolutely maximal splitting. for any a > c.1. ¤ Appendix A In this section we will list some results of V. Z(a)[b]) is naturally − − b. We will assume everywhere that char(k) = 0.

Let P be some smooth projective variety over Spec(k).a+2i −1 Hb−2 M (M (U ). qi ]. Z/2(c)[d]).122 OLEG IZHBOLDIN AND ALEXANDER VISHIK The composition gives a pairing: HomSH(k) (U. 1) In the notations of [36. HZ/2 (a − 2i + 1)[b − 2i+1 + 1]) → Qi HomSH(k) (U. Z/2(a)[b]). and M (U ) = Cone[−1](M (f )). In SmSimpl/k we have a natural projection: pr : Č(P )• → Spec(k). for any U ∈ Ob(SH(k)). We have an action of the motivic Steenrod algebra A∗.a (Cone[−1](S(f ))) depends only on M (f ). Theorem A. p.2i −1 We have some special elements Qi ∈ A2 (k. ψj ∈ A(k.b Hom(cone(M (f ))[−1]. Let now f : X → Y be a morphism in SmSimpl/k. and − − ⊕a.b HomDM ef f (k) (M (Y ).32]). where Hd. Z/2).3 and A.3. Z/2) →i Hb. Then Qi (u · v) = Qi (u) · v + u · Qi (v) + {−1}nj φj (u) · ψj (v). ⊕a.8]) If P has a k-rational point.∗ (k. p. Z/2(a)[b]). 2) Actually. M (pr) is an isomorphism if and only if P has a 0-cycle of degree 1 (see [33. Z/2) on ⊕a. − Since H̃Mib. and Qi Qj + Qj Qi = 0. Following [36]. then by Theorems A. 3) Qi = [β. 2) Let u. Z/2) → HomSH(k) (U. Theorem A. The standard simplicial scheme Č(P )• . Lemma 3. Z/2) are some (homogeneous) elements of bidegree (b. and qi ∈ A(k. with faces and degeneration maps given by partial projections and diagonals.7. Theorem 2. corresponding to the pair P → Spec(k) is the simplicial scheme such that Č(P )n = P × · · · × P (n + 1- times). where β is Bockstein. then M (pr) : XP → Z is an isomorphism. Z(∗)[∗0 ]). HZ/2 (c)[d]) ⊗ Ab.3 implies: Theorem A. In SH(k) we have an exact δ0 S(f ) triangle: cone(S(f ))[−1] → S(X) → S(Y ) → cone(f ).9.a i b+2 M (M (U ).6. i+1 −1.8.17 and 3. for some morphism f : X → Y of simplicial schemes. Z/2(a)[b]).4]). Remark A.a (k. Z/2). Let us denote XP := M (Č(P )• ). which is compatible with M (f )∗ and δ ∗ .a (U ) are co- Qi homology groups of the complex: HomSH(k) (U.5. HZ/2 (c + a)[d + b]). ([36. Definition A. we define: Definition A. .8]. where b > 2a ≥ 0. v ∈ HomDM ef f (k) (M (X). ([36. HZ/2 (a + 2i − 1)[b + 2i+1 − 1]). We get the natural map M (pr) : XP → Z. HZ/2 (a)[b]) → HomSH(k) (U.c M (∗. Lemma 3.5.b HomDM ef f (k) (M (X). and φj . Z/2) := HomDM ef f (k) (∗. for a smooth simplicial scheme − P X. which is natural on U . Z/2) (see [36.32]) Margolis motivic cohomology H̃Mib.14]) 1) Q2i = 0. a). Z/2) → HM (M (U ). and observe that the simplicial weak equivalence gives an isomorphism on the level of motives.10. we can denote it simply as H̃Mib. Y = Spec(k).a (U ) coincides with the cohomology of the complex i+1 +1. Theorem A.a (Cone[−1](M (f ))).a−2i +1 Q Q i+1 −1. H̃Mib. ([36. Theorems 3. where nj > 0. one should take X = P . If U is Cone[−1](S(f )).

ef f Then in DM− (k) there exists a distinguished triangle of the form: µ0 XP (n)[2n] → N → XP → XP (n)[2n + 1].17.15. Theorem A.14. and works with any “binary” direct summand of dimension = dim(P ). ([36. XP (a)[b]) → Hom(XP . 2)-element (notations from [36.13(2) and Theorem 4. Z(a)[b]) is an isomorphism. Z/2(a)[b]) → Hom(XP . Theorem A.16. Remark A.25 and Lemma 4. Lemma 4.9 shows that XP |k = Z.7.see p. . Lemma 3. . for any quadric P of dimension ≥ 2i − 1. Theorem A.11 b. then H̃Mib.19. In [36. Also. One should observe that the same proof as in [36. Actually.13.Voevodsky is the main tool in studying motivic co- homology of quadrics: Theorem A. the result is formulated only for the case of a (2i − 1)-dimensional Pfister quadric (corresponding to the form hha1 . .11]. Let N be a direct summand in M (P ) such that N |k = Z⊕Z(n)[2n]. Lemma 3.8]) The natural diagonal map ∆XP : XP → XP ⊗ XP is an isomorphism. But the proof does not use any specifics of the Pfister form case. b.8] pr1 gives the simplicial weak equivalence Č(P )• × Č(P )• → Č(P )• with the diagonal map as inverse. Theorem 4. which means that XP is a form of the Tate-motive. The following statement is a consequence of the Beilinson-Lichtenbaum Con- jecture for Z/2-coefficients. Lemma 3. it makes sense to speak of the Margolis cohomology H̃Mib.1] it is proven that the condition H90(n. b. The following result of V. ([36.a (X̃P ) = 0. Z/2(a)[b]) is an isomorphism for any b ≤ a. Theorem 3. Remark A. Theorem 4. ([36. Remark A. which is again a quadric). . Remark A.4]) Let P be an anisotropic projective quadric of dimension n.a (X̃P ) of X̃P .12.11]) Let P be a smooth projective quadric of dimension ≥ 2i − 1. Proposition 2. ([36.4 of [36] is formulated only for the case of the Rost motive (as a direct summand in the motive of the minimal Pfister neighbour). 2) is satisfied for all n and all fields of characteristic 0 . QUADRATIC FORMS WITH ABSOLUTELY MAXIMAL SPLITTING 123 Theorem A. Motivic cohomology of XP can be used to compute the kernel on Milnor’s K-theory ( mod 2): . for any a. Thus.23]. Theorem A.11 is a very particular case of [33. Lemma 4. ai ii⊥ − hai+1 i).11.18. Z/2). Let us denote: X̃P := Cone[−1](M (pr)).11]). Lemma 4.1]) The map M (pr)∗ : Hom(Z. At the same time. Since X̃P comes from SH(k). Theorem A. We should add that in [36. ([36. Z/2(a)[b]) can be identified with HB (X. the ideal IP contains a (vi . P has a plane section of dimension 2j − 1. But the proof does not use any specifics of the Pfister case (the only thing which is used is: for any j ≤ i. Corollary 2.a of [36]. for any a. Theorem 4. Suppose now that P be a smooth projective quadric of dimension ≥ 2i − 1.7]) M (pr)∗ : Hom(XP . Hom(M (X).

[7] Izhboldin. London Math. M. J. Z/2(1)) = Z/2 be the only nontrivial element. Soc 33 (1976). Z/2(m − 1)[m]) → Hom(XP . Quadratic forms with maximal splitting. [19] Lam. Then the composition τ◦ Hom(XP . of the Eur. [5] Hoffmann. [20] Manin.S. London Math. Math. 448–491. Fields of u-invariant 9.M. The norm residue homomorphism of degree 2 (in Russian). Generic splitting of quadratic forms. Splitting patterns and invariants of quadratic forms. 36 (1991). Part 2. Let P be − a smooth projective quadric over k. English translation: Math. K. Algebraic K-theory (Seattle.: in St. On the norm residue homomorphism for fields. Transl. The Algebraic Theory of Quadratic Forms.. English translation: Soviet Mathematics Doklady 24 (1981). 1. A. T.4]. [2] Colliot-Thélène. M. Algebraic K-theory and quadratic forms.. Yu. Massachusetts: Benjamin 1973 (re- vised printing: 1980).Geometrische Strukturen in der Mathematik. II. O. 149–174. [14] Kahn. J. Generic splitting of quadratic forms. I. Rost.20. Unramified cohomology of quadrics I. Ser. [4] Hoffmann. J. 111–127. 2 (2000). 58. S. Lemma 6. Peters- burg. [10] Jacob. 127–147. 190 (1998). Dokl. 96 (1989). [24] Milnor. 49-71. References [1] Arason.M. (Russian). 176 (1995). D. Degree four cohomological invariants for quadratic forms. Correspondences. 439-470. [22] Merkurjev. 1984. T. W. Algebra 36 (1975). Cohomologische invarianten quadratischer Formen. Isotropy of quadratic forms over the function field of a quadric. Sb. Duke Math. Soc 34 (1977). [11] Kahn. No. J. W. O. Theorem 4. RI. Mat. [9] Izhboldin. Proc. Soc. S. WA. Math. 65–93. motifs and monoidal transformations. 149-168. Theorem A. RI. Math. Nauk SSSR 261 (1981). Motivic cohomology and unramified cohomology of quadrics. W... Intersection Theory. [12] Kahn. Sujatha. [3] Fulton. no. Springer-Verlag. 339-356. Amer. Nachr. Amer. no. [21] Merkurjev. The norm residue homomorphism of degree 3 (in Russian). 475-507. Math. Petersburg Math J. 220 (1995). K- theory and algebraic geometry: connections with quadratic forms and division algebras (Santa Barbara. no. Suslin. D. Pure Math. A.. 3. 318-344. no. A. . English transl. J. 4. [13] Kahn. B. Math. USSR Izv.S. M. J. 1999. 6 (1968). I. 9. Sujatha. Z/2(m)[m]) = Hom(Z. Motivic cohomology of smooth geometrically cellular varieties. M. Amer. Unramified Witt groups of real anisotropic quadrics. A descent problem for quadratic forms. or [12. 174. Soc. A. CA.. 2. J. ([35. English transl. A. Providence. U. [18] Laghribi.1]) Let τ ∈ HomDM ef f (k) (Z/2. 1992).124 OLEG IZHBOLDIN AND ALEXANDER VISHIK Theorem A. Providence. 9 (1969/70). 546-551. 1999. [15] Karpenko. 145–177. Math. Vol. 51–57. USSR-Sb. February 1999. Rost. in Math. B.. B. vol. 120 (1998). Math. 542-547. Preprintreihe SFB 478 . Math. 841–891.. no. Sur le problème de descente des formes quadratiques. Izv. A. R. Z. B. Sympos. O. [6] Hurrelbrink. R. R. no. N. Characterization of minimal Pfister neighbors via Rost projectors. Invent. W. [8] Izhboldin. T. [23] Merkurjev. 18–24.1] ... Akad. 77 (1968). 1. 551-570. S. 4. 2. and Sujatha. 1995. Providence. 349-368. 461–476.. Math. A. 1–31. RI. Proc. Algebra i Analiz. Arch. Z/2(m)[m]) = KM m (k)/2 identifies the first group with the ker(KM M m (k)/2 → Km (k(P ))/2). 4. 2. Univer- sität Münster. 1997). Proc. 1-50.. [17] Knebusch. Preprint. Nauk SSSR 54 (1990).. J. II. 73 (1999). Bielefeld University. 9 (1998). Y. [36.. Soc. Preprint.-L. Invent. Nachr. A. A. 1996. Akad. no. T. 1999 Heft 65 [16] Knebusch. W. Math. Quadratic Forms with Maximal Splitting. Splitting patterns of quadratic forms. Mathematics in St. 139–155. 80 (1995). Rehmann.

Voevodsky. Voevodsky. Berlin. QUADRATIC FORMS WITH ABSOLUTELY MAXIMAL SPLITTING 125 [25] Morel. English translation: Leningrad Math. Heidelberg. Oct..1 (1994) 163–187. December 1996.math. Preprint. Hilbert theorem 90 for K3M for degree-two extensions..de/ rom03516/papers. Symp. New Jersey 08540. 1998 (www. [33] Vishik.physik. V. Preprint. Algebra i Analiz 2 (1990).. [30] Scharlau.uniregensburg. V.uiuc. The motive of a Pfister form. 55.. Quadratic and Hermitian Forms Springer. Triangulated category of motives over a field. Proc. [35] Voevodsky. (www.math. V. V. Preprint 74. Integral motives of quadrics.edu/K-theory/0074/). Some new results on the Chow-groups of quadrics. M. [29] Rost. [34] Voevodsky. 2 (1991).edu/K-theory/0076/) [36] Voevodsky. Milnor conjecture. [28] Rost. preprint MPI-1998-13. Preprint in preparation. [27] Rost.edu/K-theory/0305/) [26] Orlov. 179-198. M. J. 1995 (see www. 213-224. Max Planck Institut Für Mathematik. A. The fifth invariant of quadratic forms (in Russian). 1998 (see www.. [31] Scholl. Regensburg. June 1995. Vishik. M. Regensburg. 1990. GERMANY School of Mathematics Institute for Advanced Study Olden Lane Princeton. K-Theory Preprint Archives. A.ru . J. Bonn. M.. New York. Preprint.uiuc. Pure Math. A. USA E-mail address: vishik@mccme.uiuc. preprint. Tokyo (1985). Preprint. F. Preprint. Bloch-Kato conjecture for Z/2-coefficients and algebraic Morava K-theories. D. (www.edu/K- theory/0170/) Fakultät für Mathematik Universität Bielefeld Postfach 100131 D-33501 Bielefeld..uiuc. 1986. W.math. 1–82.. Classical motives. [32] Szyjewski.math. A1 -homotopy theory of schemes. V.html). Motivic cohomology of Pfister quadrics and Milnor’s conjecture on quadratic forms.

R. x) ∀ x ∈ X. especially chapters 1 and 2.Contemporary Mathematics 2-Regularity and Reversibility of Quadratic Mappings Alexey F. c °0000 (copyright holder) 127 . Ryan. To say it in other words. Aron. 1991 Mathematics Subject Classification. The author was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research Grant #97-01- 00188. Dineen.g. T. R. The first approach is based on the so-called 2-normality concept [Ar1]. a quadratic mapping is a homogeneous of degree 2 poly- nomial mapping. Applying the highly developed theory of linear oper- ators to linear approximation one can obtain the most important facts of nonlinear analysis. The author also thanks IMPA. have studied polynomials in Banach spaces. Let us mention two different and rather productive approaches to the study of irregular problems which have been actively developed for the last two decades. We refer to a mapping Q : X → Y as quadratic if there exists a bilinear mapping B : X × X → Y such that Q(x) = B(x. But for any approach of such a kind it is typi- cal that second derivatives are taken into account. quadratic map- pings analysis is of great importance. Several mathe- maticians. In the case of a finite-dimensional Y . When studying singular points of smooth nonlinear mappings. J. Primary 47H60. Gamelin. Izmailov Abstract. See the book of Dineen [D]. Hence in the sequel. the first derivative is a good local approximation to the mapping under consideration. B. such as the implicit function theorem and its numerous corollaries. Cole. e. Gonzalo. a quadratic mapping is a mapping whose components are quadratic forms. When the first derivative is onto (that is the regular case). Let X and Y be linear spaces. the other one is based on the 2-regularity construction (see [IT] and the bibliography there). R. S. Secondary 58C15. there exists a unique symmetric bilinear mapping B related to Q in the sense mentioned above. for more information including a comprehensive list of references. Some particular answers to the following question are presented: does a surjective quadratic mapping between Banach spaces have a bounded right inverse or not? These notes are concerned with some particular answers to one question con- nected with quadratic mappings. Recall that for any quadratic mapping Q. where he was a visiting professor during the completion of this paper. Jaramillo. we shall denote quadratic mapping and associated symmetric bilinear mapping by the same symbol.

In topological terms the question is: determine the conditions under which the image of a neighborhood of zero element in X is a neighborhood of zero element in Y ? First. Recall that Q here is the symmetric bilinear mapping associated with the quadratic mapping under consideration. A−1 y is the complete pre-image of y with respect to A. Im A = Y. x1 x2 . but for that purpose we need some more terminology. we consider quadratic mappings first of all. Consider the mapping Ã∞ ! X x2 i 2 Q : l2 → l2 . quadratic mappings theory is not really developed so far. . and A : X → Y is a continuous linear operator. . as illustrated by the following example. Let us define the “norm” kA−1 k = sup inf−1 kxk y∈Y. x). i. quadratic mappings are of great interest by themselves because a quadratic mapping is the most simple model of a substantially nonlinear mapping. and here we would like to discuss one such question connected with the existence of a bounded right inverse to a quadratic mapping.128 ALEXEY F. For linear operators. x1 x3 . but its right inverse is not bounded. On the other hand. Let us refer to the right inverse as bounded if kA−1 k is finite. There are no answers to some basic questions.e. A−1 (y) = {x ∈ X| Ax = y}. But in contrast with the theory of linear operators. For any element h ∈ X let us define the linear operator Qh : X → Y. and one has to take into account the quadratic term of the Taylor formula. . IZMAILOV Naturally. Note that 2Qh is exactly the Fréchet derivative of Q . Now let us replace here the continuous linear operator A by a continuous qua- dratic mapping Q and consider the same question (all the notions and notations remain without any modification). We next consider some sufficient conditions for boundedness of a right inverse. Example 1. then this “norm” is a classical operator norm of its classical inverse). . when the first derivative is not onto (that is the singular case). Hence for any y ∈ Y . Q(x) = − x1 . Suppose now that X and Y are Banach spaces. linear approximation is not enough for a description of the nonlinear mapping local structure. let us mention that in contrast with theory of linear operators. i=2 i One can show (by means of some fairly straightforward computations) that this mapping is onto. The right inverse to A is the mapping A−1 : Y → 2X . in the general case the right inverse to Q can be unbounded when Q is onto. a complete answer to this question is given by the classical Banach open mapping theorem. Let us recall this result. x∈A y kyk=1 (if A is a one-to-one operator. By the open mapping theorem. Qh x = Q(h. When we are to construct an example for some theorem on singular points. A−1 is bounded if and only if A is onto.

in this case the strong 2-regularity condition in Theorem 1 can be omitted. but for the general case strong 2-regularity is somewhat stronger (for instance. Then Q−1 is bounded. h∈Nα (Q). Theorem 1. By N (Q) let us denote the null-set of Q: N (Q) = {x ∈ X| Q(x) = 0}. conditions 1) and 2) cannot be satisfied simultaneously. (2) Q is 2-regular with respect to some h ∈ N (Q). it is possible that N (Q) = {0}. Q is strongly 2-regular. 2-REGULARITY AND REVERSIBILITY OF QUADRATIC MAPPINGS 129 at the point h: Q0 (h) = 2Qh . • 2-regular if it is 2-regular with respect to every element h ∈ N (Q) \ {0}. We do not know any finite-dimensional example of a surjective quadratic mapping with unbounded right inverse. strong 2-regularity is equiva- lent to 2-regularity. khk=1 where Nα (Q) = {x ∈ X| kQ(x)k ≤ α} is the α-extension of the null-set of Q. Let X and Y be Banach spaces. and this results in the basic notions of 2-regularity theory (for that purpose one has to consider the invariant second differential of the mapping at the point under consid- eration as Q). For the mapping Q from Example 1 the conditions N (Q) = {0} and Q(X) = Y hold. Clearly. Some necessary and sufficient conditions for strong 2-regularity of quadratic mappings were proposed in [Ar2]. [IT]. h ∈ X. Certainly. [Ar1]). Assume that Q : X → Y is a continuous quadratic mapping. Note that N (Q) is always a closed cone but normally this cone is not convex. A quadratic mapping Q is referred to as: • 2-regular with respect to an element h ∈ X if Im Qh = Y (to say it in other words. and one of the following conditions is satisfied: (1) N (Q) = {0}. at the point h). Now let us consider the finite-dimensional case. If the condi- tion 2) holds. Note that Example 1 has a strong infinite-dimensional specificity. [Av1]. The assertion corresponding to condition 1) is not so standard as it follows from a special theo- rem on distance estimates for strongly 2-regular mappings. or normal. Note also that all this terminology can be applied to a general nonlinear mapping at a fixed point. This theorem can be considered as the generalization of the classical Lyusternik’s theorem on a tangent subspace. and the 2-regularity condition is triv- ially satisfied. if Q is regular. but at the same time Nα (Q) 6= {0} ∀ α > 0). and Q(X) = Y . and we have to admit that we do not know so far if such an example is . [Av2] (see also [T]. This generalization was proposed in the concurrent papers [BT]. • strongly 2-regular if there exists a number α > 0 such that sup kQ−1 h k < ∞. and the assertion of Theorem 1 is not valid only for one reason: Q is not strongly 2-regular. It is easy to see that for the finite-dimensional case. so one does not have to assume that Q is surjective). the assertion of Theorem 1 is fairly standard as it follows immediately from the standard implicit function theorem (note that in this case Q is surjective automatically.

note that for the finite-dimensional case Theorem 1 (without the strong 2-regularity assumption) provides a complete description for a typical quadratic mapping. . . the following alternative is true: the null-set is trivial. kζk = 1. For any positive integers n and m. Hence. Proposition 2. 2. The question is: can one replace here the words “for almost any” by “for any” or not? It is clear that the answer is positive for m = 1 (i. and this case is fairly trivial). Obviously. we have to consider two cases: • Im Qx(η) = R2 . for almost any finite-dimensional quadratic mapping the following implication holds: if it is surjective then its right inverse is bounded. one of the open half-planes defined in R2 by this straight line con- tains infinitely many elements of the sequence {y k }. x∈Q−1 (y k ) ky k k = 1 ∀ k = 1. We see now that for almost any finite-dimensional quadratic mapping. We are in an algebraic situation now. . the case Qx(η) = 0 can be omitted as η ∈ Im Qx(η) . we can assume that hζ. kηk = 1. It is well known that this set has a natural linear structure and can be normed in a natural way. . Hence by Theorem 1.130 ALEXEY F. Hence. y k i > 0 ∀ k = 1. . Obviously. For any positive integer n and any quadratic mapping Q : Rn → R2 condition Q(X) = R2 is equivalent to the boundedness of Q−1 .e. However. . The set of all quadratic mappings from Rn to Rm is considered here with the standard norm topology. Proposition 1 follows from Thom’s transversality theorem. one has to take into account both analytical and algebraic arguments. Proposition 1. IZMAILOV possible or not. or the mapping is 2-regular with respect to any nonzero element from the null-set. ζi = 0. It is possible to assume that {y k } → η as (k → ∞). and it seems reasonable that in order to find to find such answers. we would like to discuss some particular answers to this question. It was stated in [Ag] in a different form. . Then taking into account that Q is surjective. To begin with. If the conclusion fails to hold. for the case of one quadratic form. then a contradiction can be obtained immediately by taking advantage of the implicit function theorem. the set of 2-regular qua- dratic mappings is open and dense in the set of all quadratic mappings from Rn to Rm . 2. but this case is already not trivial at all. where ζ ∈ R2 is a fixed element such that hη. we can claim the existence of an element x(η) ∈ Rn such that Q(x(η)) = η. then there exists a sequence {y k } ⊂ R2 such that (1) inf kxk → ∞ as k → ∞. The answer turns out to be positive for two forms as well. • Im Qx(η) = span{η} is a straight line. Proof.

and P be the projector onto Y2 parallel to Y1 in Rn . It is easy to verify that if y1 > 0 then this system has two solutions. 1) as y1 → 1. one should replace x(η) by −x(η)). Any element y ∈ R2 can be uniquely represented as y = y1 η + y2 ζ. we can assume that hη. yi > 0. x̃ = x̃(x) ∈ X̃. ¤ We are not aware so far whether or not a similar result holds for m > 2. where t = t(x) ∈ R. Q(x(η). For n = 2 or 3 and for any quadratic mapping Q : Rn → Rn condition Q(X) = Rn is sufficient for the equality N (Q) = {0}. Note that h ∈ Ker Qh \ {0}. Note also that the case n = 1 is trivial as a quadratic mapping from R to R (and hence to Rm for any m) cannot be surjective. Let us discuss here the second case. Proposition 3. with y1 . Proof. Without loss of generality. and both tend to (0. y2 → 0. this implies that there exists x(ζ) ∈ Rn such that Q(x(ζ)) = ζ. Assume that hζ. 2-REGULARITY AND REVERSIBILITY OF QUADRATIC MAPPINGS 131 Again we take into account that Q is surjective. Some special results for this case were obtained by Agrachyov in [Ag]. This means that any vector x ∈ X can be uniquely represented as x = th + x̃. Then the space Rn can be represented as the direct sum of the straight line span{h} and some linear subspace X̃ in Rn . t2 = τ y 2 . hence (3) dim Y2 = corank Qh ≥ 1. x(ζ))i ≥ 0 (if this inequality does not hold. kyk = 1 (the inequality means that y2 > 0) and consider the equation Q(x(η) + tx(ζ)) = τ y with respect to (t. Assume that N (Q) 6= {0}. dim X̃ = n − 1. τk and ½ ¾ x(η) + tk x(ζ) √ → x(η) as k → ∞. . this equation can be reformulated as the system of equations 1 + 2tkQ(x(η). τ ) ∈ R × R. Under our assumptions. x̃(x)) + Q(x̃(x)). Let h ∈ N (Q)\{0}. Then (2) Q(x) = 2t(x)Q(h. τk ∈ R such that µ ¶ k x(η) + tk x(ζ) y =Q √ . The first case is important in view of constrained optimization problems. Hence for any sufficiently large k. x(ζ))k = τ y1 . Y2 be an algebraic complement of Y1 in Rn . Note that two cases are of most importance in applications: n À m and n = m. one can find tk . x ∈ Rn . Let Y1 = Im Qh . y2 ∈ R. τk But this is in contradiction with (1). Let us take advantage of the following procedure which is sometimes useful for a reduction to lower dimension.

(3). θ = (t. • if the vectors Q(h. Clearly. Since Q is surjective and (2) holds. in any case the sets Q1 (R2 ) and Q2 (R2 ) together do not cover the entire plane Y1 . But then according to (2). hi ) and Q(hi ) are linearly independent then Qi (R2 ) is an open half-plane with the additional point 0 in the plain Y1 . 2. i = 1. ¤ . and this is in contradiction with the condition that Q is surjective. but this is obviously impossible (for instance. because in the other case the subspace Y1 contains some elements which do not belong to Q(R3 ). τ ∈ R. and dim X̃ = dim Y2 = 2. 2. the nonempty set Y1 \ {0} has an empty intersection with Q(R3 ). Taking into account that Q(hi ) ∈ Y1 . hi ) and Q(hi ) are linearly dependent then Qi (R2 ) is either a straight line.e. i = 1. There are several ways to do it. as P Q is the quadratic mapping which actually depends on one scalar variable x̃ ∈ X̃. because of the proven fact for n = 2. or because of some general facts of differential topology). we see now that the set N (P Q)∩ X̃ consists of two straight lines spanned by some elements h1 . h2 ∈ X̃ \{0} (as a matter of fact. hence the mapping P Q on X̃ can be considered as a quadratic form which is not semi-definite. Taking into account the equality dim X̃ = 2. or a ray. IZMAILOV Let n = 2. Then Q has to be surjective as a mapping from X̃ (dim X̃ = 2) to R3 . hi ) + τ 2 Q(hi ). According to the argument above. Let us now turn our attention to the case n = 3. It means that N (P Q) ∩ X̃ = {0} (here again we take into account the proven fact for n = 2). then according to (2) we have Q(x) = Q(x̃(x)). or Qi (R2 ) = {0}. Now we have only to prove that the equality (4) is contradictory. the vectors h1 and h2 are linearly independent by necessity. Recall again that Q is surjective and (2) holds. 2. but this is not important here). Let corank Qh = 2. P Q is surjective as a mapping from X̃ to Y2 . the appearance of the mapping Qi allows us to state the following: • if the vectors Q(h. Then according to (2). let corank Qh = 1. let us define the quadratic mappings Qi : R2 → Y1 . P Q(R2 ) 6= Y2 . 2. τ ). the condition that Q is surjective implies the equality (4) Q1 (R2 ) ∪ Q2 (R2 ) = Y1 . x ∈ R3 .132 ALEXEY F. i = 1. Qh = 0). Now in (2) we take x̃ = τ hi . If corank Qh = 3 (i. Qi (θ) = = 2tτ Q(h. but the most simple is a straightforward analysis of the structure of Qi (R2 ). Finally. For any i = 1. and let us consider the possible values of corank Qh separately (recall that the case corank Qh = 0 cannot occur because of (3)). But it means that Q cannot be surjective (the subspace Y2 contains elements which do not belong to Q(R2 )).

42 (1991). 621–623. [T] A. A. and Math. Springer Monographs in Math- ematics. 425–432. Moscow. R. Notes 47 (1990). Izmailov and A. Moreover. Clearly. Math. USSR Comput. we provide an example of a mapping of degree 5 which is onto. not accurate) way to see this is to draw the image of the unit square (e. Topologiya. For polynomial mappings which are homogeneous of degree greater than two. 1997. Fac- torial. Arutyunov. these notes contain more questions than answers. Phys 25 (1985). under the assumptions of Proposition 3. R. [Ar1] A. and perhaps. Factoranalysis of nonlinear mappings (in Russian). V. A. Methods for solving singular problems. 1994. and Math. similar results are not obtained. but its right inverse is not bounded. London Berlin Heidelberg (1999). Math. we have to admit that we do not know whether or not a similar result holds for n > 3. 24–32. . Example 2. F. 123–127. [Ag] A. Math. References [Av1] Y. Necessary and sufficient conditions for optimality of p-th order. On the theory of quadratic mappings in Banach spaces.. Algebra. Abnormal and degenerate cases (in Russian). Phys. Tretyakov. 2-REGULARITY AND REVERSIBILITY OF QUADRATIC MAPPINGS 133 According to Theorem 1 we have that. One can show that the image of a neighborhood of zero element in the original space is not a neighborhood of zero element in the image space here. USSR Comput. Tretyakov. Dokl. [Av2] Y. Quadratic mappings topology and Hessians of smooth mappings (in Russian). x31 x22 ). [Ar2] A. There is a good reason to think that a complete answer to one of the questions in these notes will result in a complete answer to another. [D] S. at the same time. Geometriya 26 (1983). Belash and A. 28 (1988). and Math. Complex Analysis on Infinite Dimensional Spaces. using a computer). A closely related question is: under what assumptions is it the case that not only is a given quadratic mapping surjective but any quadratic mapping close to it is surjective? In [Ag]. Tretyakov. Avakov. Arutyunov.g. 1097–1102. V. A. Dineen. Soviet Math. Nauka. Extremum conditions for smooth problems with equality-type constraints. [BT] K. N. Itogi Nauki i Tekhniki. Moscow. 85–124. Springer-Verlag. Extremum conditions. to numerous important questions about the topology and algebra of quadratic mappings. It is interesting that Propositions 2 and 3 hold true only for quadratic map- pings. But again. Math. Theorems on estimates in the neighborhood of a singular point of a mapping. The easiest (but of course. Q is onto. The author is also grateful to two referees for their helpful comments. Physics 24 (1984). if Q is surjective then its right inverse is bounded. Consider the mapping Q : R2 → R2 . Q(x) = (x51 − x21 x32 . A. Avakov. [IT] A. USSR Comput. Agrachyov. The author would like to thank the organizers of QF99 for their hospitality and for financial aid they provided for his participation. a quadratic mapping with such a property was referred to as substantially surjective.

RJ 22460-320 Brazil E-mail address: izmaf@impa.134 ALEXEY F. izmaf@ccas. Russia Current address: Instituto de Matematica Pura e Applicada Estrada Dona Castorina 110. Moscow. Jardim Botanico Rio de Janeiro.br.ru . 40 117967. IZMAILOV Computing Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences Vavilova Str.

Blanchfield Duality 142 3. The Seifert Matrix ¡ ¢ By an n-knot k we mean a smooth or locally-flat PL pair S n+2 . In the smooth case the embedded sphere S n may 1991 Mathematics Subject Classification. Concluding Remarks 152 References 152 1. c °0000 (copyright holder) 135 . Spinning and Branched Cyclic Covers 151 8.Contemporary Mathematics Quadratic Forms in Knot Theory C. quadratic form. In par- ticular. knot module. 57M25. Knot Cobordism 146 6. Branched Cyclic Covers 149 7. knot. Kearton Abstract. we shall look at the knot cobordism groups. Factorisation of Knots 144 4. 57Q45. and at branched cyclic covers. hermitian form. Contents 1. 11E12. S n . The Seifert Matrix 135 2. Seifert matrix. Cancellation of Knots 146 5. The purpose of this survey article is to show how quadratic and hermitian forms can give us geometric results in knot theory. at questions of fac- torisation and cancellation of high-dimensional knots. Blanchfield duality. both spheres being oriented. Key words and phrases.

........................... which can be capped off by disjoint discs................... The Seifert circuits are disjoint circles......1.... ....................................................... ...................... .... ................ Proposition 1..................... ........................................................ ...... Proof.. . ............................................ 48]............ At each crossing point.. ...................... Two such pairs are to be regarded as equiv- alent if there is an orientation preserving (smooth or PL) homeomorphism between them..... .... .......................... . and joined by half-twists at the crossing points.................1 we return to the starting point.................................................. ......................................... Starting at any point of k......................................... Figure 1.... As shown in [33..... .136 C....................................................... Every classical knot k is the boundary of some compact orientable surface embedded in S 3 .............................. . ...... jump to the other piece of the knot and follow that in the positive direction........ but in the case n = 1 there is a construction due to Seifert [41] which we now give........................ ................... ..................2....... ........ Now start somewhere else............... a regular ¡ neighbourhood ¢ of S n has the form S n × B 2 .....2 ......... and since a regular neighbourhood of S n is unique up to ambient isotopy it follows that K is essentially unique....... ............................ 48]........................................................................... ................................. ............. Then K is the exterior of the knot k............. .......... and continue until the knot is exhausted......................................................................... having traced out a Seifert circuit............. ........ . Hence we get a surface V with .................... S n is the boundary of an orientable (n + 1)-manifold in S n+2 ............. ... .......................... we set K = S n+2 − int S n × B 2 . This is proved in [31....... ......... Consider a diagram of k. ................... .............................. KEARTON have an exotic smooth structure.......................... Proposition 1..... Figure 1.. ...... move along the knot in the positive direction.............. ....... Eventually ....................... ............................................. 33..........

... ......3..................... -ve ................... ........................... ........ Definition 1....................................... ........ . .... ... . .... ....................... ... ........... . .. Two simple examples are indicated in Figure 1...... . ................. ......... .......................... .......... ... ¤ Corollary 1.. ...... . .... ......................................... ............. . ......4...... ... ...... ...................... ..... ...... Figure 1............. ...... .... ....... ........5........ ........ .............. ..... . .... ........ ... .. .......................... .... ....... ............... ................... .................. ................. .............. ........... ........... ............. ... ... ........ . .......................... ... ........ . .. ...... ......... .... ................ ............... . ................... .. .. ............................ ..... .. ................. ......... ..................... ....... ...... ............. ............ ..... ....... ................. ............. ... ........... ...... ........... .............. ........ and taking the sum of these integers gives us L(u.................... Thus there are no closed paths on V which reverse the sense of the normal: hence V is orientable....... Figure 1........................ ...... .............. .............. Note that in passing from one disc to another the normal is preserved.. ........... ............... ..... .. QUADRATIC FORMS IN KNOT THEORY 137 ........ ............ Span v by a Seifert surface V and move u slightly so that it intersects V transversely......... ....................... ...... ....... ............ .. ....... .. .......... . ... ........... .... Trefoil knot As an example we have a genus one Seifert surface of the trefoil knot in Figure 1........ ....... ....... ...... .. .... .............................. ................... ........... . ................ .......... ... ...... ... ...... .. ............ .. ... .... v be two oriented disjoint copies of S 1 in S 3 and assign a linking number as follows...... .... ...... .......... ..... .. ..... ........................................... . +ve ...... ........... ............. .... ........... ........ ................ ................ ..... ....... . ... .. ....... ..... ..... . .. ..... ..... To each point of intersection we assign +1 or −1 according as u is crossing in the positive or negative direction..... ... ¤ ......... ........... ............... ............. .............. .......... ...... ....... ........ ........................ ......... .3 ∂V = k................... .. .... .......... . ........... .. Thus 2g = c − s + 1.. ................................ ................. ....... . . ......... ... ....... ................. which is equivalent to one with a single 0-handle and c−(s−1) 1-handles (by cancelling 0-handles).. ... .......... ... ........... .... ......... .............. ....................................... . ............. ... ........... . .. . ...... ........ .............. . ............... ....... .............. ........ ........... ... . . .................. ..... ............... ............ .. ............. ...... ...... If there are c crossing points and s Seifert circuits. ..................... . .................. . ........... . ....... . ........................ .... .......... ................ ..... ......................................... v)..................... ...... . ........... ... .... .............. ............... . ........... ............ ....... L Proof.. then the genus of V is 21 (c − s + 1). .................. .......... We have a handle decomposition of V with s 0-handles and c 1-handles............... ....... ........... To see that V is orientable..... .. ...................... ...... ... . .................................. ......... .... ..... attach a normal to each disc using a right hand screw along the knot......... .. ... . ... ........... ...... ...... ..... ............. ...... ................... . ....... ..... .................... ..... ............... . Let u..................................... .......... .. The genus of V is g where H1 (V ) = 2g 1 Z............ ........... ...... ........... .... .... ............................ .... ............. . ......... .............. ......... .. ............................. . .. . .......... .. ........... ....4.......... ...... .. ......... ..... ... .. ..... ......4............. .. . ...... ............. ...... ... .... ........

. Let x1 ........ v) = −1 Figure 1.... ... ..... . .... .... ..... ....... ... x2g be a basis for H1 (V ) = 1 Z... ........ .. .... . and set aij = θ(xi .... ... .. .. ... The matrix A = (aij ) is a Seifert matrix of k.... Let i+ u be the result of pushing u a small distance along the positive normal to V .... . ........ ...... . . x1 . ..... . .... . ....... . . ...... .. ............ . ... .. Then set θ(u......... ......... .... .. . .......... ......... ... ................138 ....... ... .. v) = +1 L(u... .... ........ i+ x1 . x2 ) = L (i+ x2 ...... .......... ..... .......... ... .. x2 ) −1 Table 1... ..... since P is a matrix over Z which is invertible over Z.... . ......... ..... ... . ..... .. Lemma 1. ....... ............. ...... .... .... .. KEARTON ......... . ....... The linking number The two copies of S 1 do not have to be embedded: the general definition is in terms of cycles and bounding chains.. ............... ...... .. +ve . . ... .......... ..... .. ... C.. ........... ................ .. x1 ) = L (i+ x2 ........ ... ... ..... . ..... ................. ...... v ∈ H1 (V ) for some Seifert surface V . We see from Table 1..... ... x 2 . .... v) = L (i+ u.......... x2 ) 0 (iii) a21 = θ (x2 .......... (i) (ii) (iii) (iv) Figure 1.... .. .. .. ... ......1 that the Seifert matrix of the trefoil knot in Figure 1.... Note that if we choose another basis for H1 (V ). ................ .. ... ........ v .. x2 ... .. .. . . ..... .. ....... ......... . ........ L2g Definition 1. ....... . x1 ) −1 (ii) a12 = θ (x1 .... ........ ....... ...... ...........5.. . ....... ............. ... .... ..... .................. . i+ x 2 . ........ u .......... x1 ) = L (i+ x1 ...... ...........7. . ....... ................ ....... .. . ... ...... .....8...... .. .. ... ...... L(u....... ........ ... ........... . ... ... . ... x 1 ....... Definition 1... . x1 ..... .... ...... .................. . ...... . ..... ....... . ................. ...... ....... .. .... .. . -ve ............ ................ xj ). . .. ........... θ : H1 (V ) × H1 (V ) → Z is bilinear.. .. then A is replaced by P AP 0 ... ..... . . ... .............. ....6 (i) a11 = θ (x1 .... . . . . .. . . ........ .. i+ x 1 . ... . i+ x2 .. ....... u .... ..................... . v).... . . ........ . .. ....... ......5. .. .. .......... ............ ..... Let u......... ....... ...... .. .. ...... .. ..... x1 ) 1 (iv) a22 = θ (x2 . .1 Example 1.. . ... . . ....... . ... . .6....... .. . where det P = ±1...... ...... ....... . ............ .. ... ..6 is µ ¶ −1 0 A= 1 −1 ...... ............. v .. ..... ........ .... . ... .. ...... . .... .. ................. ..... . .............. .... x2 ) = L (i+ x1 ... ... . ..... .............. .. ... ..... ... .... x2 .. . . .... . . .... ...... ....... .. .... ....... ..... ......... .. .. .........

.... ..... .. ....... ...... ... for exam- ple.. −→ .. In the first case................. ......... ... .. ....7 or Figure 1.. . .... ......... ......... .. . .. ......... .... . ... S 0 × B 2 is replaced by S 1 × B 1 . .... ..... ... ... .... . ............. the two attachments being made on the same side of V .......... ..... .. ............ An elementary S-equivalence on A is one of the following........ .... A Seifert surface U is obtained from a Seifert surface V by ambient surgery if U and V are related as in Figure 1..... ..... ... ...... .. ...... ........ ..... . . ...... there will be infinitely many Seifert surfaces of k. ................... . and that these are inverse operations.. ............. .. ....7 Definition 1... ... . ..................... ........... .. ... . as illustrated in Figure 1.... ......... . ... . . . ........ ...... ................ .. ........ .... ......................... ... V U Figure 1....... or its inverse. ...... ........ .. Ambient surgery (ii) Note that the “hollow handle” may be knotted.... ... ....11...8.. .......... ................... ... ... .... ................ For a given knot k..... ........ .... ...... ... ....... .... we can excise the interiors of two disjoint closed discs from any given Seifert surface V and glue a tube S 1 × B 1 to what remains of V by the boundary circles. .. . .... ....... . ... ..... .. ...... ............. .... ...... . .. ..... .. .. .. .... Proposition 1. ... QUADRATIC FORMS IN KNOT THEORY 139 Given a knot k.... .. .. ...8... .10............. −→ . .. .................. ..... . ...... ... . .......... the procedure is reversed........... . . any two Seifert surfaces are related by a sequence of ambient surgeries.. ........ .. .9... ......... .... V U Figure 1...... ............. ....... (i) A 7→ P AP 0 for P a unimodular integer matrix... ........ In symbols.. the interiors of two disjoint closed discs in the interior of V are excised and a tube S 1 × B 1 is attached............ Ambient surgery (i) ... ... ....... ... ..... ........ ............... ........ .... ............ . . .. Let A be a Seifert matrix. .... . ... ................... .......... ..... . . ... . ............... ..... . ...... .. ..... . .... ... ........... ....... .... In the second case. .... ........ ........ .............. ...................... . .... ......... .... .. . . ....... .. . ............. Definition 1.. .... .... ....7... ...... . . .... .........

..9 erators x1 ... . ..... .... .... . .. ..... ...140 C.... .. .......12. .. .... . Any two Seifert matrices of a given knot k are S-equivalent. and choose gen- . ..... Consider the diagram in Figure 1...... ....... ... .............. .........10 for a different choice) θ (x2g+1 ....... x2g+2 ) = 0 θ (x2g+2 . .... ............ Then θ (x2g+1 . ... .. . ...... ... .... .. ......... .... ....... .. ...... .. xi ) = 0 for 1 ≤ i ≤ 2g.. ... .... . ........ ... .. .. ... .. .. ..... . ..... ....... x2g+1 ) = 0 if we choose the right number of twists around the handle (see Figure 1.. . ... ....... . x2g+1 ) = 1 θ (x2g+2 . .. . ....... −→ .... . ..... . . . ..... ............. Two matrices are S-equivalent if they are related by a finite sequence of such moves.... . .... x2g+2 ) = 0 θ (xi .. KEARTON (ii)   A 0 0 A 7→  α 0 0 0 1 0 (iii)   A β 0 A 7→  0 0 1 0 0 0 where α is a row vector of integers and β is a column vector of integers.... Proof... .... . B from V ............ .. . .......... x2g ..9..... ......... After Proposition 1. . ....... ... ....... it is enough to assume that V is obtained by an ambient surgery on U . ... ...... .. Theorem 1. .... .... ..... and x1 . . .... ...... .... . ... .. Thus   A γ 0 B =  α 0 0 0 1 0 .. x2g+1 ... Let A be the matrix obtained from a Seifert surface U ..... .. .10....... x2g+1 U V Figure 1........ . ....... .. ........ ... ... ........ ................ ... ........... x2g of H1 (U )....... ........ . x2g+2 of H1 (V ).. .. ..... x2g+2 ) = 0 θ (x2g+2 .... . x2g+2 ............. .. ....... ....

.... ...10 By a change of basis we can subtract multiples of the last row from the first 2g rows to eliminate γ................. ... .. .. . . xj ) = L (i+ xi ...... xj ) is the algebraic intersection of this chain with xj .. the algebraic intersection of xi and xj in V ...... ..... ...... ........ . ...... .... .. .. xj ) = L (xi ....e.... .... ....... xj ) = L (i+ xi − i− xi ...... and aij = θ(xi . . . . x2g+2 .. ............. i.. i− xj ) = L (i− xj . ¤ Lemma 1.. . . .... ..... .. ..... ...... QUADRATIC FORMS IN KNOT THEORY 141 . ......... .... If A is a Seifert matrix and A0 is its transpose.............. . . . . ... ... . ......... ...... ...... Let i− u be the result of pushing u a small distance along the negative normal to V ... x2g is a basis for H1 (V ) = 1 Z. . .. xj ) Now i+ xi − i− xi is the boundary of a chain S 1 × I normal to V which meets V in xi ....... . .... ............ .. ..... . .. . ........ ...... .. ........ .... and so L (i+ xi − i− xi ...13.............. ¤ Now let us state what happens in higher dimensions.. .. ........ ...... .......... ..... then A − A0 is unimodular... whence the result....... ............... . xj )......... ..... ...... Whence   A 0 0 P 0 BP =  α 0 0 0 1 0 Adding the handle on the other side of U gives the other kind of S-equivalence...... .. xi ) and so aij − aji = L (i+ xi ............ ... ...... L2g Proof..... ... ............ xj ) − L (i− xi .. . ....... ............. . Hence A − A0 represents the intersection pairing on H1 (V ).. . ... Then aij = θ(xi ...... −→ ... ........... ...... ... .. and the same multiples of the last column from the first 2g columns...... ..... x2g+1 U V Figure 1........ .... .. then the matrix A = (aij ) is a Seifert matrix of k... ......... ....... ..... Recall that if x1 ......... ...... . .. ..

12 remains true for simple knots. Moreover. The following result is proved in [33.16.3] for q > 2. If q = 2. A simple (2q−1)-knot k. Theorem 2] for q = 2. Theorem 1. A (2q −1)-knot k is simple if and only if it bounds a (q −1)- connected Seifert submanifold. then A + (−1)q A0 is unimodular.18. Theorem 2]. Theorem 1. and so is an invariant of k. The following result is proved in [41] for q = 1. iA : MA × MA → Λ0 /Λ given by the matrix (1 − t) (tA + (−1)q A0 )−1 which is also an invariant of k. in [36.17. KEARTON Definition¡ 1.15. Theorem 1. t−1 . using Hq (V ). Theorem 2. Λ0 is the field of fractions of Λ. Moreover. to obtain a Seifert matrix A of k satisfying the following. Now suppose that k is a simple (2q − 1)-knot bounding an (q − 1)-connected submanifold V . Λ0 /Λ) is an isomorphism. there is a simple 3-knot k with Seifert matrix S-equivalent to A. there is a simple (2q − 1)-knot k with Seifert matrix A. A + A0 has signature a multiple of 16. if q = 2.142 C. Blanchfield Duality £ ¤ Let us set Λ = Z t. Theorem 1.14.1. there is a non-singular (−1)q+1 -hermitian pairing h . and non-singular means that the adjoint map MA → Hom (MA . the ring of Laurent polynomials in a variable t with integer coefficients. q > 1. If A is a Seifert matrix of a simple (2q − 1)-knot k. and in [31. 2. then the Λ-module MA presented by the matrix tA + (−1)q A0 depends only on the S-equivalence class of A. Theorem 3] the classification of simple knots is completed. If A is a Seifert matrix of a simple (2q − 1)-knot k and A0 is its transpose. Conjugation is the linear extension of t 7→ t−1 . ¢ A (2q − 1)-knot k is simple if its exterior K satisfies πi (K) ∼ = πi S 1 for 1 ≤ i < q. is determined up to ambient isotopy by the S-equivalence class of its Seifert matrix. Let q be a positive integer and A a square integral matrix such that A + (−1)q A0 is unimodular and. if q = 2. Théorème II. . In [36. If q 6= 2. We can repeat the construction above. Theorem 1. then the signature of A + A0 is a multiple of 16.

i : M × M → Λ0 /Λ is a non-singular (−1)q+1 -hermitian pairing. ) on MA on which T (i. In [43. i) satisfies (i) M is a finitely-generated Λ-torsion-module. The Λ-module in Theorem 2. If A is a Seifert matrix of a simple (2q − 1)-knot k. Blanch- field [9]. and is defined up to multiplication by a unit of Λ. h . Proposition 2. Theorem 2.5. (M.9. Set S = (A + εA0 )−1 and T = −εA0 A−1 . The following result is proved in [44.e. Moreover. The formula given here was discovered independently in [22. (Of course. (iii) h . unimodular. to a matrix with non-zero determinant. pp 485-489] Trotter proves the following. If A and B are non-degenerate Seifert matrices of a simple (2q − 1)-knot k. (ii) (t − 1) : MA → MA is an isomorphism. Let ε = (−1)q and let A be a non-degenerate Seifert matrix of a simple (2q − 1)-knot k. (iv) A = (I − T )−1 S −1 . The pair (MA . p179] Theorem 2. (iii) T 0 ST = S. 44]. The pair (S. T ) have the following properties: (i) S is integral. The following two results are proved in [22. then A is S-equivalent to a matrix which is non-degenerate.8. The matrix S gives a (−1)q -symmetric bilinear pairing ( . i) arises from some simple (2q − 1)-knot as (MA . The determi- nant of tA + (−1)q A0 is the Alexander polynomial of k. iA : MA × MA → Λ0 /Λ is a non-singular (−1)q+1 -hermitian pair- ing. )) determines and is determined by the S-equivalence class of A. that is. 44.4. Proposition 2.) Definition 2. and has a geometric significance which is explained in §6. (ii) (t − 1) : M → M is an isomorphism. Theorem 2. then the module and pairing (MA . the signature is divisible by 16. t) acts as an isometry. iA ). . For q = 2 the signature is divisible by 16. det A is the leading coefficient of the Alexander polynomial of k.6.2. Suppose that (M. h . ε-symmetric. (iii) h . iA ) satisfy: (i) MA is a finitely-generated Λ-torsion-module. Then for q ≥ 1. 23. the module and pairing determine the knot k up to ambient isotopy. The hermitian pairing is due to R. ( . (ii) (I − T )−1 exists and is integral. Proposition 2.C. for q = 2. h .1 is called the knot module of k. QUADRATIC FORMS IN KNOT THEORY 143 Definition 2.3. for q > 1. and that. h . then A and B are congruent over any subring of Q in which det A is a unit. If A is a Seifert matrix.7. 45].

leaving a knotted ball-pair Bin+2 . k2 be two n-knots. y(ζ)) = ux(ζ)y(ζ). A2 . Let k1 . Factorisation of Knots If we have two classical knots. y(t)i = ←→ (x(ζ).2. there is a natural way to take their sum: just tie one after another in the same piece of string.3(iii) by ¡ ¢ u(t)x(t)y t−1 hx(t). Sin . Choose a point on each Sin and excise a tubular ¡ neighbourhood. k2 are simple knots with Seifert matrices A1 .1. Let Φ15 (t) denote the 15th cyclotomic polynomial. For the case n = 1. ¡ ¢ Definition 3. Then ur ∈ U0 and µ ¶ µ ¶ ur 0 1 0 and 0 −ur 0 −1 represent isometric pairings on Z[ζ] × Z[ζ]. If u ∈ U0 . Note that ζ − ζ is a unit: ¡ ¢2 ¡ ¢¡ ¢ (3. Let ur = ζ r + ζ −r − 1 for r = 0. then clearly k1 + k2 is also simple and has a Seifert matrix µ ¶ A1 0 0 A2 and the pairings in §2 are given by the orthogonal direct sum. Schubert showed in [40] that every knot factorises uniquely as a sum of irreducible knots. . Bayer showed that it fails for n = 5 and for n ≥ 7. although presented here in a slightly different way. and conjugation in Z t. H. t / (Φ15 (t)) is the ring of integers. Alternatively. the set of units of Z[ζ + ζ].e. The latter procedure generalises to higher dimensions. In [25] it is shown that unique factorisation fails for n = 3. y) = uxy. 7. 2. If k1 . KEARTON 3. and in [1] E.3. we can think of each knot as a knotted ball-pair and identify the boundaries so that the orientations match up.1) ζ −ζ ζ + ζ 1 − ζ − ζ = 1. and so we can think of Z[ζ] as a Λ-module satisfying properties (i) and (ii) of Theorem 2. Moreover. 1. Φ15 (t) ¡ ¢ The case of skew-hermitian pairings is dealt with by using ζ − ζ u in place of u. an unknotted ball-pair.144 C. ζ − 1 is a unit in Z[ζ]. The following example is contained in [1]. Bin . which we normalise so ¡ ¢ 2πi £ −1 ¤ that Φ15 (t) = Φ15 t−1 . giving a sphere-pair k1 + k2 . ¢ i. t corresponds to complex conjugation in Z[ζ]. then we can define a hermitian pairing on Z[ζ] by (x. Then ∼ £ −1Z[ζ] ¤ = Z t. Lemma 3. and let ζ = e 15 . This corresponds to a hermitian pairing as in Theorem 2. say ki = Sin+2 . Identify the boundaries so that the orientations match up.

19]. ζ 7 are also primitive 15th roots of unity. write u ∼ v to denote this equiv- alence. For each q > 2 there exist eight distinct irreducible simple (2q − 1)-knots kr . Proof. Proof. ±u1 are distinct. There is another method.5.3 hold for locally-flat topological 3-knots without any restriction on the signature. and this can be used to show that unique factorisation fails for n ≥ 3 (see [5]). 2.3 there exist unique simple (2q − 1)-knots kr . kr− . Now consider µ ¶µ ¶µ ¶ µ ¶ µ ¶ a b 1 0 a b aa − bb 0 ur 0 = = b a 0 −1 b a 0 bb − aa 0 −ur For each r.18. b = (ζ r − 1). and 2. 7.17. (3. By Theorem 2. Of course. factorises into finitely many irreducibles. Since ζ 2 . The hermitian forms on Z[ζ] given by ±ur for r = 0. u0 = 1. due to J. so ±u2 /u1 ∈ / N (U ).1) shows that ur ∈ U0 for r = 1. It is shown in [1] that U0 /N (U ) has exactly eight elements. r = 0. The work of Hillman in [20] shows that the classification theorems 1. 7 are distinct. Then u1 > 0 but u1 is conjugate to u7 < 0. Similarly u2 /u1 > 0 but u2 /u1 is conjugate to u4 /u2 < 0. 2. and that a large class of knots factorise into irreducibles in at most finitely many different ways (see [6. such that kr + kr− = ks + ks− for all r. I should mention that the method of [25] relies on the signature of a smooth 3-knot being divisible by 16. These are irreducible because in each case the Alexander polynomial is Φ15 (t). and hence does not generalise to higher dimen- sions. 1. ¤ Lemma 3. s ∈ {0. 8]). 7}. depending upon the module structure. 1. kr− corresponding to ur . ¤ Remark 3. Two such forms represented by u. 1. 2. ¤ Corollary 3. where N (c) = cc. QUADRATIC FORMS IN KNOT THEORY 145 Proof.A. we can write ¡ ¢ ur = ζ r + ζ −r − 1 = 1 − (ζ r − 1) ζ −r − 1 and so we can take a = 1.4.3. 1. Hillman. so ±u1 ∈ / N (U ) and hence the forms represented by ±1. 1. There are further results on this topic in [18. Similar arguments apply in the other cases. v ∈ U0 are equivalent if and only if uv −1 ∈ N (U ). 7. 17. 2. n ≥ 3. It is known from [10] that every n-knot. so that these are all the forms there are in this case. .16. −ur respectively.

Let AΓ4n be the corresponding hermitian lattice. q 6= 1. and let e1 .→ V is a homotopy equivalence for i = 0. V such that ¡ ¢ ¡ ¢ V ∩ S n+2 × {i} = ∂V ∩ S n+2 × {i} = Sin (with the orientations reversed for i = 0) and Sin . 1. indeed. just multiply 4. It is shown in [3] that the hermitian form AΓ4n is irreducible if n > 1. q > 1.1 this shows that cancellation fails for q odd.1) AΓ8 ⊥ AΓ8 ⊥< −1 >∼ = AΓ16 ⊥< −1 >. Then Γ4n is the lattice spanned by the vectors ei + ej and 21 (e1 + · · · + e4n ). and define Γ4n to be the following lattice given in [39].3.e.1. To tackle the odd-dimensional case.146 C. ¡ Two n-knots ¢ k i = Si . In [4]. we begin by quoting a result of Levine: [35. Let A be the ring of integers associated with Φ12 . For q even. Lemma 4]. with the trivial knot as the zero. e4n be an orthonormal basis with respect to the usual innerproduct. Example 4. . and the equiva- lence classes form an abelian group Cn under this operation. Every (2q − 1)-knot is cobordant to a simple knot.1 by the unit τ − τ −1 where τ is a root of Φ12 . . that cancellation fails for simple (2q − 1)-knots. Moreover (4.2.A. Kervaire shows that C2q = 0 for all q. Proposition 6. ¡ n+2 n ¢ Definition 5. it is homeomorphic to S n × I. and by the device known as spinning this result is extended to even dimensional knots. For n ≥ 6 the manifold V is a product. II. By Theorem 2.1. Knot Cobordism There is an equivalence relation defined on the set of n-knots as follows. KEARTON 4. . (See §7 for the definition of spinning. . i. We take R4n to denote the euclidean space. . examples are given where the failure of cancellation depends on the structure of the knot module. Remark 5. Si are cobordant if there is a manifold pair S n+2 × I. This equivalence relation respects the operation of knot sum. But AΓ8 ⊥ AΓ8 6∼ = AΓ16 because the latter is irreducible. Chap. Lemma 5. by the h-cobordism theorem.5].) 5. this holds already over Z by [39. Cancellation of Knots In [3] Eva Bayer proves a stronger result. In [31] M.

. This is an equivalence relation for Seifert matrices. QUADRATIC FORMS IN KNOT THEORY 147 Definition µ 5.4. and to prove Theorem 5. but it is easy to give Milnor’s proof in [37] of infinitely many summands of infinite order for q odd. 0 A1 Lemma 5.7.6. A1 respectively.9 below (see [35.5. and at the same time to suggest an alternative way of looking at Gεq . The subgroup of G+ given by matrices A such that the signature of A + A0 is divisible by 16 is denoted G0+ . (c) an epimorphism onto G− for q = 1. A1 are said to be cobordant. Theorem 5. The map ϕq : C2q−1 → Gεq is induced by taking a simple knot to one of its Seifert matrices. with Seifert matrices A0 . Then A0 . Lemma 8] shows that two Seifert matrices are cobordant if and only if they are cobordant over the rationals. The definition above appears in [35].5 we deduce: Corollary 5. Both Levine’s treatment and that of Kervaire in [32] rely on Milnor’s clas- sification of isometries of innerproduct spaces in terms of hermitian forms in [38]. 4 and ∞. Setting εq = sign (−1)q . (b) an isomorphism onto G0+ for q = 2. The map ϕq is (a) an isomorphism onto Gεq for q ≥ 3. and there are an infinite number of summands of each of these orders. The proof of [34.9. This leads to the idea of Witt classes for the (−1)q -symmetric forms and isometries in Theorem 2. and the set of equivalence classes forms a group under the operation induced by taking the block sum: µ ¶ A0 0 (A0 . taken from [24]. Definition 5. and is a homomorphism. and this is the strategy that Levine uses to investigate Gε . k1 be simple (2q − 1)-knots which are cobordant. the group obtained from the Seifert matrices of simple (2q − 1)-knots is denoted by Gεq . From Proposition 2. A1 be two Seifert matrices µ of simple ¶ (2q −1)-knots.9. Gε is the direct sum of cyclic groups of orders 2. A1 ) 7→ .8. Let k0 . Theorem 5. ¶ Let A0 . A1 are cobordant. where the following result is proved. p 108]). First make the following definition. −A0 0 0 N1 If is congruent to one of the form where each of the 0 A1 N2 N3 Ni are square of the same size then A0 . I shall not attempt to prove any of these results. Every Seifert matrix is cobordant to a non-degenerate ma- trix.

KEARTON Definition 5. For i even. . . >A ). The dimension of MA is the dimension over Q of MA after passing to rational coefficients. where M i is annihilated by p(t)i but is free over the quotient ring Γ/p(t)i Γ.148 C. p93. Proposition 5. It is slightly easier to prove [38. i. the submodule annihilated by powers of p(t).1) p(t)i−1 x. and of MA (p(t)) ⊕ MA (p∗ (t)) where p(t) 6= p∗ (t). The following result is essentially Cases 1 and 3 of [38. for p(t) = p∗ (t) the space MA (p(t)) splits as an orthog- onal direct sum M 1 ⊕ M 2 ⊕ . which we may as well do in light of [34. >A ) −1 in this way for the rest of this section.12. define p∗ (t) = tdeg(p(t)) p t−1 . i. When p(t) = p∗ (t). t . >A ) as in Theorem 2. It is shown in [24] that (MA . Given p(t) ∈ Λ. (MB . >A ) is null-cobordant if and only if A is null-cobordant. >) up to isometry.13. ¡ ¢ Definition 5. where we think of the hermitian form on H i as taking values in Γ0 /Γ. We shall £ treat¤ (MA . Lemma 8].e.10.14.1 is null-cobordant if there is a submodule of half the dimension of MA which is self-annihilating under < . p(t) 6= t ± 1. for each i. < . and set Γ = Q t. (y)) such that ­ ® a(t) (5. And (MA . Lemma 5. Theorem 5. M i is cobordant to H i . < . the vector space H i = M i /p(t)M i over the field E = Γ/p(t)Γ admits one and only one hermitian inner product ((x). The sequence of these her- mitian inner product spaces determines (MA (p(t)). >B ) are cobordant if the orthogonal direct sum A ⊥ (−B) is null-cobordant. Furthermore. >A . < .e.3] here. < . And for an irreducible p(t) ∈ Λ define MA (p(t)) to be the p-primary component of MA .11.2]: note that Case 2 does not arise here since we are dealing with knot modules. (MA . For i odd. < . Theorem 3. M i is null-cobordant. Theorem 3. This enables us to make the following definition of the Milnor signatures (compare [38]). < . The following is easy to prove. If we use rational coefficients. (y)) = a(ζ) p(t) where (x) denotes the image of x ∈ M i in H i . y = ←→ ((x). < . A module and pairing (MA . the proof is even easier. . >A ) splits as the orthogonal direct sum of MA (p(t)) where p(t) = p∗ (t).

QUADRATIC FORMS IN KNOT THEORY 149 Definition 5. ∗). We write the infinite cyclic group H1 (K) multiplicatively. 6. Then σpm = ±2 for each m.16. the generator t is represented by {a}×S 1 ⊂ S n ×S 1 = ∂K for some point a ∈ S n . It may happen that K r ∼ = S n+2 . and denote the r-fold cover of K corresponding to the kernel of this map by K̃ r . Lemma 5. For each p(t) = p∗ (t). For a simple (2q − 1)-knot. To recover K from K̃ all we do is identify x with tx. being an r-fold cover of S × S . ∗). and so is a cobordism invariant. i odd where σi is the signature of H i.15. in which case r we have another n-knot k . The Λ-module C∗ (K̃) is finitely-generated because the original triangulation of K is finite. then a regular neighbourhood ¡ n of2 ¢S n n 2 has the form S × B . as (t : ). The signature σp is additive over knot composition and zero when k is null-cobordant. and so for each q ≥ 1 we have infinitely many independent knots of infinite order in C4q+1 . and is chosen so that the oriented circle has linking number +1 with S n . A triangulation of K lifts to a triangulation of K̃ on which (t : ) acts as the group of covering transformations. and the exterior of k is K = S n+2 − int S × B . which we refer to as the r-fold branched cyclic . let pm (x) = mt+(1−2m)+mt−1 . For each positive integer m. Branched Cyclic Covers ¡ ¢ Recall that if k is an n-knot S n+2 . define X σp = σi .1. Choose a base-point ∗ ∈ K. π1 (K. By Alexander-Poincaré duality. Since ∂¡K̃ r ∼ = S n ¢× S 1 . the only non-trivial module is Hq (K̃). [37]). Passing to homology we obtain H∗ (K̃) as a finitely-generated. S n . and this is in fact the same as the Λ-module MA presented by the matrix tA + (−1)q A0 in Theorem 2. which extends by linearity to make C∗ (K̃) a Λ = Z[t. K has the homology of a circle. ∗) ³ H1 (K) whose kernel is the commutator subgroup [π1 (K. Let K̃ → K be the infinite cyclic cover corresponding to the kernel of the Hurewicz map. Example 5. Compose the Hurewicz map with the map sending (t : ) onto the finite cyclic group of order r. indeed finitely-presented. and so the Hurewicz theorem gives a map π1 (K. t−1 ]-module. ∗)] of the group π1 (K.17 (Milnor. Then pm is irreducible and is the Alexander µ ¶ polynomial m 1 of a simple (4q + 1)-knot km for each q ≥ 1 having as a Seifert 0 1 matrix. we may set K = K̃ ∪∂ S × B 2 to obtain the r-fold cover n 1 r r n of S n+2 branched over S n . Λ-module. This induces an action of (t : ) on the chain complex C∗ (K̃). for each x ∈ K̃.

.. for q > 1. . hF that of F.  0 ... Let Φm (t) denote the mth cyclotomic polynomial. Take r close parallel copies W1 . the sum of r copies of k.3]. r − 1..   . and define U. for which #r1 k = #r1 l but kr 6= lr . .¡ and let ¢ζ be a primitive mth root of unity.   T 0 . q ≥ 2. and the factor 2d−1 represents the number of pairings (up to isometry) which a given module supports. . Wr of W . Moreover.. . where m is divisible by at least two distinct odd primes. 0 0 . .... It is known that there are examples for any odd r. since the bands unknot in these dimensions. . . In this case H∗ (K̃) is a Z [tr . t−r ]-module when K̃ is regarded as the infinite cyclic cover of K̃ r . U as above. The argument runs as follows. Take a Seifert surface W of k which meets a tubular neighbourhood N of k in a collar neighbourhood of k = ∂W .   . According to the work of Eva Bayer in [2].. Let hK denote the class number of K. We can join ∂Wi to ∂Wi+1 for 1 ≤ i ≤ r −1 by bands within N to get the the boundary connected sum of the Wi . and that between Wr and W1 is diffeomorphic to the exterior of k split open along W . Note that k r is the fixed point set of the Zr action on S n+2 = K r given by the covering transformations.. . Ur =  .8. so that the space between Wi and Wi+1 is diffeomorphic to W × [0. 0 T from which it follows without much difficulty that the r-fold branched cyclic cover of kr is #r1 k. T ) as in Proposition 2. In [29] examples are given of simple (2q − 1)-knots k. 0 0 .  . We write K = Q(ζ) and F = Q ζ + ζ −1 . . the number of distinct simple (2q − 1)-knots.  . U ) satisfies the conditions of Proposition 2. It is not hard to show that the pair (V. q ≥ 3. The factor h− represents the number of isomorphism classes of Λ-modules supporting a Blanchfield pairing [2. 0 T S 0 ... 0 S there being r × r blocks in each case. KEARTON cover of k. Then it is not hard to see that the Seifert surface we have constructed has V. .150 C. 0 0 I 0 0 .. 0  . V by     0 .   . 0  . . Corollary 1.  V =  ... the resulting knot kr is independent of the bands used.. with Alexander polynomial Φm (t) is h− 2d−1 where 2d = ϕ(m) = [K : Q].. U = . The . . .  I . and h− = hK /hF . 1] for i = 1.. Let k be a simple (2q − 1)-knot giving rise to a pair of matrices (S.9)..8.. . l. .. Moreover. . The topological construction of kr may be described as follows. and so corresponds to a unique simple (2q − 1)-knot kr if q ≥ 2 (see Theorem 2. .. .

but more involved. for the determinant of κ is a2 . Corollary 4.e. and a2 is non-zero in the ideal class group since r is odd. U0 the group of units of F.3. v) ⊥ (I. Then ⊥r1 (a. If h− has an odd factor r > 1 coprime to m. and N : K → F is the norm. Proposition 7. B . then σ(k) = σ(l) if and only if Hq (K̃) ∼ = Hq (L̃). the theorem is extended to q ≥ 3 by the results of [21]. signatures and determinant. there exists v ∈ U0 /N (U ) such that v r = u. l be simple (2q − 1)-knots. i. Since r is odd and |U0 /N (U )| = 2d−1 . and¡ so #¢r1 k = #r1 l. If q ≥ 4. B ∩ S n ) is an unknotted ball pair. But κ is not isometric to λ. Strickland proves the following result. Lemma 7. Let k be an n-knot and r an integer such that the r-fold cyclic cover of S n+2 branched over k is a sphere. where I denotes a principal ideal. argument shows that kr 6= lr . q ≥ 3.10] they are isometric. h) has determinant (I. corresponding to κ = (a. Let k. Many examples may be obtained from the tables in [46] or [47].1. Then the r-fold cyclic cover of S n+3 branched over σ(k) is also a sphere. Lemma 3.2. Theorem 3]. q ≥ 2. The following is proved in [28. then there exists an ideal a of Q(ζ) which has order r in the class group and supports a unimodular hermitian pairing h. Let k. ¡ n+2Then the ¢ closure of the complement of B in¢S n+2 ¤is £¡ n+2 a knotted ball pair B n . S n and let B be a regular neighbourhood of a point on S n such that (B. The following is easy to prove (see [30. and σ(k) is the pair ∂ B . and σ (k r ) = σ(k)r . u) for some u ∈ U0 /N (U ). QUADRATIC FORMS IN KNOT THEORY 151 latter is in one-one correspondence with U0 /N (U ) where U is the group of units in (the ring of integers of) K. Hence k 6= l. In [42]. 7. In [7] it is shown that the following holds. l be the simple (2q − 1)-knots. α for some α. ⊥r1 λ are indefinite and have the same rank. h) ⊥ (a. Hence by [2. Let k be the n-knot S n+2 . then the map σ acting on simple (2q − 1)-knots is finite-to-one. . −v) respectively. λ = (I.1]). as a Λ-module it supports a Blanchfield pairing. Bn × B2 . −h). A similar. Then ⊥r1 κ. Spinning and Branched Cyclic Covers ¡ ¢ First we recall a definition of spinning. Note that [28] only covers the case q ≥ 5. Theorem 7.

q > 1. √ £2 ¤ ξ = 1+2 5 . A simple 2q-knot k is one for which there is a (q −1)-connected V . but much of what has been said can be extended to even dimensions. > such that ur = t. and note that ξ 2 = τ . < . 15. 12. q ≥ 5. together with some more algebraic struc- ture connecting them. Hq+1 K are thee only non-trivial ³ ´ homology ³ ´ modules. Let f (t) = t2 − 3t + 1. √ √ 3± 5 Example 7. q ≥ 5. but no such isometry of Hq (K̃).5. every 2q- knot k bounds an orientable (2q + 1)-manifold V in S 2q+2 . Wilson. which has roots Set τ = 3+2 5 . 583–592. 55 (1980). much simpler than the ones in [30] but not capable of generalising to the 2r-fold case. Theorem 7. A careful reading of [42] shows that the same proofs apply. Let k be a simple (2q − 1)-knot. (R. Let k be a simple (2q − 1)-knot. Concluding Remarks So far we have only dealt with odd dimensional knots.M. there are no isometries whose square is τ . ξ is an isomorphism on R but not an isometry. There is a sesquilinear duality pairing e on Hq K × Hq+1 K e .6.152 C. References [1] E. 26. Then k is the r-fold branched ³ cyclic ´cover of a knot if and only if there exists an isometry u of Hq (K̃). Since ξ ξ˜ = −1. and put a hermitian form on it by setting (x. almost verbatim. . See [13. Bayer. 16].5]). then σ(k) will be the r-fold branched cyclic cover of a knot but k will not. and this. due to S. KEARTON Theorem 7. 27] for details. By Proposition 1. Helv. to yield the following result (see [30. Put R = Z [ξ] = Z τ. Then σ(k) is the r-fold branched cyclic cover of a knot if and only if there is a Λ-module isomorphism u : Hq (K̃) → Hq (K̃) such that ur = t.4. Since τ only has two square roots. Here is an example. so that ³ ´Hq (V ) and ³ ´Hq+1 (V ) e are the only non-trivial homology groups. Think of R as an R-module. τ −1 and define √ conjugation in the obvious way by ξ˜ = 1−2 5 . In the usual way. such that there is a Λ- module isomorphism u : Hq (K̃) → Hq (K̃) with ur = t. Theorem 2. . 14. q ≥ 2. ±ξ. Comm. Examples of such knots are given in [30] for all q ≥ 5 and all even r.J. Classification results have also been obtained for more general classes of knots.1. see [11. )) corresponds to a knot module and pairing for a simple (4q + 1)-knot. ( . Math. Then Hq K . 8. y) = xỹ. can be used to classify the simple 2q-knots in high dimensions. Factorisation in not unique for higher dimensional knots. Thus if we can find a simple (2q − 1)-knot k.

Wilson. 391–393. [17] J. On the finiteness of higher knot sums. 182–185. [7] . [6] E. Mathematische Zeitschrift 201 (1989). Classification of simple knots by Blanchfield duality. 551–563. Israel Journal of Mathematics 66 (1989). Soc. Cancellation of hyperbolic ε-hermitian forms and of simple knots. and C. Duality in an infinite cyclic covering and even-dimensional knots. Bull. Isotopy types of knots of codimension two. 507–527.R. Journal of the London Mathe- matical Society 10 (1975). [21] J. Journal of Algebra 123 (1989). Amer. Farber. 599–602. 185–209. of Algebra 74 (1982). [19] . 337–343. Math.Sh. An algebraic classification of certain simple knots. Math. Kearton. [23] .M. Seifert matrices and 6-knots. [22] C. [28] . Dunwoody and R. C. Journal für die reine und angewandte Mathematik 375/376 (1987). 141–160. Blanchfield duality and simple knots. USSR Izvestija 11 (1977). Hillman and C. Amer. no. no. The classification of simple knots. 406–408. Annals of Maths (2) 65 (1957). [10] M.J. [8] . An algebraic classification of some even-dimensional spherical knots. Surveys 38 (1983).A. Math. Houston Journal of Mathematics 10 (1984). Soc. [14] . Simple locally flat 3-knots. [4] . Annalen 257 (1981). Soc. 2. 90 (1981). Zeit.A. [3] . [27] . Kearton. Transactions of the American Mathe- matical Society 202 (1975). forms and simple knots. 451–452. Cobordism of knots and Blanchfield duality. 1–53. Trans. 16 (1984). 485–493. no. Hillman. no. [20] . [26] . Phil.A. Hermitian forms in additive categories: finiteness results. Topology 23 (1984). Factorisation is not unique for 3-knots. 281 (1984). Proc. 176 (1981). 843–855. Soc. Transactions of the Amer- ican Mathematical Society 309 (1988). 952–955. Soc. [9] R. Math. Camb. 98 (1985). Math.C. Soc. and S. [25] . Definite hermitian forms and the cancellation of simple knots. 261–274. 91–95. An algebraic classification of certain simple even-dimensional knots. Archiv der Mathematik 35 (1980). An algebraic classification of some even-dimensional spherical knots. Amer. The factorization of simple knots. Kearton. Decomposition of modules. Russian Math. Math. 281 (1984). Jour. Blanchfield pairings with squarefree Alexander polynomials. 529–570. [5] E.J. [18] . 187–194. Lond. Trans. Indiana University Mathematics Journal 28 (1979). [11] M. Fenn. Math. Minimal Seifert manifolds and the knot finiteness theorem. Hillman. II. [13] . Math. Finite knot modules and the factorization of certain simple knots. I. 749–781. Finiteness theorems for conjugacy classes and branched cyclic covers of knots. 495–506. Blanchfield. Math. Bulletin of the Amer- ican Mathematical Society 79 (1973). Intersection theory of manifolds with operators with applications to knot theory. 336–350. Trans- actions of the American Mathematical Society 276 (1983). Proc. 63–117. 167–183. Unimodular hermitian and skew-hermitian forms. Bayer. Topology 26 (1986). 179–215. [16] . Phil. 261 (1980). 341–373. Factorization of Kojima knots and hyperbolic concordance of Levine pairings. Bayer-Fluckiger. 340–356. 2. Camb. [24] . Simple spun knots. 1–3. Trans. 4. [15] . 40 (1983). Archiv der Math. . Kearton. 111–115. J. [12] . QUADRATIC FORMS IN KNOT THEORY 153 [2] .

Hocking). Hei- delberger Akad. Über das Geschlecht von Knoten. Homology of group systems with applications to knot theory. 173–207. S. Springer-Verlag. [47] L.G.-Natur. 98–110. [43] H. 8 (1969). Proceedings. vol. Invent. math. France 93 (1965). Prindle. Milnor and D. Math. Kl. math. 57–104. Topology 4 (1965). Knot modules and Seifert matrices. Soc. KEARTON [29] C.ac. [35] . 229–244. Graduate Texts in Mathematics. Proc. [37] J.J. 83–97. 13. Springer-Verlag. 1 3 (1949). Branched cyclic covers of simple knots. [39] J. Husemoller. Springer Verlag. Helv. vol. Deutsch Akad. [46] G. 291–299. [31] M. vol.W. J. Helv. Mathematics Department University of Durham South Road Durham DH1 3LE. Berlin 2 (1964). [41] H. Spinning and branched cyclic covers of knots. Math. Tabelle der (relativ-) Klassenzahlen von Kreiskörpern.W. Plans-sur- Bex 1977 (Berlin-Heidelberg-New York) (J. Comm. Complementary Series in Mathematics. 1968. [44] . 45 (1970). Amer. Amer. Unknotting spheres in codimension two. 185–198. Zeeman. Wilson. 83.C. Levine. 464–498. Springer-Verlag. On S-equivalence of Seifert matrices.C. [33] J. An algebraic classification of some knots of codimension two. Soc. Washington. ed. Manifolds Amsterdam 1970. [48] E. Infinite cyclic coverings. 56 (1981). [36] .F. 115–133. pp. Soc. Invariants of knot cobordism. 115 (1965). Seifert. Cyclic group actions on odd-dimensional spheres. 1971. 1973. pp. math. 197. 2235–2244. Trans. Comm. 83– 105. Knot Theory. Math. 225–271. Symmetric bilinear forms. [34] . 20 (1973). 1–64. Schrutka v. Math.Kearton@durham.A. Les noeuds de dimensions supérieures. Kervaire. Twisting spun knots. Berlin-Heidelberg-New York. 90 (1984). vol. Wiss. 9–16. 615–626. Introduction to cyclotomic fields. Math. Die eindeutige Zerlegbarkeit eines Knotens in Primknoten.-B. Conference on the Topology of Manifolds (ed. Abh. Weber & Schmidt. Trotter. Annals of Math. [32] .). Lecture Notes in Mathematics. Schubert. 440–444. Bull. Hausmann. pp. 110 (1934). 76 (1962). 8 (1969). Kearton and S. England E-mail address: Cherry. 44 (1969).-C. Ann. Berlin- Heidelberg-New York. Rechtenstamm. Knot cobordism in codimension 2. 1982. [42] Paul Strickland.M. Invent. On isometries of inner product spaces. [30] . 471–495. math. Comm. Royal Society of London Pro- ceedings A 455 (1999).uk . 571–592. [45] . Math. Helv.154 C. [38] . Math. Knot cobordism groups in codimension two. Lecture Notes in Mathematics. 1978. Invent. Milnor. 685. Wiss. [40] H. New York-Heidelberg-Berlin.

his grandchildren were educated from these books. 1 Die biblischen Geschichten Alten und Neuen Testaments mit Bibelwort und freier Zwi- schenrede anschaulich dargestellt (Biblical Histories From the Old and the New Testament. published by Bertelsmann Gütersloh. He made his name as the author of three volumes of biblical commentary1. His children had to take second place to his great task. Many years later. Ernst Witt (1911–1991) was one of the most important influences on the development of quadratic forms in the 20th century. Childhood and youth The grandfather of Ernst Witt. Heinrich Witt became widely known for his engagement in religious education. He sacrificed everything for his faith. His collected papers [CP] were published in 1998. This article repairs the omission. Illus- trated by Quotations from the Bible and Devotional Commentaries).Contemporary Mathematics Biography of Ernst Witt (1911-1991) Ina Kersten Abstract. 8 Marks. Heinrich Witt (1830–1893) worked as school teacher. 1. but for copyright reasons without a biography. author and lay preacher. c °0000 (copyright holder) 155 . held in the spirit of the widespread religious revivalist movement of the 19th century. expecting the same from his family. including seminars for adults and Bible classes.

a Baltic Sea island. In 1911. sent him to China. for lack of time. above all. His pedagogical work overwhelmed him and he ran a strict regimen. In spite of the primitive conditions. being without any playmates of the same age. Their son Ernst was born on June 26. a German branch of the China Home Mission. . and learnt Chinese from his Chinese nannies. In 1906. In 1900. became a crucial aspect of his future life. However. His eldest son Ernst. from the hostile outside world. He studied theology in Halle (Saale) with the intention of becoming a missionary. who realized and promoted his son’s great talent for arithmetic. In later years Ernst Witt still used to stand by his convictions determinedly and consistently. moderately furnished rice farmer’s hut in Yüanchow. The father neglected almost all other subjects. But he could not break the individualistic spirit of the young Ernst. Heinrich Witt often went for long journeys and did not have much time for his children – there were to be six in all. A high wall closed off the mission station. Like nearly all of his broth- ers and sisters. they were granted their first home leave. As a child of missionaries. he and his younger brother Otto were sent to Germany for their schooling. the founder of the China Home Mission. was mostly left to himself. distributing tracts.156 INA KERSTEN This was the spiritual atmosphere into which Ernst Witt’s father Heinrich (1871–1959) was born. In 1896. which was German at that time. he had a dry sense of humour which he retained his whole life. where their elder sister had already been living for some time. he decided to join the Christian Movement. With their three-year-old daughter they went back to Germany. They were educated strictly. At the age of two he came to China. of which he was a co-founder. When Ernst Witt was nearly nine years old. His received his first lessons from his father. He had a passion for any kind of machine. Ernst’s home for the following years. all of the biblical histories by Heinrich Witt mentioned at the beginning of this article. Ernst and Otto. he married Charlotte Jepsen from Sonderburg (which is now in Denmark) where he had done his voluntary military service eleven years before. the missionaries did not receive a fixed salary and had to get by on bare necessities. the mission of Liebenzell. Heinrich Witt was appointed as the travelling secretary of the German Christian Student Association. where his father became superintendent and head of the Liebenzell Mission in Changsha. the father attached great importance to honesty. where Heinrich Witt worked again as a travelling secretary until 1913. the seventh of thirteen children. As the mission of Liebenzell was very poor. They were sent to their uncle’s house at Müllheim. He always took a keen pleasure in making other people laugh. The couple moved to a small. In due course he became the housemaster of a children’s home which had at times from 20–25 children of missionaries. In 1893 a personal meeting with Hudson Taylor (1832–1905). Besides. A brother of their father was to take care of their further education. selling books and brochures and holding street meetings. He totally submitted himself to the principles of Taylor and always did as he was instructed. There he adopted Chinese customs wearing Chinese clothes and plaiting his hair in order to gain the confidence of the local people. they were content. The uncle was a preacher with eight children of his own. he studied with his sons. an unusual fate awaited him. in the south of Baden. 1911 on Alsen.

Schwerdtfeger. For the first two terms he stayed in Freiburg. Bolza and Mie. Sitting: Witt. always followed the mathematical development of his student with interest and sympathy. Ernst Witt started to study mathematics and physics. Noether. He particularly liked the lectures of Gustav Herglotz (1881–1953). There his class teacher was Karl Öttinger. From the summer term of 1930 to the winter term of 1933/34 he studied in Göttingen. BIOGRAPHY OF ERNST WITT (1911-1991) 157 Ernst Witt visited the Realschule (grammar school) at Müllheim. Tsen. often causing misunderstandings and even hostility. where he was mainly interested in mathematics and chemistry. Scherk. and Franck and astronomy under Meyermann. for his part. Ulm. –. who had an extremely broad knowledge and whose talks stood out because of their special clarity. Heinrich Witt endeavoured to stay in touch with his son. Ernst rejected the biblical faith represented by his father. Herglotz. Emmy Noether. Göttingen: Bernays. who discerned the extraordinary mathematical talent of his pupil and advanced him wherever he could. During his school years in Freiburg. . and decades later he remembered him with gratitude. mainly under Herglotz. which later worried him a lot. where he attended lectures by Loewy. He tried to convince his son of his way of religious thinking. and they maintained contact until Herglotz’s death. Weber. the university entrance qualification – in Freiburg. Wichmann. Weyl. without any diplomacy. W. –. But his early education had shaped his character. After his mittlere Reife he went to the Oberrealschule (high school) leading to the Abitur. in 1929. they left all of their children in Germany. Taussky. –. In the course of the following years. He detested lying – honesty and straightforwardness were his characteristic feature. Bannow. Ernst’s parents came to Germany for a second leave from 1927–29. Again they could communicate only by letter. without success. the Abitur. Schilling. When they went back to China. Ernst Witt maintained contact with this teacher after his schooldays. He always said what he thought. an excellent mathematician. Seminar Excursion. 2. –. University studies After having passed his final exams.

and Pohl was at the end of July 1933. In the same year. The idea for it came to him through a problem set by Emmy Noether. Witt had to study under extremely harsh economic conditions. she did not take it amiss. Emil Artin (1898–1962) came to Göttingen and held his famous lectures on class field theory. . When I got to know him closer. Ap- parently.A. he carried the theory over to function fields [1934–36]. after a first approach. he showed an eminent mathematical gift. after only four years. it contained a proof of an extraordi- nary simplicity. 1946: And then one day he had joined the S. his sister told her parents [2]: He did not have a thesis topic until July 1. in the summer of 1933. [. and when he finally had the idea.D. The examiner of his thesis was Herglotz since Emmy Noether had been sus- pended from her duties by the Nazi regime. ] Artin also liked Ernst’s paper and has told him to go over it again. . Her seminar now took place at her home. 3. As Witt liked to relate in later years. urged by the simple wish – as I was convinced in those days. 1933 Ernst Witt joined the Nazi party and the SA. which strongly influenced Witt’s further scientific development. The title of his thesis was: Riemann-Rochscher Satz und Zeta- Funktion im Hyperkomplexen. he wrote down his thesis within one week. where Witt intensively studied class field theory of number fields. a step which provoked disappointment and bewilderment in the Göttingen mathematics insti- tute. . In the summer of 1932. Ernst Witt published his first paper including a new proof of Wedderburn’s theorem that every finite skew field is commutative [1931]. and eventually managed to finish in time. ] he started working day and night.. a Riemann-Roch theorem for central simple algebras over algebraic func- tion fields with perfect field of constants and then using this theorem to transfer Hey’s thesis. with which he. Witt could answer Noether’s question in the affirmative by first proving. By that time Emmy Noether was already suspended. He tried hard to keep his expenses to a minimum. [. Herglotz later wrote in a report [6] of 22nd November. so that others might understand it as well. 1946): After one lecture. She asked him whether the thesis by Artin’s student Käte Hey Analytische Zahlentheorie in Systemen hyperkomplexer Zahlen could be transferred to algebraic function fields to find the hypercomplex analogue of the Riemann-Roch theorem. In a letter of August 1933. where Witt turned up one day dressed in his SA uniform. He did not want to have a topic assigned to him. where others . and as I am still today – not to stand apart. a young lad showed me a torn off piece of paper and said: ‘This is a proof of Dickson’s theorem. observed a thing in his own way and independently followed it to its furthest development. In the course of the following years. . and the thesis was to be submitted by July 7. The time between 1933 and 1945 On 1st May. not achieved up to then by any of the well-known mathematicians. however. Weyl.’ In fact. He completed his Ph. The oral examination held by Herglotz. taking special examinations for grants or the remission of tuition fees.158 INA KERSTEN At the age of nineteen. Artin invited him to Hamburg. Herglotz later remembered this ([6].

121. During our night marches I never talk to them. his Collected Papers. pp. would often come into conflict with his devotion to science. Decades later. I would like to particularly emphasize the fact that Witt always stood away from this group and its troublemaking. pp. 611–621): Note by Witt Teichmüller. There is a handwritten note by Witt on a conversation with Teichmüller who had investigated algebraic function fields in the beginning of the fortieth (cf. BIOGRAPHY OF ERNST WITT (1911-1991) 159 carried their burden. One of the Nazi students at the mathematical institute in Göttingen was Oswald Teichmüller (1913–1943).’ In those days we had much trouble with certain ‘activists’. functions α differentials ω . he emphasized that Teichmüller was his friend. when Witt was asked by his students in Hamburg on his relationship to Teichmüller. 122. 138) made the reference. Because of Witt’s answer. whose ideas. Teichmüller (cf. I asked him about his impression of his comrades. His answer was: ‘I don’t know much about them. He was completely absorbed in his mathematical work. as I suspected. 1 variable. to continue my studies where I left them the evening before. He took part in vicious acts leading the boycott against Landau’s first year course in November 1933. that Teichmüller had asked him whether one could refer to Albert. He related. also among the younger lecturers. a Jewish mathematician who had obtained similar results on p-algebras. which he only interrupted for night and pack marches. and in the morning I go home immediately. The way he looked at the time caused quite a bit of worry. (Railway conversation 1942) function field. Collected Papers.

Harder: “An essay on Witt vectors” in [CP]). In 1934. he had to attend and pass a compulsory National Socialist course for lecturers. but who. at least for the time being. At its end Witt received the following assessment [6]: National Socialist thinking: Mediocre Independent propagandist in any situation: No National Socialist disposition: Limited Physical capabilities: weakly-built. ω exists if and only if res α ω1 = 0 . General enthusiasm for his duty: shirker Behaviour towards people around him: quiet. his ‘habilitation lecture’ on convex bodies in June 1936. is lacking any of the qualities of a leader or educator. despite threats by the SA. α exists if and only if res α1 ω = 0 . all published in the celebrated volume 176 of the Crelle Journal. Shortly after that. 1946). It is striking how accurate the ‘description of his character’ is. {ω | a2 ω integral }. modest and re- strained. restrained. He is honest and straightforward. Some years later. . Description of his character: W. which had a great influence on the development of modern algebraic geometry (cf. α = ci−h π i−h + · · · + ci−1 π i−1 + remainder α2 = α1 + α2 . The oral exam took place in February. where he qualified as a university lecturer in 1936. Witt did not take part in the political discussions during the years of 1933/34. His ‘habilitation’ on the theory of quadratic forms in arbitrary fields ranks as one of his most famous works. his manners are somewhat insecure.) To find α with prescribed initial expansions.) To find ω with prescribed initial parts. {α | α w2 integral }. Witt became an assistant of Helmut Hasse (1898–1979) in Göttingen. But when in 1934 the university of Göttingen looked for a new head of the math- ematical institute and the students suggested a scientifically insignificant Nazi. Divisor a2 . who will probably be successful in his subject. continuously brooding and thinking and thus repre- sents the typical.160 INA KERSTEN I. From 1933 until 1938 when he left Göttingen. with a tendency to keep to himself. has shown himself to be quiet. II. Witt founded and organized a study group on higher algebra and number theory. He dedicates himself to his work with dogged tenacity. It produced seven important papers. Herglotz stressed (in his report of November 22. In it he introduced what was later named the Witt ring of quadratic forms. which took place from August 2 to 28. he openly expressed his indignation. This certificate just about allowed him to become a lecturer. Since Witt wanted to work as a lecturer. 1937 in Thüringen. G. P Proposition. politically indifferent researcher and scientist. cannot be established because of a sporting injury. apart from Witt’s significant mathematical talent his striking unworldliness. characteristic features are a certain naivety and eccentricity. Witt introduced the ring of Witt vectors. P Proposition.

So I realized that the Klein bottle can always be coloured with six colours. 11II r Berlin. [1941]. BIOGRAPHY OF ERNST WITT (1911-1991) 161 In 1938. and I can just make some short walks in an already familiar mathematical territory. whereas the torus needs seven colours. Erna Bannow. because the headquarters of the Wehrmacht in Berlin needed him for decoding work. In February 1941. cf. Witt met a fellow student. After his recovery. he fell ill and was sent back in several stages. A brief report on her thesis “Die Auto- morphismengruppen der Cayleyzahlen” (cf. my company is only interested in military things. who was forced to emigrate to the United States in 1937. and that he was surprised to survive it. who had earlier gone to Hamburg to work with Artin. In this sense. however. They married in 1940 and had two daughters. 31st January 43 Dear Professor Herglotz! I would like to cordially congratulate you on your birthday! Many thanks for the invitation to give a talk in Göttingen. Witt did not have to go back to the front. where. Later he said. in 1939. he suc- ceeded in deferring his military service for one year. Hamb. in June 1941. In February 1940. thereby cutting short some of his investigations. 340 and 357. I succeed in finding an unknown plant there as well. He submitted his paper on modular forms of degree two at the end of January 1940. Abh. Witt came to Lübeck to be trained as a radio operator. . I am looking forward to seeing Göttingen again “soon”. He talked about his investigation of subrings of free Lie rings which is described on the second page of his letter to Herglotz. with Blaschke’s help. In Hamburg. Witt’s move to Hamburg enabled him to break off his service in the SA. But one can hardly figure out to which (presumably complicated) chronology the word “soon” refers. She continued her studies with Witt and finished her doctorate in 1939. that he built special equipment which functioned on an optical basis. he was appointed as an associate professor.2 My wife and I often think of the beautiful days we had in Göttingen. from Göttingen. My civilian in- stitution would immediately grant the corresponding leave. Some information on Witt’s work as a mathematician at the army is given in the book [3]. This enabled him to finish his paper on reflection groups and the enumeration of semisimple rings. The time of mathematical expeditions is over for the time being. Ernst Witt became a lecturer at the mathematics department in Ham- burg. pp. According to some rumour circu- lating since half a year I will “soon” be dismissed from military service in order to continue my present occupation as a civilian. In February 1940. This illness probably saved his life. but unfortunately. Occasionally. In November 1941. he was sent to the Russian front. because shortly afterwards his company was almost completely wiped out. for example. that he had the worst time of his life there. In a two-page letter of 31st January 1943 Witt wrote to Herglotz: Witt Berlin SW 61 Wartenburgstr. until finally he arrived at a hospital in Lübeck. He got the down- graded position of Emil Artin. as 2 Witt gave the talk in Göttingen on 17th June 1944. From there. Witt was called up by the Wehrmacht. 13) was given by Witt in Crelles Journal.

which is 2 for both the Klein bottle and the torus. the maximal number of linearly independent non-separating closed curves.162 INA KERSTEN is well-known. this being the rank of mod 2 homology in dimension 1 . Two-page letter by Witt to Herglotz [4] 3 i. although the topological “connectivity number” 3 is the same in both cases and only the possibility of orientation is responsible for the difference.e.

BIOGRAPHY OF ERNST WITT (1911-1991) 163 I have some results on “subrings of free Lie rings”. I have not yet found time to write this down. . cf. I am allowed to live in a private 4This was done in 1955. [1956]. (A free Lie ring has generators xν without defining relations – an analogue of a free group). Last year I was in Russia and I have no desire to go there again. The corresponding theorem for commutative or associative rings is false! The programme “to carry over the theorem of Schreier to Lie rings” yields results on free groups as well. All subrings are again free (for suitable generators). Unfortunately.4 Though at present there is very little time for me to do mathematics I am content with my fate for allowing me to stay in Germany. dating from the time before my conscription.

At that time. where his section had fled to during the last days of the war. who had no other interests. The best proof that I did not bother about party matters is the fact that nobody in our house knew that I was a party member. when in May 1933. I never went along with the attitude of the party towards Jews. Realizing very soon that science was no issue of importance in the party. [. Schmidt added: “when I was in trouble. as I highly regarded my teachers. However. and am allowed to travel to Hamburg on two Sundays a month. I thought I served a good cause. to wear civilian clothes. .164 INA KERSTEN house. Dismissal and rehabilitation At the end of the war. . Why then are they making troubles for him now. He really is completely innocent. The requested testimonies were furnished by Herglotz. K. I felt particularly obliged to the concepts of ‘Heimat’ and ‘Vaterland’. who did not know anything of politics and other public matters. shall get permission. ]. Three months later. Many cordial greetings Yours Ernst Witt 4. following the general mood of my fellow students. I refused to join the Studentenbund (National Socialist Student Organization) and later the Dozentenbund (National Socialist Lecturer Organization) and avoided all other factions of the party. K. – at the time. I continued to work under them. . Rust underlined that marching was more important than studying – my interest in the party quickly decreased. finishing my doctorate. I think in 1936.” Speiser wrote in a letter July 5. which probably can be found only in Germany. as he had never held any position within the party. He could easily furnish proof of this. Schmidt. writing on September 15. [. 1946. a character. he was forbidden to enter the university and his food ration-cards were withdrawn. In the summer of 1946. to Blaschke [6]: I hope that Witt will be rehabilitated. he returned to Hamburg in 1945. . in a few days. Rellich and F. ] And Papa is looking forward to each holiday Sunday. Witt stayed in contact with me despite pressure on him to do otherwise. Witt’s accounts were blocked. . Witt immediately appealed this measure. F. and his military rank had only been that of a lance-corporal. I very much liked him as a mathematician. Along with his dismissal. the British military government dismissed him from his position as a professor at the mathematics de- partment of Hamburg University. each of Witt’s colleagues inde- pendently stressed his total commitment to science and his lack of political expe- rience [6]. 1945 among other things [6]: As an expatriate German – my father was a missionary in China – when I was young. Ernst Witt was in the south of Germany. Witt was requested to testify that he had never been more than a nominal member of the National Socialist Party and not a convinced militarist. I joined the SA and the National Socialist Party. Thus. Magnus. many of whom were either Jewish themselves or had Jewish wives. After a short time as a prisoner of war. In their reports of winter 1946/47. in an address to the students.

Witt also wanted a statement from Richard Courant (1888-1972). Accordingly he was in opposition and did not join either the NSDSTB or the Dozentenbund and in 1938 he resigned from the SA. still a student. has been reappointed to a research position at Hamburg University but is seeking reinstatement as a teacher. In contrast. BIOGRAPHY OF ERNST WITT (1911-1991) 165 His former student Ho-Jui Chang gave the following statement [6] on 8th Feb- ruary 1946: Dr. I discovered Mr. he probably was governed by a sort of romantic confu- sion. On the contrary. Witt. Emmy Noether. During all these years I never had the impression that he was a national socialist. stood up for Witt and testified that Witt was “very soon convinced that methods and aims of the Nazi-Party were incompatible with his attitude as a scientifically minded person. Courant. unbiased observers such as Artin and Hecke will be most competent witnesses. A somewhat mitigating fact was that he did not seem to be one of those opportunists of the Nazi era. inarticulate. as I understand. As a scientist Dr. wrote in a letter of 23rd December 1946 to Blaschke. I am answering in English for easier use. Courant also send a copy directly to the military government adding the fol- lowing remark: I personally would very much hesitate to entrust a man like Witt with an edu- cational task unless during the Nazi regime he has proved himself basically opposed to his masters – this is a matter of which I have no knowledge. but obviously a budding mathematical talent. It was for all of us a painful disappointment. who. To my recollection. Ernst Witt was my teacher and I have had personal contacts with him as well. Erich Hecke (1887–1947). revealed himself firmly entrenched in the Nazi camp as an old party member. and I suppose that as to further development after 1933. though as a Chinese I usually noticed this without difficulties. Witt. because in Göttingen the latter had always been very friendly to him. So Blaschke asked him. for a report. Witt is very qualified.” He recommended Witt’s reinstatement as a Professor as early as in October 1945 ([6]). so that he could leisurely finish his studies. then a young student. which he continued under the scientific and personal guidance of his Jewish teacher. when in spring 1933 Mr. he did not take a personal part in vicious acts of violence at the university. after the outbreak of the war I often heard him criticising the German government. Witt. on Witt’s behalf. To what extent he actu- ally dissociated himself from the spirit of deconstruction is not known to me. who enjoyed considerable respect for his courageous and upright behaviour in the Nazi years. obviously under the erroneous assumption that it was only a question of an educational task [6]: A few days ago I received your letter of November 16 asking for a statement on behalf of Dr. I immediately took steps to secure finan- cial help for him. but I am afraid that my statement may not be exactly what you desire. When I was Director of the Mathematics Institute in Göttingen. who had been forced to leave Göttingen in 1934. As a lecturer he avoided all political topics in his official relations to his students. whose motives were to remain on top or to improve their chances for a career. in poor material circumstances. as some of his Nazi fellow-students did. .

complex analysis and algebra. Witt was invited to Spain. Witt’s position in Hamburg was changed into a personal chair (with- out financial consequences). In 1954. Wilhelm Blaschke (1885–1962) had reestablished his international contacts. to stay with his family as a guest professor at the National University of Peking for at least one year. the university of Jena was interested in him. which today is generally used. Witt declined the invitation after all. In 1947. at the request of Blaschke. this time to Barcelona at the invitation of his friend Teixidor. a ray of hope appeared with an invitation from his former student Ho- Jui Chang. after a second screening. out of which in 1954 emerged the thesis of his student Banaschewski on filter spaces.166 INA KERSTEN In April 1947. At that time his colleagues in Halle would have liked . across two borders with their controls. Chang had introduced the phrase: “Witt’s Lie ring”. Witt started to deal with the foundations of math- ematics and especially intuitionism. [1950] and [1951]. he was offered a chair at the Humboldt University in East Berlin. From December 1952 to April 1953. At the end of the forties. footnote 6. cf. (In the Hamburger Abhandlungen 14. the book project drew out longer and longer. In the early fifties. Witt was taken on again. In 1949. invited Witt to Rome. there were a number of available chairs in the zone occupied by the Soviets. K. After several attempts and in spite of Schmidt’s repeated appeals. There he lectured on the algebraic theory of quadratic forms in Italian. The reason for these lectures was that F. cf. and some people tried to bring Witt over there. however. He was invited to give talks about it and was temporarily considered to be an intuitionist. where he gave twelve talks on in- tuitionism. which he declined saying that a person who works on non-euclidean geometry is not necessarily a “non-euclidean”. He was invited to give three talks and set out for the adventurous journey from Hamburg to Berlin. Though they had better working conditions he decided after mature reflection to decline the offer. After 1947 His first lectures after his reinstatement were on Lie groups. whom he paid by the hour. which was a whole day’s journey at the time. 5. He wrote two papers in Spanish. he was fully rehabilitated. At that time. inviting speakers to Ham- burg and making sure that mathematicians from Hamburg were invited to foreign countries. Schmidt had suggested him to write a book on Lie groups for the yellow Springer series. and still the lack of food was reducing his capacity for work. Severi. he studied the books of Bourbaki in seminars with his students. But as Witt could not receive the latest American publications. Witt travelled again. Foreign mathematical institutes now also opened up for him. He then lectured on Lie rings. To learn Spanish.) Because of the uncertain political situation in China. As early as in July 1948. [1956]. he eventually gave it up in 1961. In the fall of 1953. In fact. he hired a waiter in Madrid. He wanted to know how far he could carry this and even gave ‘finitistic’ lectures on differential and integral calculus. and later.

BIOGRAPHY OF ERNST WITT (1911-1991) 167 him to become the successor of Brandt. and travelled to Princeton with high hopes. this is your place. and 1964. a crammed car and his family was a real adventure in those days. Witt accepted many invitations to univer- sities in the United States and in Canada.” Witt wanted to give back the chair he had got because of Artin’s emigration. in 1962. In the course of the following years. In April 1957. Banaschewski invited him to McMaster University in Hamilton in Ontario. until in 1982 the center got a new computer. he felt obliged to declare that he had also been a member of that party. He insisted on travelling in his small Ford. . He found. In spring 1958. he spent at Stony Brook. In 1959. Blaschke suggested to Witt to apply for a Fulbright travel grant. Emil Artin came to visit Hamburg. and thus was – as so often before – ahead of his time. in particular Galois theory”. cf. he held two two-hour lectures on Lie groups and Algebra III for two months. At that time. to his utter astonishment. his former university. and Witt received an official invitation from the director Robert Oppenheimer. John’s University in Newfoundland. Ernst Witt realized the advantages of the use of computers in almost all branches of mathematics. Witt declined this offer. Among other things. 1963. though travelling right across four countries. Artin was touched by this unworldly gesture.g. e. Artin. he gave a four-hour lecture on differ- ential geometry. one day. He declined the offer for similar reasons. he chose the more comfortable way by plane. Witt spontaneously said “Mr. Hamburg University created a new chair for Artin. When he came back to Turkey later. To behave otherwise would have seemed insincere to him. “That was about time”. However. he presented the general result on quadratic forms and inner product spaces there. Witt spent most of his time programming. In spring 1958. that his contacts with his colleagues were suddenly severed. Witt’s Turkish friend since his time in Göttingen. which he held until his sudden death in 1962. which reached its final form in a joint paper with Lenz. and he did not want to learn how to use. There. being invited to Ankara by Ulucay. Witt was to lecture on “non- commutative algebra. where again people would have liked him to stay. He was very pleased to be invited to the “hub of mathematics”. during a discussion about a member of the National Socialist Party. For more than twenty years. one colleague congratulated him. The following winter terms of 1964/65 and 1965/66. from where he visited sev- eral Canadian universities and received offers for temporary as well as permanent positions. In addition. André Weil proposed him to the Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton for the academic year of 1960/61. At the winter term of 1963/64. As early as in 1959. In the following spring in Jena. from September to the middle of November 1955. in the spring of 1963 to St. invited him and his family to his house in Istanbul. [1957]. Čahit Arf. with lots of snow. Thus he remained faithful to Hamburg University until he retired in 1979. When he entered Witt’s office. In 1957 Witt’s personal chair was changed into a regular full professorship. to get to know leading mathematicians in the United States. programs still had to be punched into punch cards at the computer center and one had to wait for them to be processed. He did not accept since this would mean less financial security concern- ing retirement and surviving dependents’ pension.

He has a beautiful gift for creating in his audience.D. Thus he did not propose the topics for diplomas or Ph. The following assessment of the teacher Ernst Witt. née Becken. . many subsequently famous mathematicians and often also physicists gave talks as students and assistants. until 1981. Witt and Deuring organized a seminar which in 1951. In the sixties Witt gave several colloquium talks in which he significantly sim- plified the algebraic theory of quadratic forms by means of his notion of a round form. Walter Borho. the exact image fundamental for a deeper understanding. with the help of comparatively brief hints. Witt founded his seminar on topology. He can be relied on in every respect. but wanted the students to find their own topics.168 INA KERSTEN he calculated twin primes and coefficients of cyclotomic polynomials and drew up programs for the classification of Steiner systems. from a report written as early as 1937 always held good for him [5]: Witt’s lectures are models of clarity and concision. During his long years of teaching at Hamburg.’s. Horst Leptin and Jürgen Rohlfs. He customized the programming language Algol into what his students called “Wittgol”. Topics were allowed from any field of mathematics. his students were: Sigrid Böge. in which. Among others. How- ever. Manfred Knebusch. Witt’s personality is straightforward and sincere. he will have to learn to adapt his assumptions to the level of an audience which does not consist of scientists but of students. but on the other hand Witt also expected them to think for themselves. after Deur- ing had left became the Hasse-Witt seminar. Günter Harder. which goes beyond the formal thread. In Hamburg. In 1955. his students always enjoyed a lot of freedom in their work.

BIOGRAPHY OF ERNST WITT (1911-1991) 169 Colloquium talk in Hamburg. – For number fields and function fields in one variable over a 5Published with kind permission of the coordinator of the colloquium on pure mathematics at Hamburg University. π εa = (1 + εi ai ) =⇒ (i) ϕa πεa = ϕε πεa . ϕ is said to be round if Dϕ = Gϕ . Q New proof: let ϕa be a polynomial in ai 6= 0 (i = 1. (ii) 2n ϕa = ϕε πεa . .5 Characterization of the ring W of quadratic forms ϕ over the field K = {a. – The order of ϕ ∈ W + is ∞ or a power of 2 (Pfister). . c. hence. . and if ϕε 6= 0 thenP2M πεa (round and n isotropic) = 0. d 6= 0. εi · ai ). . Let Dϕ := {a represented by ϕ}. New proof: let Cεa be the cone K 2 (+. (∗∗ ) If ϕ 6= 0 and round then the annihilator of ϕ is binary generated. If ϕ is round then ϕ (1 + ci ) is round. We have Gϕ Dϕ = Dϕ . } (char. (m > 0). summarizing. thus (ii) yields 2M +n ϕ = 0. . Assume that mϕa = 0. 2m πεa (round and isotropic if m large) = 0. Similarly: If ϕ = 1 ai = 0 in Wα for + each real closed Kα ⊃ K then ϕ ∈ torsion part of W (Pfister). 28th Nov. . n). Gϕ := {a | aϕ = ϕ in W }. otherwise −1 ∈ K = Cεa . in particular 2n . explicitly. 1967 On quadratic forms in fields. . See [CP] for a detailed version. b ∈ Gϕ ). εP i = ±1. ·. Tuesday. b. we get 2m+n ϕ = 0 by (ii). If Cεa ⊂ Kα∃ then ϕε = 0. and (Wa+b ) a + b = c + abc if a +K b = c. in addition (∗) Gϕ + d · Gϕ ⊂ Gϕ+dϕ (proof by ϕ · Q (Wa+bd ) for a. 6= 2) by (Wab ) ab = c if ab = cd2 in K. |mϕε | ≤ M then mϕε πεa = 0 by (i). . If ϕ is round and isotropic then ϕ = 0 by definition.

and in consequence of that. 1991 at an age of 80 years. he suffered from allergies to various detergents and adhesives for wallpapers and carpets. the theory of quadratic forms. On his account the colloquia of the mathematics department were held in another building. One reason for this might have been that he was not very healthy. for example. he illustrated as follows: “If the mayor of a little town in the middle-of-nowhere has to draw a map.-Verein. in addition. Springer-Verlag 1998. Even the students who had difficulties in understanding his lectures did not get bored. 28–30. Dt. and in 1975. Though he had always been interested in the latest findings. however. Due to rationalization. the windows could not be opened. So I became his assistant until his retirement in 1979. Samuel Patterson and Andrew Ranicki very much for help with the English version. 166–180. I would like to thank Bärbel Deninger. .170 INA KERSTEN Galois field. had promised me a three year contract. (∗) holds with =. Hamburg University offered me a contract for only five months. he had to decline several invitations for talks at home and abroad. Witt asked me if I would like to become his assistant. as. Witt no longer actively followed the development of modern algebraic geometry by Grothendieck and others. his reaction to the university administration was the serious threat to resign. He died after a short illness on July 3. I was a student of Ernst Witt at the University of Ham- burg. Jber. because of some kind of air conditioning. (∗∗ ) always holds as well as some further theorems. Math. as he always wove in humorous remarks and witty comparisons. his lectures on Calculus I and II for students in their first and second semester were based on the notion of filters. Since Witt. Witt became an ordinary member of the Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Göttingen. Local coordinates. The reader is referred to P. References [CP] Ernst Witt: Collected Papers. [2] Ina Kersten: Ernst Witt – ein großer Mathematiker. He complained about dizziness and a diminishing ability to concen- trate. Thus he got more and more isolated. Also in his written work. the Mathieu groups and Steiner systems or the Riemann-Roch theorem for skew fields. [1] Ina Kersten: Ernst Witt 1911–1991. The above descriptions refer to [1] and [2]. 95 (1993). M. Moreover. Neumann: “An essay on Witt’s work on the Mathieu groups and on Steiner systems” in [CP]. and he could attend them until shortly before his death. in which. and his general reputation to be an eccentric was strengthened. From 1954 on. his little town will become the center of it”. d. After my examination in Mathematics. In 1978. He also taught a lot of things from his own works. because of his allergies. Because of these troubles. he could not join the move of the mathematics department to a modern highrise building. His lectures were unconventional both for the choice of topics as for their style. the contract was extended. Since 1969. Acknowledgement. some are from my personal recollection. Witt always points out exactly the things which are fundamental for a true understanding. Author’s remark. he experienced a slight stroke. DMV–Mitteilungen 2–1995. for example.

6 . 277–278 [1938] Die 5-fach transitiven Gruppen von Mathieu. . Abh. . 14 . . . . Handwritten Notes Sum- marized by Rainer Schulze-Pillot . . . . . . [Papers by Ernst Witt] The numbers following the dots refer to page numbers in [CP]. . . Z. . . . 43 . . . . . . . . Crelle 172 . . . 78–80 [1936] Der Satz von v. . . Signatur: Cod. . Z. . . . . 120–128 [1936] Bemerkungen zum Beweis des Hauptidealsatzes von S. . . . . . . Springer-Verlag 1997. . . Struktur diskret be- werteter perfekter Körper mit vollkommenem Restklassenkörper der Charakteristik p. . . . . . . . . . . 118–119 [1936] Konstruktion von galoisschen Körpern der Charakteristik p zu vorgegebener Gruppe der Ordnung pf . . . b. . . . 402–403 [1940] Die Automorphismengruppen der Cayleyzahlen. Arch. . . Akad. . . . . . Bestandsnr. . . . . . . . . . 5 . 349–350 [1952] Über einen Satz von Ostrowski. . . . . . . . . . . Math. . . . deren Ordnung prim ist zum Index . . . . . . . . . . . . Herglotz F 160. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1953. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 . . . . . . . . . . Monatsh. . . . . . . . . . . 404 [1953] Treue Darstellungen beliebiger Liescher Ringe. . . . . . Crelle 182 . 12 . . . . . . . . . . Publ. . . . Hamb. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Math. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Crelle 176 . . . . . . . . 92–107 [1936] Zur Funktionalgleichung der L-Reihen im Funktionenkörperfall. . . . Math. . . Kl. . math.-Amer. Abh. . Collect. . . . . . . Math. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Math. . . . . . . . . . . 90–91 [1935] Der Existenzsatz für abelsche Funktionenkörper. . Mainz. . Math. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Staudt-Clausen . . . . . . . . . . [6] Staatsarchiv Hamburg. . . . . . . . . Crelle 176 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253 [1941] Eine Identität zwischen Modulformen zweiten Grades Hamb. . Rev. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ζ). 195–203 [1937] Über Normalteiler. . . . . . . . . Crelle 190 . . . . . . . . . . . . . [5] Staatsarchiv Hamburg. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Crelle 174 . . . . . . Crelle 173 . . . 330–344 [1952] Ein kombinatorischer Satz der Elementargeometrie. . . . . . 2–15 [1937] Zyklische Körper und Algebren der Charakteristik p vom Grad pn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .:= Abh. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353–360 [1954] Über eine Invariante quadratischer Formen mod 2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . Arch. . . . . . . . 110 . . [4] SUB Göttingen. . . . . . . . . . Math. Abh. 396 [. . . Hamb. . . . . . Signatur: 92d UA 19. . Crelle 171 . 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . Crelle 176 . . . . . . . . . . . . Crelle 176 . . . . . . . . . . Wiss. . . . . . . . . 351–352 [1953] (mit Jordan) Zur Theorie der Schrägverbände. Iyanaga. . Math. . . Univ. . . . 397 [1937] Theorie der quadratischen Formen in beliebigen Körpern. .: 221–11. . . . . . . . . 114 [1936] (mit Hasse) Zyklische unverzweigte Erweiterungskörper vom Primzahlgrade p über einem algebraischen Funktionenkörper der Charakteristik p. . . . . . 1 . . Mat. . . Abh. . 373–376 [1951] Beweisstudien zum Satz von M. 117 [1935] Über ein Gegenbeispiel zum Normensatz. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129–132 [1937] (mit Schmid) Unverzweigte abelsche Körper vom Exponenten pn über einem algebraischen Funktionenkörper der Charakteristik p. . Hamb. . Math. . 17–18 . . . . . . . . Methoden und Maximen der Kryptologie. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204–212 [1953] Über freie Ringe und ihre Unterringe. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Nr. . . . . . . Mitt. . . . . . . . . . . Ann. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hisp. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jber. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hamb. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377–381 [1951] Algunas cuestiones de matemática intuicionista. . . . . . . . . . . . Crelle 193 . . . . . . . . . . . Ms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Math. . . . . Crelle 177 . . . . Hamb. Papers with no source mentioned are published in [CP] for the first time. . . . . . . .-naturw. . . . . . . . . 213–246 [1949] Rekursionsformel für Volumina sphärischer Polyeder. . Zorn. . . . . . Hamburg. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ges. . . . . . . 305 [1940] Ein Identitätssatz für Polynome. 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Abh. . . . . 3 . . . . . . . 395 [1934] Riemann-Rochscher Satz und Z-Funktion im Hyperkomplexen. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . Nachr. . . . . . . . . 382–387 [1952] Die algebraische Struktur des Gruppenringes einer endlichen Gruppe über einem Zahl- körper. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 . . . . . . 12 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Handschriftenabteilung. Schiefkörper über reellem Funk- tionenkörper. 43–59 [1934] Zerlegung reeller algebraischer Funktionen in Quadrate. . . . . 313–327 [1941] Spiegelungsgruppen und Aufzählung halbeinfacher Liescher Ringe. . . . . (4) 10 . . . . . . . 142–156 [1937] Schiefkörper über diskret bewerteten Körpern. . . . . . . . . . reine angew. . 279–287 [1938] Über Steinersche Systeme. . . 14 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DMV 48. . . . Bestandsnr. . . . . . . . Phys. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Crelle := J. 108–113 [1937] Treue Darstellung Liescher Ringe. . . Abh. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .-] Primzahlsatz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Abh. . . . . . . Abh. . . . Sem. . . . . . 69–77 [1935] Zwei Regeln über verschränkte Produkte. . . . Math. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Conferencias de Matemática II. . . . . . . . . 81–88 [1934] Algebra (a. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . del Instituto de Matemáticas “Jorge Juan”. . . . . . . . . . . Madrid. . . . . . . 63–68 [1935] Über die Invarianz des Geschlechts eines algebraischen Funktionenkörpers. . . Lit. 288–298 [1938] Zum Problem der 36 Offiziere. . . . . . . . . 371–372 [1950] Sobre el Teorema de Zorn. 4 . . . Hamburg VIII . . . . . . . . . . . Math. [1931] Über die Kommutativität endlicher Schiefkörper. . . Nachr. . . . . . . . Bauer: Entzifferte Geheimnisse. . . BIOGRAPHY OF ERNST WITT (1911-1991) 171 [3] Friedrich L. Hamb. . Facsimile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .: 113–5. . . . . . 39 . . . . Crelle 173 . . Signatur: Ed 852. . . . .

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which is closely related to our topic. This manuscript describes how a generic splitting tower of a regu- lar anisotropic quadratic form digests the form down to a form which is totally split. We call such a form q: V → k regular if the radical V ⊥ of the associated bilinear form Bq has dimension ≤ 1 and the quasilinear part q|V ⊥ of q is anisotropic. and finally explain how such a tower (Kr | 0 ≤ r ≤ h) together with the sequence of higher kernel forms (qr | 0 ≤ r ≤ h) of q controls the splitting of q ⊗L into a sum of hyperbolic planes and an anisotropic form (called the anisotropic part or kernel form of q ⊗ L). 173 . 11E81. Our first goal is to develop a generic splitting theory of forms. If k has characteristic char k 6= 2 this means that V ⊥ = {0}. Linear Algebraic Groups and Related Structures”. Such a theory has been given in [K2 ] for the case of char k 6= 2. In the present article a “form” always means a regular quadratic form.19 below. We start with a key result from [KR] (cf. and by the Sonder- forschungsbereich ”Diskrete Mathematik” at the University of Bielefeld.Contemporary Mathematics Volume 00. If char k = 2 it means that either V ⊥ = {0} or V ⊥ = kv with q(v) 6= 0. cf. In §1 we present a generic splitting theory of forms in a somewhat different manner than in [K2 ]. Key words and phrases. a generic splitting theory for complete quotients of reductive groups was given in [KR].3 below). then develop the notion of a generic splitting tower of a given form q over k with associated higher indices and kernel forms. 1. This research was supported by the European Union TMR Network FMRX CT-97-0107 ”Algebraic K-Theory. More generally we explain how the generic splitting tower (Kr | 0 ≤ r ≤ h) together with (qr | 0 ≤ r ≤ h) controls the splitting of the specialization γ∗ (q) of q by a place 2000 Mathematics Subject Classification. 2000 Generic Splitting Towers and Generic Splitting Preparation of Quadratic Forms Manfred Knebusch and Ulf Rehmann Abstract. generic splitting. Introduction We work with quadratic forms on finite dimensional vector spaces over an arbitrary field k. Without any restriction on the characteristic. quadratic forms. Primary 11E04. Theorem 1.

cf. {We have K00 = K0 = k. 4. If we allow for the form q over k a suitable linear change of coordinates with coefficients in a purely transcendental field extension K 0 ⊃ k. since q is the specialization λ∗ (q ⊗ K 0 ) of q ⊗ K 0 under any place λ: K 0 → k ∪ ∞ over k. the form q is “well prepared” for an investigation of its splitting behavior. But no essential information about the form q is lost by passing from q to q ⊗ K 0 . and such that the anisotropic part of q ⊗ Kr can be defined over Kr0 for every r ∈ [1. This is forced by the article [K4 ]. In §3 we prove that for any form q over k there exists a generic splitting tower (Kr | 0 ≤ r ≤ h) of q which contains a subtower (Kr0 | 0 ≤ r ≤ h) of field extensions of k such that Kr0 /Kr−10 is purely transcendental. namely generic splitting preparations (Def. A generic splitting decomposition of a form q over k consists of a purely transcen- dental field extension K 0 /k and an orthogonal decomposition q ⊗ K0 ∼ = η0 ⊥ η1 ⊥ · · · ⊥ ηh ⊥ ϕh (∗) with certain properties.3) and the closely related generic splitting decompositions (Def. all ηi have even dimension.8) of a form q. .} This result. We mention that a reasonable generic splitting theory holds more generally for a quadratic form q: V → k such that the quasilinear part q|V ⊥ is anisotropic. when we go up further from K 0 to suitable field extensions of K 0 . This needs more work. It will be contained in the forthcoming book [K5 ]. without the additional assumption dim V ⊥ ≤ 1.18 below. . 4. ηh . using “quadratic places” (or “Q-places” for short) instead of ordinary places. It seems that major new work and probably also new concepts are needed to establish a specialization theory of forms under quadratic places in all characteristics. cf. since its meaning can slightly more easily be grasped than that of the first (more general) notion. We are sorry to say that our theory in §6 demands that the occurring fields have characteristic 6= 2. more generally of γ∗ (q). We recapitulate here what is necessary in §5. η1 . In contrast to Weierstrass preparation we allow a purely transcendental field ex- tension for the coefficients of the linear change of coordinates. where an analytic function germ becomes well prepared after a linear change of coordinates. if q has good reduction under q. In particular. An overall idea behind generic splitting decompositions is the following. We focus now on the second notion. The generic splitting decomposition in a certain sense controls the splitting behavior of q ⊗ L for any field extension L of k.174 MANFRED KNEBUSCH AND ULF REHMANN γ: k → L ∪ ∞. for any place γ: k → L ∪ ∞ such that q has good reduction under γ. . This control can be made explicit in much the same way as the control by generic splitting towers. leads us in §4 to the second theme of this article. Quadratic places have been introduced in the recent article [K4 ] and used there for another purpose. dim ϕh ≤ 1. This reminds a little of the Weierstrass preparation theorem. ϕh such that the forms ηk ⊥ · · · ⊥ ηh ⊥ ϕh with 1 ≤ k ≤ h give the higher kernel forms of q. . Then in §2 we study how a generic splitting tower of q ⊗ L can be constructed from a generic splitting tower of q for any field extension L/k. Thus. Theorem 1. which may be surprising at first glance. All these results are an expansion of the corresponding results in [K2 ] to fields of any characteristic. §6. then the form – now called q ⊗ K 0 – decomposes orthogonally into subforms η0 . after the change of coordinates. h]. . and η0 is the hyperbolic part of q ⊗ K 0 (which comes from the hyperbolic part of q by going up from k to K 0 ). where the specialization theory of forms under quadratic places is only done in the case of characteristics 6= 2.

For a. Since we only allow regular forms. If L ⊃ k is a field extension then q ⊗ L or qL denotes the form over L obtained from q by extension of the base field k to L. §1.. The separable polynomial pδq (X) splits over k if and only if δq is trivial. We call r the index of q and write r = ind (q). . We further call ϕ the kernel form 1) or anisotropic part of q and use both notations ϕ = ker(q). then q ⊗ L lives on the L-vector space L ⊗k V . If dim q is odd or if δq is trivial we say that q is of inner type. b elements of a field k we denote the form aξ 2 + ξη + bη 2 over k by [a. and by ki (q) we denote the 1) = “Kernform” in [W] . This is equivalent to ind (q) = [dim q/2]. ϕ = qan . more generally. q is inner (resp. . n 2 pδq (X): = X 2 − δq if char k 6= 2 X + X + δq if char k = 2.1. Thus.B. then we may look how many hyperbolic planes split off in q ⊗ Er for Er the total generic splitting field of one of the summands ηr . For example. the number of variables occurring in the form q. Notations. If q is a (regular quadratic) form over k then we have the Witt decomposition ([W]. We do not enter these matters here. If q 6= 0 and dim q is even. δq For i = 1. We say that q splits totally if dim(qan ) ≤ 1. [A]) q ∼= r × H ⊥ ϕ with an anisotropic form ϕ and r ∈ N0 . Definition/Further notations. By H: = [0. otherwise we say that q is of outer type. dim q denotes the dimension of the vector space V on which q lives. Generic splitting in all characteristics 1. we denote by Vi (q) the projective variety of totally isotropic subspaces of dimension i in the underlying space of q. The zero form q = 0 is not excluded. i. We have dim q = dim(q ⊗ L). 1. {N. {Generic splitting decom- positions form a special class of generic splitting preparations. 0] we denote the hyperbolic plane. outer) if and only if SO(q) is inner (resp. let n δq: = (discriminant of q) ∈ k ∗ /k ∗2 if char k 6= 2 (Arf invariant of q) ∈ k + /℘k if char k = 2. if q lives on the k-vector space V . These notions are adjusted to the corresponding notions in the theory of reductive groups.} Now the forms ηi are defined over fields Ki0 such that K00 = k and every Ki0 is a purely transcendental 0 extension of Ki−1 . GENERIC SPLITTING TOWERS AND GENERIC SPLITTING PREPARATION 175 The idea behind generic splitting preparations is similar.e. b]. . if q ⊗ K 0 ∼ = η0 ⊥ · · · ⊥ ηh ⊥ ϕh is a generic splitting decomposition of q. Then V = {0} and dim q = 0. outer). . generic splitting preparations give new possibilities for manipulations with forms. Generic splitting decompositions and. leaving all experiments to the future and to the interested reader.} We define n k if q is of inner type kδq : = k[X]/p (X) if q is of outer type. SO(q) is almost simple for dim q ≥ 3 since the form q is regular. For another form ϕ over k we write ϕ < q if ϕ is isometric to a subform of q (including the case ϕ ∼= q). we demand 1 − 4ab 6= 0. A major theme of this article is the study of ind (q ⊗ L) and ker(q ⊗ L) for varying extensions L/k.0. [dim q/2].

p. p. 44f]. and let L/k be a field extension. ii) Let i ∈ {1. Lemma. we will also write k(q) = k1 (q). which is..3. We then set k1 (q) = kδq . 3.3. and the free composite LFi over Fi0 is a purely transcendental extension of L. iii) There is a k-place Fi → L ∪ ∞. Let q be a form over k. we have Fi0 = k in iv). iii): Since the stabilizer of an i-dimensional totally isotropic subspace of the underlying space of q is a parabolic subgroup of SO(q). ii). [dim q/2]}. over kδq . The equivalence of i) and ii) is obvious.47]. We call two field extensions K ⊃ k and L ⊃ k specialization equivalent over k. i) If K/k is any field extension such that qK is of inner type. The other equivalences follow from [KR. 47]: 1. with the above interpretation. then K contains a subfield isomorphic to kδq .5. ¤ A key observation for the generic splitting theory of quadratic forms is the following theorem.2. then Vdim q/2 (q) is defined over kδq . The following statements are equivalent. . Let q be a (regular quadratic) form over k. i. in which case it decomposes. and we write K ∼k L. ii) The projective variety Vi (q) has an L-rational point. into two geometrically irreducible components isomorphic to Vdim q/2 (q). Definition.4. then Vi (q) is defined over k. then 0 Fl+i and Fi are specialization equivalent over k. iii) Vi (q) is geometrically irreducible unless q is of outer type and i = dim q/2−1. and if Fi0 is the function field of Vi (q 0 ).16. Remark. . Proof. Theorem. hence i) follows. If q is of outer type. unless dim q = 2. iv) L contains a subfield isomorphic to the algebraic closure Fi0 of k in Fi . if there exists a place from K to L over k and also a place from L to K over k. 3. .176 MANFRED KNEBUSCH AND ULF REHMANN function field of Vi (q). If q is of inner type or if i ≤ dim q/2 − 1. In general. i): Let dim q be even. Corollary. the statements follow from [KR.7. Proof of 1. 0] over any field by H . ¤ 1. . In the latter case V1 consists of two irreducible components defined over kδq . the function field of the quadric V1 (q) associated to q by the equation q = 0. again after observing that the stabilizer of an i- dimensional totally isotropic subspace is a parabolic subgroup of SO(q). Clearly qK is inner if and only if the polynomial pδq has a zero in K. which has a generalization for arbitrary homogeneous projective varieties [KR. If q 0 = l × H ⊥ q.16. ¤ 1. i) ind (q ⊗ L) ≥ i.2. let Fi denote the function field of Vi (q) as a regular extension of k resp. kδq according to 1. Only in the case of an outer q and i = dim q/2. 3.ii. ¤ 1. in all other cases. we have Fi0 = kδq 6= k.e. 2) . 2) We will denote the hyperbolic plane [0. if q is inner or i ≤ dim q/2 − 1. p.

Our claim now follows from 1.10. If F is a generic splitting field of q (of some level r). Corollary. there exists a place λ: Fi → L ∪ ∞ over k. Assume there exists a place λ: L → L0 ∪ ∞ over k.3. All the fields Fi from Theorem 1. ¤ In the following q is a (regular quadratic) form over k. in the case r = h.¤ 1. consisting of at most [dim q/2]+ 1 elements j0 < j1 < · · · < jh . hence ind (q⊗Fi ) ≥ jr . . b) For every field L ⊃ k with ind (q ⊗L) ≥ jr there exists a place λ: F → L∪∞ over k. Fj1 are generic splitting fields of q of level 1. Definition. is also called a partial generic splitting field of q. Then ind (q ⊗ L0 ) ≥ ind (q ⊗ L). ¤ Notice that the sequence SP(q) is finite. since k(qan ) is the function field of V1 (qan ). ind (q ⊗ L0 ) ≥ i. for any level r. By the theorem there exists a place ρ: Fi → L∪∞ over k.} In particular.6. Let r ∈ {0. [HR1 ]). it follows from 1.3 with jr−1 < i ≤ jr are generic splitting fields of q of level r. which are of course injective on the algebraic closure of k in F resp. the fields k(qan ). hence we have k-places from F to Fi and vice versa. h]. except if q is outer and ind (qF ) = dim q/2. .6 we have ind (q ⊗ Fi ) ≤ ind (q ⊗ L).9. Let i: = ind (q⊗L). 1. Corollary.3 and the remark after 1. {Read j−1 = −1. Thus ind (q ⊗ Fi ) = jr . and we write h = h(q). starting with a formal consequence of Theorem 1. GENERIC SPLITTING TOWERS AND GENERIC SPLITTING PREPARATION 177 Proof. Moreover. Such a field extension F/k. a total generic splitting field of k. 1. This is obvious by the equivalence of i) and iii) in 1. We want to associate to q partial generic splitting fields and partial generic splitting towers as has been done in [K2 ] for char k 6= 2. and. By Theorem 1. Clearly F ∼k Fi for i = ind qF . . h} = [0. Proposition. (Cf. ¤ 1.3. Again by the theorem. The splitting pattern SP(q) is the (naturally or- dered) sequence of Witt indices ind (q ⊗ L) with L running through all field exten- sions of k. if K is a generic splitting field of q of some level r and L is a field extension of k. Proof. By Corollary 1. We call h the height of q. Notice also that SP(q) is the sequence of all numbers i ≤ [dim q/2] with ind (q ⊗ Fi ) = i. ¤ . Definition. j0 = ind (q) and jh = [dim q/2]. . we certainly have ind (q⊗Fi ) ≥ i. If L/k is any field extension with ind (q ⊗ L) ≥ jr . Let L and L0 be field extensions of k. Proof.3. We will proceed in a different way than in [K2 ]. .3. ¤ It is evident from the definitions and from Corollary 1. We can choose L as an extension of k with ind (q ⊗ L) = jr . in which case it is kδq . then the algebraic closure of k in F is always k. Proof. .8. . A generic splitting field of q of level r is a field extension F/k with the following properties: a) ind (q ⊗ F ) = jr . h]. 1. Fi . again by Theorem 1.5 that this field is specialization equivalent over k to Fj0 +1 . Then λ ◦ ρ is a place from Fi to L0 ∪ ∞. Let r ∈ [0.7.6 that. . Fj0 +1 .8 is fulfilled. then L is a generic splitting field of q of level r if and only if K and L are specialization equivalent over k. Thus condition b) in Definition 1. 1.3. then. Of course.

Definition. Let (Kr | 0 ≤ r ≤ h) be a sequence of field extensions of k such that for each r ∈ [0.3. since Fj0 is a purely transcendental extension of k.178 MANFRED KNEBUSCH AND ULF REHMANN 1. By 1. We have a trivial k-place Fjr → Fjr · K1 ∪ ∞.11. the inductively defined sequence K0 = k. cf. ∼ V = jr (q) × kδq K k 1 δq . by 1. A generic splitting tower of q is a sequence of field extensions K0 ⊂ · · · ⊂ Kh of k such that K0 is specialization equivalent over k with k. p. Suppose that ind (q ⊗ L) > js . and hence for qK1 = (j0 + j1 ) × H ⊥ q1 by 1. Fj0 +1 and k(qan ) are generic zero fields of qan . in general. By induction assumption. and such that Kr+1 is specialization equivalent over Kr with Kr (qKr .an ) ∼K0 Fj0 +1 K0 ∼k Fj0 +1 . p.5. as such. K1 ∼K0 K0 (qK0 . If K0 ⊂ · · · ⊂ Kh is a generic splitting tower of q. We conclude that ind (q ⊗ L) = js . 3) In particular. Scholium.9 tells us that. h].78]. Hence it remains to show that Fjr · K1 is specialization equivalent to Fjr over k. 78]). for r ≥ 1. For r = 0 this is obvious. For r = 1 we have. .6 we have ind (q ⊗ L) ≥ js . Then ind (q ⊗ L) = jr for some r ∈ [0. We denote the function fields of the varieties Vi (q) by Fi . ¤ The rest of this paragraph will be used in paragraphs 5 and 6 only. Proof. applied to qK0 = j0 × H ⊥ qK0 . On the other hand. [K2 . hence K1 ∼k Fj0 +1 ∼k Fj1 .13. We define i0 : = ind q and ir : = ind qr−1 ⊗ Kr for 1 ≤ r ≤ h. by 1.an over K1 . We proceed by induction on dim qan . 69]. for every r ∈ [0. The notion of generic zero field has also been established if q is isotropic. There it is demanded that K0 = k. For the next statements we need the notion of “good reduction” of a quadratic form. Thus there exists a place from Kr to L over k. Then ind (q ⊗ L) = js . 3) This definition of generic splitting towers is slightly broader than the definition in [K2 . the field Kr is a generic splitting field of q of level r.B. h] with r > s. {N. then a generic splitting field of q of level 1 is called a generic zero field of q. [K2 .an ) is the standard generic splitting tower of q (cf. for every r ≥ 0. We choose s ∈ [0.an ). which gives us a k-place Fjr · K1 → Fjr ∪ ∞. Proof.} 1. it suffices to show Kr ∼k Fjr . kδq ).9.9. Kr+1 = Kr (qKr . our claim is true for q1 := qK1 . Then it still is true that k(q) is a generic zero field of q.12. This contradicts the maximality of s. ¤ If q is anisotropic and dim q ≥ 2. then. we also have a k-place K1 → Fjr ∪ ∞. Theorem. Let L/k be a field extension of k. the field Kr is a generic splitting field of qK1 of level r − 1.5. h] the field Kr is a generic splitting field of q of level r. and. By Corollary 1. That is. specialization equivalent over K1 with the function field of Vjr (qK1 ) ∼ = Vjr (q) ×k K1 resp. and we call ir the r-th higher index of q (0 ≤ r ≤ h).an . as in 1. Proposition 1. h] maximal such that there exists a place from Ks to L over k. since r ≥ 1. 1. We call qr : = (qKr )an the r-th higher kernel form of q (with respect to the tower). p. which is Fjr · K 1 (free product over k resp.

8]. §6]).16. Let λ: K → L ∪ ∞ be a place and ϕ a form over K with GR under λ.14. . Let q and q 0 be forms over K.14. [K5 . Moreover it can be proved that (∗) q∼ = [a1 . c) Let q be a regular form over k. bi ∈ o and ε ∈ o∗ (cf. a) If q and q 0 have GR under λ then q ⊥ q 0 has GR under λ. [K1 ]. Lemma 2. Lemma. if there exists a linear change of coordinates T ∈ GL(n. . Proposition. up to isometry. and we call λ∗ (q) “the” specialization of q under λ. ¤ Part b) will be crucial for the arguments to follow. 1.b below it follows that also qK. [K5 . and in [K5 . b1 ] ⊥ · · · ⊥ [am . and such that the form λ(aij )xi xj over L is i≤j regular. b) If q and q ⊥ q 0 have GR under λ. λ(bm )] ( ⊥ [λ(ε)] ).15. λ(b1 )] ⊥ · · · ⊥ [λ(am ). and λ∗ (q ⊥ q 0 ) ∼ = λ∗ (q) ⊥ λ∗ (q 0 ). ¤ If q has GR under λ then certainly q itself is regular. 1. L be field extensions of k and let λ : K → L ∪ ∞ be a k-place with valuation ring o. A proof can be found in [K1 . Of course. Proof. then q 0 has GR under λ. It appears if and only if n = dim q is odd. Let q: K n → K be a quadratic form over a field K and λ: K → L ∪ ∞ be a place to a second field L. [K1 . K) such that (x: = (x1 . then ker λ∗ (ϕ) = λ∗ (ϕ0 ). Here the last summand [ε] denotes the form εX 2 in one variable X. §2] in the case that also q 0 has even dimension. (∗) implies λ∗ (q) ∼ = [λ(a1 ). Part a) of this lemma is trivial. If ind (λ∗ (ϕ)) = ind (ϕ). By Lemma 1. the form X λ(aij )xi xj i≤j does not depend on the choice of T (cf. Then qK has GR under λ and λ∗ (qK ) = qL .an has GR under λ. Let o = oλ denote the valuation ring of λ. bm ] ( ⊥ [ε] ) with elements ai . Ab- usively we denote this form by λ∗ (q). ind (λ∗ (ϕ)) ≥ ind (ϕ). §8] in general. . Definition/Remark. . b) In this situation it can be proved that. . let K. a) We say that q has good reduction (abbreviated: GR) under the place λ. §8]). xn )) X q(T x) = aij xi xj i≤j P with coefficients aij ∈ o. Then ϕ0 : = ker(ϕ) has again GR under λ and λ∗ (ϕ) ∼ λ∗ (ϕ0 ). but b) needs a proof. and assume that dim q is even. GENERIC SPLITTING TOWERS AND GENERIC SPLITTING PREPARATION 179 1.

¤ We return to our form q over k. By Lemma 1. h] and λ: Km → L ∪ ∞ be a place extending γ. Let (Kr | 0 ≤ r ≤ h) be a generic splitting tower of q. 1. we obtain a result on the Witt decomposition of q ⊗ L which is much stronger than 1.20. ¤ 1.¤ An easy consequence is the following statement. (qr0 | 0 ≤ r ≤ h). Assume in the case m < h that λ does not extend to a place from Km+1 to L. §9]. Now ρ ◦ λ̃: K(ϕ) → L ∪ ∞ is a place extending λ. This is trivial if m = h. We have i0 + · · · + im = jm and q ⊗ Km ∼ = jm × H ⊥ qm . 1.17. Theorem. Now all the claims are evident. 1. 1. Thus there exists a place ρ: L(ϕ) → L ∪ ∞ over L. We have ϕ ∼ = j × H ⊥ ϕ0 with j = ind (ϕ).3). Sketch of Proof.18. Let ϕ0 : = ker ϕ. contradicting our assumptions in the theorem. 1. (i0r | 0 ≤ r ≤ h) and sequences of kernel forms (qr | 0 ≤ r ≤ h). Th. h]. We denote this form by ϕ for short.19. For every such place λ the kernel form qm of q ⊗ Km has GR under λ and λ∗ (qm ) ∼ = ker(q ⊗ L). b) Assume now that λ∗ (ϕ) is isotropic. There exists a place λ: Kh → Kh0 ∪ ∞ over k which restricts to a . This implies.180 MANFRED KNEBUSCH AND ULF REHMANN Proof. The form j × H has GR under λ. Let (Kr | 0 ≤ r ≤ h) be a generic splitting tower of q with higher indices ir and higher kernel forms qr (0 ≤ r ≤ h). Proof of Prop. [K5 . a) If λ extends to a place µ: K1 → L ∪ ∞ then it is obvious that ϕ ⊗ K1 has GR under µ and µ∗ (ϕ ⊗ K1 ) = λ∗ (ϕ).11. Corollary. By use of elementary valuation theory it is rather easy to extend λ to a place λ̃: K(ϕ) → L(ϕ) ∪ ∞ (cf. Proof.) It remains to prove that λ∗ (qm ) is anisotropic. Assume now that m < h. (“Uniqueness” of generic splitting towers and higher kernel forms). Moreover let m ∈ [0. If λ∗ (qm ) would be isotropic then Proposition 1. Since K(ϕ) ∼K K1 . Thus λ∗ (qm ) is anisotropic. h].16 that λ∗ (ϕ) is isotropic. there exists also a place µ: K1 → L ∪ ∞ extending λ. Then λ∗ (ϕ) is isotropic if and only if λ extends to a place µ: K1 → L ∪ ∞.17 would imply that λ extends to a place from Km+1 to L. Then ind (γ∗ (q)) = i0 + · · · + im = jm . Since ϕ is isotropic the field extension L(ϕ)/L is purely transcendental (cf. Let ϕ be an anisotropic form over K of dimension ≥ 2 which has GR under a place λ: K → L ∪ ∞. Let γ: k → L ∪ ∞ be a place such that q has GR under γ. If L/k is a field extension and ind (q ⊗ L) = jm . Then ir = i0r for every r ∈ [0. Let K1 ⊃ K be a generic zero field of ϕ. that qm has GR under λ and γ∗ (q) = λ∗ (q ⊗ Km ) ∼ = jm ×H ⊥ λ∗ (qm ) (cf. Proposition. The form qm has GR under λ and ker(γ∗ (q)) ∼ = λ∗ (qm ).16. Scholium. ¤ Applying the theorem to the special case that L is a field extension of k and γ is the trivial place k . then r ≤ m and ρ extends to a place λ: Km → L∪∞. Let (Kr | 0 ≤ r ≤ h) and (Kr0 | 0 ≤ r ≤ h) be generic splitting tow- ers of q with associated sequences of higher indices (ir | 0 ≤ r ≤ h). here we do not need that ϕ is isotropic).→ L. and if ρ: Kr → L ∪ ∞ is a place over k for some r ∈ [0. Since ϕ ⊗ K1 is isotropic we conclude by Proposition 1.15 it follows that ϕ0 has GR under λ and λ∗ (ϕ) ∼ = j × H ⊥ λ∗ (ϕ0 ).

10). Definition/Remark. ¤ 2. ¤ Let L/k be any field extension. we could also assume that the field L is separable over k. Definition. We then denote by L · K. Definition. In this case L · K ◦ = L ⊗k K ◦ = Lδ(q⊗L) . and hence of q ⊗ L. which yields an L·K0 -place L · K1 → L · K0 ∪ ∞. h] \ J we have an L · Kr -place L · Kr+1 → L · Kr ∪ ∞. 2. In particular. . h] regular. and also for r = h. The induction hypothesis. .1. re ) denote the sequence of increasing numbers r ∈ {0.2. The claim is obvious if dim qan ≤ 1. Therefore there is a K0 -place K1 → L·K0 ∪∞. Let J = (r0 . . Behavior of generic splitting fields and generic splitting towers under base field extension 2. h] then qr has good reduction under µ and µ∗ (qr ) ∼ = qr0 . We call a generic splitting field K of q of some level r ∈ [0. h]. applied to qK1 . If r = h and q is outer. The extension K ◦ /k is k or kδq (cf. if K is regular over the algebraic closure K ◦ of k in K. Here we have to read K ◦ = k. hence ind qL·K0 > ind qK0 . as well as b) for r ≥ 1. GENERIC SPLITTING TOWERS AND GENERIC SPLITTING PREPARATION 181 place λr : Kr → Kr0 ∪∞ for every r ∈ [0. ¤ §2. Thus. But 0 6∈ J means ind qL > ind q. a) Then the sequence L · Kr 0 ⊂ L · Kr 1 ⊂ · · · ⊂ L · Kr e is a regular generic splitting tower of q ⊗ L·K0 . Or L does not split δq. and this proves a). L · K ◦ = L if r < h or if r = h and q is inner. Let r0 := min J \ {0}. ¤ . 1. . This is generally true if either L or Kr is regular over k resp. . Either L splits the discriminant of q. Explanation.) 2.2. or more precisely by L ·k K.4. if the form q is inner. Assume that (Kr | 0 ≤ r ≤ h) is a regular generic splitting tower of q. We call a generic splitting tower (Kr | 0 ≤ r ≤ h) of q regular if Kr /Kr−1 is a regular field extension for every r with 1 ≤ r < h. the latter implies that L · Kr0 ∼L·K1 L · K1 ∼L·K0 L · K0 (qL·K0 . Theorem.an ). instead of the regularity of the generic splitting tower. If r = h and q is outer we have two cases. In this case K ◦ = kδq embeds into L and we read L · K ◦ = L. then we denote the algebraic closure of k in K by K ◦ . If there is given a place µ: Kr → Kr0 ∪∞ over k for some r ∈ [0. gives a regular generic splitting tower L · Kr0 ⊂ · · · ⊂ L · Kre for qL·K1 . K 0 .3. although most often K ◦ = k. h] we have the free composite L · Kr = L ·k Kr as explained in 2. h} such that ind (q ⊗ Kr ) = ind (q ⊗ L · Kr ). the free composite of L · K ◦ and K over K ◦ . For systematic reasons we retain the notation K ◦ for later use. For every r ∈ [0. It remains to show b) for r = 0. b) For every r ∈ [0. We proceed by induction on dim qan . Proof. We want to construct partial generic splitting fields and generic splitting towers for q ⊗ L from corresponding data for q. . (The existence of the free products L · Kr is the only assumption needed for the following theorem. If K/k is a partial generic splitting field of q of some level r. . we demand that Kh is regular over the composite Kh−1 · Kh◦ = Kh−1 · kδq = Kh−1 ⊗k kδq over k.

12 of the notion of a generic splitting tower. Then L · K is a generic splitting field of q ⊗ L of level s. .9.4 that the t(i) coincide with the numbers ri there. h]. This may even happen with anisotropic k-forms. . Thus we have the following corollary. Proposition 1.7. jt(e) ). which stay anisotropic over the extension field L. hence ker(q ⊗ E) = ker(q) ⊗ E. 2. where s ∈ [0. ¤ For later use. Moreover SP(q ⊗ E) = SP(q). The form ψ remains anisotropic over the quadratic discriminant . i. i. ii) If K/E is a generic splitting field of q ⊗ E of some level r ∈ [0. it is convenient to insert a digression about “inessential” field exten- sions. Let i: = jr . We know already from Corollary 1. Proof. a) For every s ∈ [0. e] is the number with t(s − 1) < r ≤ t(s). ..5. . Corollary. then q⊗E has essentially the same splitting behavior as q. {Read t(−1) = −1. if there exists a place α: E → k ∪ ∞ over k. We believe that the present proof albeit shorter gives more insight than the proof in [K2 ].6. The sequence SP(q ⊗ L) is a subsequence of SP(q) = (j0 . if E/k is inessential. ¤ 2. ¤ The idea behind this definition is that. i) If (Er | 0 ≤ r ≤ h0 ) is a generic splitting tower of q ⊗ E. . Let K be a regular generic splitting field of q of some level r ∈ [0.. Theorem 2. We return to the fields Fi in Theorem 1.} It follows from Theorem 2.e. that jt(e) = jh = [dim q/2] ∈ SP(q ⊗ L. p. then K/k is a generic splitting field of q of the same level r. The classical example is a quadratic form ψ of dimension 4 and with a non trivial discriminant (or Arf invariant) δψ. which clearly remains valid if char k = 2. This implies K ∼k Er .4 and its corollary has been given.8.6 that ind (q ⊗ E) = ind (q).9 gives the claim. Corollary. .9. i): This follows from the definition 1. In particular h0 = h. Assume again that E/k is an inessential field extension. ii): We have K ∼E Er . . { It is evident.4.} Proof.3. . This will now be verified. Thus it suffices to prove the claim for Fi instead of K. ¤ 2. together with 2. 85] another proof of Theorem 2. e] the anisotropic part of q ⊗ L · Kt(s) is qt(s) ⊗ L · Kt(s) . b) SP(q ⊗ L) is the sequence of all r ∈ [0. with 0 ≤ t(0) < t(1) < · · · < t(e) = h. h] such that the form qr ⊗ L · Kr is anisotropic. Now L · Fi is the function field of the variety Vi (q ⊗ L). h(q ⊗ E) = h(q). We have K ∼k Fi by Proposition 1. Proposition.e. 2. E ∼k k. 2. Definition. Remark. then it is also a generic splitting tower of q. say SP(q ⊗ L) = (jt(0) . and we are done.182 MANFRED KNEBUSCH AND ULF REHMANN In [K2 .4 tells us that the splitting pattern of a quadratic form becomes coarser under base field extension. We call a field extension E/k inessential. jh ). This implies K · L ∼L Fi · L. h].

. then ψE = H ⊥ ψE. Yr ) be the function field of r + 2 indeterminates over k0 . the form ψ is ‘simpler’ than over k. which means. . ii) The following example may be even more instructive.c. . . . . . but only two of them survive for qL . 2 . . p. 20 . Hence qL is an excellent form of height 2 with splitting pattern SP(qL ) = (2r+1 − 4. . X2 . i) For an an anisotropic r-Pfister form ϕ with pure part ϕ0 . . √ we study the form q := ϕ0 ⊗ ψ. and hence qE = (ϕ0 ⊗ ψ)E = ϕ0E ⊗ H ⊥ ϕ0E ⊗ ψE. we can start with some ground field k0 . 2r+1 − 2). . We also assume that ϕ and hence ϕ0 as well as q stay anisotropic over L: For example. . √ On the other hand.10. and qL is a Pfister neighbor of that form with complement ψL . and ψ as above. . which is a generic splitting tower of ψ as well. Y1 .an .c. . . . 2n−1 + 2r−1 ) if 1 ≤ r ≤ n − 2 0 1 n−1 n−1 n−2 (∗) (0. Yr ) of k. . Y1 . This phenomenon can be more subtle than in the example just given. Yr ii over k and ψ := hhX1 .. r + 1 respectively in the three cases distinguished above. . 167ff. 2n−1 . .. Assume n ≥ r > 0. X1 . . since it reduces the complexity of the quadratic form ψ without disturbing its anisotropy. 2. . . and let k = k0 (X1 . Xn . p.2. GENERIC SPLITTING TOWERS AND GENERIC SPLITTING PREPARATION 183 extension L = kδψ . . Of course the height of ψL is one. . 21 . . . . . We consider the anisotropic forms q := hhX1 . X2 . 2r . for ψ as well. mutatis mutandis. since k is inessential over k 0 . . Then (ϕ ⊗ ψ)L is an anisotropic r + 2-Pfister form.]. over L. e. . . . . Xn . . Xn ii ⊥ hhY1 . hence of height two with splitting pattern (2r − 1. 2 .6].an . that. K1 . and then take ψ = h1. The splitting pattern of q therefore contains the numbers 2r − 1. δX1 X2 i with δ ∈ k0∗ \ k0∗2 . ϕ = hhY1 . It is similar to a Pfister neighbor with complement ψE. Using. 2 .an is anisotropic. and possibly more. Z be the function field over some field k0 in n + r + 1 indeterminates. hence k = k 0 (Z) is an inessential extension of k 0 . . and note that h = r + 3. Kh of ψk . We refer to [HR2 . 2.] for q. . 2 +2 ) if r = n − 1 0 1 n (0. 2 . 2r+1 − 3). . [HR2 . . their splitting pattern is given by (0. .an . According to [l. . We let k 0 denote the subfield k0 (X1 . r + 2. 2r+1 − 2.) We consider the standard generic splitting tower K0 = k. . 1. 2r+1 − 3. . . Yr ii. . . and let k = k0 (X1 . . . 2 ) if r = n (The proof is given in [l. For the rest of this remark we assume that char k 6= 2. . . Xn ii ⊥ ZhhY1 . Yr .g. if E = k( −X1 ). .5– 2. 165] one sees easily that ϕ0E ⊗ ψE. Y1 . 2 . As mentioned above. ψL is anisotropic for L = k( δq). . . . . . but works. 2r+1 − 4. Yr ii over k 0 . Such a transition ψ 7→ ψL is called an anisotropic splitting. .

.1. 167] the following well known linkage result is stated: If a linear combination of two anisotropic Pfister forms σ. b]. . β over k. Lemma. then we say that ϕ is definable over K (by ϕ0 ). y have coordinates in k. Then. yi over k such that α = [a. 165]. . y): = Bq (x. . since it is the dimension of the common maximal Pfister divisor of σ and τ .p. E. we obtain 4) 0 = aqL (e) = 4) We briefly write (x. . Then q∼ =α⊥β for some regular quadratic forms α. Assume that q is anisotropic. i=1 Xi2 is excellent over any field of characteristic 6= 2. If we have ϕ∼= ϕ0L = ϕ0 ⊗ L with some form ϕ0 over K.2. y) with Bq the bilinear form associated to q . . q is a (regular quadratic) form over a field k. b] ⊗ hq(y1 ). We denote the image of X in L by θ. . 7. . Let L/K be a field extension and ϕ a form over L. .14. . for a suitable generic splitting tower of q. we may assume that L = k( δ). b 6= 0 (which can always be achieved). 1. In [l. .. . Since ψKi is isotropic. We want to prove the surprising fact.. . Proof. .. Hence. for e = x+yθ. §3. More precisely.2. p. or if q is a Pfister neighbor with excellent complement. α is divisible by h1. the splitting pattern of qKi consists of 0. Definition. then there are pairwise orthogonal vectors y1 . 3. Therefore.c. using [l. Let L be a separable quadratic field extension of k.184 MANFRED KNEBUSCH AND ULF REHMANN The forms σ := hhX1 . it follows that its index is a power of two. τ over a given field is isotropic.c. . Yr iiKi are anisotropic for r = 0. √ In case char k 6= 2. Let L = k[X]/(aX 2 + X + b) with a 6= 0. Xn iiKi and τ := hhY1 . . In this section. . 6]. the first higher index of qKi is exactly the dimension of this Pfister divisor. Let e 6= 0 be an isotropic vector for qL . where x. We say that ϕ is defined over K (by ϕ0 ) if ϕ0 is unique up to isometry over K. q(yi )i. Hence. This shows that the gaps occurring in a splitting pattern by base field extension can be arbitrarily large. then its index is the dimension of a Pfister form of maximal dimension dividing both σ and τ . even for a form which stays anisotropic over the extension. Then α is divisible by [a. . we conclude that qKi is anisotropic for i = 0. r. every higher kernel form of q is definable over some finitely generated purely transcen- dental extension of k.g. which is a very strong condition on that form: q is excellentPifn either dim q ≤ 3.5. for i ≤ r. but we will need its precise statement as given here later on. 2. . that. if i = ind (qL ). Defining higher kernel forms over purely transcendental field extensions 3. It is known for a field k of characteristic 6= 2. . Then. followed by the suffix starting with 2i of the appropriate sequence (∗). p. that all higher kernels of a form q over k are defined over k if and only the form q is excellent [K3 . . r. Thm. −δi. . The following lemma is well known. as before. such that qL is isotropic. by the same result. . such that αL is hyperbolic and βL is anisotropic. .

hence of ϕ⊗K1 . There exists a regular (cf. Let h(ϕ1 ) = e. and Lj /L0j is finite multiquadratic. and t = h − 1.) By 2. GENERIC SPLITTING TOWERS AND GENERIC SPLITTING PREPARATION 185 aq(x) + aq(y)θ2 + a(x. over k 0 .4 and 2.4. Theorem. (N. y) 6= 0 and q(ξy + ηx) = (aξ 2 + ξη + bη 2 )(x. η1 ⊗ K1 hyperbolic. an induction on dim q gives the general result. which gives a binary orthogonal summand of q of the requested type. Hence the first 0 higher kernel form of q is definable by q over the purely transcendental extension k 0 of k. y) for arbitrary ξ. and a sequence (ϕr | 0 ≤ r ≤ h) of forms ϕr over Kr0 . a tower of fields (Kr0 | 0 ≤ r ≤ h) with k ⊂ Kr0 ⊂ Kr for every r. such that α 6= 0.0 . the function field of the projective quadric q = 0. Certainly e ≥ h − 1 ≥ 1 since h(ϕ1 ⊗ K1 ) = h − 1. Proof. y)θ = aq(x) − bq(y) + (a(x. Assume now that h > 1. Proof. Corollary. e] with ψj ⊗ K1 · Lj anisotropic. and let µ(0) < µ(1) < · · · < µ(t) be a list of these indices. 5) cf. k = K00 = K0 . Let K1 = k(q). y) = q(y). Let J denote the set of indices j ∈ [0. we have finished with K1 . ψj+1 < ψj ⊗ L0j+1 . η ∈ k. This follows immediately from 3. Notations 1. Clearly the tower (K1 · Lµ(r) | 0 ≤ r ≤ t) is regular. let k 0 ⊂ k(q) be a subfield containing k such that k(q)/k 0 is separable quadratic and k 0 /k is purely transcendental. There exists a regular generic splitting tower (Lj | 0 ≤ j ≤ e) of ϕ1 . Let k(q) denote the function field of the quadric given by q = 0. {N. a tower of fields (L0j | 0 ≤ j ≤ e).2. Therefore (x. We may assume that q is anisotropic. We apply the induction hypothesis to ϕ1 .3) generic splitting tower (Kr | 0 ≤ r ≤ h) of q. hence aq(x) = bq(y) and a(x. If its complement is anisotropic over L we are done.2. We proceed by induction on dim q. (4) Kr /Kr0 is a finite multiquadratic extension (0 ≤ r ≤ h).B. h]. δ = b/a − 1/(4a2 ). We choose for K10 a subfield of K1 containing k such that K10 /k is purely transcendental and K1 /K10 is quadratic. 3. ϕ1 . If dim q ≤ 1 nothing has to be done. L0j+1 /L0j is purely transcendental of finite degree.3. 2.B. y) − q(y))θ. All the fields Kr . 0 (2) ϕr+1 < ϕr ⊗ Kr+1 (0 ≤ r < h). Then there is a decomposition qk 0 = α ⊥ q 0 . Kr0 are subfields of Kh . ¤ 3. which is possible. such that K10 ⊂ L0j ⊂ Lj .3 we have a (not unique) decomposition q ⊗ K10 = η1 ⊥ ϕ1 with dim ϕ1 < dim q. ψj ⊗ Lj = ker(ϕ1 ⊗ Lj ). αk(q) is hyperbolic and qk(q) 0 is anisotropic. 5) 0 (3) Kr+1 /Kr0 is purely transcendental of finite transcendence degree (0 ≤ r < h). If the height h = 1. such that the following holds. and ϕ⊗(K1 ·Lµ(r) ) has the kernel form ψµ(r) ⊗(K1 ·Lµ(r) ). K10 . ϕ1 ⊗ K1 anisotropic. By 3. and the special result for char k 6= 2 is obtained as usual by the substitution X = X 0 − 1/(2a). Assume now that dim q > 1.} (1) ϕr ⊗ Kr = ker(q ⊗ Kr ) for every r ∈ [0. µ(0) = 0. ¤ As before h = h(q) denotes the height of q. and forms ψj over L0j (0 ≤ j ≤ e). We form the field composites K1 · Lj = K1 ·K10 Lj as explained in 2. µ(t) = e.9 the sequence of fields (K1 · Lµ(r) | 0 ≤ r ≤ t) is a regular generic splitting tower of ϕ1 ⊗K1 . Otherwise.

¤ Explanations of the diagram. Thus there exists a place λ: Kr → Lr ∪ ∞ over Kr−1 .5. The field Er = Kr0 (ηr → 0) is a generic total splitting field of the form ηr over Kr0 . Thus there exists a place ρ: Er → Kr ∪ ∞ 0 over Kr0 . Thus Lr is a generic zero field of qr−1 and a generic splitting field of q of level r. Assume that h ≥ 1. (Kr0 | 0 ≤ r ≤ h) and a sequence (ϕr | 0 ≤ r ≤ h) of anisotropic forms with all the properties listed in the theorem. 3. 0 ≤ r ≤ h. . i.. hence over Kr−1 . qr−1 ⊗ Lr is isotropic. The field composite Kr−1 ·Kr−10 Er =: Lr is specialization equivalent to Kr over Kr−1 . Proposition. On the other hand ηr ⊗ Kr ∼ 0. K1 .186 MANFRED KNEBUSCH AND ULF REHMANN For 2 ≤ i ≤ h we put Ki0 : = L0µ(i−1) . ϕ0 : = q. the tower on the right is a generic split- ting tower of q. r−1 splitting the direct sums εr = | ηi.q. By property (2) we have a sequence (ηr | 1 ≤ r ≤ h) of forms ηr over Kr0 such that ϕr−1 ⊗ Kr0 ∼ = ηr ⊥ ϕr (1 ≤ r ≤ h).e. The tower on the left consists of purely tran- scendental extensions (labeled by “p.” are multiquadratic. By standard valuation theoretic arguments ρ extends to a place µ: Kr−1 ·Kr−1 0 Er → Kr ∪ ∞ over Kr−1 · Kr0 . Let qr denote the kernel form of q ⊗ Kr . q is not split.4.t. making it isometric to the r-th higher kernel form qr of q. ϕi : = ψµ(i−1) . We choose for each r ∈ [1. The “horizontal” extensions labeled by “m. Ki = K1 · Lµ(i−1) .Ki0 ⊥ ηr (for which we simply have written i=1 η1 ⊥ · · · ⊥ ηr ) totally and leaving ϕr anisotropic. ¤ We add to this theorem a further observation. and the forms ϕ1 . Adding to these fields and forms the fields K10 . h] a total generic splitting field Er of ηr .”). We stay in the situation of Theorem 3. K0 = K00 = k. Proof. Claim. The field extension Kr−1 /Kr−1 is finite multiquadratic. we have towers (Kr | 0 ≤ r ≤ h).

Kh ϕh →(qKh )an p.5.t. 2.t. (We will have only partial success. K1 = K(q) ϕ1 → (qK1 )an p.t.5 we have associated to the form q over k – among other things – a tower (Kr0 | 0 ≤ r ≤ h) of purely transcendental field extensions of k together with a sequence (ηr | 1 ≤ r ≤ h) of anisotropic subforms ηr of q ⊗ Kr0 . 0 η1 ⊥···⊥ηr−1 → 0 Kr−1 m.7). Definition. §6 below. We want to understand in which way these data control the splitting behavior of q under field extensions. A form η over K is called a generic splitting form of q of level r. Let r ∈ [0. Kr ϕr → (qKr )an p. h] and let K/k be an inessential field extension (cf.5 η1 ⊥···⊥ηh →0 Kh0 m. Generic splitting preparation In 3. cf. Er = Kr0 (ηr → 0) Er ∗Kr−1 0 Kr−1 | | < ||| <| ηr →0 || || <| <| | | < |< |< || |< |< Kr−1 -equivalence ||| < | | |< || η1 ⊥···⊥ηr → 0 Kr0 m.4 and 3. As before q is any regular quadratic form over a field k and h denotes the height h(q).q. k K0 §4.1.4 and 3. 4. Kr−1 ϕr−1 → (qKr−1 )an p. if dim η is even and there exists an orthogonal decomposition q ⊗ K ∼ = η ⊥ ψ such that the .) In addition we strive for an abstraction of the situation established in 3.q.t. forgetting the generic splitting tower (Kr | 0 ≤ r ≤ h) in 3.q.4 and 3.q.4. η1 → 0 K10 m. GENERIC SPLITTING TOWERS AND GENERIC SPLITTING PREPARATION 187 A Generic Splitting Tower According To 3.

(N. . Definition. r (4) For every r ∈ [0. Scholium.1) of q.. η is uniquely determined up to isometry. (ηr | 1 ≤ r ≤ h). η ⊗K ∼ 0. Let E/K 0 be a total generic splitting field of η. A generic splitting preparation of q is a tower of fields (Kr0 | 0 ≤ r ≤ h) together with a sequence (ηr | 0 ≤ r ≤ h) of forms ηr over Kr0 such that the following holds: (1) K00 = k. i.5.) Then η is a generic splitting form of q of level r. in the situation described in 3. Thus there exists a place µ: E → K ∪∞ over K 0 . This property does not depend on the choice of the total generic splitting field of E. We conclude that also E is a generic splitting field of q of level r. the tower of fields (Kr0 | 0 ≤ r ≤ h) together with the sequence (ηr | 0 ≤ r ≤ h) of forms ηr over Kr0 . 1. Let η denote the complement of ψ in q ⊗ K 0 . Generic splitting preparations of q exist in abundance. 4. Proposition. Now it is evident that dim ker(q ⊗ E) = dim ψ. where ηr for r ≥ 1 has been introduced in 3. Proof. ¤ N. Clearly ir : = dim ηr /2 is the r-th higher index (cf. Generic splitting forms occur whenever a higher kernel form of q is definable over an inessential field extension of k.B. ¤ 4. 0 ≤ r < h. Assume there is given an inessential subextension K 0 /k of K/k and a subform ψ of q ⊗ K 0 such that ψ ⊗ K = ker(q ⊗ K). 6) Things below would not change much if we merely demanded that the exten- 0 sions Kr+1 /Kr0 are inessential.188 MANFRED KNEBUSCH AND ULF REHMANN following holds: If E/K is a total generic splitting field of η. Since µ is also a place over k. Thus there exists a place λ: K → E ∪ ∞ over k. dim q ≡ dim ψ mod 2. then E/k is a partial generic splitting field of q of level r. is a generic splitting preparation of q. and dim ϕh ≤ 1. q ⊗ K 0 ∼ = η ⊥ ψ. (0 ≤ r < h). Then q ⊗ E ∼ ψ ⊗ E. 0 ϕr ⊗ Kr+1 ∼ = ηr+1 ⊥ ϕr+1 .4. and η0 is the hyperbolic part of ϕ. while ψ ⊗ E is anisotropic.3. Thus dim η is even. the fields E and K are specialization equivalent over k. Thus ψ ⊗ E is anisotropic.B. omitting the trivial form η0 = 0. On the other hand. If q is anisotropic then we sometimes denote the generic splitting preparation by (Kr0 | 0 ≤ r ≤ h).e.4 and 3. We call ϕr the r-th residual form and ηr the r-th splitting form of the given generic splitting preparation.5 and η0 denotes the hyperbolic part of q.2. We further call ψ the complement (or complementary form) of η. 0 (2) Kr+1 /Kr0 is purely transcendental for every r. Let K/k be a partial generic splitting tower of q of level r. as always) by condition (3). Indeed. h] the form | ηj ⊗ Kr0 is a generic splitting form of q of j=0 level r. ¤ The forms ϕr (0 ≤ r ≤ h) are uniquely determined (up to isometry. 6) (3) There exist orthogonal decompositions q∼ = η0 ⊥ ϕ0 . ¤ 4.

¤ As in §1 and §2 we enumerate the splitting pattern SP(q) = {jr | 0 ≤ r ≤ h} by dim q 0 ≤ j 0 < j1 < · · · < jh = [ ] 2 and write SP(q ⊗ L) = {jr | r ∈ J} with J = {t(s) | 0 ≤ s ≤ e}. Let r ∈ [1. and E · L = E ·k L the composite of E and L as explained in 2. . Then K · L/L is again inessential and η ⊗ K · L is a generic splitting form of q ⊗ L with complementary form ψ ⊗ K · L. Proof. Proposition 4.2 tells us that εr is a generic splitting form of q of level r.6.2. 4. . By Proposition 2. GENERIC SPLITTING TOWERS AND GENERIC SPLITTING PREPARATION 189 r Proof. Proposition. Then q ⊗ Kr0 ∼ = εr ⊥ ϕr and j=0 ker(ϕ ⊗ Kr ) = ϕr ⊗ Kr .1. Thus K ·L/L is inessential. Let E/K be a regular total generic splitting field of η (cf. 2. (0 ≤ ηr ≤ h) of q with associated residual forms ϕr (0 ≤ r ≤ h). Assume that ψ ⊗ E · L remains anisotropic. Let L · Fr = L ·k Fr denote the composite of L with Fr over k as explained in 7) The fields Fi from 1. and let ψ be the complementary form.5. Lemma. We do not assume that the j=0 preparation arises in the way described in the scholium. let K · L = K ·k L denote the free field composite of K and L over k. Our next goal is to derive a generic splitting preparation of q ⊗ L from these data for a given field extension L/k.4 has not been used. For every r r ∈ {1. . Assume that K/k is an inessential field extension. . Any place α: K → L ∪ ∞ over k extends to a place from L · K to L over L. ϕ⊗K ∼ = η ⊥ ψ. Then (L0s | 0 ≤ s ≤ e). we study a fixed generic splitting preparation (Kr0 | 0 ≤ r ≤ h).∗) 7) Then Fr /k is a partial generic splitting field of q of level r.3 will not be used in the following. We further define L00 = L and ζ0 as the hyperbolic part of ϕ ⊗ L. h] be fixed and εr : = | ηj ⊗ Kr0 . For every r with 0 < r ≤ h we choose a regular total generic splitting field Fr /Kr0 of the form εr . 0 ≤ t(0) < t(1) < · · · < t(e) = h. We have e = h(q ⊗ L). In the following. Now the claim is obvious from Definition 4.2). ¤ Notice that in this argument property (4) of Theorem 3.6 the field E ·k L = E ·K (K ·k L) is a total generic splitting field of η ⊗ K ·L and also a partial generic splitting field of ϕ ⊗ L. For 0 < s ≤ e we define L0s = L · Kt(s) 0 as the free composite 0 of the fields L and Kt(s) over k. . 4. h} let εr denote the form | ηj ⊗ Kr0 . Let η be a form over K which is a generic splitting form of q. Finally. (ζs | 0 ≤ s ≤ e) is a generic splitting preparation of q ⊗ L. and we put ζs : = ηt(s−1)+1 ⊗ L0s ⊥ · · · ⊥ ηt(s)−1 ⊗ L0s ⊥ ηt(s) . Proof.

αh ) of forms over K 0 of even dimensions such that the following holds. A generic splitting decomposition of q over K 0 is a sequence (α0 . . .6. . Let m ∈ [1. For 1 ≤ r ≤ h we have – with the notations from above – εr ⊗ K 0 = α0 ⊥ · · · ⊥ αr . Then the tower F ⊂ F · Km+1 0 ⊂ · · · ⊂ F · Kh0 together with the sequence (ηr ⊗ F · Kr0 | m < r ≤ h) is a generic splitting preparation of the anisotropic form ϕm ⊗ F . Thus Fr · K 0 is also a partial generic splitting field of q of level r. See also our discussion below at the end of §6.7. α1 .2 tells us that εt(s) ⊗ L0s is a generic splitting form of ϕ ⊗ L0s . Let K 0 ⊃ k be a purely transcendental field extension. and we are done. Let K 0 : = Kh0 and αr : = ηr ⊗ Kh0 (0 ≤ r ≤ h). Proof. Now Fr · K 0 is purely transcendental over Fr . h}. 4. it follows that (ϕr ⊗K 0 ) ⊗Fr ·K 0 = (ϕr ⊗Fr ) ⊗Fr ·K 0 is anisotropic. hence a partial generic splitting field of q (over k) of level r. ¤ The next proposition tells us that we can always pass from a generic splitting preparation of q to a generic splitting decomposition of q. The form ϕt(s) ⊗L0s remains anisotropic over L ·k Ft(s) . We have ϕ ⊗ L0s ∼ = εt(s) ⊗ L0s ⊥ ϕt(s) ⊗ L0s . h] be fixed. Proposition. We apply Proposition 4. These are the “generic decompositions” according to the following definition. ii) α0 is the hyperbolic part of q ⊗ K 0 . Now J = {m. the field 0 L ·k Ft(s) = (L ·k Kt(s) ) ·Kt(s) 0 Ft(s) = L0s ·Kt(s) 0 Ft(s) is a total generic splitting field of εt(s) ⊗L0s . .9. If 0 < s ≤ e.6 with L = F . . Let Fr be a regular total generic splitting field of εr (over Kr0 ). then the field L · Ft(s) is a generic splitting field of ϕ ⊗ L and ker(ϕ ⊗ L · Ft(s) ) = ϕt(s) ⊗ L · Ft(s) by Proposition 2. Since η0 is the hyperbolic part of q and K 0 /k is purely transcendental.2. The form q ⊗ F has the kernel form ϕm ⊗ F . Corollary. ¤ 4. For every r with m < r ≤ h let F ·Kr0 denote the free composite of F and Kr0 over k. .6. . let (Kr0 | 0 ≤ r ≤ h). i) q ⊗ K 0 ∼ = α0 ⊥ α1 ⊥ · · · ⊥ αh ⊥ ϕh with dim ϕh ≤ 1. Since Fr · K 0 /Fr is purely transcendental. Then (ηr ⊗ Kh0 | 0 ≤ r ≤ h) is a generic splitting decomposition of q over Kh0 . m + 1.6. We have q ⊗ K 0 ∼ = αr ⊥ (ϕr ⊗ K 0 ). it is up to now not clear to us which of the two concepts is better to work with. For every r with 1 ≤ r ≤ h the form α0 ⊥ · · · ⊥ αr is a generic splitting form of q of level r. ¤ Although generic splitting decompositions look simpler than generic splitting prepa- rations. ¤ We now look for generic splitting preparations with K10 = · · · = Kh0 . Again by 2. . and let F be a regular total generic splitting field of εm . (ηr | 0 ≤ r ≤ h) be a generic splitting preparation of q. Now Proposition 4. Thus αr is a generic splitting form of q of level r.8. 4.190 MANFRED KNEBUSCH AND ULF REHMANN 2. the form α00 is the hyperbolic part of q ⊗ K 0 . Proof. As before. Thus e = h − m and t(s) = s + m (0 ≤ s ≤ h − m). The free composite Fr · K 0 = Fr ·Kr0 K 0 is a total generic splitting field of εr ⊗ K 0 = αr by Proposition 2. Definition. The form ϕr ⊗ Fr is anisotropic.

GENERIC SPLITTING TOWERS AND GENERIC SPLITTING PREPARATION 191 §5.12. ¤ We often denote such a triple (λ. H. ψh 6= 0 for only finitely many h ∈ H. Every place λ: K → L ∪ ∞ gives us a Q-place λ̂ = (λ. If Λ = (λ. Definition. where λ∗ : Q(oλ ) → Q(L) is defined as above. Let k be a subfield of K. 5. χ): K → L ∪ ∞.4.1) that the weaker notion of extension as above is the one needed most often.1. or Q-place for short. 5. Definitions.2. Definition. if Λ|k is an expansion of Γ. . Definition. In this sense Q-places are a generalization of the usual places.8. and that λ gives us a homomorphism λ∗ : Q(o) → Q(L). H 0 . As before. χ): K → L ∪ ∞ a Q-place and o: = oλ . We regard λ and λ̂ essentially as the same object. Notice that Q(o) ∼ = o∗ /o∗2 . a subgroup H of Q(K) containing Q(oλ ). 5. χ0 ): K → L ∪ ∞ with the same first component λ as Λ. We say that ϕ has good reduction (abbreviated: GR) under Λ.) 5. H. χ) consisting of a place λ: K → L ∪ ∞. σ) where ρ = λ|k: k → L ∪ ∞ denotes the restriction of the place λ: K → L ∪ ∞ in the usual sense. if there exists an orthogonal decompo- sition (∗) ϕ = | hψh h∈H with forms ψh over K which all have GR under λ. χ) by a capital Greek letter Λ and symbolically write Λ: K → L ∪ ∞ for the Q-place Λ. If λ: K → L ∪ ∞ is a place with associated valuation ring o = oλ .3. and a character χ0 : H 0 → Q(L) extending χ. in which case we say that Λ is a strict extension of Γ. Let ϕ be a regular quadratic form over K. (The bilinear form hεi has good reduction under λ and λ∗ (hεi) is the specialization of this form under λ. 5. If K is a field. that Λ is an extension of Γ). {This amounts to scaling ψh by a representative of the square class hhi. E. λ∗ ): K → L ∪ ∞. But it will become clear below (cf.} Of course. χ): K → L ∪ ∞ is a Q-place then an expansion of Λ is a Q-place Λ0 = (λ. H.ii. from a field K to a field L is a triple (λ. and σ denotes the character χ ◦ (j|D) from D to Q(L). a subgroup H 0 of Q(K) containing H. we denote the image of the unit group o∗ in Q(K) by Q(o). Here hψh denotes the product hhi ⊗ ψh of the bilinear form hhi with ψh . Q(oλ ). identifying this class with the bilinear form hai over K. One should demand Λ|k = Γ. A brief look at quadratic places We need some more terminology. and a homomorphism χ: H → Q(L) (called a “character” in the following) extending the homomorphism λ∗ : Q(oλ ) → Q(L). In the following Λ = (λ. λ∗ (hεi) = hλ(ε)i. and Λ itself is an expansion of λ̂. A quadratic place. we stay with a Q-place Λ = (λ. b) If Γ: k → L ∪ ∞ is any Q-place from k to L then we say that Λ extends Γ (or. 6. ¤ At the first glance one might think that this notion of extension is not strong enough. E denotes the preimage of H in Q(k) under the natural map j: Q(k) → Q(K). we denote the group of square classes K ∗ /K ∗2 by Q(K) and a single square class aK ∗2 by hai. H. ¤ Usually Λ allows many expansions. H. 5. a) The restriction Λ|k of the Q-place Λ to k is the Q-place (ρ.

b). i) If ψ is a second form over K such that ϕ ⊥ ψ is regular.192 MANFRED KNEBUSCH AND ULF REHMANN Alternatively we say in this situation that ϕ is Λ-unimodular. 5. and V 0 = ha0 i or i=1 V 0 = 0. 5. A proof in general (which is rather different) will be contained in [K5 ]. such that k(q)/k 0 is separable quadratic. We omit the easy proofs. bi ]. such that the form α described in 3. ¤ It seems that quadratic places come up in connection with generic splitting forms (cf. bi . a0 ∈ k ∗ . Proposition. ¤ 5. Proposition. This has been proved in [K4 ] if charL 6= 2. Let L ⊃ k be a field extension such that qL = q ⊗ L is isotropic. and a decomposition (∗) is given. Then q ⊗ K has GR under Λ and Λ∗ (q ⊗ K) ∼ = Γ∗ (q). We illustrate this by a little proposition. If ϕ has GR under Λ then we can simplify the decomposition (∗) to a decomposition ϕ∼ = | uϕu u∈U with λ-unimodular forms ϕu . and ai . Let q be a regular form over k which has GR under Γ. Remark. Let q be an anisotropic regular form over a field k. Let o denote the valuation ring of λ.1) in a natural way. qk(q) 0 anisotropic} has GR under Λ and Λ∗ (α) ∼ 0. then the form | χ(h)λ∗ (ψh ) is up to isometry independent of the choice of the decom- h∈H position (∗). and after dividing by Y . Proof. Since qL is isotropic we have a place λ: k(q) → L ∪ ∞ over k.3 {qk0 ∼ = α ⊥ q 0 . 5. let V denote the underlying k-vector space of q.6. ii) Assume that k is a subfield of K and Γ: k → L ∪ ∞ is a Q-place such that Λ extends Γ (cf.5. Then there is a purely transcendental subextension k 0 /k of k(q)/k. αk(q) ∼ 0. which will also serve us to indicate some of the difficulties we have to face if we want to make good use of quadratic places in generic splitting business. Definition. Y ∈ o∗ . We take a r decomposition V ∼ = | (kei ⊕ kfi ) ⊥ V 0 with kei ⊕ kfi = [ai .6) by Λ∗ (ϕ). z ∈ | (oei ⊕ kofi ) ⊥ oV 0 . Let k(q) denote the function field of the projective quadric q = 0. ¤ 5. also a λ-unimodular form. dim q > 2. Remarks. we i=2 . If ϕ has GR under Λ then we denote the form | χ(h)λ∗ (ψh ) h∈H (cf. By rearranging coordinates over k we may assume that x = Xe1 + Y f1 + z. We choose a primitive isotropic vector x ∈ Vo = o ⊗k V with (x. In harmony with this speaking we call a form ψ over K. and a quadratic place Λ: k 0 → L ∪ ∞ over k. and we call Λ∗ (ϕ) the specialization of ϕ under λ.5. which has GR under λ.3. ¤ 5.8. We may choose a subgroup U of H such that H = U × Q(o). Vo ) = o. 4. and r X ∈ o \ 0.9. and if both ϕ and ψ have GR under Λ then ϕ ⊥ ψ has GR under Λ and Λ∗ (ϕ ⊥ ψ) ∼ = Λ∗ (ϕ) ⊥ Λ∗ (ψ).7. If ϕ has GR under Λ.

By construction we have λ(b) 6= ∞. ¤ This proposition leaves at least two things to be desired. and the associated valuation ring by o0 (= o ∩ k 0 ). which follows from the remarks 5. which generate a purely transcendental subfield k 0 of k(q). This is by no means guaranteed by our proof. If char k 6= 2 it is still not evident that the analogue of 1. Let H denote the subgroup of Q(k 0 ) which is generated by Q(o0 ) and the classes hc1 i.15. 5. . H. [K5 ]}. Definition. independently of the place λ in the proof. We can define “almost good reduction” without restriction to characteristic 6= 2 as follows. Secondly it would be pleasant if also the form q 0 has GR under Λ.9 in addition that q 0 has GR under Λ. together with Λ∗ (α) ∼ 0 would “explain” that q ⊗ L is isotropic. ¤ . χ): K → L ∪ ∞ be a Q-place. . o: = oλ . why the analogue of Lemma 1. Then usually many forms over k 0 do not admit λ0 -modular decompositions for a given place λ0 : k 0 → L ∪ ∞ over k. {It is easy to give counterexamples in a sufficiently general situation. . A form ϕ over K has almost good reduction (abbreviated AGR) under Λ if ϕ has a decomposition (∗∗) ϕ∼ = | sϕs s∈S with Λ-unimodular forms ϕs and Λ∗ (ϕs ) ∼ 0 for every s ∈ S. . Hence the quadratic form [a1 . Firstly. Alternatively we may choose for Λ the restriction of λ̂ to k 0 . hence for all forms. On the other hand. Let Λ = (λ. In [K4 ] a way has been found. and how the anisotropic part of q ⊗ L is connected with the generic splitting form α of q of level 1. then the equation q ⊗ L = Λ∗ (α) ⊥ Λ∗ (q 0 ).15. In this case we call the form Λ∗ (ϕ): = Λ∗ (ϕ1 ) ⊥ (dim ϕ − dim ϕ1 )/2 × H the specialization of ϕ under Λ.b holds for the quadratic place Λ0 but now at least every form over k 0 has a λ0 -modular decomposition.10. We write α = [a1 .8 above. it would be nice and much more useful. to have the subextension k 0 /k to be chosen in advance. . We denote the restriction of λ to k 0 by λ0 . We choose some extension χ: H → Q(L) of the character λ0∗ : Q(o0 ) → Q(L). Indeed. b] ⊗ hc1 . The quadratic place Λ = (λ0 .15. s 6= 1. and let S be a subgroup of Q(K) such that Q(K) = S × H.b for quadratic places to be true. hci i. H. to force an analogue of 1. this trivially holds for forms of dimension 1. χ) has the desired properties. if we can achieve in Proposition 5. . The equation 0 = qo (x) = a1 X 2 + X + b with b = b1 + qk(q) (z) ∈ o ∩ k 0 defines the field k(q) as a separable quadratic extension of k 0 .b for quadratic places instead of ordinary places should be true. We see no reason. GENERIC SPLITTING TOWERS AND GENERIC SPLITTING PREPARATION 193 r may assume that Y = 1. The main crux here is the case char k = 2. cf. We take the coordinates of | (oei ⊕ ofi ) ⊥ oV 0 as i=2 independent variables over k. ci i with cν ∈ =(qk0 ) \ 0 according to 3. by relaxing the notion “good reduction” to a slightly weaker – but still useful – notion “almost good reduction”. b] has good reduction under this place.2. . .

Further (jr | 0 ≤ r ≤ h). . ¤ 5. Then ϕ0 : = ker(ϕ) has again AGR under Λ and Λ∗ (ϕ) ∼ Λ∗ (ϕ0 ). Indeed such a theory has been developed in [K4 . ¤ §6. We obtain the following. §3].12. cf.194 MANFRED KNEBUSCH AND ULF REHMANN The point here is that Λ∗ (ϕ) is independent of the choice of the decomposition (∗∗) and also of the choice of S. Proposition.11 – 5. We choose a Q-place Λ: Km → L ∪ ∞ extending Γ such that either m = h or m < h and Λ does not extend to a Q-place from Km+1 to L. Let again Λ: K → L ∪ ∞ be a Q-place with char L 6= 2. Proposition. with jr = i0 + · · · + ir . Let k be a subfield of K and Γ: = Λ|k. Let k ⊂ K be a field extension. b) If ϕ and ϕ ⊥ ψ have AGR under Λ. Assume that char L 6= 2. Let q be a form over a field k. ind Λ∗ (ϕ) ≥ ind (ϕ). is the splitting pattern SP(q) of q. which has no counterpart on the level of ordinary places. 3. the form ϕm has GR under Λ and ker(Γ∗ (q)) ∼ = Λ∗ (ϕm ).14. Assume that q has AGR under Γ. It also holds if char L = 2. 5. §3]. They remain true if char L = 2. Proposition. Th. provided char L 6= 2.15. We quote here the main result obtained there.11. Let Λ: K → L ∪ ∞ be a Q-place and let ϕ and ψ be regular forms over K. not just AGR. a) If ϕ and ψ have AGR under Λ. proved in [K4 . Theorem. provided char L 6= 2. then ker Λ∗ (ϕ) = Λ∗ (ϕ0 ). [K4 . Let Λ: K → L ∪ ∞ be a Q-place and ϕ a form over K with AGR under Λ. Control of the splitting behavior by use of quadratic places If we stay with fields of characteristic 6= 2 then the propositions 5. [K4 . 5. holds for Q-places with AGR instead of GR. Proposition. ¤ We finally state an important fact. If ind Λ∗ (ϕ) = ind (ϕ). We return to some notations from §1: (Kr | 0 ≤ r ≤ h) is a generic splitting tower of q with higher indices (ir | 0 ≤ r ≤ h) and higher kernel forms (ϕr | 0 ≤ r ≤ h). and in this case Λ∗ (q ⊗ L) ∼ = Γ∗ (q). §3] for char L 6= 2. Then ind (Γ∗ (q)) = jm . ¤ A small point here – which we will not really need below – is that ϕm has GR under Λ. Let Γ: k → L ∪ ∞ be a Q-place into a field L of characteristic 6= 2. The arguments are merely book keeping. This has been proved in [K4 ] in the case char L 6= 2. ¤ Now we can repeat the arguments in the proof of Proposition 1. It now is almost trivial that the analogue of 1.13 indicate that it should be possible to obtain a complete analogue of the generic splitting theory displayed in §1 using quadratic places instead of ordinary places. then ϕ ⊥ ψ has AGR under Λ and Λ∗ (ϕ ⊥ ψ) ∼ = Λ∗ (ϕ) ⊥ Λ∗ (ψ). Let q be a regular form over k.1. Then q ⊗ K has AGR under Λ and Λ∗ (q ⊗ K) ∼= Γ∗ (q). cf.13. 5. Then q⊗L has AGR under Λ if and only if q has AGR under Γ. Assume finally that q is a form over k with AGR under Γ. §2]. Assume that char L 6= 2. 6. The proof has been given in [K4 .7]. [K5 ]. then ψ has AGR under Λ. Let Γ: k → L ∪ ∞ and Λ: K → L ∪ ∞ be Q-places with Λ extending Γ.16 for quadratic places and AGR instead of usual places and GR.

By Theorem 6. Proof. then Λ∗ (ϕ) = ker Γ∗ (q).5. ψ): L → F ∪ ∞ be Q-places. For every such Q-place Λ the form ϕ has AGR under Λ and Λ∗ (ϕ) ∼ Γ∗ (q). Theorem. Then there exists a Q-place Λ: F → L ∪ ∞ extending Γ. the other statements being covered by §5 (cf.4.¤ We now aim at a result similar to Theorem 6. Q(k). The other statements are clear from §5 (cf.6. i) If N : F → E ∪ ∞ is a third Q-place then N ◦ (M ◦ Λ) = (N ◦ M ) ◦ Λ. ¤ 6.1). Indeed. D. 5.→ K be a field extension. 6. (This is not covered by [K4 ]. Proposition. Let K/k be an inessential field extension and q ⊗ K ∼ = η ⊥ ϕ with η a generic splitting form of q of some level r ∈ [0. where the field Km is replaced by an arbitrary partial generic splitting field for q. It now can be checked in a straightforward way that the Q-place Λ = Λ0 ◦ ρ̂ from F to L extends Γ. if ind Γ∗ (q) = jr .5 there exists a Q-place M : E → L∪∞ . H0 . h]. ¤ 6. We only need to prove the existence of a Q-place Λ: F → L ∪ ∞ extending Γ.3. then Λ ◦ î is the restriction Λ|k: k → L ∪ ∞. 6. The theorem shows that the generic splitting tower (Kr | 0 ≤ r ≤ h) “controls” the splitting behavior of Γ∗ (q). Let E be a total generic splitting field of η. This gives us a “trivial” Q-place î = (i. ii) Let i: k . If ind Γ∗ (q) = jr . Proof. We further have a place ρ: F → Kr over k. We can apply the theorem to j ◦Γ and q instead of Γ and q.2 is ĵ ◦ Γ. if L0 /L is any field extension then we obtain from Γ a Q-place j ◦ Γ: k → L0 ∪ ∞ in a rather obvious way (cf. If Λ = (K. and (j ◦ Γ)∗ (q) = Γ∗ (q) ⊗ L0 .4. 5. ψ ◦ (χ|H0 )) with H0 : = {α ∈ H | χ(α) ∈ D}. ¤ In all the following Γ: k → L ∪ ∞ is a Q-place into a field of characteristic 6= 2 such that q has AGR under Γ.11.) For that reason we briefly discuss the “composition” of Q-places.iii below). 6. Let F/k be a generic splitting field of the form q of some level r ∈ [0. By the preceding proposition 6.12. Remark. Assume that ind Γ∗ (q) ≥ jr . as is easily checked. iii) The Q-place j ◦ Γ alluded to in 6. The composition M ◦ Λ of M and Λ is the Q-place (M ◦ Λ) = (µ ◦ λ.12). 4. i∗ : Q(k) → Q(K)) from k to K. H. χ): K → L ∪ ∞ is any Q-places starting at K. regarded as a trivial place. Definition. Then E is a partial generic splitting field of q (cf. then Λ∗ (ϕ) = ker Γ∗ (q). Remarks. 5.13). H. 5.2. GENERIC SPLITTING TOWERS AND GENERIC SPLITTING PREPARATION 195 6. The form q has also AGR under j ◦ Γ.1 we have a Q-place Λ0 : Kr → L ∪ ∞ extending Γ. Assume that ind Γ∗ (q) ≥ jr . In particular we see that ind (Γ∗ (q)⊗L0 ) is one of the numbers jr . Then there exists a Q-place Λ: K → L ∪ ∞ extending Γ such that η has AGR under Λ and Λ∗ (η) ∼ 0. χ): K → L ∪ ∞ and M = (µ. For any such Q-place Λ the anisotropic part ϕ = ker(q⊗F ) of q⊗F has AGR under Λ and Λ∗ (ϕ) ∼ ker Γ∗ (q). Thus the splitting pattern SP(Γ∗ (q)) is a subset of SP(q). Again it suffices to prove the existence of a Q-place Λ extending Γ such that η has AGR under Λ and Λ∗ (η) ∼ 0. h]. Let Λ = (λ.1.

12). Then Theorem 6. 0 Also Λ0 extends Γ. it follows that Λ∗ (ϕm ) is the anisotropic part of Γ∗ (q). The form η ⊗ E is hyperbolic. ¤ Nevertheless.1. for every such Q-place λ the form ϕm has AGR under Λ and Λ∗ (ϕm ) ∼ Γ∗ (q). Of course.6 0 tells us that there exists a Q-place Λ: Km → L ∪ ∞ extending Γ such that εm has AGR under Λ and Λ∗ (εm ) ∼ 0. 4. i. But since Km+1 = K 0 . (ηr | 0 ≤ r ≤ r h) of q with residual forms ϕr and generic splitting forms εr = | ηj ⊗ Kj0 (0 ≤ j=0 r ≤ h). hence certainly has AGR under M and M∗ (η ⊗ E) ∼ 0.7.6. cf. Q-places instead of usual places are needed even in the case Γ = ĵ. This is different with Theorem 6. Indeed. If Λ: K 0 = Km 0 → L ∪ ∞ is as above. χ) to a Q-place Λ = (λ. we are given a generic splitting preparation (η0 . if Λ = (λ.7. h].. the Q-place Λ will be different from λ̂.5 the Q-place Λ extends to a Q-place Λ̃: F → L ∪ ∞. Moreover. and 0 0 there is no reason why ηm+1 should have AGR under Λ and Λ∗ (ηm+1 ) ∼ 0.5 give us nothing more than we know from the generic splitting theory in §1.3). {N. Procedure. .196 MANFRED KNEBUSCH AND ULF REHMANN extending Γ.14 tells us that η has AGR under Λ and Λ∗ (η) ∼ 0. 0 5. ηh ) over K 0 . then the form ϕm in 6. Now Proposition 5.1 and Proposition 6. χ) is a Q-place as stated there.18 one might suspect at first glance that Λ extends to a 0 place M : Km+1 → L ∪ ∞ such that εm+1 has AGR under M and M∗ (εm+1 ) ∼ 0. ¤ We now choose again a generic splitting preparation (Kr0 | 0 ≤ r ≤ h).e. Even in the case Γ = ĵ for j: k . if ind Γ∗ (q) > jm+1 . Here F · Kr0 denotes the free composite of the fields F and Kr0 over k. . By Proposition 6. which tells us that the tower F ⊂ F · Km+1 ⊂ · · · ⊂ F · Kh0 together with the 0 sequence of forms (ηr ⊗ F · Kr | m < r ≤ h) is a generic splitting preparation of ϕm ⊗ F . If ind Γ∗ (q) = jm . We have Λ̃∗ (ϕm ⊗ F ) ∼ Λ̃∗ (q ⊗ F ) = Γ∗ (q). Theorem 6.5. Remark. ψ 0 ): K 0 → L ∪ ∞. automatically has GR under λ. 5. 0 6. This runs as follows. let us consider the special case that K10 = · · · = Kh0 =: K 0 . this is equivalent to the property that ηm+1 has AGR under M and M∗ (ηm+1 ) ∼ 0.→ L the inclusion map into an overfield L of k (actually the case which is perhaps the most urgent at present). ϕ in 6. η1 . Then by analogy with 1. .} But this is too much to be hoped for. H. .9. Suppose that Γ = γ̂ with γ: k → L ∪ ∞ a place and that q has GR under γ.3. Indeed. 6. Q(K 0 ). the only extension of Λ0 to Km+1 0 is Λ0 itself. we .B. The form ϕm ⊗ F is anisotropic. Since Λ∗ (εm ) ∼ 0. ¤ 6. 0 Assume now that ind Γ∗ (q) > jm and Λ: Km → L∪∞ is a Q-place as just described. in 6. resp. Discussion. Assume that ind Γ∗ (q) > jm . further εm has AGR under Λ0 and Λ0∗ (εm ) = Λ∗ (εm ) ∼ 0 (cf.6. Thus. there exists a somewhat natural procedure to 0 0 obtain from a Q-place Λ: Km → L ∪ ∞ as above a Q-place M : Km+1 → L∪∞ 0 extending Γ such that both εm ⊗ Km+1 and εm+1 have AGR under M and we have 0 M∗ (εm ⊗ Km+1 ) ∼ 0 as well as M∗ (εm+1 ) ∼ 0. then we can expand Λ = (λ. Let Λ: Km → L∪ ∞ be a Q-place extending Γ such that εm has AGR under Λ and Λ∗ (εm ) ∼ 0. also Λ extends Γ. We now invoke Corollary 0 4. Since ind Γ∗ (q) > jm . H. In particular ηm+1 ⊗ F · Kr0 is a generic splitting form of ϕm ⊗ F over F · Kr0 of level 1. We choose a regular total generic splitting field F of εm . Let Λ: K → L ∪ ∞ denote the restriction of M to K (cf. Assume that ind Γ∗ (q) ≥ jm for some m ∈ [0.8.

Also ϕm+1 ⊗ F · Km+1 has AGR under M̃ . 6. . Thus. . Let L/k be a field extension. Scholium. cf. For any such Q-place Λ the form ϕr has AGR under Λ and Λ∗ (ϕr ) = ker(q ⊗ L). It is evident from Definitions 5. r]. the form ηm+1 has AGR under M and M∗ (ηm+1 ) ∼ 0.3 that this condition just means that Λ extends the quadratic place ĵ: k → L ∪ ∞. r]. 5. The problem is that the diagram of field embeddings FO / F · Km+1 0 O 0 Km / Km+1 0 0 does not commute. h]. χ): K → L ∪ ∞ such that the first component λ is a place over k.2). and M∗ (ϕm+1 ) ∼ 0 = M̃∗ (ϕm+1 ⊗ F · Km+1 ) ∼ Λ̃∗ (ϕm ⊗ F ) ∼ Λ̃∗ (q ⊗ F ) ∼ = Γ∗ (q). 6. Then there exists a Q-place Λ: Kr0 → L ∪ ∞ extending Γ such that ηm ⊗ Kr0 has AGR under Λ and Λ∗ (ηm ⊗ Kr0 ) ∼ 0 for every m ∈ [0. also εm ⊗ Km+1 has AGR under M . A Q-place from K to L over k is a Q-place Λ = (λ. r − 1. Definition. 0 The argument runs as follows. If Λ is any such Q-place then ϕr has AGR under Λ and Λ∗ (ϕr ) = ker Γ∗ (q). ¤ . By 5. 1. 6.11. We call the generic splitting preparation (Kr0 | 0 ≤ r ≤ h). 0 Now we need a delicate argument to prove that also εm ⊗ Km+1 has AGR under 0 M and M∗ (εm ⊗ Km+1 ) ∼ 0. h] (cf. H. 6. ¤ 6.10.→ L the inclusion map. we conclude that M∗ (εm ⊗ Km+1 ) ∼ 0. ¤ We return to an arbitrary Q-place Γ: k → L ∪ ∞ such that q has AGR under Γ. (ηr | 0 ≤ r ≤ h) of q tame. and Γ∗ (q) ∼ 0 = M∗ (q ⊗ Km+1 )∼ 0 = M∗ (εm ⊗ Km+1 ) ⊥ M∗ (ηm+1 ) ⊥ M∗ (ϕm+1 ). . 0 Since q ⊗ Km+1 ∼ 0 = εm ⊗ Km+1 ⊥ ηm+1 ⊥ ϕm+1 and both. if there exists a generic splitting tower (Kr | 0 ≤ r ≤ h) of q such that Kr0 is a subfield of Kr and ηr ⊗ Kr ∼ 0 for every r ∈ [0. Theorem. ηm+1 and ϕm+1 . and also that Λ|k = ĵ.13. 0 Since M∗ (ηm+1 ) ∼ 0 and M∗ (ϕm+1 ) ∼ Γ∗ (q). Thus M probably does not extend the Q-place Λ. Λ̃ extends 0 0 to a Q-place M̃ : F · Km+1 → L ∪ ∞ such that ηm+1 ⊗ F · Km+1 has AGR under M̃ 0 0 and M̃∗ (ηm+1 ⊗ F · Km+1 ) ∼ 0. Let K and L be field extensions of k.12. .11. Iterating the procedure with m = 0. again by Proposition 6. Let ind Γ∗ (q) = jr .14. we obtain the following theorem. We briefly discuss the case that L is a field extension of k and Γ = ĵ with j: k . have 0 AGR under M . Let M : Km+1 → L ∪ ∞ denote the restriction of 0 M̃ to Km+1 . hence ϕm+1 has AGR under M . Definition/Remark. since the field composite F · Km+1 is built over k instead of 0 Km . GENERIC SPLITTING TOWERS AND GENERIC SPLITTING PREPARATION 197 conclude that Λ̃∗ (ϕm ⊗ F ) is isotropic. ind (q ⊗ L) = jr .5. Then there exists a Q-place Λ: Kr0 → L ∪ ∞ over k such that ηm ⊗ Kr0 has AGR under Λ and Λ∗ (ηm ⊗ Kr0 ) ∼ 0 for every m ∈ [0. ¤ We have ind Γ∗ (q) = jr for some r ∈ [0.

65–93. Math. J. Untersuchungen über quadratische Formen in Körpern der Charak- teristik 2 (Teil I). II. [K4 ] M. 183 (1941). Berlin: Springer 1964. 1–31. By 6. Knebusch. By 5. [W] E. Soc. Since this holds for every i ∈ [0. Thus it seems that life is easier if we have a tame generic splitting preparation at our disposal than an arbitrary one. For every i ∈ [0. Rehmann. J. Acta Arithmetica. 33 (1976). although we did not look for examples. 46 (1994). Hurrelbrink and U. Certainly εi ⊗ Kr has AGR under Λ̃ and Λ̃∗ (εi ⊗ Kr ) ∼ 0. reine angew. Math. 183–192. “Introduction to algebraic geometry”. [HR1 ] J. 34 (1977). Rehmann.1 there exists a Q-place Λ̃: Kr → L ∪ ∞ extending Γ. References [A] C. 117–130. reine angew.14. Book in preparation. Generic splitting of quadratic forms. Theory of fields and Galois theory. 517 (1999). J. [HR2 ] J. and a norm theorem. New York. On the other hand we suspect that there exist generic splitting preparations which are wild (= not tame). “Lectures in abstract algebra” III. Theorie der quadratischen Formen in beliebigen Koerpern. Math. Proc. r]. Generic splitting of quadratic forms in the presence of bad reduction. in spite of Proposition 4. Procedure. 24 (1973). 6. 176 (1937). London Math. for we do not know whether every form admits a tame generic splitting decomposition.5 is tame. “Spezialisierung von quadratischen und symmetrischen bilin- earen Formen”. Generic splitting of quadratic forms. If our given generic splitting preparation of q is tame then there exists a much simpler procedure than the one described above. Math. Tôhoku Math. . Splitting patterns of excellent quadratic forms. Let Λ denote the restriction of Λ̃ to Kr0 .10. (ηr | 0 ≤ r ≤ h) as described by 3. to obtain a Q-place Λ: Kr0 → L∪∞ with the properties stated in Theorem 6. J. Assume that ind Γ∗ (q) = jr . Soc.4 and 3.11) that ηi ⊗ Kr0 has AGR under Λ and Λ∗ (ηi ⊗ Kr0 ) ∼ 0 for every i ∈ [0. Arf. 31–44. reine angew. [K2 ] M. Knebusch. Lang. reine angew. [K1 ] M. 35–70. and that (Ki | 0 ≤ i ≤ h) is a generic splitting tower of q such that Ki0 is a subfield of Ki and εi ⊗ Ki ∼ 0 for every i ∈ [0. Splitting patterns and linear combinations of two Pfister forms. reine angew. Hurrelbrink and U. Generic splitting of reductive groups. Knebusch. Proc.14 the form εi ⊗ Kr0 has AGR under Λ and Λ∗ (εi ⊗ Kr0 ) ∼ 0. 163–174 [J] N.198 MANFRED KNEBUSCH AND ULF REHMANN Notice that a generic splitting preparation (Kr0 | 0 ≤ r ≤ h).8). J. [K3 ] M. Kersten and U. r] we have (εi ⊗ Kr0 ) ⊗ Kr = εi ⊗ Kr ∼ 0. r] we conclude (using 5. Heidelberg. London Math. Knebusch. [Lg] S. Knebusch. Rehmann. 495 (1998). Witt. Up to now this is an argument in favor of working with generic splitting preparations instead of the more special generic splitting decompositions (cf. Specialization of quadratic forms and symmetric bilinear forms. [KR] I. h]. 148–167. [K5 ] M. J. 444 (1993). I. Thus every form admits tame generic split- ting preparations. Then Λ again extends Γ. 4.9. Math. Jacobson. New York: Interscience 1958. 279–299.

de Fakultät für Mathematik Universität Bielefeld D33501 Bielefeld Germany E-mail address: rehmann@mathematik.uni-bielefeld.uni-regensburg. GENERIC SPLITTING TOWERS AND GENERIC SPLITTING PREPARATION 199 Fachbereich Mathematik Universität Regensburg D93040 Regensburg Germany E-mail address: manfred.knebusch@mathematik.de .

2000 Mathematics Subject Classification: 11E39. We say that (M.J. mass of hermitian forms. Note that explicit formulae have been already obtained by Y. Denote by GM the genus of M (up to isometry). Local densities. Local densities are used in the calculation of mass formulae. 1. The author thanks the referee for interesting remarks. The following theorem gives an example of the application of local densities when E is a cyclotomic field. h) and (N. k) ⊗B (B ⊗A Ap ) =: Np for every spot p of K and where Ap is the completion of A at p. k) are said to be in the same genus if Mp := (M. 2000 Local densities of hermitian forms Maurice Mischler Abstract. h) is totally definite. h) := |U (L)| L∈GM Key words and phrases. Let B be the ring of integers of E. The aim of this paper is to describe how to compute the local density of a given hermitian form. This means that h is positive at every infinite spot. The mass of GM is the following sum: X 1 ω(M. Two hermitian B-lattices (M. We suppose that (M. knowing its usual invariants such as the Jordan decomposition or invariant factors. and A be the ring of integers of K. Hironaka in [5] and [6] but only in the case of inert primes. Boéchat for fruitful discussions and the organizers of the conference for the opportunity to give a talk.1. Introduction Let E be a totally complex number field with complex multiplication. h) be a totally definite hermitian B-lattice of rank n. h) is a hermitian B-lattice if M is a projective module of finite rank over B equipped with a nondegenerate hermitian form h. c °2000 American Mathematical Society 201 . Suppose that E = Q(ζd ) is a cyclotomic field. h) ⊗B (B ⊗A Ap ) is isometric to (N. Let (M. Theorem 1. Prof. and K the fixed field under complex conjugation.Contemporary Mathematics Volume 00. the involution being defined by complex conjugation.

202 MAURICE MISCHLER

where |U (L)| is the cardinality of the unitary group of any representative of the
class L. Then we have
  ϕ(d)
2
n
Y Y
n(n+1)
−n  (j − 1)!  n
ω(M, h) = 2 · |d(E)| 4 · |d(K)| ·
2
j
· det(M ) 2 · Bp (Mp )−1
j=1
(2π)
p∈P

where det(M ) = [M # : M ] with M # = {x ∈ M ⊗ E | h(x, M ) ⊂ B}, d(E) and
d(K) are the discriminants of the fields E and K respectively, P is the set of all
finite spots of K and Bp (Mp ) is the local density of Mp .
We will give the precise definition of local density in the next part.
The proof of this theorem is very long and technical. See ([9], formula (4.5),
p. 20), ([2], p. 112]), and ([3], Satz VI). For more general formulae, see the won-
derful book of Shimura [11]. The usefulness of this theorem is evident (for classifi-
cations for instance), so we have to be able to precisely compute local densities.

2. Definitions
Let E, K, B, A be as in the introduction and p a finite spot of K. Suppose that
2 6∈ p. Three cases are possible:

P
 inert case
2
pB = P ramified case


P1 · P2 decomposed case
for some prime ideals P, P1 , P2 of B. Write R = B ⊗A Ap . The classical theory of
localisation shows that
½
BP in the inert and ramified case
R=
BP1 × BP2 ' Ap × Ap in the decomposed case.
Finally, if π is a uniformizing parameter of Ap such that pAp = πAp , we can suppose
that

 p ·R
 in the inert case, with p = π
2
pR = p · R in the ramified case, with p 2 = π


p · R ' πAp × πAp in the decomposed case, with p = (π, π).
In any case, let P denote the ideal p · R.
Definition 2.1. Let (M, h) be a hermitian R-lattice. Suppose that p does
not decompose. A vector x of M is said to be primitive if there exists an R-
basis (x1 , . . . , xn ) of M such that x = x1 . Let a be an ideal of R. We say that
(M, h) is a-modular if h(x, M ) = a for every primitive vector of M . If there exists
m1 < · · · < ml such that the following orthogonal sum holds:
M = M1 ¢ · · · ¢ Ml
mi
where Mi is P -modular for every i, we say that M1 ¢ · · · ¢ Ml is a Jordan
decomposition of (M, h). It is possible to prove that Jordan decomposition exists
and that l, dim(Mi ), and mi do not depend on the decomposition. In this case,
Pm1 ⊃ · · · ⊃ Pml are called the invariant factors of (M, h). (See ([4], p. 33) and
([7], p. 449) for proofs.)

LOCAL DENSITIES OF HERMITIAN FORMS 203

Definition 2.2. Let (M, h) be a hermitian R-lattice. Suppose that p decom-
poses. There exist x1 , . . . , xn ∈ M such that

M = (Ap × π m1 Ap )x1 ⊕ · · · ⊕ (Ap × π mn Ap )xn

and such that h(xi , xj ) = δij · (1, 1) for all 1 ≤ i, j ≤ n and m1 ≤ · · · ≤ mn . In this
case
π m1 Ap ⊃ · · · ⊃ π mn Ap
are called the invariant factors of (M, h), because

M # = (π −m1 Ap × Ap )x1 ⊕ · · · ⊕ (π −mn Ap × Ap )xn .

(See ([4], p. 25) or ([10], Proposition 3.2) for proofs.) In addition, (M, h) is said
to be Pm -modular if
m1 = · · · = mn = m.

Definition 2.3. Let (M, h) and (N, k) be two hermitian R-lattices of rank
r ≥ s respectively. Let m ∈ N. We define Apm (M, N ) to be the set of R-linear
maps u : N → M which are distinct modulo pm RM and satisfy

h(u(x), u(y)) ≡ k(x, y) (mod pm R) for all x, y ∈ N.

We write Apm (M, N ) the cardinality of Apm (M, N ).

Proposition 2.4. Let (M, h) and (N, k) be two hermitian R-lattices of rank
r ≥ s respectively. Suppose that p ∩ Z = pZ and write q = pf = |A/p|. Then we
have:
Apm+1 (M, N ) = q s(2r−s) Apm (M, N )
for any m ≥ 2 · vp (al ) + 1. Here a1 ⊃ · · · ⊃ al are the invariant factors of (N, k),
and vp is the discrete valuation over Ap .

Proof. See ([9], Hilfssatz 5.3) for the proof. ¤

Definition 2.5 (definition of local densities). Let (M, h) be a hermit-
ian R-lattice of rank r. We write
2
Bp (M ) = lim q −r m
Apm (M, M ).
m→∞

The last proposition shows that this limit exists. This limit is called the local
density of (M, h).

Now, the natural question is the following: if we know the invariant factors of
a given hermitian R-lattice, is it possible to calculate its local density ? We will
show that the answer is yes!

204 MAURICE MISCHLER

3. Results
Let E, K, B, A, p, R, p, and q be as in the last part.
Proposition 3.1. Let (M, h) be a hermitian R-lattice of rank n.
(a) Suppose that p does not decompose. If h = π m h0 with M ⊂ Mh#0 and m ≥
1, write M 0 for (M, h0 ). Let l be a strictly positive integer . Then we have
2
Apl+m (M, M ) = q 2mn Apl (M 0 , M 0 ). This implies that
2
Bp (M ) = q mn Bp (M 0 ).
(b) Suppose that p decomposes. We have seen that we can suppose that M =
(Ap × π m1 Ap )x1 ⊕ · · · ⊕ (Ap × π mn Ap )xn with h(xi , xj ) = δij · (1, 1). Now define
h0 such that h0 (xi , xj ) = (1, π −m1 )h(xi , xj ) for all 1 ≤ i, j ≤ n. Then we have
the same results with m1 instead of m.
Proof. In each case, let
Ψ : Apm+l (M, M ) −→ Apl (M 0 , M 0 )
u (mod pl+m R) 7−→ u (mod pl R)
The function Ψ is surjective. More precisely, if u ∈ Apl (M 0 , M 0 ), it is easy to verify
that the set of u + π l v, where v is any endomorphism modulo pm R, is the set of u0
such that Ψ(u0 ) = u. Since |R/pm R| = |Ap /pm |2 = q 2m , the number of v which is
2 2
the number of u0 is equal to q 2mn . Hence Apl+m (M, M ) = q 2mn Apl (M 0 , M 0 ). So
we have proved the proposition. Indeed, for l big enough, we have:
2
Apl+m (M, M ) q 2mn Apl (M 0 , M 0 ) 2
Bp (M ) = = = q mn Bp (M 0 ). ¤
q (l+m)n 2
q mn2 q ln2

Proposition 3.2. Let (M, h) be a hermitian R-lattice of rank n. Suppose that
(M, h) is Pm modular. Let (N, k) be another hermitian R-lattice of rank n.
Suppose there exist R-bases (e1 , . . . , en ) and (f1 , . . . , fn ) of M and N respec-
tively such that
h(ei , ej ) ≡ k(fi , fj ) (mod pm+1 R) in the non-ramified cases
and such that
m
h(ei , ej ) ≡ k(fi , fj ) (mod p[ 2 ]+1 R) in the ramified case
where [x] is the integer part of x. Then (M, h) is isometric to (N, k) over R.
Proof. In each case, it is easy to prove that (N, k) is Pm -modular. If p
ramifies and m is odd, or if p does not ramify, all Pm -modular forms are isometric.
See [4,5] for proofs. The proposition is hence proved in these cases. Suppose
now that p ramifies and that m is even. We only have to prove that det(M, h) =
mn
det(N, k). We need Hensel’s lemma. It is easy to prove that det(M, h) = λπ 2
for a given unit λ of Ap . Without loss of generality, we can suppose that for all
m m m m
i = 1, . . . , n−1, we have k(fi , fi ) = π 2 +π 2 +1 αi , and k(fn , fn ) = λπ 2 +π 2 +1 αn ,
m
+1
with αi , αn ∈ Ap . If i 6= j, then k(fi , fj ) is a multiple of π 2 . Hence det(N, k) =
mn mn mn
λπ 2 + π 2 +1 α = π 2 (λ + πα) for some α in Ap . Let η = λ+πα λ = 1 + π αλ ≡ 1
(mod p). Then Hensel’s lemma shows that η is a square of a unit of Ap . Hence,
det(M, h) = det(N, k). ¤

LOCAL DENSITIES OF HERMITIAN FORMS 205

Proposition 3.3. Let (M, h) and (N, k) be hermitian R-lattices of rank n1 and
n2 respectively such that n1 ≥ n2 . Suppose that (N, k) and m ≥ 1 have the property
that (N 0 , k 0 ) ' (N, k) (mod pm R) implies that (N, k) is isometric to (N 0 , k 0 ) over
R. Then we have:
Apm+1 (M, N ) = q n2 (2n1 −n2 ) Apm (M, N ).

Proof. This is the Proposition 5.4 of [1], in the ramified case. The proof in
the other cases is similar. ¤

Proposition 3.4. Let (M, h) be a hermitian R-lattice of rank n. Suppose that
M = M1 ¢ · · · ¢ Ml is a Jordan decomposition of M , that is, every Mi is Pmi -
modular for all i, and m1 < · · · < ml . Assume that the rank of M1 is n1 and that
m1 = 0 if p does not ramify and that m1 = 0 or 1 in the ramified case. Then we
have
Apm (M, M ) = q m1 n1 (n−n1 ) Apm (M, M1 ) Apm (N, N ) for all m ≥ 1
where N = M2 ¢ · · · ¢ Ml .
Proof. Let v ∈ Apm (M, M1 ). By Proposition 3.2, M1 is isometric to v(M1 ).
Then, v(M1 ) splits M (see ([1], proposition 5.3) or ([4], p. 32) for proof in the inert
and ramified cases, in the decomposed case use the same arguments). It follows that
there exists u ∈ Apm (M, M ) such that u|M1 ≡ v (mod pm R). Let u0 be another
element of Apm (M, M ) such that u0 |M1 ≡ v (mod pm R). Then (u−1 ◦ u0 )|M1 ≡
IdM1 (mod pm R) and (u−1 ◦ u0 )|N ∈ Apm ((u−1 ◦ u0 )(N ), N ) ' Apm (N, N ). Let
x1 , . . . , xn1 be a P
basis of M1 and xn1 +1 , . . . , xn a basis of N . Let l ≥ n1 + 1. Write
n
(u−1 ◦ u0 )(xl ) = i=1 λi,l xi .
(a) Suppose that p does not ramify. Using a classification given in [4,7,10], we can
suppose that h(xi , xi ) ≡ 1R (mod pm R) for all i ≤ n1 and that h(xi , xj ) ≡ 0
(mod pm R) for all i 6= j. Then we have
0 ≡ h((u−1 ◦ u0 )(xl ), xi ) ≡ λi,l h(xi , xi ) ≡ λi,l (mod pm R).
So we have no choice for the λi,l . This completes the proof in the non-ramified
case.
(b) The ramified case is Proposition 5.5 of [1]. ¤

Theorem 3.5. Let (M, h) be a hermitian R-lattice of rank n. Consider M =
M1 ¢ · · · ¢ Ml , a Jordan decomposition of (M, h), such that Mi is Pmi -modular,
m1 < · · · < ml , and the rank of Mi is ni for all i. Thanks to Proposition 3.1, we
can suppose that m1 = 0 or 1 in the ramified case, and that m1 = 0 in the inert
and decomposed cases.
(a) Suppose that p is ramified. Let m2 = 2m02 + ²(m2 ), with ²(m2 ) = 1 if m2 is odd
and ²(m2 ) = 0 otherwise. If we define M20 ¢· · ·¢Ml0 = (M2 , h02 )¢· · ·¢(Ml , h0l ),
0
²(m02 )
with hi = π m2 h0i , we have Mi ⊂ (Mi )# 0
h0i for all i = 2, . . . , l, and M2 is P -
modular. Under these hypothesis, we have:
(i) if (m1 , m2 ) 6= (0, 1), then
0 2
Bp (M ) = q m2 (n−n1 ) +m1 n1 (n−n1 )
Bp (M1 ) Bp (M20 ¢ · · · ¢ Ml0 ).

206 MAURICE MISCHLER

(ii) if (m1 , m2 ) = (0, 1), then

Bp (M ) = Bp (M2 )−1 Bp (M1 ¢ M2 ) Bp (M2 ¢ · · · ¢ Ml ).
(b) Suppose that p is inert. Define M20 ¢ · · · ¢ Ml0 := (M2 , h02 ) ¢ · · · ¢ (Ml , h0l ),with
hi = π m2 h0i . In this case, M20 is unimodular, and Mi ⊂ (Mi )# h0i for all i =
2, . . . , l. Then we have:
2
Bp (M ) = q m2 (n−n1 ) Bp (M1 ) Bp (M20 ¢ · · · ¢ Ml0 ).
(c) Suppose that p decomposes. Define M20 ¢ · · · ¢ Ml0 := (M2 , h02 ) ¢ · · · ¢ (Ml , h0l ),
with hi = (1, π m2 )h0i . In this case, M20 is unimodular, and Mi ⊂ (Mi )# h0i for all
i = 2, . . . , l. Then again:
2
Bp (M ) = q m2 (n−n1 ) Bp (M1 ) Bp (M20 ¢ · · · ¢ Ml0 ).

Proof. Let µ = 2ml . In any case, thanks to Proposition 2.4, we have
Apµ+1 (M, M )
Bp (M ) = .
q (µ+1)n2
On the other hand, Proposition 3.4 says that

Apm (M, M ) = q m1 n1 (n−n1 ) Apm (M, M1 ) Apm (N, N ) for all m ≥ 1,
where N = M2 ¢ · · · ¢ Ml . Finally, Propositions 3.2 and 3.3 show that

Apµ+1 (M, M1 ) = q µn1 (2n−n1 ) Ap (M, M1 ).
Proof of part (i) of (a): in this case, we know that m2 ≥ 2. We claim that
Ap (M, M1 ) = q 2n1 (n−n1 ) Ap (M1 , M1 ). Indeed, let u ∈ Ap (M, M1 ). We represent u
n1
µ z}|{ ¶
U1 }n1 t
by a matrix U = ∈ Mn×n1 (R) such that U HM U ≡ HM1 (mod pR),
U2 }n−n1
where HM and HM1 are the matrices of h and h|M1 respectively. In this µ case, we ¶
HM 1 0
know that p R = P2 . Hence, HM = HM1 ⊕ HM2 ⊕ · · · ⊕ HMl ≡
0 0
t t
(mod P2 ), since m2 ≥ 2. It follows that U HM U ≡ U1 HM1 U1 ≡ HM1 (mod P2 ),
and hence U1 ∈ Ap (M1 , M1 ). That is, Ap (M, M1 ) = q 2n1 (n−n1 ) Ap (M1 , M1 ).
We also verify, thanks to Proposition 3.1, that
0 2
Apk+m02 (N, N ) = q 2m2 (n−n1 ) Apk (N 0 , N 0 ) for all positive k

where N = M2 ¢ · · · ¢ Ml and N 0 = M20 ¢ · · · ¢ Ml0 .
Now, we are able to compute Bp (M ).
2
+m1 n1 (n−n1 )+µn1 (2n−n1 )+2n1 (n−n1 )+2m02 (n−n1 )2
Bp (M ) = q −(µ+1)n
0 0
2 2
(µ+1−m02 ) Ap (M1 , M1 ) Apµ+1−m02 (N , N )
· q n1 +(n−n1 ) · 2 · 2 0
q n1 q (n−n1 ) (µ+1−m2 )
0 2
= q m2 (n−n1 ) +m1 n1 (n−n1 )
Bp (M1 ) Bp (M20 ¢ · · · ¢ Ml0 ).

LOCAL DENSITIES OF HERMITIAN FORMS 207

Proof of part (ii) of (a):
Ap3 (M1 ¢M2 ,M1 ¢M2 )
Proposition 3.4 tells us that Ap3 (M1 ¢ M2 , M1 ) = Ap3 (M2 ,M2 ) . On the
2n1 (2(n1 +n2 )−n1 )
other hand, by Proposition 3.3 we have Ap3 (M1 ¢ M2 , M1 ) = q ·
Ap (M1 ¢ M2 , M1 ). It follows that,
Ap3 (M1 ¢ M2 , M1 ¢ M2 )
Ap (M1 ¢ M2 , M1 ) = p−2n1 (2(n1 +n2 )−n1 ) .
Ap3 (M2 , M2 )

Using the same arguments as for part (i), we can easily see that

Ap (M, M1 ) = p2(n−(n1 +n2 ))n1 Ap (M1 ¢ M2 , M1 ).

Again, we are able to compute:
2
Bp (M ) = q µn1 (2n−n1 )−(µ+1)n +2n1 (n−(n1 +n2 ))−2n1 (2n2 +n1 )

2
−3n22 +(µ+1)(n−n1 )2
· q 3(n1 +n2 ) · Bp (M2 )−1 Bp (M1 ¢ M2 ) Bp (N )
= Bp (M2 )−1 Bp (M1 ¢ M2 ) Bp (M2 ¢ · · · ¢ Ml ).

The proofs of parts (b) and (c) are similar to that of part (i) of (a), except that in
these cases, m1 = 0. ¤

With these results, we have to compute local densities only in four cases:
(a) when M is unimodular and p ramifies,
(b) when M is P-modular and p ramifies,
(c) when M = M1 ¢ M2 with M1 unimodular, M2 P-modular, and p ramifies,
(d) when M is unimodular and p does not ramify.
But these local densities are already calculated in the literature. We recall
these computations in the next theorem.
Theorem 3.6. Let (M, h) be a hermitian R-lattice of rank n.
(a) Suppose that p is ramified.
(i) Suppose that M is unimodular, that U (Ap )/NR/Ap (U (R)) = {1, ²} and that
the determinant of (M, h) is λ ∈ {1, ²}. If n is even, then
µ n ¶ n−2
Y2
(−1) 2 λ −n
Bp (M ) = 2(1 − q 2 ) (1 − q −2i )
p i=1
µ ¶ ½
x 1 if x is a square (mod p)
where =
p −1 otherwise.
(ii) If M is unimodular and n is odd, then
n−1
Y2

Bp (M ) = 2 (1 − q −2i ).
i=1

(iii) If M is P-modular. Then n must be even, and we have:
n
n(n+1) Y
2

Bp (M ) = q 2 (1 − q −2i ).
i=1

Hilfssatz 5. Then we have: n1 n2 n2 (n2 +1) Y 2 Y 2 −2i 2q 2 (1 − q ) (1 − q −2i ) i=1 Bp (M ) = µ n1 ¶ i=1 . Conf. i=1 (c) If p decomposes. 441–465. 6. See ([1]. of Math. 24-28) for part (a) and ([9]. Besançon. Sci. ²}. 79 no 2 (1964).) (1971). 9. Franche-Comté. J. P. but the dimension of M1 is odd. G. of dimension n2 = n − n1 necessarily even. 10. Abh. Sem. (−1) 2 λ n1 1+ p q− 2 (v) Suppose that we are in the same situation as (iv). Un lien entre les Z-réseaux et les formes hermitiennes: les F -réseaux. Contemporary Mathematics 249 (1999). p. Hironaka. J. 7. 2. 40–64. Shimura. i=1 i=1 (b) Suppose that p is inert and M is unimodular. Théorie des nombres. Math. R. 1999. Jacobowitz. Math 221 (1966). H. Fac. Positive definite unimodular lattices with trivial automorphism groups. Then: n Y Bp (M ) = (1 − (−1)i q −i ). J. Tech. 3.208 MAURICE MISCHLER (iv) Suppose that M1 ¢ M2 is a Jordan decomposition of M with M1 unimod- ular of dimension n1 even and of determinant λ ∈ {1. Then: n Y Bp (M ) = (1 − q −i ). Reine Angew. Shimura. Genre et facteurs invariants de formes hermitiennes. 4. G. S. i=1 Proof. Zur Theorie der hermitischen Formen. Années 1996/97–1997/98. Boge. Besançon (1997). Göttingen. Mischler. UFR Sci. Euler Products and Eisenstein Series. Publ. Bannai. 369–409. Memoirs of the AMS 429 (1990). (Diss. Math.mischler@ima. E. 8. Publ. Univ. Franche-Comté. ¤ References 1. Ann. Local densities of hermitian forms. M. Number Theory 71 (1998). U. Hermitian forms over local fields.3) for parts (b) and (c). Y. Hamburg 14 (1941). Local zeta functions on hermitian forms and its application to local densities. Switzerland E-mail address: maurice. Math. 5. 11. 369–409. 135–148. Y. Hironaka. CMBS Reg. Rehmann. Am. 85–112. and M is unimodular. Besançon. Braun. Arithmetic of unitary groups. Université de Lausanne CH-1015 Lausanne. Schiefhermitesche Formen über Zahlkörpern und Quaternionenschiefkörpern. Series in Math. Klassenzahlen einiger totaldefiniter klassischer Gruppen über Zahlkörpern. 93 (1997). Calame. Univ. 84 (1962). and with M2 P-modular. 61–150.ch . Institut de mathématiques Faculté des Sciences.unil. Then we have: n1 −1 n2 n2 (n2 +1) Y 2 Y 2 Bp (M ) = 2 q 2 (1 − q −2i ) (1 − q −2i ).

12Y05. then p − f 2 is a sum of two squares. 14N15. There have been two modern expositions of the proof – one by Cassels in the 1993 book [6] by Rajwade. and one by Swan [8] in these Proceedings – but there are apparently no other proofs of this theorem in the literature. In 1977. a high point of 19th century algebraic geometry. but as we shall see. Preliminaries Suppose X (1) p(x. by the theory of quantifier elimination (see. y. y. describing all representations in detail. Hilbert’s proof is short. then we give an algorithm for constructing all representations of p as a sum of three squares. z). Choi and Lam [2] gave a short elementary proof that a psd ternary quartic must be a sum of (five) squares of quadratic forms. 11E20. we can answer these questions completely. then there are at most 8 such representations. but difficult. we describe some methods for finding and counting representa- tions of a psd ternary quartic as a sum of three squares. We show that if F is not the fourth power of a linear form. How can we tell whether p is psd? The general answer.g. if p(x. Hilbert’s approach does not address two interesting computational issues: (1) Given a psd ternary quartic. the number “three” is critical.. Introduction In 1888. [1]) tells us that this is the case if and 1991 Mathematics Subject Classification. We also give an equivalent form of Hilbert’s Theorem which involves only binary forms. 2. The key idea to our work is the simple observation that if p = f 2 + g 2 + h2 .k xi y j z k i+j+k=4 is a ternary quartic. where F is a psd quartic. c °0000 (copyright holder) 209 . In certain special cases. z) = x4 + F (y. For example. z) = αi. how can one find three such quadratics? (2) How many “fundamentally different” ways can this be done? In this paper.j. e.Contemporary Mathematics Notes towards a constructive proof of Hilbert’s Theorem on ternary quartics Victoria Powers and Bruce Reznick 1. 11E76. Hilbert [5] proved that a real ternary quartic which is positive semi- definite (psd) must have a representation as a sum of three squares of quadratic forms.

y 0 = y. z)x2 + 2F3 (y. . p = x21 + · · · + x2r . . u>0 u .. 0) = t4 p(1. if p(x1 . By an invertible change taking p to p0 . z = z 0 . for all (y. then Φ0 (0) = 2b = 0 as well. c) > 0. We present a condition for p to be psd. . Thus.   p(x1 . If deg p = d and M = cI.0. we may assume that p(t. y. . z) = x4 +0·x3 y+0·x3 z+· · · . and a ≥ 0.0 x3 y + α3. We may henceforth assume that Φ(0) = c > 0. . b. For example. y. ..1. xn ) is a psd quadratic form of rank r. . and so we may assume that p(1. . z 0 = z. 0. xn ) is a homogeneous polynomial. Theorem 1. The quartic Φ(t) = t4 + 2at2 + 2bt + c satisfies Φ(t) ≥ 0 for all t if and only if c ≥ 0 and 2 ³ p ´1/2 ³ p ´ (3) |b| ≤ √ −a + a2 + 3c 2a + a2 + 3c := K(a.1. and representations of p as a sum of m squares are immediately transformed into similar representations of p0 and vice versa. b. then p0 = cd p.0 = 1. . z) = x4 + 2F2 (y.1. c). . Thus. z) ∈ R2 and all real t. 0) = u > 0.210 VICTORIA POWERS AND BRUCE REZNICK only if the coefficients of p belong to a particular semi-algebraic set.0. Writing p in decreasing powers of x. z).. 0. . xn ). . . we will mean a formal identity:  0    x1 m11 · · · m1n x1 0 0 0  . When making invertible changes. We may thus assume without loss of generality that (2) p(x. A non- trivial application of invertible changes is given in Theorem 6 below. b = 0. Note that p is psd if and only if.1 z).  . and so. z). Note that p is psd if and only if p0 is psd. Then there exists a point (a. z) ≥ 0. x0n mn1 ··· mnn xn where the matrix M = [mij ] above is in GL(n. A necessary condition for Φ(t) ≥ 0 for all t is that Φ(0) = c ≥ 0. . so it will be convenient to make a few harmless assumptions about p. 0) = 1. we have p(x. and it’s easy to see that p0 (x.0 y 0 + α3. .. which holds if and only if ³ c´ min u3 + 2au + ≥ 2|b|.. . Suppose that p(x1 . then x = x0 − 14 (α3. .1 z 0 ).0. one possibility is that c = 0.z) (t) := t4 + 2F2 (y.  . and clearly t4 + 2at2 ≥ 0 if and only if a ≥ 0. No novelty is claimed for this result. we shall restrict our attention to ternary quartics of this shape. = . Φ(y. c) for which p(a. z)t + F4 (y. which has surely been known in various guises for centuries.. Suppose now that p is a non-zero psd ternary quartic. dividing by |t|. 0. then after an invertible change. .   . xn ) = p (x1 . Φ(t) ≥ 0 for all |t| if and only if |t|3 + 2a|t| + 2b · Sign(t) + c|t|−1 ≥ 0. multiplying p by a positive constant is an invertible change. z)t2 + 2F3 (y. .1 x3 z + . By an (invertible) rotation. y. If we now let x0 = x + 41 (α3. This general set is likely to be rather unedifying to look at in detail. R). .0 y + α3. . hence α4.0. where Fj is a binary form of degree j in (y. we will customarily drop the primes as soon as no confusion would result. . If Φ(0) = 0. z)x + F4 (y. y = y 0 . Henceforth. . 3 3 Proof. z) = x4 + α3.   .

s) ∈ R2 . 0) = 0 if a ≥ 0 and K(a. Suppose p is given by (2). HILBERT’S THEOREM ON TERNARY QUARTICS 211 The minimum occurs when 3u40 + 2au20 − c = 0. so |b| ≤ K(a. because this case assumes that c > 0. s). Then p is psd if and only if F4 is psd. (6) is not a “true” illustration of quan- tifier elimination. because there will still be square roots on the right-hand side. The Gram matrix method Observe that for polynomials in f. we see that Φ(t) ≥ 0 if and only if (4) 2|b| ≤ u30 + 2au0 + cu−1 3 2 0 = 4u0 + 4au0 = 4u0 (u0 + a) µ ³ p ´¶1/2 µ 1 ³ p ´ ¶ 1 (5) =4 −a + a2 + 3c −a + a2 + 3c + a = 2K(a. g ∈ R[X] := R[x1 . P called the Gram matrix method. i=1 j=1 j=1 k=1 i=1 j=1 (Note that (7) includes all real 2 × 2 orthogonal matrices. More generally. b. s)). using c = 3u40 + 2au20 to simplify the computation. 3. 3 3 We are nearly done. We remark. ¤ Note that if (a. (6) |F3 (r. 1 Suppose p is a form in R[X] which is a sum of squares of forms. Choi. then K(a. it is not necessary to write this as a separate condition. . we have K(a. 0) implies b = 0 and a ≥ 0 when c = 0. c) ≥ 0. if M = [mij ] is a real t × t orthogonal matrix. The only positive solution to this equation is à √ !1/2 −a + a2 + 3c u0 = . . 0) < 0 if a < 0. For α = (α1 . αn ) ∈ Nn . F4 (r. xn ] and for all θ. (7) f 2 + g 2 = (cos θf + sin θg)2 + (± sin θf ∓ cos θg)2 . . s)| ≤ K(F2 (r. 3 Thus.) Thus. However. c)√satisfies (3). . we write |α| to denote αi and X α to denote xα αn 1 ·· · ··xn . But note that if c = 0. Corollary 2. even after squaring. that. c). . Then p must have even degree 2d and thus can be written X p= aα X α . . Lam and Reznick [4] have developed a method for studying representa- tions of a form p ∈ R[X] as a sum of squares. . and for all (r. |α|=2d Suppose now that p has a representation . then  2 à t ! X t Xt Xt X t X Xt (8)  mij fj  = mij mik fj fk = fj2 . . subsuming the first case. and it’s easy to check that this implies that a ≥ − c. any attempt to count the number of representations of a form as a sum of squares must mod out the action of the orthogonal group.

2. . set Uβ = (bβ . it’s easy to see that the (unique) Gram matrix for p is simply the usual matrix representation for p. Hence. but we defer these to a future publication. bβ ).β 0 are variables.β 0 ’s as linear polynomials in some parameters.β .β 0 ] is the Gram matrix of p. If p happens to be a quadratic form. Suppose p = |α|=2d aα X α and V = [vβ. or. the dot products of the vectors are unaltered.β 0 ] is a real symmetric matrix indexed by all β ∈ Nn such that |β| = d. These facts require relatively simple proofs. we shall mean that the sums of t squares comprise m distinct orbits under the action of the orthogonal group. as in (8). with vβ. we remark that a real Gram matrix for p of rank t which is not psd corresponds to a representation of p as a sum or difference of t squares over R and that a complex Gram matrix of rank t corresponds to a sum of t squares over C. By Theorem 3. Prop. It follows that a psd quadratic form has. we see that one set is the image of the other upon by the action of M . 2.β 0 = vβ 0 .4. (1) The following are equivalent: (a) p is a sum of squares of P forms and V is the Gram matrix associated to a representation p = h2i . for each α. (3) Two representations of p as a sum of t squares are orthogonally equivalent.212 VICTORIA POWERS AND BRUCE REZNICK (9) p = h21 + · · · + h2t P (i) β (1) (t) where hi = |β|=d bβ X .β 0 . if and only if they have the same Gram matrix. X (10) aα = Uβ · Uβ 0 . . then upon arranging the monomials in the usual order. If we consider the two sets of vectors of coefficients from the two representations given in (8). that there are exactly m different psd matrices of rank t which satisfy (11). positive semidefinite. Note that V = (vβ. values of the parameters for which V is psd correspond to representations of p as a sum of squares. (2) If V is the Gram matrix of a representation of p as a sum of squares. with the minimum number of squares needed equal to the rank of V . . For each β ∈ Nn of degree d. . equivalently. and since M is orthogonal. Henceforth. when we say that p ∈ R[X] is a sum of t real squares in m ways. P 0 Then (9) becomes p = β.β 0 Uβ · Uβ 0 X β+β . β+β 0 =α The matrix V := [Uβ · Uβ 0 ] (indexed by β ∈ Nn with |β| = d) is the Gram matrix of p associated to (9). This gives the vβ. only one representation as a sum of squares. We now form the (general) Gram matrix of p by solving the linear system corresponding to the equations (11). Finally.10]: P Theorem 3. where the vβ. . Then V = [vβ. Thm.β 0 ) is symmetric. β+β 0 =α The following result is proven in [4. in effect. then the minimum number of squares needed in a representation corresponding to V is the rank of V . and the entries satisfy the equations X (11) aα = vβ. (b) V is positive semidefinite and the entries of V satisfy the equations (11).

HILBERT’S THEOREM ON TERNARY QUARTICS 213 4.0 a b 2 α3. e.2. b. y 2 .1.2.fr/~rouillie Example.3 α 2 0. There are 225 such minors. then for some choice of the parameters {a.4 f 1 1   2 α1.2.2 − 2c Hilbert’s Theorem together with Theorem 3 says that if p is psd. Thus for a specific ternary quartic p we can form a system of 120 equations of degree at most 4 in 6 variables so that the solutions correspond to rank 3 Gram matrices for p. all 4 × 4 minors will equal zero. z 2 . and hence its vanishing is an equation of degree at most 4 in the 6 parameters.1 −d α2.1 −e 2 α1.1 −d 2 α 1. although by symmetry there are at most 120 different minors. one such representation is evident.2 −f α0.1 2 α0.0. We have made use of a computational tool called RealSolving.0 c 1 1   2 α1. e. This means that there are 21 distinct entries in the Gram matrix and 15 equations in (11). then we find the general form of a Gram matrix of a ternary quartic p:  1 1  α4. indeed. c.loria. For any such matrix.1 d      a α0. b. In terms of the Gram matrix. Hilbert’s Theorem and Gram matrices – an introduction We describe how the Gram matrix method works for ternary quartics. Thus the Gram matrix of a ternary quartic is 6 × 6 with entries linear in 6 parameters. If we recall (1).4.0 f α2.3. both complex and real.3 2 α2.0.0.0. which can count the number of solutions.1.2 − f    1 1 1 1 d 2 α0. We ignore the psd requirement for the moment and consider the problem of finding choices of parameter for which this Gram matrix has rank 3.1 e 1 1 1  2 2 α1.3    1   α3.    0 e 0 −d −2b −f  d 0 0 −e −f −2c Since p is psd.0 1 1 1  2 2 α1.2.1.1. see [7] and the RealSolving webpage www.0.0.3.3.2 − 2b 2 α 1. e.1. For details on RealSolving. however in almost all cases.3 2 α1. Each minor is the determinant of a 4 × 4 matrix with entries linear in the parameters. denote the parameters by {a. We can attempt to solve this system. f ) :=  0 0 f −2a −d −e  . f }. The Gram matrix of p is   1 a b 0 0 d a 1 c 0 e 0    b c 1 f 0 0  V = V (a.1       b c α0. and 15 coefficients in the ternary quartic.1. b. and hence the solution to the linear system will have 6 = 21 − 15 parameters. the system is much too complicated to solve “by hand”. this matrix will be psd and have rank 3.3. and write the monomials of degree 2 in the order x2 .0 − 2a 2 α2. We consider p(x. c. d. y.1. yz. c.0. Hilbert’s Theorem states that it is a sum of three squares. this means that .1.1 − e    1   α3.0 e 2 α0. d. f }. xz. z) = x4 + y 4 + z 4 . xy.0 2 α3. There are 6 monomials in a quadratic form in three variables. in the case where there are only finitely many complex solutions. d.

0. it’s easy to see that V (−1. however. b. ±y. we need to allow the entries of the Gram matrix to be complex. 0. The equations (13) and (14) correspond to three psd and three non-psd representations each. we are easily led to the following representation: x4 + y 4 + z 4 = (x2 − y 2 )2 + 2(xy)2 + (z 2 )2 . because p is both symmetric P under permutation of the variables P and even in each P of the variables. 0. 0. One of them is V (r. z) → (±1 y. 0) and V (0. 0. 0. 0). Thus we know that there are exactly 63 (orthogonally inequivalent) ways to write p as a sum of three squares of forms over C. s. If we consider p as a sum of three complex quadratic forms. It is not obvious. The obvious representation x4 + y 4 + z 4 = (x2 )2 + (y 2 )2 + (z 2 )2 corresponds to V (0. s). s. after the cyclic permutation of the variables. As noted above. Thus. −1. with r = 1 − 2 and s = 2 − 2. y. These five equations correspond to 15 different representations. ±z)2 = fi (x. Clearly two other such representations can be found by cycling the variables: V (0. for p = x4 + y 4 + z 4 we have found that there are 15 choices of parameter in which V is a real matrix of rank 3. −1. The “obvious” representation (12) is unaffected by these symmetries. In fact. 0) is also psd with rank 3. ±y)2 = etc. f ) is psd with rank 3. ±2 z) make them correspond to four psd and four non-psd representations respectively. of which 15 are a sum or difference of three squares over R. but (15) and (16) are already symmetric in the variables (this shows up in their Gram matrices). But p has other representations. (16) below.) We will later show how these representations can be derived without using a Gram matrix. we can find the following 15 representations of p as a sum or difference of three squares of real quadratic forms: (12) (x2 )2 + (y 2 )2 + (z 2 )2 (13) (x2 − y 2 )2 + 2(xy)2 + (z 2 )2 (14) (x2 + y 2 )2 − 2(xy)2 + (z 2 )2 √ √ √ √ (15) (x2 + (1 − 2)(y 2 + 2yz + z 2 ))2 + ( 2 − 1)(x( 2y + z) + yz − z 2 )2 √ √ +( 2 − 1)(xz − (y − z)( 2y + z))2 √ √ √ √ (16) (x2 + (1 + 2)(y 2 − 2yz + z 2 ))2 − ( 2 + 1)(x(− 2y + z) + yz − z 2 )2 √ √ −( 2 + 1)(xz − (y − z)(− 2y + z))2 . In this case. r. 0. 0. p = fi (x. the non-psd cases correspond to the representations of p as a sum or difference of three real squares or as a sum of three complex squares. and 63 choices of parameter in which V is a complex matrix of rank 3. d. 0. 0. If we seek vectors whose dot products are given by this matrix. the substitutions (y. ±z. (See (15). after “by hand” manipulation of the 120 equations. There are 48 non-real Gram matrices . 0). c. e. 0. 0. It turns √ out that √ there are four others.214 VICTORIA POWERS AND BRUCE REZNICK there is a choice of values for the parameters so that V (a. r. 0. Using RealSolving. 0. z)2 implies that p = fi (x. the three others correspond to the symmetry of p under the sign changes y → −y and z → −z.

where at least one of (m.12]. b15 )xi y j z k . in z). We know of no studies of Hilbert’s Theorem over C. u) = (cos θf1 + sin θf2 )2 + (± sin θf1 ∓ cos θf2 )2 ¡ ¢ = (cos(θ − α)td + . . u) = atd + . we may assume that x2 appears only in the first square and xy appears only in the first two squares.j. There are also 42 − 22 = 12 ways to take (y. HILBERT’S THEOREM ON TERNARY QUARTICS 215 of rank 3. Thus. 15) for the number of complex and real solutions. Cor. We find. . and note that (13) and (14) are now equivalent under y → iy. that V (1. and f2 (t.± (t. u) = p(at + bu. . u) = btd + . z) = p(x. p(t. This is done by reducing the analysis to certain questions about binary forms.± (t. . in z).θ. with 0 ≤ m. Some preparatory results on binary forms We now show how the representations of certain psd ternary quartics as a sum of three squares can be analyzed without using Gram matrices explicitly. u) is a psd binary form of degree 2d. u). we note that by [4. and 12 non-real representations which correspond to such a substitution into each of (15) and (16). hence there exists α such that a = cos α and b = sin α. (17) is symmetric under z → −z. i. after an invertible change. . a cyclic permutation of the variables gives poten- tially 3 × 42 = 48 different sums of squares. ad 6= bc. we have f1 (t. . 2i) has rank 3. We turn to the real representations of the previous paragraph. Our experiments suggest that the values (63. An invertible change is now defined by p0 (t. z) → (im y.k (R15 )} is precisely the set of coefficients of psd ternary quartics. . we may assume that. n ≤ 3. we can view the totality of sums of three squares as inducing a polynomial map from R15 → R15 : (b1 x2 + b2 xy + b3 xz + b4 y 2 + b5 yz + b6 z 2 )2 + (b7 xy + b8 xz + b9 y 2 + b10 yz + b11 z 2 )2 + (b12 xz + b13 y 2 + b14 yz + b15 z 2 )2 P = i+j+k=4 αi. given a psd Gram matrix for p with rank 3. . we have obtained the values (63. Then a2 + b2 = 1. . u) + f2. 0. 0. ct + du). )2 2 2 := f1. im y. Finally. 15) are generic. so that it corresponds to only 24 non-real representations. i. so p(t. . By the same reasoning applied to ternary quartics.k (b1 . in these terms. is that {αi. Hilbert’s Theorem. p(1. )2 + (± sin(θ − α)td + . for example. In all cases. Suppose p(t. . However. u) = t2d + · · · . 0) = 1. and we have from (7). y. completing the inventory. and this gives us a representation of p as a sum of three squares: (17) (x2 + y 2 + iz 2 )2 + 2(ixy + z 2 )2 − 2i(xz + yz)2 . Since p(x. . but we have not seen this issue discussed in detail in the other proofs of Hilbert’s Theorem. n) is odd. We hope to have much more to say about this in a future publication. In any given representation p = f12 + f22 . We have applied the method of the example to a number of different real ternary quartics. It is not unreasonable to expect that the degree of this mapping would (usually) be finite.θ. .j. 5. 2. . apart from a couple of “degenerate” cases where the numbers are less.

u) is a psd binary form of degree 2d with p(1. Theorem 4. u] as a product of conjugate factors so that G± (1. p = (e−iθ G+ )(eiθ G− ).± are 1 and 0 respectively. then exactly one of the pairs {(G+ .216 VICTORIA POWERS AND BRUCE REZNICK We see that. 0) = 0. The linear factors of p(t. ¤ We shall need the following result. 0) = 1. k=1 k=1 Taking conjugates.θ.± and f2. u) = (t + (µk + iνk )u)bk (t + (µk − iνk )u)ak . G+ )} will leave f2 in standard form. 2i 1 (G+ − G− )). we consider the possible factorizations of p = G+ G− . 0) = f1 (1. There is one exceptional case: if all nk ’s are even. and since the coefficient of t2d in p is 1. the exponents of the real factors. u) = (t + (µk + iνk )u)ak (t + (µk − iνk )u)bk . u] are either real or appear as conjugate pairs. We will call this a standard form for writing p as a sum of two squares. with f1 (1. There are N = k=1 (nk + 1) ways to choose the ak ’s. f2 ) = ( 12 (G+ + G− ). which in turn define N pairs (f1 . since p ≥ 0. If G+ 6= G− . there exist 0 ≤ ak . p is a sum of two squares in m ways means that there are exactly m standard forms for p.± has a non-negative coefficient. As noted above. we can “peel off” all the real linear factors of p. for exactly one value of θ (namely α) and one choice of sign in ±. G− ). u) = (t + λj u) (t + (µk + iνk )u) (t + (µk − iνk )u)nk . 0) ± if2 (1. (G− . and we may assume without loss of generality that p has only the complex conjugate factors. Suppose p = f12 + f22 is given in standard form. and so ` divides both f1 and f2 . 0) = 1. so the expression of p in standard form as a sum of squares is equivalent to a factorization p = G+ G− over C[t. mj . where e∓iθ G± = (cos θf1 + sin θf2 ) ∓ i(sin θf1 − cos θf2 ). Suppose first that p has the real linear factor `(t. −1) = 0 as well. f2 (1. bk ≤ nk such that r Y r Y G+ (t. hence fj (λ. Sums of two squares always factor over C: p = f12 + f22 =⇒ p = (f1 + if2 )(f1 − if2 ). 2. In this way. Suppose p(t. and the highest power of t in f2. though not in its full generality for n vari- ables. −1) = 0 for j = 1.θ. Proof. Note also that if p = G+ G− . must be even. . hence bk = nk − ak for all k. in our terminology. k=1 k=1 Comparison with the factorization Qr of p shows that ak + bk = nk . G− ) of complex conjugate factors of p. and f2 = 0. u) = t + λu.θ. then for all θ. giving N pairs (G+ . § 1 Qsuppose and r that¨p factors over C as in (18). j=1 k=1 k=1 Furthermore. u) over C[t. This occurs in the case that p is already a square. Since G+ | p. we may arrange that the coefficient of t is 1 in each of these factors: q Y r Y r Y mj nk (18) p(t. Then p(λ. where G± = f1 ± if2 . the coefficients of td in f1. then taking ak = 21 nk gives G+ = G− . we see that r Y r Y G− (t. 0) = 1. Then p is a sum of two squares in 2 k=1 (nk + 1) ways.

. . 0. If mj = 4. . . it is unclear whether our analysis of the real case is in the literature. then p has a different factorization p = (g1 + ig2 )(g1 − ig2 ).) ¤ Finally. Thus. ac > b2 . Theorem 6. p(x1 . where the second factor is positive definite. HILBERT’S THEOREM ON TERNARY QUARTICS 217 Theorem 5. u) = (a − c )t + c( cb t + u)2 . u) to get the first two cases. t2 u2 . fj = `f¯j . Make the 0 0 invertible P change t = `1 (t. t2 (t2 + u2 ). . This shows that p can be turned into t (dt + u ). then p is a sum of two squares in 2 ways. we obtain the third case. It is now easy to show by unique factorization in C[X] that there are linear factors `j so that `j (1. 0) = 1 and f1 + if2 = `1 `2 . then using an invertible change. 2 = d 2+1 2 e = (1+1)(1+1) d 2 e. It is similar to the classical canon- ical form for the binary quartic. Suppose p ∈ R[X] is quartic and can be written as a sum of two squares. If p(t. 0. p is a sum of two squares in 1 way. b2 2 q(t. .) We now assume that p has no linear factors. but factors as a product of linear forms over C[X]. u) = at2 + 2btu + cu2 . Since p̄ is quadratic. then p is the square of a positive definite binary quadratic form. In the last two cases. we’d have p̄ = f¯12 + f¯22 . where `1 and `2 are non-proportional linear forms. this means it has rank two. (It does not matter whether `1 and `2 are distinct in this case. which is in the literature. . C). However. where c > 0. either p = `41 or p = `21 `22 . Let `1 = gcd(f1 + if2 . Since p is psd. any such factorization gives p as a sum of two squares. and there is only one way to write it as a sum of two squares (up to (8). we can make another invertible change 0 0 2 2 2 so that √ `0 = u . and conversely. Under an orthogonal change of variables . . if ` is a real linear factor and ` | p. we shall need the following result. u]. . . p(t. then since the mj ’s are even. and that a representation p = f12 + f22 has f1 (1. which after an invertible change is t2 + u2 . Writing p = `2 p̄. 0. . u) = cb t + u. u) is a psd quartic form. 2 Writing d = a − bc > 0 and `0 (t. . . . so that p = `1 `¯1 `2 `¯2 . . g1 − ig2 = `2 `4 It follows that `4 = `¯1 and `3 = `¯2 . If mj = 2. Otherwise. Then `1 has to be linear. we may assume that p(t. where ` is linear and q is a positive definite quadratic. xn ) = x41 + . with g1 ± ig2 6= c(f1 ± if2 ). . 0) = 1. Make a preliminary invertible change so that ` = t0 . in the notation of the last theorem. Then p = (f1 + if2 )(f1 − if2 ) factors over C[X] as a product of conjugate quadratics. The particular shape of p depends only on the factorization of p over C[t. By taking u = du and dividing by d. then ` | fj . u) = ` q(t. . 0) = 1 and f2 (1. and this implies that the two representations are all that are possible. as always. u) can be put into one of the following shapes: t4 . Factor p as in (18). P Proof. Otherwise. and if p = f12 + f22 . u) = (t2 + u2 )(at2 + 2btu + cu2 ). If p has a different standard form representation p = g12 + g22 . g1 + ig2 ). then `2 | p. . (t2 + u2 )2 . 0. . 0) = 0. . then p(t. g1 + ig2 = `1 `3 . the classical theorem allows invertible changes in GL(2. or t4 + λt2 u2 + u4 with |λ| < 2. u) and u 2= `2 (t.f1 − if2 = `3 `4 . drop the prime and note that q(t. Proof. . If p has no linear factors over R[X]. and we can normalize so that `1 (1. p has only complex conjugate roots. . If they are repeated. u).

we may choose α so that the second factor is also even in t0 and u0 . z) = x2 + Q(y. so after an invertible change in (y. if φ = ψ(1) + ψ(2) . z)x + h4 (y. y.5]. (In fact. suppose φ is psd and ∆ is a square. we see that 0 = 2g1. z) = λ(j) (y. z). z). we have p(t. y. 2 2 Proof. hence h2 = λ2(1) + λ2(2) . u) = (t2 + ru2 )(t2 + 1r u2 ) = t4 + Rt2 u2 + u4 . and after rescaling t and u if necessary. z)x2 + 2h3 (y. u = −st0 + cu0 . c = cos α. hence we may assume that f1 (x. z) + F4 (y.j (y. j=2 We now exploit the algebraic properties of sums of two squares. the first factor becomes (t0 )2 +(u0 )2 and the coefficient of t0 u0 in the second becomes (a−c) sin 2α+2b cos 2α. Lemma 7. then it is psd and we have ψ(j) (x. z) + 2xF3 (y. z) − h23 (y. z) := h2 (y.1 (y. z) for a binary quadratic Q and µ ¶2 X 3 µ ¶2 (21) p(x. ¤ 6. we have |λ| < 2. h3 = λ(1) µ(1) + λ(2) µ(2) . we may assume that p is a product of two even positive definite quadratic forms. µ ¶2 X3 µ ¶2 (20) p(x. z) . y. in a lemma which will be applied to p − (x2 + Q)2 . z). z)x + g2.218 VICTORIA POWERS AND BRUCE REZNICK t = ct0 + su0 . z) = x2 + g1. and up to sign. z) + g1. z) is a psd quadratic form. The direct approach to Hilbert’s Theorem Let us now assume Hilbert’s Theorem. t − u) = (2 + R) t4 + t u + u4 .j (y. It follows that ∆ = h2 h4 − h23 = (λ(1) µ(2) − λ(2) µ(1) )2 . z) = fj2 (x. which will affect neither the hypothesis . z) + g1. The basic idea is similar to [3. y.1 (y. we may assume that the term x appears only in f1 .1 (y. ∆(y. Thus. we may assume that its coefficient is 1. Suppose φ(x. Conversely. z) . and write 3 X (19) p(x. any two positive definite quadratic forms can be simultaneously diagonalized. z)x + g2. y. z)h4 (y. z) = x4 + 2x2 F2 (y. Then h2 (y. z) is a quartic form (so that hk is a form of degree k).j (y. z). j=1 2 As noted earlier. z)x + g2. y. after an invertible change. A final invertible change gives µ µ ¶ ¶ 12 − 2R 2 2 p(t + u. h4 = µ2(1) + µ2(2) . is the square of a real cubic form. Lemma 7. z) = x2 + Q(y. First.) In other words. z). j=2 3 Comparing the coefficients of x in (19) and (20). z)x + µ(j) (y. Then there exist forms ψ(j) so 2 2 that φ = ψ(1) + ψ(2) if and only if φ is psd and the discriminant of φ as a quadratic in x.j (y. where s = sin α. y. 2+R 12−2R 16 4R−8 and since λ = 2+R = −2 + 2+R =2− 2+R . z) = h2 (y. Thus. with R = r + 1r > 2.

z) for some quadratic s2 . Further. z) + s22 (y. z))2 + s22 (y. hence φ(y. z) = c23 (y. φ(y. since ∆ is a square. Theorem 8. z) = (xy + k2 (y. z). z) + is2 (y. In the first case. c3 (y. z) (22) = (h3 (y. the number of representations of p as a sum of three squares is bounded by twice the number of suitable Q. z) + s22 (y. z) = y 2 h4 (y. y. z) = x2 y 2 + 2xyk2 (y. there exists real c3 so that ∆(y. and hence by Theorem 5 can be written as a sum of two squares in at most two ways. z))(F4 (y. over C[y. z). in the third case. z) = (y 2 + z 2 )h4 (y. ∆(y. z) so that ∆(y. z)). φ = h4 is a sum of two squares. z) = y 2 + z 2 . Write (23) h3 (y. Thus h3 (y. z) is the square of a real cubic form. z) − zs2 (y. we may consider one of three cases: h2 (y. z)x+F4 (y. z))(k2 (y. z) − Q(y. (y + iz)(y − iz)h4 (y. z)) + k22 (y. so h3 (0. Thus. z) − is2 (y. z) is psd and ∆(y. z]. then p can be written as in (21) if and only if p(x. z))2 = 2(F2 (y. Thus. If p is a quartic satisfying (19). h2 (y. z) − k22 (y. z) + zk2 (y. z) = (y 2 + z 2 )h4 (y. z) = y 2 . Note that for every Q which satisfies the above conditions. But this means that h4 − k22 = s22 . z) = x2 (y 2 + z 2 ) + 2x(yk2 (y. ¤ This lemma leads to the fundamental constructive theorem of this paper. z) is a psd binary quartic. hence ∆(0. z) = h23 (y. z)) − F32 (y. z) = 2 −h3 (0. z) − Q2 (y. Thus. z) = ys2 (y. c3 (y. y. HILBERT’S THEOREM ON TERNARY QUARTICS 219 nor the conclusion. z) − (x2 + Q(y. ∆ = −h23 . so that h3 (y. z)−(x2 +Q(y. z) for some quadratic k2 . p(x. z) + ic3 (y. z) = yk2 (y. z) ≥ 0. z) = (xy + k2 (y. z) + c23 (y. z)). z) = 0. z) + k22 (y. z) + ic3 (y. z). z)−Q2 (y. z) + s22 (y. z)) = c23 (y. z) − h23 (y. so h3 = 0 as well and φ(x. z))2 . z) ≥ 0. z) = y 2 (h4 (y. That is. h2 (y. Taking conjugates in (23) and substituting into (22). z)−Q(y. y + iz is a factor of h3 (y. z) − zs2 (y. up to choice of sign of c3 . z))x2 +2F3 (y. z). z) − ic3 (y. there exists a cubic form c3 (y. z) = (y + iz)(k2 (y. z) + is2 (y. z)) = k22 (y. z) = h4 (y. z))2 is quadratic in x and is a sum of two squares. z) = 2(F2 (y. z) is a sum of two squares. It follows that. y. z) = ys2 (y. z). z))2 + (xz − s2 (y. z) − h23 (y. z) = (k2 (y. . In the second case. By Theorem 4. z) + ic3 (y. we get h4 (y. Finally. z). z) = yk2 (y. z) = 0. z))(h3 (y.

) We revisit Theorem 8 in this special case: Corollary 10. (Unfortunately.) Proof. This would provide a purely constructive proof of Hilbert’s Theorem. z))(F4 (y. when p is an even polynomial in x. F2 − Q is a factor of F4 − F22 . z) − Q(y. By Theorem 8. 4 respectively. z))2 + fj2 (x. Q = ±k2 and F2 ∓ k2 is psd. We believe that it should be possible to prove Corollary 9 directly. Thus. (d): There is a linear form ` so that F4 − Q2 = `2 (F2 − Q) and F2 − Q is psd. the remaining condition is that F4 − F22 be psd. the coefficients of Q. and Q = F2 . z) = (F2 (y. Finally. c. 3. although the degree is much higher than that which arises in the Gram matrix approach. (c): There is a linear form ` so that Q = F2 − `2 . . Corollary 9. z) − Q2 (y. z))x2 + F4 (y. then ∆ = 0 is trivially a square. 7. y. (In this case. It is not difficult to set up necessary condi- tions for a binary sextic to be the square of a cubic form. a constant-counting argument which we omit shows that not every real ternary quartic can be put in this form after an invertible change. z) j=2 if and only if one of the following four cases holds: (a): F4 − F22 is psd and Q = F2 . The first condition is equivalent to F2 − Q and F4 − Q2 both being psd. the necessary and sufficient conditions are that 2(F2 (y. z)x2 + F4 (y. d. z) − Q2 (y. b. We hope to validate this belief in a future publication. F4 are binary forms of degree 2. e. that is. the method of Theorem 8 involves three parameters. (b): F4 = k22 is a square. If the first factor in (25) is 0. we see that Hilbert’s Theo- rem can be reduced entirely to a theorem in binary forms. z)) is the square of a real cubic form. z) be psd. This is (a). F3 . and when applied to ∆ = 2(F2 − Q)(F4 − Q2 ) − F32 . such that F4 is psd and µ q ¶µ q ¶2 2 2 2 27F3 ≤ 4 −F2 + F2 + 3F4 2F2 + F2 + 3F4 . Suppose F2 . and that (25) ∆(y. Then there exists a binary quadratic Q such that 2(F2 − Q)(F4 − Q2 ) − F32 is a perfect square and F2 − Q and F4 − Q2 are psd. Some constructions The simplest applications of Theorem 8 occur when F3 (y. We now turn to the second condition. z) = 0. by comparing Corollary 2 and Theorem 8.220 VICTORIA POWERS AND BRUCE REZNICK Whereas the Gram matrix approach involves a system of polynomial equa- tions in the six parameters {a. z) − Q(y. f }. these give a non-trivial system of three equations. and F4 − (F2 − `2 )2 is a square. z) = (x2 + Q(y. There is a representation 3 X (24) x4 + 2F2 (y.

z))2 + 2`2 (y. If it is true. If F2 − Q is psd. Finally. z))(x2 + `2 (y. Finally. a sum of three squares. z) = (x2 + Q(y. Since F2 − Q is a psd binary form. although 2`2 (y. z]. z)). z)x2 + s2 (y. so that g has even degree. ¤ Remark. z))2 + (F4 (y. z)x2 + s2 (y. so we may take g = q2 and write v = `2 for a linear form `. it does not factor into linear forms unless ` | s2 . We can use Corollary 10 to count the number of possible repre- sentations as a sum of three squares of x4 + 2F2 (y. Example. z) = (x2 + Q(y. and the remaining condition is that F2 − Q = F2 ∓ k2 be psd and we obtain case (b). then p(x. F4 ). that is. then again ∆ is trivially a square and Q2 = F4 . z)2 is. Again. y. y. Thus any Q which satisfies this condition will have the additional property that F2 − Q is a psd factor of F4 − F22 . with u and u relatively prime.) In case (b). In the remaining two cases. z)). y. p(x. and F4 − Q2 = s22 is a square. Thus. Note that this implies that (F2 − Q)(`2 − F2 − Q) = F4 − F22 . HILBERT’S THEOREM ON TERNARY QUARTICS 221 If the second factor in (25) is 0. This is (c). z))2 + 2(F2 (y. z) = (x2 + F2 (y. If q2 and q4 are relatively prime. the condition that F2 − Q = F2 ∓ k2 is psd may be true for zero. z) = (x2 + F2 (y. we have p(x. it splits into linear factors over C[y. This implies that u and v are squares. then F2 − Q and F4 − Q2 . z)2 factors into quadratic forms over C[y. This last case is that g is quadratic. z]. depending on whether F4 − F22 has linear factors. Furthermore. The psd quartic p(x. it is a sum of two squares (in exactly one way) by Theorem 4. if one of the squares is x2 + Q(y. then p(x. so that q2 q4 = g 2 uv is a square. in case (d). Are there other ways to write p as a sum of three squares? Using Theorem 8. If (a) holds. y. If (c) holds. (It may also happen to be a square: q 2 + 02 can be viewed as a sum of two squares. as written. Suppose F4 = k22 . F4 − Q2 = (F2 − Q)`2 . then each must be a square. z) − Q(y. z) − F22 (y. q4 ) = g. z) = (x2 + y 2 )(x2 + z 2 ) = x4 + x2 (y 2 + z 2 ) + y 2 z 2 is a product of two sums of two squares and hence is a sum of two squares in two different ways. z). in one or two ways. z)). z) − Q(y. it is not a priori clear how many such forms Q exist for given (F2 . then q2 = gu and q4 = gv. z) − `2 (y. z))2 + 2x2 (F2 (y. and so the sum of three squares is unique except in this case. F4 ). z). if gcd(q2 . F2 − Q = `2 for some linear form `. We conclude this section with some simple examples. It is not a priori clear how many different linear forms ` satisfy these conditions for a given pair (F2 . and the second summand above is a sum of two squares by Theorem 4. and so any suitable Q leads to two representations of p as a sum of three squares. y. one or two choices of sign. we have a quadratic q2 = F2 − Q and a quartic q4 = F4 − Q2 whose product is a square. z)x2 + F4 (y. then Q = ±k2 .

b). Running through the cases. (y − 21 az)2 . it is a multiple of z 2 + 2 y . and a = 0. F2 (y. we see that (a) and (b) are not possible. z))2 . This re-derives the familiar represen- tations from the two-square identity: p(x. z) = 2 (y − 2αyz + z 2 )y 2 z 2 will be a perfect square only when α = ±1. y. y. F2 − Q and F4 − Q2 are both squares when b = − 12 a2 and a2 + b2 = 1. And F2 − Q is psd if and only if a2 + 2b ≤ 0. In (d). z) and F4 (y. which implies that q √ √ a = ±τ := ± 2 2 − 2. z) = (x2 + G(y. so Q(y. then we get another representation. if and only if a2 + b2 = 1. z) = 21 (y 2 − 2ayz − 2bz 2 ) must be a psd factor of ³ √ ´³ √ ´ F4 − F22 = z 4 + z 2 y 2 − 41 y 4 = z 2 + 1−2 2 y 2 z 2 + 1+2 2 y 2 . It is not trivial to write p as a sum of three squares. z). Here. 2 2 2 2 2 since the last sum of two squares splits into linear factors over C. Otherwise. We consider the class of quartics: p(x. √ 1+ 2 2 √ Thus. z) is psd.222 VICTORIA POWERS AND BRUCE REZNICK must be psd. This leads to 2 √ √ p(x. z). z) = 12 y 2 and F4 (y. z)| for all (y. If y 2 z 2 − Q2 (y. then Q(y. z) = (x2 − yz)2 + x2 (y + z)2 = (x2 + yz)2 + x2 (y − z)2 Example. This means that G(y. z) = z 2 (y 2 + z 2 ). z) = x4 + x2 y 2 + y 2 z 2 + z 4 is irreducible. z) = G2 (y. This gives the representation √ √ p(x. If G = −Q. If G = Q. Example. z) ≥ |Q(y. y. z) = (x2 ± τ yz + (1 − 2)z 2 )2 + x2 (y ∓ τ z)2 + z 2 (( 2 − 1)y ± τ z)2 . and it’s a square. and so is not a sum of two squares. b = 1 −2. we must have that G − Q is psd and G + Q is a square. z) = ayz + bz 2 for some (a. then these conditions are satisfied immediately. and . For (c). z) = αyz with |α| ≤ 1 and F2 − Q = 12 (y 2 − 2αyz + z 2 ) is psd. 12 y 2 − Q(y. z) = (x + (1 − 2)z ) + (x + z )(y + (2 2 − 2)z 2 ). z 2 (by − az)2 . y. z]. provided G is psd: (x2 + G(y. The sum of the last two squares does not split over C[y. If F4 − Q2 is psd then z | Q. making four in all. so there are no additional representations in this case. if and only if b = − 21 a2 . there are two more representations of p as a sum of two squares. But 1−α2 2 ∆(y. z) = 2G(y. because Q cannot equal F2 and F4 is not a square. Since G is a quadratic form. so we apply the algorithm. z))2 + 4x2 G(y. z). b = 1 − 2. we recover the representation of p as a single square. p is a sum of three squares as in (24) if and only if 2(G − Q) and G2 − Q2 are both psd and (G − Q)(G2 − Q2 ) = (G − Q)2 (G + Q) is a square. y. By Corollary 10. z))2 = (x2 − G(y. this gives p as a sum of two squares if G = `2 and a sum of three squares if G is positive definite. so that F2 (y. and of course. The similar-looking psd quartic p(x. It is easily checked that F4 − Q2 is psd if and only if a2 + b2 ≤ 1 and it’s a square.

so that p(x. Suppose F (y. z) − (ay + bz)2 ) for any (a. 0). assume ab 6= 0. and G ≥ |Q| if and only if a2 + b2 ≤ 2. This gives a doubly infinite family of representations: (x2 +y 2 +z 2 )2 = (x2 −(y 2 +z 2 −(ay+bz)2 ))2 +(2(y 2 +z 2 )−(ay+bz)2 )(2x2 +(ay+bz)2 ). fj must be a multiple of x2 + G(y. z) − (ay + bz)2 is psd. z) = y 2 + z 2 . This gives an infinite family of representations: (x2 + y 2 )2 = (x2 − λy 2 )2 + (2 + 2λ)x2 y 2 + (1 − λ2 )y 4 . z). z) = (1 − a2 )y 2 . Since 4r2 s2 t2 = r2 (2st)2 = t2 (2rs)2 . so that (G + Q)(y. then after an invertible change. Hilbert’s Theorem is no mystery in this special case. b) for which 2G(y. by supposing that F2 (y. z) = (2 − a2 )y 2 ≥ 0. G(y. then after an invertible change. −4ab3 = 2st. For other solutions. If G is not psd. z). we shall need two lemmas about real binary forms. z) is indefinite. and Q(y. Thus any representation of p as a sum of squares is orthogonally equivalent to the trivial one. This alsoPcan be seen directly: since x2 + G(y. −4a3 b = 2rs. it must be a scalar multiple. HILBERT’S THEOREM ON TERNARY QUARTICS 223 hence G is psd. and this gives one way to write p as a sum of three squares. then (26) has only the trivial solution (a. then p has only the trivial representation. and set up the five equations for the coefficients of F (y. If F is not a square. Thus Q(y. If G has rank 1. we may assume that F (y. 1 − b4 = t2 . these are truly trivial! It is easy to see that these are the only possible expressions in which a = 0 or b = 0. Are there any other representations? Note that necessary conditions on Q include that −Q and F4 − Q2 are both psd. based on the factorization of F4 . z) − (ay + bz)4 = q 2 (y. Q(y. If G has rank 2. If λ = 2. Lemma 11. 8. A complete answer in a special case We now simplify further still. Proof. z) = −λy 2 . by degrees. where F4 is a psd quartic form. z) = y 2 . z) − (ay + bz)4 = (ry 2 + syz + tz 2 )2 : 1 − a4 = r2 . z) = x4 + F4 (y. . By Theorem 6. There are five cases. that is. G(y. If F is a square. because we already know that F4 can be written as a sum of two squares. z) is a positive definite quartic form. then there are two different q’s for which (26) holds. and consider the equation (26) F (y. z) = 0 as well. b) = (0. z) can be −(G(y. 2 λ y 4 + λy 2 z 2 + z 4 − (1 − 4 )y 4 = ( λ2 y 2 + z 2 )2 . λ − 6a2 b2 = 2rt + s2 . There are two trivial solutions to (26): λ2 (27) y 4 + λy 2 z 2 + z 4 − (1 − 4 )z 4 = (y 2 + λ2 z 2 )2 . z) for linear forms ay + bz and quadratic forms q. we have (1 − a4 )(−4ab3 )2 = (1 − b4 )(−4a3 b)2 =⇒ a2 b6 − a6 b6 = a6 b2 − a6 b6 . z) = y 4 + λy 2 z 2 + z 4 and that −2 < λ ≤ 2. y. with −1 ≤ λ ≤ 1. in any representation p = fj2 .

2+ν 2+ν Corollary 13. Since F and G are both positive definite. But then s2 = s2 + 2rt − 2r2 = (λ − 6a2 b2 ) − 2(1 − a4 ) = λ − 2 − 4a4 < 0. (3) F4 = `2 k2 . the computation of µ0 is extremely easy: the minimum occurs at the extreme value of cos θ sin θ. (5) F4 = k2 q2 . and so is not a square. 0≤θ≤2π 1 − ν cos θ sin θ 1 + ν2 In this case. We must have that −Q(y. The second condition implies that Q(y. z) − µG(y. Throughout. where k2 is positive definite. Suppose p(x. where k2 and q2 are positive definite and not proportional. We assume that `(y. ± 21 and 1 + ν cos θ sin θ 1 − ν2 µ0 = min = . (27) gives the only solutions to (26). (2) F4 = `21 `22 for non-proportional linear forms `1 and `2 . note that µ ¶ µ ¶ 2−ν 2ν (y 2 ± νyz + z 2 ) − (y 2 ∓ νyz + z 2 ) = (y ± z)2 . and achieved for θ = θ0 : F (cos θ. then ab = 0. z). then there is a unique positive number µ0 such that F − µ0 G is the non-zero square of a linear form. z) = αy 4 with 1 ≥ α2 . which is a contradiction. Then Hµ0 is psd and Hµ0 (cos θ0 . then λ = 2 − ν 2 with 0 < ν < 2. and p is a sum of three squares in infinitely many ways. sin θ) Let Hµ (y. and p is a sum of three squares in exactly two ways. so we conclude that r = t. the following minimum is well-defined. and p is a sum of three squares in exactly one way. If F (y. if µ > µ0 . namely. If s = 0. then Hµ (cos θ0 . and p is a sum of three squares in exactly three ways. sin θ) µ0 = min . Thus.224 VICTORIA POWERS AND BRUCE REZNICK Since ab 6= 0 it follows that a4 = b4 . ¤ Lemma 12. sin θ0 ) < 0. z) are non-proportional positive definite qua- dratic forms. Proof. The one of the following holds: (1) F4 = `4 for some linear form `. and the first . and as F and G are not proportional. z) = y. z) = x4 + F4 (y. Proof. y. where k2 is positive definite. so a2 = b2 and so rs = st. we shall use the classification of Theorem 6 as the first step in the proof. it is positive. so y 4 + λy 2 z 2 + z 4 = (y 2 + νyz + z 2 )(y 2 − νyz + z 2 ) is a product of two positive definite quadratics. In this case. Thus Hµ0 is the non-zero square of a linear form. (4) F4 = k22 . z) and G(y. and p is a sum of three squares in exactly eight ways. 0≤θ≤2π G(cos θ. z) is psd. z) are psd. sin θ0 ) = 0. which is impossible. then Hµ is positive definite. z) and y 4 − Q2 (y. so Hµ is not even psd. ¤ If |λ| < 2. 1. z) = F (y. If µ < µ0 . Hµ0 is not identically zero.

We now run through the four cases in Corollary 10. z) =⇒ 2x2 y 2 + y 2 z 2 = fj2 (x. z) = −αy 2 . writing α = −β 2 . so now F4 (y. z) = y 2 ((1−α2 )y 2 +z 2 ). These are easy to compute by hand and give x4 + (y 2 + z 2 )2 = (x2 )2 + (y 2 + z 2 )2 + 02 = (x2 )2 + (y 2 − z 2 )2 + (2yz)2 . y. In this case ∆ = −α(1 − α2 )y 6 is always a square and. So the only representations of p as a sum of three squares are orthogonally equivalent to those as a sum of two squares. we have Q = 0. In the first case. y. a unique representation as a sum of squares. Finally. we assume that F4 (y. In this case. these are all orthogonally equivalent to (yz)2 + 02 . 2. there is also just one way to write y (2x + z ) as a sum of two squares. j=2 But this implies that fj (y. because p is obviously a sum of two squares. We must have that −Q(y. and the condition that −Q is psd implies that Q(y. z). In the second case. y. with α ≥ 0. z). HILBERT’S THEOREM ON TERNARY QUARTICS 225 implies that α < 0. (y 2 )2 + (yz)2 . `1 (y. z) and y 2 z 2 − Q2 (y. z) = αyz. 2(xy)2 + (yz)2 . j=2 There is by Theorem 4 exactly one way to write y 2 (y 2 +z 2 ) as a sum of two squares. y. 4. 0 ≤ β ≤ 1 we have x4 + y 4 = (x2 − β 2 y 2 )2 + 2β 2 x2 y 2 + (1 − β 4 )y 4 . z). we have 3 X x4 + y 2 (y 2 + z 2 ) = (x2 )2 + fj2 (x. In case (a). But the first condition then implies that α = 0. so altogether there are two ways to write p as a sum of three squares. z) are psd. The second condition implies that yz | Q. 3. hence 0 ≤ α ≤ 1. hence Q(y. z). z) = z. In fact. the psd Gram matrices for p have no parameters. so Q = 0 and we have 3 X x4 + y 2 z 2 = (x2 )2 + fj2 (x. z) = y 2 (y 2 + z 2 ). up to orthogonal equivalence. the next case gives another sum of two squares which has no additional representations as a sum of three squares. The distinct values of β give orthogonally distinct different representations of p as a sum of three squares. The condition that F4 − Q2 is psd implies that y | Q. j=2 j=2 2 2 2 By Theorem 5. and 3 X 4 2 2 2 2 2 x + (y + z ) = (x ) + fj2 (x. . y. However. We assume that k2 (y. z)−Q2 (y. z) = y and `2 (y. z) = αj yz and 1 = α22 + α32 . j=2 We know from Theorem 4 that there are two inequivalent choices for (f2 . we have 3 X 3 X x4 + y 2 (y 2 + z 2 ) = (x2 − y 2 )2 + fj2 (x. z) = y 2 + z 2 . the condition that ∆ = αy 4 ((1 − α2 )y 2 + z 2 ) be a square implies that α = 0 or α = 1. f3 ). This can’t be too surprising. In this case. and p has.

the last factor is a square if and only if κ2 = 2+ν . We write F4 (y. z) (y 2 − ∓νyz + z 2 ) − κ2 ((y 2 ± νyz + z 2 ) . In case (c). By Lemma 11. we have that Q(y.226 VICTORIA POWERS AND BRUCE REZNICK In case (b). The two from case (a) are p(x. z) = x4 + y 4 + z 4√as a sum of q three squares of real quadratic forms. . z) = y 4 +λy 2 z 2 +z 4 . In this case. y). we have that −Q is a psd factor of F4 (y. Thus there is only one representation of p as a sum of three squares for each Q = −`2 . Q = −`2 . in case (d). so Q(y. F4 is a sum of two squares in two ways: λ2 y 4 + λy 2 z 2 + z 4 = (y 2 + λ2 z 2 )2 + (1 − 4 )z 4 = (y 2 − z 2 )2 + (2 + λ)(yz)2 . z) = ±(y 2 + z 2 ) and −Q is psd. In this case ¡ ¢ F4 (y. so that 1 − κ2 = 2κ. Note that the factors of the two sum- mands are 2ρxy ± i( λ2 y 2 + z 2 ) which are irreducible over C. For simplicity. In this case. which is only a square for α = 0. 2−ν By Lemma 12. as before. so there are four from case (d) and eight in all. These give the representations x4 + y 4 + λy 2 z 2 + z 4 = (x2 − ρy 2 )2 + 2ρx2 y 2 + ( λ2 y 2 + z 2 )2 . In case (a). with |λ| < 2 and. with y and z permuted. We have seen in Lemma 11 that this is impossible. In case (c). we get four different repre- sentations of p as a sum of three squares altogether. Theorem 5 implies that there is a unique representation: x4 + (y 2 + z 2 )2 = (x2 − (y 2 + z 2 ))2 + 2(xy)2 + 2(xz)2 . 1. let ρ = 1− 4 . since F4 is not a square. z) = α(1 − α2 )(y 2 + z 2 )3 . z) = −(y 2 + z 2 ) and 3 X 4 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 x + (y + z ) = (x − (y + z )) + fj2 (x. and as in the last case. y. We illustrate the eight representations of p(x. z) = κ1 Q(y. 5. with 0 < ν < 2. ρ = 1. This gives two ways to write x4 + F4 (y. y. This implies that ∆(y. −Q is a psd factor of F4 − F22 = (y 2 + z 2 )2 . Q = 0. z) = −α(y 2 + z 2 ) for some α > 0. and so two in all. y. z) = (y 2 + νyz + z 2 )(y 2 − νyz + z 2 ) Thus Q = κ(y 2 ± νyz + z 2 ) for some choice of sign. and. j=2 2 2 2 P3 2 This implies that 2x (y + z ) = j=2 fj (x. Altogether. z) − Q2 (y. which have been already discussed. Case (b) does not apply. write λ = 2−ν 2 . Finally. ¤ Example. we have x4 +y 4 +λy 2 z 2 +z 4 = (x2 −κ(y 2 ±νyz+z 2 ))2 +(y 2 ±νyz+z 2 )(2κx2 +(1−κ2 )(y∓z)2 ) Since the sum of these last two squares splits over C. in case (d). there are only three representations. λ = 0. and F4 − `4 = s22 is a square. as before. z) = −(ay + bz)2 and (y 2 + z 2 )2 − (ay + bz)4 is a square. there areqtwo different choices of λ2 (`2 . hence Q(y. s2 ) for which this is the case. z). Finally. and a similar √ one. ν = 2 √ √ and κ = 2− √2 = 2+ 2 2 − 1. Q(y. z) as a sum of three squares. z) = (x2 )2 + (y 2 )2 + (z 2 )2 = (x2 )2 + (y 2 − z 2 )2 + 2(yz)2 .

z) = (x2 − y 2 )2 + 2(xy)2 + (z 2 )2 = (x2 − z 2 )2 + 2(xz)2 + (y 2 )2 . Reznick.G. Department of Mathematics and Computer Science Emory University Atlanta. The two-square identity then gives (15). Symp. these proceedings. [7] F. Reznick.. Choi and T. 1993. France. [2] M. The two cases from (c) become the other two from (13). from case (d).-F. Math. PhD.emory. 1998. [8] R. HILBERT’S THEOREM ON TERNARY QUARTICS 227 That is. Providence. 103–126. 342-350. Rajwade. Hilbert. p(x. and B. [4] M. Ann. (12) and one of (13). Lam.I. Hilbert’s Theorem on positive ternary quartics. IL 61801 E-mail address: reznick@math. M.Y. Real Algebraic Geometry.R. Coste. 1-25. Choi. 1997.edu Department of Mathematics University of Illinois Urbana. Lam. Bochnak. Finally. Math. 231 (1977). [6] A. Math.uiuc. thesis. References [1] J. Amer. Z. Extremal positive semidefinite forms. Swan. Roy. Sums of squares of real polynomials.D. T. Algorithmes efficaces pour l’étude des zéros réels des systèmes polynomiaux. Springer-Verlag. 1-26. [3] M. Squares. Berlin. Real zeros of positive semidefinite forms I. and B. R. GA 30322 E-mail address: vicki@mathcs. Lam. [5] D.Y.D. in Pure Math. Soc. we get four representations from √ √ √ √ (x2 − ( 2 − 1)(y 2 ± 2yz + z 2 ))2 + 2( 2 − 1)(y 2 ± 2yz + z 2 )(x2 + (y ∓ z)2 ). Über die Darstellung definiter Formen als Summe von Formenquadraten. Cambridge. London Mathematical Society Lecture Notes 171. and M.Y. Rouillier. Choi. 58 (1995).D. 32 (1888). y. Université Rennes.edu . 171 (1980). Math. T. Cambridge Uni- versity Press. Ann.

1. Pfister and M. I want to thank the referee for a critical reading of the paper and many corrections and helpful comments. and others on which I can report from personal experience. (A number of names come to my mind immediately. After the appearance of Witt’s paper it was a natural task to study the functorial properties of the Witt ring and its relation to other functorial constructions like the Brauer group. Functorial properties. Already Witt himself did the first steps in this Key words and phrases. This paper is dedicated to the founder of the algebraic theory of qua- dratic forms. and his survey (2000). It is not possible to describe all important work and I apologize to all colleagues whose contributions will not be mentioned appropriately. I particularly want to mention M.1. I am grateful to many colleagues for valuable information and useful discussions of special topics. for the history of algebraic K-theory I refer to Weibel (1999). Rather. Galois cohomology or K-theory. quadratic form. I shall concen- trate on some aspects neglected in the existing literature. Kneser. his paper (1990). Knebusch. 1.) In the following sections I shall discuss selected topics in some detail. A thorough discussion of Milnor’s algebraic work can be found in Bass (1993). Albrecht Pfister. c °0000 (copyright holder) 229 . A. References to the subject are Pfister’s talk (1984) at the Hamilton conference.Contemporary Mathematics On the History of the Algebraic Theory of Quadratic Forms Winfried Scharlau The purpose of these remarks is not to give a complete and systematic history of the algebraic theory of quadratic forms. A quick summary In this section I try to give an overview of some of the most significant developments in the theory of quadratic forms since Witt’s paper (1937). at the occasion of his 65th birthday.

Knebusch (1976. Delzant (1962). three abelian groups are canonically isomorphic. where in par- ticular the case of quadratic extensions is clarified. 1The footnotes can be found at the end of the paper. Some comple- ments were contributed by Witt. 35) the analogies between quadratic forms and simple algebras. 1977) extended this to arbi- trary places. and Lewis (1989). Jacob-Rost and Szyjew- ski. This development culmi- nated in the proof of the Milnor conjecture (see Pfister (2000) for a more thorough discussion). Since the Milnor conjecture is perhaps the most important single result in the theory of quadratic forms we briefly state what it claims: for every field F of characteristic not 2 and all n. Durfee (1948) and Springer (1955) developed the theory for quadratic forms over a discrete valuation ring.e. Knebusch- Rosenberg-Ware (1972). Structure theorems. Rosenberg- Ware (1970). Dress (1971). Rost. The structure of the graded Witt ring remained the most important problem of the whole theory for some time. Scharlau (1970). He mentions (p. Several authors developed alternative approaches to the structure theo- rems. The complete solution. The basic structure theorems for the Witt ring were proved by Pfister (1966) and Arason-Pfister (1971). was announced by Voevodsky and Orlov-Vishik-Voevodsky. As an application of these techniques.2 In particular. Elman-Lam (1976). After very important initial results of Arason (1975) (and some others) the first significant breakthrough is due to Merkurjev (1981). which is crucial for many applications. the proof of the Milnor conjecture. norm principles were proved by Scharlau (1969) and Knebusch (1971). they classified quadratic forms over complete discrete valuation rings and their quotient field if the residue characteristic is not 2. Dress (1971) pointed out close relations between the Burnside ring of monomial representations and the Witt ring. Scharlau (1969a.g. Milnor (1970). Knebusch-Scharlau (1971). . the trace defining a natural functor. Arason (1975) and later many others investigated quadratic forms and (abelian) Galois cohomology. 1. This was followed by work of Merkurjev-Suslin. i.230 WINFRIED SCHARLAU direction: he defines for every quadratic form its Clifford algebra and stud- ies the functorial properties of this construction. Several authors investigated fields with an arbitrary henselian valuation (and residue characteristic not 2). e. 1970). H n (F.1 Springer (1959) and Serre (1964) pointed out the relation to the Galois cohomology of the orthogonal and related groups. Belskii (1968). Milnor (1970) invented Milnor K-theory to formalize similar descriptions of the functors W and K2 by generators and relations. namely I n (F )/I n+1 (F ).2. Scharlau (1967). Lorenz-Leicht (1970). Z/2Z). The behaviour of quadratic forms and Witt rings under ground field ex- tensions was studied by Springer (1952). kn (F ) = Kn (F )/2Kn (F ). Harrison (1970) and Lorenz-Leicht (1970).

not even in preliminary form. Surprisingly. Serre) that hermitian forms and similar objects can be described by Galois 1-cocycles of their automorphism groups. This led to the problem of the validity of the Hasse principle for arbitrary algebraic groups. Landherr (1938) extended Hasse’s results on quadratic forms to various kinds of hermitian forms. respectively. Generalizations. It is impossible to quote all the relevant work on this problem. Nevertheless. the proof of the Milnor con- jecture in characteristic 2 turned out to be easier than in the general case (Sah (1972). 1998)). many details of the proof have not yet been published. In principle. 1. and algebraic K-theory. Concerning in particular the Witt group. I(F ) denotes the “fundamental ideal” of even dimensional forms in the Witt ring W (F ). It was also recognized that this depends essentially on the cohomological dimension of the ground field (see Serre (1964)). The Hasse principle. Baeza published several papers which extended known results to the characteristic 2 case. Later.4. Also Scheiderer (1996) completely settled the case of virtual cohomological dimension 1 (where one has coho- mological dimension 1 “except for real places”). 1924) in the classification of quadratic forms over algebraic number fields but extending far beyond this theory (see Colliot-Thélène (1992)). Kato (1982)). In the fifties it was recognized (Weil. Hasse principles have been proved by Kato (1986) and Jannsen (1989/90 and unpublished). ON THE HISTORY OF THE ALGEBRAIC THEORY OF QUADRATIC FORMS 231 The groups are defined via quadratic form theory. hermitian forms of various kinds.Presently. Parimala (1995. 1. originally discovered by Minkowski (1890) and Hasse (1923. A systematic treatment was given by Milnor (1971) and Sah (1972). . Concerning higher Galois cohomology groups.e. . we want to mention also Sujatha (1995) and Parimala-Sujatha (1996) for results on the Hasse principle for algebraic curves over global fields. The Hasse principle (or local-global princi- ple). Kneser (1969). Galois cohomology. fields of characteristic 2 have remained the pariahs of the theory. see Bayer-Fluckiger.3. Jannsen (1991)). and Kn (F ) is the n-the Milnor K-group of F . However. some aspects of the theory in char- acteristic 2 are more interesting and richer because one has to distinguish between symmetric bilinear and quadratic forms and inseparable extensions have to be considered. af- ter the proof of the Merkurjev-Suslin theorem further progress was possible concerning the classical groups (i. We refer again to Pfister (2000) for more details. Harder and others obtained impor- tant results for semisimple simply connected linear algebraic groups. This has important applications to the Pythagoras numbers of algebraic function fields over algebraic number fields (Colliot-Thélène. It was systematically employed by Hasse to prove central results of algebraic number theory and class field the- ory. Arf (1941) extended Witt’s results to fields of characteristic 2. is a powerful tool which allows to reduce problems from algebraic number fields to the corresponding questions over the p-adic completions.

e. The theory of her- mitian forms was worked out in number theoretic situations by Landherr (1938) and Kneser (1969). Initially. C. Quebbemann and many others. Knus. Sridharan. in several papers by Williamson. Starting in the seventies quadratic forms over polynomial rings. 1981). Fröhlich-McEvett (1969). Wilson (1989) and Knus (1991. II). .E. Bak (1969. After these first beginnings the theory of involutions developed into a vast research field of its own. over Z or other rings of number theory. A systematic development of the theory over arbitrary schemes was given for the first time in Knebusch (1969/70) and later extended in Kneb- usch (1977a). The basic existence and classification theorems for involutions were found by Albert (1939) and simplified by Riehm (1970) and Scharlau (1975).g. of the Witt group . This developed into a full fledged theory. 1973) and others. This general concept was worked out in detail by Quebbemann-Scharlau-Scharlau-Schulte (1976) and Quebbemann-Scharlau-Schulte (1979) with further contributions and appli- cations by several authors. More or less all results lead to a unique Jordan decomposition.g. affine algebras and related rings were systematically studied by Karoubi. over division algebras with invo- lution. systematically presented in Knus (1991). it was clear that a systematic theory of quadratic forms over rings (and schemes) could and should be developed. Foundational work in this direction is due to Bass (1967).232 WINFRIED SCHARLAU Long before the emergence of the algebraic theory. An exhaustive treatment of the present state of the art is given in Knus-Merkurjev-Rost-Tignol (1998). A systematic. Wall (1970. Parimala. After the basic ideas of K-theory were formulated in the late fifties. Serre (1961/62) suggested to do this. Chap. e. among others Knus-Ojanguren-Parimala (1982). Since the time of Weierstraß and Kronecker the classification of arbitrary sesquilinear forms. is Arason’s computation (1980) of the Witt group of projective spaces. We refer to this book for further references. if so far somewhat isolated result. of isometries and selfadjoint transformations had been a somewhat separated but related field. Several authors considered the case of local rings and valuation rings. Bayer-Fluckiger.T. quadratic forms were studied over rings. It was also clear from the beginning that a similar theory could be de- veloped in noncommutative settings. e. more conceptual treatment was given for isometries by G. Eventually one realized that all these different problems could be handled by the con- sideration of abelian k-categories with involution. Wall (1963) and Milnor (1969). Ojanguren. the ground field was C or R and the approach purely matrix theoretic. Dozens of papers by many authors are devoted to this topic. Kearton. a comprehensive reference is Baeza (1978) where additional references are given. A significant. Later arbitrary ground fields were considered.C. Kneser (un- published (1962)) worked out essential parts of this theory over Dedekind rings.g.g. Concerning the basic notions – e.several variations are possible and lead to somewhat different but related theories.

abi.) 1. . . but the most significant seems to be that for Pfister forms the “difficult” problem of isotropy coincides with the “easy” prob- lem of hyperbolicity. i=1 Hence 2-fold Pfister forms are of type h1. Decomposable ele- ments a1 ∪ . Generic splitting. . which easily can be made precise. 1977). Pfister forms are 2n -dimensional forms that can be written as n-fold tensor products of 2-dimensional forms h1. −ai i. If ϕ1 is the anisotropic part of ϕ0 ⊗ K1 one can repeat this construction inductively and obtains finally the generic splitting field. This makes it possible to apply functorial Witt ring methods to the study of individual forms. (See also section 1. In a sense. + an Xn2 ). this is the most general field in which ϕ becomes isotropic. Pfister forms. What first seemed to be a rather restricted circle of ideas.6. Kneser (1934) and later in Pfister’s work on the level and in the proof of the Arason-Pfister Hauptsatz. ∪ an in Galois cohomology. They have many important properties. Xn )/(a1 X12 + . They are an indispensable tool for almost every significant problem. . I remember that Knebusch and I discussed the possibility of developing such a theory already some years earlier. . that is. . an i is an anisotropic form over a field K0 = K its generic zero field is defined as the algebraic function field K1 = K(X1 . an ii := ⊗ h1. . and abstract ordering spaces. forms of type n hha1 . −b. . soon turned out to be a crucial tool for a number of important questions. A systematic study of generic splitting fields was initiated by Knebusch (1976. abstract (re- duced) Witt rings. ON THE HISTORY OF THE ALGEBRAIC THEORY OF QUADRATIC FORMS 233 Perhaps a generalization in a completely different direction should be mentioned also in this section.7. What first looked like a rather formal (and perhaps useless) generalization of the notion of Witt rings under the hands of Marshall (1980) (and other papers quoted there) turned into a most useful tool providing elementary and purely combinato- rial proofs of deep and difficult structure theorems in real algebra and real algebraic geometry. etc. −a1 i. respectively symbols {a1 . The most important notion in the algebraic theory of quadratic forms is probably the notion of Pfister forms (Pfister (1965)). . . . First examples of generic splitting fields occur already in H. This also leads naturally to the investigation of quadratic forms over quadrics and similar . namely quaternionic structures. . an } in Milnor K-theory are analogues but do not seem to be of quite the same importance as Pfister forms. The existence of Pfister forms seems to be specific to the theory of quadratic forms. a paper of Roquette (1966) suggested such an approach. . . Merkurjev’s construction (1992) of fields with given even u-invariant uses generic splitting fields in an essential way and the same is true for all work on the Milnor conjecture. If ϕ0 = ϕ = ha1 . .5. . . . −a. 1. . .

Probably more papers were published in this area than in the rest of the algebraic the- ory of quadratic forms. Formally real fields. Deep con- nections between quadratic forms. what is the functorial behavior of X(K)? This question led to Marshall’s (1980) theory of abstract ordering spaces and over arbitrary ground rings to the notion and the theory of the real spectrum (see Knebusch (1984)). (1982). on Swan’s (1985) computation of the K-theory of quadrics. real and ordered fields. valuation theory. Dubois (1969). Risler (1976)). It is well known that Hilbert’s 17th problem led to similar questions in real algebraic geometry (real Nullstellensatz. more recently.234 WINFRIED SCHARLAU varieties. a field of active research. Knebusch-Scheiderer (1989). We come now to a somewhat different circle of ideas. The years 1968 – 1980 saw a “real” explosion in this area.8. concerned with the so called field invariants. However the “real” starting point was again Pfister’s work.7. on the computation of motivic cohomology of some “motives” associated to Pfister quadrics (in particular by M. 1. Prestel (1984). Becker-Bröcker (1978). Closely related is the determination of the image and of the cokernel of the total signature map. 1. Bochnak-Coste-Roy (1987). The first essential results in this direction are due to Bröcker (1974. Moreover. Field invariants.and WAP-property. sign is the total signature and Wt (K) is the torsion subgroup. This leads immediately to a number of questions: What can be said about the structure of the ordering space X(K). Krivine (1964). that is. pythagorean fields. and. Stengle (1974). e. 1977). SAP. We therefore refrain from mentioning more details and refer instead to the following books. the exact sequence sign 0 −→ Wt (K) −→ W (K) −→ Π Z P where P runs over all orderings of K. reduced Witt rings. namely his local-global principle. Posi- tivstellensatz. All this work is based essentially also on Quillen’s (1973) computation of the K-theory of projective spaces and Brauer-Severi varieties. special classes of ground fields were considered in detail. The . The first result relating quadratic forms and real fields is of course Sylvester’s law of inertia. Coste et al. Bröcker (1991). Marshall and others. hereditary pythagorean fields. This led to the notions of fans. etc. stability indices. euclidean fields. lecture notes and expository ar- ticles containing also extensive references: Colliot-Thélène et al. Marshall (1980). etc. (1991). The relation between the two concepts comes from the trivial fact that sums of squares are always positive. Rost). Lam (1983). So far we have mentioned mainly structural and functorial aspects of the algebraic theory. This leads immediately to Hilbert’s 17th problem: can positive definite functions be represented as sums of squares? Artin and Schreier (1927) solved this problem and developed for this purpose the theory of or- dered and formally real fields. model theory and real algebraic geometry were discovered.g.

Also. The Pythagoras number of a field (or ring) originated from the quantita- tive version of Hilbert’s 17th problem: It is the smallest number p such that every sum of squares is already a sum of p squares. Their proof. Nevertheless. The definition and the first results on the u-invariant (the maximal di- mension of anisotropic torsion forms) are due to Kaplansky (1953) and were consequences of the classification theorems.)4. (The problem of odd u-invariants is open for u > 7. Besides this the first re- sults were obtained for rational function fields F = K(X1 . The determination of p(K) for algebraic number fields follows from the Hasse-Minkowski theorem. the level is ∞. Before Merkurjev’s result. The bound was later sharpened to u ≤ 10 by Parimala and Suresh (1998). Since iterated power series and rational function fields (e. with applications to the u-invariant of a finite field extension L/K. If K is real closed.) Ax proved p(F ) ≤ 8 for n = 3. (This result is one of the starting points of Pfister’s work. . such as a rational function field. it had not hitherto been possible to compute the u-invariant of a given field. if K is formally real. For non-real fields p = s or p = s + 1 (s = level). The proof is based on an important theorem of Saltman (1997) concerning common splitting fields of quaternion algebras.+Xn2 is not a sum of n squares.g. I 3 or the quaternion algebras). . ON THE HISTORY OF THE ALGEBRAIC THEORY OF QUADRATIC FORMS 235 most important ones are level. and Pythagoras number. see section 3. Elman and Lam (1973). over algebraically closed fields) have 2-power u-invariants (Springer (1955). in turn. that is p(F ) ≥ n + 1. . Already Landau . in a series of papers. it has been conjectured that the u-invariant is always a power of 2. hence p(F ) = 4 for n = 2. Leep (1984) proved a nice result on the zeros of systems of quadratic forms. studied the u-invariant for fields satisfying additional hypotheses (concern- ing e. Pfister (1995) is an excellent reference. and Cassels-Ellison-Pfister (1971) proved for n = 2 that the (positive) Motzkin polynomial 1 − 3X12 X22 + X14 X22 + X12 X24 is not a sum of 3 squares. variations and applications of his methods and results. . Pfister (1967) proved p(F ) ≤ 2n for arbitrary n. Merkurjev’s proof uses essentially so called index-reduction formulas on the behaviour of the index of a central simple algebra under a base field extension given by the function field of a suitable variety. Again. all 2-powers occur as levels of suitable fields (see also section 3 for some details).g. After Merkurjev’s result a consid- erable number of papers appeared containing simplifications. u-invariant. A sensational result of Merkurjev’s (1992) disproves this: there exist fields of given even u-invariant. Pfister’s results on the level of fields were the first breakthrough: if s is finite it is a 2-power. . Tsen (1936)). The level of a field K is the minimal number s such that −1 is a sum of s squares in K. Therefore it was a remarkable success when Hoffmann-van Geel (1998) proved recently that Qp (X) has finite u-invariant (in fact u ≤ 22) if p 6= 2. Xn ). that is. Cassels (1964) proved 1+X12 +. depends on the computation of the K-theory of certain homogeneous spaces. . If such a representation of −1 does not exist.

In 1907 Dickson published an article “On quadratic forms in a general field”. The invariants level. Q ≡ αi Xi2 . in 1890 Minkowski (1864 – 1909) asked and solved this question for the field of ratio- nal numbers. . The details are cer- tainly involved. u-invariant. Jannsen (1991)). it led on the one hand to algebraic proofs of the Borsuk-Ulam theorem and the Brouwer fixed point theorem (Knebusch (1982). Dickson (1874 – 1954) solved the classification problem for finite fields (a rather trivial result) and he seems to have been aware of the general question. . An number of results are known. under linear trans- formation in a general field F. In 1899 L. 2. . 3. + Xn2 ) has level n. We refer to Pfister (1995) for some results on the Pythagoras number of rings. this application came as a surprise. Arason-Pfister (1982)). on the other hand to the notion of the level of a topological space with involution and the computation of this invariant for projective spaces (Dai-Lam (1984). as well as a number of related results (Colliot-Thélène. .236 WINFRIED SCHARLAU proved p(Q(X)) ≤ 8 but Pourchet (1971) and Hsia-Johnson (1974) sharp- ened this to p(K(X)) ≤ 5 for every algebraic number field. perhaps the most spectacular is due to Dai-Lam-Peng (1980): the integral domain R[X1 . Dickson probably believed that he had given in some sense a complete solution of the classification problem. Xn ]/(1 + X12 + . and in some . The paper begins with the words: We investigate the equivalence. Stolz (1989)). i=1 i=1 Though he does not say so. Quadratic forms over arbitrary fields: The work of Dickson Perhaps the most basic problem in the algebraic theory of quadratic forms is the classification problem: how can one decide whether two qua- dratic forms over a given field or ring are isometric? It is not clear (to me) who explicitly formulated this question for the first time. namely the Borsuk-Ulam theorem. . See Hoffmann (1999) for a recent result on the Pythagoras numbers of fields. a title very reminiscent of Witt’s famous paper (1937). Since the fundamental concepts of algebra and linear algebra were clarified at about the same time one can assume that the problem was on the agenda since about this time. Pfister-Stolz (1987). It should be kept in mind that already in 1890 Kronecker (1823 – 1891) had discussed the more difficult problem of the classification of pairs of quadratic forms. .3 work on the Kato conjecture and cohomological Hasse principles yields p(F ) ≤ 2n+1 for K an algebraic number field and n = 2. Certainly. Xn X n q≡ ai x2i . of two quadratic forms . . E. As mentioned in 1. certainly since Swan (1962). This connection between topology and algebra was in principle known since the fifties. However. Mahé proved that the level of a real affine algebra without a real point is finite. . and Pythagoras number can also be defined for commutative rings. The proof uses topologi- cal methods.

. αn i. an i ∼ = hα1 . In more detail and in modern terminology.) 4) Every isometry between regular subspaces can be extended to an isometry of the whole quadratic space. Writing out these conditions. (Theorem in §6 on p. an i ∼ = hb2 . one sees that he constructs this isometry stepwise. one must at least be able to decide the “obvious” necessary con- dition. It seems that Dickson’s paper went by completely unnoticed. (Footnote on p. It is entirely algebraic. . . 115) 5) The cancellation law holds: ha. . . . . The statement is marred by the fact that Dickson considers simultaneously q and q 0 = ha−1 −1 1 . that this paper – like most of Dickson’s work – is not very pleasant to read. . It must have been a very natural idea for him to believe that in order to solve the classification problem. .. A remark in an earlier paper (Dickson (1906)). (Theorem in §5 on p. . then q ∼ = hb. there is some inessential restriction on the characteristic. . . . b2 . 108) 2) If q = ha1 . then there exists an automorphism σ of q sending v to the first basis vector. bn i. Dickson’s paper (1907) con- tains the following results: 1) Every quadratic form over a field of characteristic 6= 2 can be di- agonalized. whether q represents a given element. . It is easy to see that his equation (1) means that one has to change only two diagonal coefficients every step (Witt’s “Satz 7”). . . however. .i. . 114. t One has to take this trivial fact into account. an i ∼ = ha. However. i=1 Using this representation he writes down an explicit transformation of q in a form n X 0 0 q 0 ≡ α1 x12 + a0i xi2 . . . . viz. . . . . . I could not find a single reference to it in the literature. i=2 Then. .) 3) If q = ha1 . . bn i implies ha2 . . Today we have realized that the representation problem is in fact the more difficult problem.) 6) In section 1 Dickson discusses necessary and sufficient conditions for ha1 . (Theorem in §2 . . suggests that he was not aware of this fact. a2 . (Theorem in §4 on p. . Then σ is an isometry of q if and only if σ is an isometry of q 0 . . one must admit. . . . an i. Dickson is not aware of the geometric interpretation of quadratic forms that Witt (1937) uses so elegantly. he states and proves the cancellation law (yes!) and is thus re- duced to the discussion of (n − 1)-dimensional forms. . an i and υ is a vector with q(υ) = a1 . ON THE HISTORY OF THE ALGEBRAIC THEORY OF QUADRATIC FORMS 237 sense he was right! He continued: An obvious necessary condition is that α1 shall be representable by q . 114. an i represents b 6= 0 . . that there shall exist elements bi in F such that X n α1 = ai b2i . . Where a simple .

1924 a. together with the cancellation law. As we know today. heute aber wohlbekannten und in jedem guten Kurs über Lineare Algebra gelehrten Inhalte sind . . this. 1966). However. some credit should be given to Dickson. . only very few papers on the algebraic theory of quadratic forms appeared and even fewer were inspired directly by Witt’s paper. In a letter dated 4th April 1999. The work of A. See also Elman and Lam (1974). Hasse proves in his first paper the strong local-global principle. b. One may also note that Hasse in his classical papers (1923a.) The real breakthrough in the algebraic theory of quadratic forms came with Pfister’s papers (1965. 1965a. (An exception is Arf’s (1941) treatment of the charac- teristic 2 case along the lines suggested by Witt. Die damals revolutionierenden. as far as “Witt’s theorem” and related questions is concerned. and a few others) rely on ideas that can be found in those papers. Nevertheless. b) was not aware of the cancellation law which could have saved him a lot of work. I believe that. a somewhat awkward tool. in den dort angeschnittenen Fragen ganz wesentliche Fortschritte erzielt. When he has to construct a suitable isometry he uses the Cayley transform. local fields. Concerning the classification problem itself. All known results (real function fields. Pfister informed me in some detail about the discov- ery of his structure theorems. One may say: the gate was open but nobody walked through it. it should perhaps be mentioned that Witt’s paper had almost no immediate effect: In the following 25 years. The importance of this paper has been pointed out and discussed so often that I think I cannot add anything sig- nificant to this issue. It contained material from Artin’s book (1957) and Dieudonné’s . Institut Göttingen. Lenz telling me: Un- terdessen hat Herr Dr. immediately implies the weak local-global principle for isometry – but he does the whole theory again – and that in a somewhat complicated way. The story begins with a course by H. 3. A. Pfister. I heard (or rather read) the name Pfister for the first time on 22nd November 1963 when I received a postcard from H. Math.238 WINFRIED SCHARLAU geometric argument could be used he performs lengthy calculations. Witt (1937) gives a very clear discussion of the classification problem. Lenz on Geometrische Algebra in the summer semester 1962 at the University of Munich. He does not know the importance of reflections. it seems that before Voevod- sky there had been not much real progress beyond the work of Minkowski and Hasse. Pfister The modern algebraic theory of quadratic forms begins with Witt’s (1911 – 1991) fundamental paper (1937). Pfister (1990) summarizes: Mit [dieser Arbeit] stößt er ein neues Tor auf und leitet die Loslösung von der Zahlentheorie und die Verselbständigung der Theorie der quadratischen Formen ein.

. (In particular. Pfister reported in (1984): I heard this talk and immediately realized that the result should be connected with the unsolved problem [of the possible levels]. . . that H. It contains the first “structure theorem” for the Witt group: Satz 1. a fact proved immediately by Pfister. . + Xn2 is not a sum of n squares in R(X1 . . Kneser’s construction (1934) gives a field of level 8. ob die Fälle s > 4 überhaupt vorkommen. (The second half of this problem is still open. He was able to prove this decisive fact on 17th September and submitted his first paper (1965) a few weeks later. Pfister’s results became known to the public through colloquia. Kneser. The exchange of ideas between Lenz and Pfister continued during the following year. In August Lenz and Pfister met and discussed various problems. Cassels and Lenz. in the composition formula n à n !à n ! X X X 2 zi = x2i yi2 . Pfister writes: Das war gewissermaßen meine Grundlage. Kneser’s assistant in May 1963. and it finishes with an important open problem: Es ist ja immer noch offen. Also. In March Pfister proved that the values of “Pfister” forms form a group. a few days later Lenz conjectured that the Witt ring does not contain zero divisors of odd dimension.) A little later. in particular Lenz formulated the problem of the possible Pythagoras numbers. where Pfister became M. Die Wittsche Gruppe eines nicht formalreellen Körpers K ist eine 2-Gruppe . Kneser’s paper (1934) must be considered as one of the germs of the algebraic theory of quadratic forms. In February 1964 Lenz asked whether. ob dann die Anzahl q der Quadratklassen endlich sein kann. One day later he had proved. . during these months. It formulated a really significant (and accessible) problem and contributed to its solution. The decisive event was a colloquium talk by Cassels on 11th July 1963. etc. the u-invariant and a related result of M. where Cassels proved that 1 + X12 + . Lenz con- jectured that the Witt group has only 2-torsion. Pfister became more and more convinced that a general solution of the level problem should be related to the fact that the elements represented as sums of 2n squares form a group. using Cassels’ theorem. n = 2m .) The story continues in Göttingen. in May he submitted the corresponding paper (1965a). three days later the case of level 16 was solved. some inequalities relating level and number of square classes. Kneser’s remarks (1934) on the level of fields. H. . In a letter dated 1st December 1964 Pfister informed me about the essential results of his Inventiones pa- ∞ per (1966) and mentioned also: Ungelöstes Problem: ∩ M n = 0 für jeden n=1 . a fact proved by Pfister the same day. but mentioned also Hurwitz’ work on the composition of forms. Xn ). und falls ja. ON THE HISTORY OF THE ALGEBRAIC THEORY OF QUADRATIC FORMS 239 book (1955) on classical groups. and talks in Oberwolfach by himself. i=1 i=1 i=1 the zi can be taken as linear functions in the yj . Lenz published a short paper (1963) expanding on this earlier work. .

that the structure theorems resulted from the study of the properties of individual forms. Xn ) is essential in Pfister’s work on Hilbert’s 17th problem. One should note. I want to report a little anecdote concerning the exchange of ideas between Pfister and Witt: It is well-known that one of the few examples where the classification is possible are the C2 -fields of Tsen (1936). Pfister writes (4. . that also – and perhaps quite often – not so well known mathematicians contribute to the progress of our science. instead references were made to Lang and Nagata. xn ) 6= 0 ∈ K n . By definition. it is an essential point. in particular Pfister forms. (Of course. estimates for the “size” of isotropic vectors). that only Pfister’s “strong” methods give a proof of the Arason-Pfister Hauptsatz. Xn ] of degree d > 0 with n > di has a root (x1 . Of course. x2 .240 WINFRIED SCHARLAU Körper K ? This “Hauptsatz” was proved a few years later by Arason and Pfister (1971). using “round” forms – which I shall mention again later – is simpler. systems of qua- dratic forms. when also Pfister attributed the Cn -property to Lang. . . Because it gives me the opportunity to mention an other important name. But Pfister’s theory of multiplicative forms gives more and also deeper results. Witt’s approach. for example. X2 . . Regarding the cooperation with Lenz. But it seems that by the sixties Tsen had been completely forgotten.99): Lenz ar- beitete alle meine Briefe gründlich durch. on multiplicative forms and on the structure of the Witt ring contain his best known results.g. . They contain a wealth of information which is difficult to find elsewhere. his lecture notes (Pfister (1995)) show his main interests very clearly: the u-invariant and related invariants. It is well known that several authors – in particular Witt himself. .4. The alge- braic theory of quadratic forms rests on this foundation. . It seems to me that after this breakthrough Pfister’s main interests shifted from structure theo- rems more in the direction of the study of concrete “individual” forms. . Witt replied: Das hat doch schon mein Freund Chungtze Tsen bewiesen! – This may have saved Tsen’s name from falling into oblivion. Sein Einfluß auf mich war daher in diesem guten Jahr der stärkste und wesentlichste. a field K has the Ci -property if every homo- geneous polynomial f ∈ K[X1 . . One should particularly mention Pfister’s work on sys- tems of quadratic forms and his interest in “strong” properties of forms over function fields (e. So. . very elegant and clever. Today it . Tsen’s work is the basis for all later work on quadratic forms over algebraic function fields. – I think that this cooperation is a fine example of the fact. . the Cn -property of C(X1 . . fand eigene Beweisvarianten und massenhaft neue Fragen. who suddenly reappeared on the stage – simplified and extended Pfister’s re- sults. etc.3 Certainly Pfister’s first papers on the level. It is however my impression that all these contributions are only marginal compared to Pfister’s achievements. Pythagoras numbers. Zeit und Ar- beit. In particular. In fact.) Any- way. Er investierte enorm viel Interesse.

ON THE HISTORY OF THE ALGEBRAIC THEORY OF QUADRATIC FORMS 241 is clear that these problems are much more difficult than the more formal theory. Weyl (1924) – and independently but in less explicit form Veblen (1923) – proved that this form is unimodular. using . The linking form is perhaps a less well known invariant. Algebraic topology The flourishing of a theory depends on interesting examples and appli- cations. If M is the twofold covering of a knot complement. who apparently worked out suggestions and ideas of K. H. Reidemeister. Z) × H 2k (M. 2) the quadratic form of a knot. con m par. In particular the Minkowski symbols cp are well defined knot invariants. For the algebraic theory of quadratic forms. 3) the linking form (Verschlingungsform). Already the title of his paper “Knoten und quadratische Formen” indicates a close connection. This form leads naturally to a purely algebraic study of forms on finite abelian groups. Z) = Z. which – in my opinion – has perhaps been under- estimated a little bit so far. The class of this form is determined by the isotopy class of the knot up to integral equivalence and adding or cancelling direct summands h±1i. It is defined and discussed in some detail by de Rham (1931) who also gives references to earlier work by Brouwer and Lebesgue. It is defined on a finite abelian group taking values in Q/Z. Z) −→ H 4k (M. la clase a que pertenece la forma caracteristica de grado m (en particular su indice de inercia) constituye una nueva peculiaridad de las superficies 2m-dimensionales respecto al Análisis-Situs. one has the cup product symmetric bilinear form ∪ : H 2k (M. Seifert (1936) points out a close connection to the quadratic form of the knot. If M is a compact oriented connected 4k-dimensional manifold. 4. He considers the case of skew-symmetric forms and gives a complete description. However he fails to notice the orthogonal decomposition in primary components. If k is odd this form is symmetric. if k is even it is skew-symmetric. Weyl already expected this form to be an interesting topological invariant of the manifold: Por tanto. This finite abelian group is the torsion subgroup of Hk (M ) of a (2k + 1)-dimensional oriented manifold M . The quadratic form of a knot was first defined by the little known math- ematician Lebrecht Goeritz (1933). For every knot an inte- gral quadratic form is defined. Already in the twenties and thirties quadratic forms appeared several times as algebraic invariants of topological objects. I want to mention and to discuss briefly the following (related) examples: 1) the Kronecker-Poincaré intersection form. The first steps of such an investigation are already contained in de Rham’s paper. algebraic topology has played an important rôle.

I am not the only one who had not read the Kneser-Puppe paper.2. It seems that the details of quadratic forms on 2-groups were written down explicitly only around 1970 when also the relations to Gaussian sums and quadratic reciprocity were pointed out by several authors. Wall once again discussed quadratic forms on finite groups mentioning neither de Rham nor Kneser-Puppe. It seems to the reviewer that this theorem is of considerable importance. This continues earlier work of Whitehead (1949). The first thing to mention is perhaps Hirzebruch’s (1956) in- dex theorem (Hauptsatz 8. Eichler . Like the earlier papers he does not work out the 2-part completely. can it be that there is no simple direct proof of it? (I must confess that I never looked at this paper before preparing this talk and that I was quite surprised when I saw that this result (∗) had essentially been proved so early. . Meyer . A complete discussion is provided by Durfee (1977). Kneser and Puppe (1953) investigate the sit- uation more carefully. It is interesting to note what R. the theory of qua- dratic forms does not yet enter significantly at this point. It is well known that this has been in the center of mathematical research for more than 50 years. For example it is hyperbolic (over any coefficient field) if M bounds a (n + 1)-manifold. However.) However. and an equally recondite theorem of M. . Though it is to some extent a report on known results it had a significant influence on the further development on both theories. Milnor proves that two such manifolds have the same homotopy type if and only . Unaware of de Rham’s paper. and they proved essentially (and up to terminology) a rather fundamental algebraic result in the theory of quadratic forms. not only to knot theory but to the theory of qua- dratic forms itself.H. Milnor discusses the problem to which extent an oriented simply connected 4-manifold is determined by its quadratic form. Thus it gives an invariant from the cobordism ring to the Witt ring.C. namely the existence of the exact sequence 0 → W (Z) → W (Q) → W T → 0 (∗) where W T denotes the Witt group of symmetric bilinear forms on finite abelian groups. I come now to the intersection form of a 4k-manifold. A much deeper connection between quadratic forms and algebraic topology is established in Milnor’s paper (1958).T. it was recognized very early that the intersection form has the “right” functorial properties. I will later discuss another instance where a question from knot theory led to very significant developments in the theory of quadratic forms. In 1963 C.242 WINFRIED SCHARLAU elementary divisors instead. . Since the index of inertia depends only on the real intersection form. and he does not discuss the symmetric case. . Fox writes about this paper in his report for the Mathematical Reviews (1954 I 100): The proof depends on a little-known theorem of A.2) answering the question posed (implicitly) by Weyl and which is one of Hirzebruch’s great achievements.

men- tioning E8 and Gaussian sums and referring to earlier work of A. §15) on indefinite lattices is a much more general and deeper result. for a complete classification of the homotopy types. In Serre’s talk we not only find new concepts but also new results or at least new proofs.) Certainly. Looking at papers in algebraic topology from this time. I would like to add one further remark concerning J. λ-ring structure) and hints at the existence of entire new theo- ries: La catégorie S peut se définir pour un anneau commutatif quelconque (et même en fait pour un schéma de base quelconque. A few years later. His talks in the Cartan seminar of 26th February and 5th March 1962 are remarkable examples of clear and perspicuous presentation. O’Meara he summarizes what was known about this problem. Kap III. he gives a complete classification of indefinite unimodular lattices. Milnor: . Milnor became interested in the theory of qua- dratic forms through these examples. one needs a classification of integral unimodular forms. He begins with the words: Il s’agit de résultats arithmétiques qui sont utiles en topologie différentielle. In particular. With the assistance of O. Cartan – took up the task of giving a systematic treatment. a question which leads directly to the marvellous work of Donaldson and Freedman. thus introducing odd and even forms (type I and II). this had already been obtained: Eichler’s (1912 – 1992) result (1952. and also O’Meara (1963) misses this point quite narrowly in the last paragraph of his book. He also asks which quadratic forms occur as intersection forms. (See also the remarks on the work of Freedman below. (For n > 2 every spinor genus contains only one class. Meyer. Though this is quite clear from the discussion of Milnor’s algebraic work in Bass (1993). clearly a fundamental result. ON THE HISTORY OF THE ALGEBRAIC THEORY OF QUADRATIC FORMS 243 if their quadratic forms are isometric. B. Braun. one quite often finds some remarks on quadratic forms. non nécessairement affine).) However. Eichler fails to mention the explicit application to unimodular Z-lattices.T. H. in principle. He defines several new concepts (Grothen- dieck rings. Jones and Eichler. So. un élément de S est l’analogue algébrique d’un fibré vectoriel ayant pour groupe structural le groupe orthogonal. Serre (1962) – at the request of H. Also. At this point a really significant connection between topology and algebra is established. he proves that this is the case if and only if it is indefinite (remember that the determinant is ±1). This had far-reaching consequences for the further development of the theory of quadratic forms. Milnor (1961) discusses a more delicate question origi- nating from a concrete problem in topology (surgery): When is the intersec- tion form isotropic? As an application of the Hasse-Minkowski theorem.W. Serre’s proof – using only the Hasse-Minkowski theorem in Meyer’s version and Kneser’s method of neighbors – is much easier than the application of Eichler’s theory. An other closely related topic discussed by topologists during these years is the so called van der Blij invariant mod 8 of an integral quadratic form (van der Blij (1959)). One may argue that.

His approach is a model for similar classification problems (self-adjoint transformations. This in turn leads to central extensions and the functor K2 . But it should not be overlooked that also (1969) on the classification of isome- tries had some significant influence on the further development. Bass’ (1968) monumental monograph on K0 and K1 had already been published. Today it is well known that this theorem has many applications. First of all.244 WINFRIED SCHARLAU he arrived at the theory of quadratic forms from (at least) two different directions. Secondly the paper contains what may seem to be a purely technical result. As far as quadratic forms are concerned. the es- sential point seems to be that Milnor realized that for fields the functors K2 (via Matsumoto’s theorem) and Witt ring (and perhaps Galois cohomology) have very similar descriptions by generators and relations. This led to im- portant results (e. in principle. As mentioned in 1. etc. been solved before. namely that over p-adic fields the transfer of quadratic forms preserves the Hasse symbol. I real- ized immediately that this allowed to reduce the proof of Hilbert’s quadratic reciprocity law for arbitrary algebraic number fields to the field Q.and s-cobordism. energy and information – the basic concepts of our world – . When I saw it the first time.g. reciprocity laws. This leads to the Whitehead group and Whitehead torsion which is related to h. The defin- ition of K2 is perhaps Milnor’s best known achievement in algebra (Milnor 1971a). sesquilinear forms. Together with the relevant chapters in Bass’ book (1968) it led directly to the introduction of additive and abelian categories with duality. to Steinberg symbols. The paper originated also in topology. One has been sketched already. The paper (1970) which contains the Milnor conjecture is certainly Mil- nor’s most important contribution to the theory of quadratic forms. pairs of quadratic forms. it contains a very perspicuous presentation of the classification problem for isometries. But Milnor’s treatment opened the way to a much more general theory. I mentioned this to A. Weil and he informed me that already his paper (1964) contained Milnor’s result and what is now known as Weil’s reciprocity law. The other one begins with Whitehead’s work on simple homotopy equivalence of finite CW-complexes. When it appeared it certainly came as a great surprise to the math- ematical community. its starting point is the inter- section form and the classification of 4-dimensional manifolds. this problem had. but its content is entirely algebraic. namely in some problems about knot cobor- dism discussed by Levine. but it was not at all clear how to define K2 with the right properties. During my stay in Princeton. The calculation of the Whitehead group is closely related to the functor K1 and the congruence subgroup problem. a convenient setting for many aspects of quadratic form theory.4. norm residue symbols. But now we have digressed perhaps too far from algebraic topology! Lack of time. space. on the Witt group of a rational function field K(X)) and eventually to the Milnor conjecture. in general spaces with additional structures).

Wall. a brief discussion of the Clif- ford algebra. Kneser’s notes contain in particular: the definition of various Witt-Grothendieck groups over arbitrary rings. The invariants ω. Fröhlich. in particular of local and global number fields. since the sixties also non-simply-connected oriented 2k-dimensional mani- folds were considered. Compact simply connected 4-manifolds M are charac- terized up to homeomorphism by the intersection form ω (and the Kirby- Siebenmann invariant σ ∈ Z/2Z. It seems his private notes of this talk did not circulate widely. their functorial properties studied systematically. indicating whether M stably has a differ- entiable structure or not). and I want to close this section with two remarks. ON THE HISTORY OF THE ALGEBRAIC THEORY OF QUADRATIC FORMS 245 prevent me from discussing the relations between quadratic forms and topol- ogy in more detail. Unpublished work Digressing even more from a systematic treatment of my topic. I now want to report on some unpublished work which nevertheless had significant influence on the development of the algebraic theory of quadratic forms. exact localization sequences. Every unimodular quadratic form ω arises in this way. Freedman and S. In fact his results carry over easily to an arbitrary Dedekind domain R. This leads to the study of ε-symmetric and ε-quadratic forms over group rings.) 5. from the topo- logical side as well as from the algebraic.T. He then discusses Witt and Witt-Grothendieck groups W c of rings of algebraic integers considering unimodular and also non-degenerate (det 6= 0) forms. Scharlau). As an application of . see: Proceedings of the International Congress of Mathematicians 1986. Surgery obstruction groups and Witt groups of various kinds were defined. More than anybody else. then the signature is a multiple of 16. Knebusch-Rosenberg-Ware. σ are independent except for the relation prescribed by Rochlin’s theorem: if M is stably differentiable. In this case the fundamental group acts as a group of isometries of the intersection form. (For all this. but certainly Kneser’s results were prototypical for later work by a considerable number of authors (Bak- Scharlau. Donaldson. Moreover. Mayer-Vietoris sequences and periodicity results were proved and more or less explicit calculations were performed. Wall initiated a systematic investigation of this situation. Secondly. if a differentiable 4-manifold has a positive defi- nite intersection form. then this is actually the unit form.C. Knebusch. C. Firstly. the (unpublished) second part of my Queen’s University course on quadratic forms in 1968/69 was partially based on it. a discussion of the first terms of the filtration of the Witt-Grothendieck ring. This is a field of active research to the present day. The first is a talk by M. I received the manuscript in July 1967. a discussion of special ground fields. the description (over fields) of the discriminant and the Witt invariant via non-abelian Galois cohomology. Kneser (1962) in Paris. H. I want to mention the marvellous work of M.

5) he obtained the result that every quadratic form over the polynomial ring K[X] is extended from K. namely Witt’s highly influential col- loquium talks in 1967 and 1968. and has a strong number theoretic flavour. Spe- cializing one of his results to the orthogonal group and the projective line (Harder (1968). I now come to a different topic. namely the structure of projective modules over R[X] had already received a lot of attention at this time. In the course of this computation he essentially re- discovered Gauss’ first proof of the quadratic reciprocity law. it is now published in Witt’s Collected Papers (1998). One should note perhaps at this point that the analogous problem in algebraic K-theory.246 WINFRIED SCHARLAU the strong approximation theorem he proves the exactness of the sequence c (R) −→ W 0 −→ C/C 2 −→ W c (K) (where C denotes the ideal class group). Milnor (1970) also published Tate’s results. Scharlau (1972). He achieved this by the introduction of round forms. and Geyer. Tate worked on a very similar and closely related problem. which is more elementary than Harder’s approach. J. In retrospect one sees a rather close connection to the Kneser-Puppe paper (1953) and gets the impression that already at that time Kneser knew all basic results concerning Witt groups of Dedekind domains and their quotient fields as exposed e. (He also liked to . Obviously this led him to think about quadratic forms over the rational function field. That a result like this should hold was clear from the analogous result for the Brauer group. 3.g. Harder. In some colloquium talks Harder gave simple proofs of his result which used only elementary lattice theory and the Riemann-Roch theorem for rational function fields (a more or less trivial result). Tate talked about these things several times and thus inspired Milnor’s analogous com- putation of W (K(X)). It is well known that in this talk Witt gave simplified proofs of Pfister’s struc- ture theorems. Details and generalizations of Harder’s ideas were worked out a little later by Knebusch (1970). Knebusch told me in a letter of 17th December 1969 that during the sum- mer semester 1968 Harder had established the existence of the reciprocity (or sum) formula for the second residue forms. The first was given in Cologne on 10th November 1967. As mentioned before. Chap. Next I want to mention some work of G. Harder which was not pub- lished by Harder himself but is contained (at least partially) in Knebusch’s Habilitationsschrift (1970). namely semisimple groups over complete curves. and he obviously enjoyed to talk about “round quadratic forms”. Knebusch. At about the same time. in Scharlau (1985). 5 and 6. and Milnor is closely related. in fact it was one of the central problems of algebraic K-theory (see Weibel (1999) for more details). Scharlau (1970). all this work of Kneser. Harder had worked on a much more general and difficult problem. Tate. Harder. namely the computation of K2 of Q and of a rational function field K(X).

. During the summer term 1962 I attended a little course (one hour weekly) by F. . their Θ-series and modular forms. Koh (1971)). This was one of the most lucky occurrences in my life. I think in this way pythagorean (and related) fields became an interesting special topic in the algebraic theory of quadratic forms. It covered roughly the first four paragraphs of Hirzebruch’s lecture notes (Hirzebruch. Ax proved this for n ≤ 3 and contributed substantially to the general case. . . . Neumann. It is con- cerned with a quantitative version of Hilbert’s 17th problem: every positive definite function in R(X1 . Pfister (1995 p.) As one may guess. this is exactly the principle of the Milnor conjecture: replace cohomology by quadratic forms. one may mention the work of Vo- evodsky and his collaborators and quite a few of Rost’s influential preprints. Xn ) is a sum of 2n squares. in particular through Lorenz’ (1970) and my own lecture notes.) 6. . cup products by Pfister forms. Some reminiscences 1962 – 1970 I began my university studies in Bonn in the summer semester 1959. – Witt’s results . The . I had attended the Cologne lecture and was quite impressed. but that the use of cohomology should be replaced by multiplicative forms. During the summer vacation I undertook a two-months backpack trip to the Near East resulting in one of my first ornithological publica- tions. in particular when he mentioned very close to the end that he had a lot more to say about lattices.) Perhaps one may conclude this section with the remark that the course of history cannot entirely be reconstructed from published documents but other sources have to be considered also in order to get a more complete (and accurate) picture. (Concerning the history. . In particular he had the idea to apply Tsen’s theorem. (Unfortu- nately. Witt spoke however for almost two hours and the audience got a little nervous. The last unpublished paper which I would like to mention is Ax (1967) which was submitted for publication on 11th January 1967 but withdrawn after Pfister (1967) had completely solved the problem posed there. It was the first time that I heard of such a thing but one year later I noticed that the pythagorean closure of a field may in some sense replace the family of all real closures.though unpublished – became quickly known in the community. Ax for sending me a preprint of his manuscript . . And when he passed from the Grothendieck ring to the Witt ring he said: and now we introduce the relation 1 + −1 = 0. ON THE HISTORY OF THE ALGEBRAIC THEORY OF QUADRATIC FORMS 247 mention that he had learned the Grothendieck construction from his Chi- nese nanny. After a careful study of the manuscript I realized that the reduction to Cn -fields should be retained. I want to mention one further little detail: at some point he mentioned pythagorean fields. 89) writes: I am very grateful to J. Scharlau (1963) (on the birds of the Egyptian oasis El-Dachla). Ax’s important paper is not mentioned in any of the standard books on quadratic forms. Hirzebruch on “Quadratische Formen”.Of course.

who spoke on the results of his paper (1970). Lang had invited me to spend one year at Columbia University. I continued my work and computed the Witt group of a power series field k((t)) – again being unaware of Springer’s result (1955) – and discovered as an application fields where quadratic forms are not classified by Stiefel- Whitney classes. Nevertheless. This was a little bit unusual since almost all of Hirzebruch’s students worked in topology. J. and talked a lot about this with Karl-Heinz Mayer.Algebraic topol- ogy was the big thing in those days! – Some time later. who.) I talked to J. I gave talks on “Stiefel-Whitney-Klassen” and the “Hurwitz-Radon-Eckmann Theorem” on the number of independent linear vector fields on spheres. This lead me to Galois cohomology and Serre’s Corps locaux (1962) that had just appeared. he agreed and suggested that I should start reading Delzant’s note (1962). I was not aware of Springer’s paper (1959) containing the same result.248 WINFRIED SCHARLAU following winter semester I attended two seminars of Hirzebruch. My Diplomarbeit was never published. It started with algebraic number theory and treated quadratic forms in a quite general and modern fashion. By the summer semester 1964 I had finished my Diplomarbeit “Quadratische Formen und Stiefel-Whitney- Klassen”. Milnor. the assistant supervising my progress. I hesitated to take the examination because then I might have been drafted for military service. Bass. At Columbia I attended a very substantial course on “Quadratic Forms” by H. I asked Hirzebruch for a subject for a “Diplomarbeit” and I suggested myself the field of quadratic forms. I worked out the effect of the Bockstein ho- momorphism on the Stiefel-Whitney classes and showed that the non-abelian Galois cohomology of 1 → SO → O → {±1} → 1. the other the “Oberseminar”. In the meantime S. From the first moment on it was obvious that it should be possible to develop a theory of quadratic forms similar to – but much easier than . Both results were suggested by topology. (This is of course a very trivial fact. about these results. . who had become a professor in Bonn. Later Bass extended this material to his Tata notes (1967). Lam and A. one of the prouder moments of my mathematical life. Bak. noticed immediately the generalization to local fields. not even submitted to the “Prüf- ungsamt”. of course. at the inauguration of “New Fine Hall” in Princeton. 1 → {±1} → P in → O → 1 leads to the first two Stiefel-Whitney classes. mentioned it and wrote my name in huge let- ters across the board. He communicated them to Serre.the theory of vector bundles and K-theory. . I made for myself lists of analo- gies between the two theories. Among other things. But in March 1970. Bass’ course was also attended by T. one on “Charakteristische Klassen”. While preparing my stay there.-Y. Tits.

but certainly basic and aesthetically satisfying. Geyer and their families at Queen’s University. It seems the quadratic forms community has not followed this advice. Significant work of Cassels.D. It appeared in somewhat revised form in Scharlau (1967) and contained also some results on the Brauer group of henselian fields.-D. After the Ph. I started to work on my thesis on “Quadratische Formen und Galois-Cohomologie” which I finished by November 1966. Tate. I remember that I talked around . One of the things I tried to work out was a cohomological proof of Springer’s result on odd degree extensions. one had not to work very hard but just to pick up the fruits. A. In some sense this is true also for the preceding period. I profited very much from the work and talks of Milnor. Knebusch and I exchanged several letters resulting a little later in some common publications on the questions mentioned above. But one may assume that already visible trends will continue for some time. Weil informed me about his results on the transfer and “Weil reciprocity”. We have seen that also problems originating in topology played an important rôle. ON THE HISTORY OF THE ALGEBRAIC THEORY OF QUADRATIC FORMS 249 Back in Bonn. (Knus et al.-examination I wrote my paper on the Brauer group of algebraic function fields. As mentioned before. of course. I think. M. Bass. I must have tried to compute also the Witt group of a rational function field but I was not successful. My main inter- est were structure theorems for the Witt ring and applications of the method of transfer on the one hand and quadratic reciprocity laws for number and function fields on the other. However. that is of algebraic geometry in a broad sense. The same is true. Neukirch (1937 . Ax. We had a really good time. 7. in particular of linear and geometric algebra and of field theory. I realized immediately that this would prove to be a useful construction.1997) and W. The following year I spent at the Institute in Princeton. Harder and Knebusch. I did not succeed. (1998) is an exception). An outlook It is probably not possible to predict the future course of a mathemat- ical theory. perhaps not very deep and difficult. The algebraic theory of quadratic forms is an offspring of abstract algebra.. for Kneb- usch’s concept of generic splitting fields. Life was like in paradise. The point was to take not the trace but a suitable different linear map. I enjoyed very much giving a course on quadratic forms and learned a lot in Geyer’s course on algebraic function fields. – Looking back at that time it seems to me that it was quite easy to discover and prove theorems – theorems. He also suggested that the characteristic 2 case always should be included as far as possible. for about twenty years algebraic geometry has had the strongest impact on the algebraic theory of quadratic forms. Pfister and others made essential use of polynomial rings etc. but in the process I discovered the method of transfer in the first days of October 1968. The academic year 1968/69 I spent with my friends J.

one does not know analogues of the ex- act sequence of cohomology or K-theory for Witt groups. . Er ordnete jeder F orm f = n 1 a i x2 i die Algebra S(f ) = i≤k (ai .250 WINFRIED SCHARLAU 1964 to M. but Voevodsky’s proof requires a lot of difficult and to some extent highly technical algebraic geometry. And finally it is fascinating to observe.g. relations to Chow groups. the behaviour of generic splitting towers. Man müsste erst mehr über quadratische Formen über vollständigen Schemata wissen. these remarks seem to describe very precisely the present sit- uation: the Milnor conjecture is a statement about quadratic forms over fields. Perhaps also this problem will be resolved in the context of algebraic geometry. um bei Körpern weiter zu kommen. wie ein System von Normrestsymbolen. In fact. The standard books do not refer to it. leading directly to the Milnor and the Bloch-Kato conjecture. curves and higher-dimensional varieties. and cohomology – all this and much more seems to de- pend on further progress in algebraic geometry. Many of the most important unsolved problems – odd u-invariants4. Morel) involve many techniques from algebraic topology. daß eine direkte Theo- rie der quadratischen Formen über Körpern einfach zu schwierig ist. b) im wesentlichen dasselbe ist. But Durfee had essentially proved the same results as later Springer. This remark seems also to indicate that what today is usually called Hasse algebra should perhaps be named after Artin. . it is interesting to observe that the constructions by Voevodsky (and others. Es gibt dort sozusagen zu viele quadratische Formen. . adding that it would be necessary to study algebraic geometry for this purpose. Witt groups of function fields. like Bloch. Die Invarianz dieser Algebra bei allen Transformationen war allerdings nicht ganz leicht einzusehen. usually one applies cancellation and Witt’s “Satz 7”. K-groups. daß diese Philosophie nicht ganz verkehrt ist. This is certainly a “Leitmotiv” of the whole theory. ak ) zu. However. während es über den vollständigen Schemata nur wenige Vektorbündel mit quadratis- cher Form gibt. But in the meantime we can expect that algebraic geometry will continue to exert a strong influence on quadratic form the- ory. In this context it may be interest- ing to see how M. . . and that he mentioned quadratic forms over function fields. daß eine Algebra (a. that already in this first paper the crucial word “Normrestsymbol” occurs. This leads to the question how Artin could in fact prove the invariance of S(f ). the validity of Hasse principles. One of the main obstacles to progress seems to be the fact that the Witt group functor does not have good properties e. . Fried- lander. aber gute Möglichkeiten für eine geometrische Betrachtung. 2) It seems that Durfee’s paper is not very well known. hat Artin in einer Vorlesung die quadratischenP Formen von vornherein auf Q dieser Grundlage behandelt. Kneser about possible research problems. Footnotes 1) In the introduction of his paper (1937) Witt makes the following interesting remark: Da aus der neueren Theorie der Algebren bekannt ist. Ein Körper erlaubt zu wenig Geometrie. The future will show how much of this is really necessary.Auch heute glaube ich. Knebusch remembers these years (letter dated 1st March 1999): Ganz im Gegenteil glaubte ich ursprünglich. the computation of u-invariants and Pythagoras numbers.

Tan (1999). M. Invent. Lecture Notes in Math- ematics 108. 24. Bayer–Fluckiger. Arason (1975): Cohomologische Invarianten quadratischer Formen. Studies 98. Heidelberg. also Carlitz (1951) proved the Cn -property of function fields over finite fields. 183. Invent. E. Hamburg 5. Artin. Albert (1939): Structure of algebras.Kr. Kang. p. 85–99 J. 331. D. London. E. New York: Interscience E. 205–212 J.A. Ding. 122. Ann. S. Nevertheless. 336–350 E. 148–167 E. Bass (1967): Lectures on topics in algebraic K–theory. 55–66. Soc. 12. J. Arason. J. Berlin. Math. Ann. Artin. F. Math. Coll. Soc.J. Math. Artin (1957): Geometric Algebra. Math. 173–176 – (1982): Quadratische Formen über affinen Algebren und ein algebraischer Beweis des Satzes von Borsuk–Ulam. Sem. ON THE HISTORY OF THE ALGEBRAIC THEORY OF QUADRATIC FORMS 251 3) The history of the Cn -property is strange: It was discovered by Tsen and Lang. Bayer–Fluckiger. More information on Tsen and his work is contained in Sh. and certainly Lang was not aware of Tsen’s priority. Bombay: Tata Institute.Kr. Necessarily his methods and results are very close to Tsen’s and Lang’s. Ax (1967): On ternary definite rational functions (unpublished) R. Lecture Notes in Mathematics 655. New York: Springer A. Math. R. reine angew. Lorenz (Münster) has collected some biographical information on Tsen (unpublished). C. Parimala (1995): Galois cohomology of the classical groups over fields of cohomological dimension ≤ 2. New York: Springer – (1981): K–theory of forms. References A. J. Houston: Publish or Perish. Algebra 123. J. Math. Abh. Leep pointed out to me that the situation is even more confusing: almost simultaneously with Lang’s work. Publ. New York and Amsterdam: Benjamin. 448–491 – (1980): Der Wittring projektiver Räume. Kearton. Math. Schreier (1927): Algebraische Konstruktion reeller Körper. Algebra 36. 195–229 . Berlin. 253. Bak (1969): On modules with quadratic forms. Wilson (1989): Hermitian forms in additive categories: finiteness results. O. A. J. Princeton H. 4) In July 1999 Izhboldin proved the existence of fields of u-invariant 9.M. – (1968): Algebraic K–theory. 181–184 C. Providence: Amer. Baeza (1978): Quadratic forms over semilocal rings. Heidelberg. Math. their work was perhaps not “independent” because both were students of E. Amer. – (1993): John Milnor the Algebraist. 45–84 in: Topological Methods in Modern Mathematics. Arf (1941): Untersuchungen über quadratische Formen in Körpern der Charakteristik 2 (Teil I). Math. Pfister (1971): Beweis des Krullschen Durchschnittsatzes für den Wittring. reine angew.

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2).Contemporary Mathematics Local fundamental classes derived from higher K-groups: III Victor P. c °0000 (copyright holder) 261 .is more complicated and applies to the case of a normal subgroup. AJ denote the J-invariants and J-coinvariants of A. Also the fundamental classes are used in the construction of higher-dimensional Chin- burg invariants.3).is merely to consider the modules as Z[J]-modules. 2) in the case of tamely ramified Galois extension of function fields. let AJ . A). Primary 11R37. We have a commutative diagram of Z[G/J]-modules P in which the rows and columns are exact and NJ denotes the norm. There are two natural operations associated to a subgroup. J / G. Let us begin with the local fundamental classes. In positive characteristic we study the connection between the K2 /K3 fundamental class and Lichtenbaum’s motivic complex of weight two. We explain how to calculate Ω1 (E/F.passage to quotient groups . The second . J ⊆ G. 1991 Mathematics Subject Classification. Secondary 19F05. including the connection with the motivic complex of weight two. Suppose that G is a finite group and that E: A −→ B −→ C −→ D is a 2-extension of Z[G]-modules in which B and C are cohomologically trivial. The first . 2r+1 for any r ≥ 0. Such a sequence defines an element of Ext2Z[G] (D. To a Galois extension of local fields is associated a canonical fun- damental class constructed from algebraic K-groups in dimensions 2r. N (x) = g∈J gx.passage to subgroups . Snaith Abstract. Introduction At the conference I gave a talk entitled: “Does the weight-two motivic complex have an Euler characteristic?” and in this paper I shall describe the background to this question – the existence of local fundamental classes associated to higher K-groups – and ramifications in a number of directions. The case r = 0 is a familiar part of classical local class field theory and the higher dimensional analogues satisfy all the same naturality proper- ties. associated to a Galois extension of global fields. In this case. respectively ([19] p. Ωr (E/F. 1.

SNAITH BJ . which shows that the K-theory of L has no p-torsion. combined with the results of [20]. [19] p. For p-adic fields when p is odd the conjecture was proved recently [8]. (iii) If G(L/E) / G(L/K) then the canonical 2-extension associated with E/K is canonically isomorphic to K2r+1 (L)G(L/E) −→ (Ar (L))G(L/E) −→ (Br (L))G(L/E) −→ K2r (L)G(L/E) . BJ .202.326) was true for the mod p algebraic K-theory of p-adic local fields.0 ∼ = NJ ∼ = NJ ? ? 0 . B J and C J . When L/K is a Galois extension of local fields of characteristic p the Lichtenbaum-Quillen Conjecture is now known to be true by [7]. When r = 0 the result is well-known from local class field theory and the theory of the Brauer group. AJ . G(L/K). DJ . Furthermore.1 for finite Galois extensions of p-adic local fields.262 VICTOR P. (ii) If G(L/E) ⊆ G(L/K) then the canonical 2-extension associated with L/E is canonically isomorphic to the canonical 2-extension for L/K. natural 2- extension (depending up to quasi-isomorphism upon a choice of a root of unity. CJ . Actually. Let L/K be a Galois extension of local fields with group.9). These advances make it possible to construct the local fundamental classes associated to the higher K-groups of local fields without any assumptions. ξt ) of Theorem 1. These operations are relevant to the naturality properties of the fundamental classes constructed in ([15] [16] [17]). The construction in higher dimensions is accomplished by imitating the construction of the classical local fundamental class given in ([14] p. are cohomologically trivial. in [15] and [16] we showed how to construct the canonical. When [16] was written this was known for 2-adic fields by [22]. Theorem 1. Then for each r ≥ 0 there exists a canonical 2-extension of Z[G(L/K)]-modules of the form 0 −→ K2r+1 (L) −→ Ar (L) −→ Br (L) −→ K2r (L) −→ 0 satisfying the following conditions: (i) The Z[G(L/K)]-modules Ar (L) and Br (L) are cohomologically trivial. Since [15] and [16] only dealt with p-adic local fields I shall devote §2 to a sketch of the construction in the characteristic p case. see also [18] p. when r ≥ 2 in this case we needed to assume that the Lichtenbaum-Quillen Conjecture ([16] p. I shall do this by giving a complete treatment of the construction of the K2 /K3 . CJ resulting in the associated J-invariant/coinvariant 2-extension AJ −→ B J −→ C J −→ DJ in which the Z[G/J]-modules.303. considered as a 2-extension of Z[G(L/E)]-modules.1.

6 are used to reduce to the tame case. Incidentally. L) induce the same cup-product isomorphism in Tate cohomology.6.19 I will explain how to modify the following construction to the K2r − K2r+1 case when r ≥ 2. at least if we invert 2. the Ext2 . for one-dimensional local fields L the indecomposable K-group Kjind (L) [11] differs from Kj (L) only by uniquely divisible groups when j ≥ 3 by [2]. which will be explained in the remainder of this section. in the K2 − K3 case. G(L/K). as explained in §5.1-§2. LOCAL FUNDAMENTAL CLASSES DERIVED FROM HIGHER K-GROUPS: III 263 case in §2. In §3 we concentrate on the case of a tamely ramified Galois extension in characteristic p. we sketch how to prove that the K2 /K3 local fundamental class and Γ(2.2. The main advantages in using the following modification of the construction of [15] and [16] are that it works even in the wildly ramified case and using it the proof of the naturality property of Theorem 2. in Theorem 4.1 to Theorem 2. L0 = K0 L and d = [K0 ∩ L : K]. We would like to compare our K2 /K3 local fundamental class with the motivic complex Γ(2. The last two sections explain how one uses the K2r /K2r+1 local fundamental classes to associate a Chinburg invariant. Since K2r (L) and K2r+1 (L) have no p-torsion [7] the results of [20] imply that the tame symbol δ : K2r (L) −→ K2r−1 (L) and the map induced by the inclusion of the field of constants K2r+1 (L) −→ K2r+1 (L) each has uniquely divisible kernel and cokernel. in all cases. in Remark 3. L) of ([9] [10]). We also compute.19 I shall explain the simple modifications necessary for the K2r /K2r+1 case.5). From the construction of §2 we deduce a simpler representative (Theorem 3. The Chinburg invariant takes its values in the class-group of the integral group-ring of the Galois group. Let L denote the residue field of L so that L is a finite field of characteristic p. It is here that the homological results of Remark 3. in which the local fundamental 2-extensions live.18 and in §2. For the moment let us concentrate on the construction of the K2 − K3 funda- mental class. 2) in the tame case in terms of modules (Theorem 5. We sketch how to evaluate Ω1 (E/F.6) and of the Hom-description (Theorem 6. Possibly . Let K0 denote the maximal unramified extension of K. Let L/K be a Galois extension of local fields in characteristic p > 0 with group. they reduce the construction of the 2-extension of Theorem 1. Ωr (E/F.2 and Theorem 3.1. Constructing the local fundamental classes in characteristic p 2.1.3) of the fundamental 2-extension in the tame case. K2r+1 (L)) where T orsM denotes the torsion subgroup of M . to each Galois extension of global fields E/F in characteristic p > 0. 2. 2). In §2. via the Hom-description of §6. Since G(L/K) is finite we have canonical isomorphisms of the form ∼ Ext2 Ext2Z[G(L/K)] (K2r (L). K2r+1 (L)) ∼ = Ext2Z[G(L/K)] (K2r−1 (L). K2r+1 (L)) = Z[G(L/K)] (T orsK2r (L).2 below. The preceding isomorphisms of Ext-groups will be very useful since. However in §3.3 I will give a much simpler construction of an equivalent 2-extension in the tamely ramified case.2 (iii) is identical to that of ([15] §4). As a first approximation to this. This means that it may be described in terms of projective modules or in terms of idélic-valued functions on the representation ring.2.

to reduce the verification to the tame case. and L respec- tively denote the residue fields of L0 and L. where L0 = Fp . to reduce the verification to the case of the tame 2-extension of Theorem 3. We have isomorphisms. considered as a 2-extension of Z[G(L/E)]-modules. Let L/K be a Galois extension of (one-dimensional) local fields with group. Taking the direct limit over s we obtain an exact sequence of Z[G(L/K)]-modules of the form 1−F [ 0 −→ K3 (L) −→ K3 (L0 ) −→ U −→ Ker(K2 (L) −→ K2 (L(s))G(L(s)/L) ) −→ 0 s S where U = s κ(s).3. As in ([15] Proposition 2. From [11]. SNAITH one might attempt to verify the naturality properties by using Remark 3. ∼ = G(L0 /L) −→ G(L0 /L). K3 (L(s))) −→ 0. 2. c. Assume for the moment that L/K is totally ramified. the adic integers.2. we have a canonical exact sequence of the form 0 −→ H 1 (G(L(s)/L). s. s . [15] Lemma 2.6. and we may define L(s) = LK(s) ⊂ L0 to be the fixed field of sẐ for each positive integer.1. Theorem 2. By a result of Tate ([21]. K3 (L(s))) −→ K2 (L) −→ K2 (L(s))G(L(s)/L) −→ H 1 (G(L(s)/L).3. bearing in mind that K3ind (L) and K3 (L) differ only by a uniquely divisible group. NL(s)/L : K3 (L(s)) −→ K3 (L). µ(L). so that K0 ∩ L = K and d = 1. Let F ∈ G(L(s)/L) denote the lifting of the Frobenius under the isomorphism.f. G(K0 /K) ∼ = G(L0 /L) ∼= Ẑ. and char(L) = p. Then there exists a canonical 2-extension of Z[G(L/K)]- modules of the form e di=1 K3 (L0 ) 1− K3 (L) −→ ⊕ F̂ f −→ W −→ T orsK2 (L) satisfying the following conditions: (i) The Z[G(L/K)]-modules ⊕ e di=1 K3 (L0 ) and W f are cohomologically trivial.264 VICTOR P. Hence we have an exact sequence 1−F 0 −→ K3 (L) −→ K3 (L(s)) −→ κ(s) −→ Ker(K2 (L) −→ K2 (L(s))G(L(s)/L) ) −→ 0 since K3 (L(s))G(L(s)/L) ∼ = K3 (L). G(L/K). (iii) If G(L/E) / G(L/K) then the canonical 2-extension associated with E/K is quasi-isomorphic to e di=1 K3 (L0 ))G(L/E) 1− K3 (L)G(L/E) −→ (⊕ F̂ f G(L/E) −→ (W) −→ T orsK2 (L)G(L/E) where MG denotes the G-coinvariants of M . the algebraic closure of Fp . see also [12]) K2 (L) ∼ = µ(L) ⊕ DL where DL is uniquely divisible and µ(L) ∼ = µ(L) is the cyclic group of order prime to p given by the groups of roots of unity. (ii) If G(L/E) ⊆ G(L/K) then the canonical 2-extension associated with L/E is quasi-isomorphic to the canonical 2-extension for L/K. which establishes an isomorphism of Ext2 ’s in the wild and the tame cases.8) [ Ker(K2 (L) −→ K2 (L(s))G(L(s)/L) ) = p∞ K2 (L). Let κ(s) denote the kernel of the norm.

Therefore each of the inclusions K3 (Fp ) ∼ = (Q/Z)(2)[1/p] −→ K3 (L0 ) and K3 (Fp ) −→ U induces isomorphisms on Tate cohomology groups.4). in characteristic p with W 0 = L ∩ K0 and d = [W 0 : K]. −). As explained in ([18] pp. by ([14] p. Now let us consider the general case of a finite Galois extension of (one- dimensional) local fields. This induces an isomorphism ∼ = Ker(h1 ) −→ G(L0 /K).2 fol- lowing the method of ([15] §3) which was in turn an imitation of the fundamental class of local class field theory. If d = [W 0 : K] define F0 ∈ G(L0 /K) by (F0 |K0 ) = F d and (F0 |L) = 1. so that r = [G(L/W 0 ) : G1 (L/W 0 )] = [G0 (L/K) : G1 (L/K)] . K3 (Fqs ) −→ K3 (L(s)). F d−2 (β)α. for all i (c. . [15] Corollary 2. both being isomorphic to K3 (L0 ). 9-10). Ĥ i (G(L/K).3. z) = (F i |W 0 )·(z|W 0 )−1 . LOCAL FUNDAMENTAL CLASSES DERIVED FROM HIGHER K-GROUPS: III 265 the p-primary part of K2 (L). inducing a homomorphism h1 : G(K0 /K) × G(L/K) ∼ = Ẑ × G(L/K) −→ G(W 0 /K) defined by h1 (F i . [19] pp. Hence W 0 /K is the maximal unramified subextension of L/K.2). We have a map. 303-304. as in §2. To a pair. Now let us consider the Galois groups which will be involved in the construction. z) ∈ Ker(h1 ). . The torsion in K3 (L0 ) is isomorphic to (Q/Z)(2)[1/p]. 2. is uniquely divisible ([11] I(1. . Notice that G(L/W 0 ) = G0 (L/K) and G1 (L/W 0 ) = G1 (L/K). Furthermore. (F i . there is an isomorphism of K-algebras λ : L ⊗K K0 −→ ⊕di=1 L0 given by the formula λ(α ⊗ β) = (F d−1 (β)α. gag −1 = av } where < a >= G(E/W 0 ) and v = |K|. g | ar = 1.62).9) and the cokernel of the injective homomorphism induced by the inclusion of the field of constants. a short exact sequence of Z[G(L/W 0 )]-modules 1−F 0 −→ K3 (L) −→ K3 (L0 ) −→ U −→ 0.3. we may associate the Galois auto- morphism of L0 = LK0 which is equal to F i on K0 and to z on L.f. L/K. F denotes the Frobenius automorphism. . Since L/W 0 is totally ramified we have. as described in ([18] §7. g d = ac . [19] §1. βα) and fitting into a commutative diagram of the form .1. which also lies in U. which is zero.12). [13]). then L(s) ∼ = Fqs ((X)) ([5] p. given by the restriction of g to W 0 and denoted by (g|W 0 ). which we shall modify to construct the canonical 2-extension of Theorem 2. from §2. If G(L/E) = G1 (L/K) then G(L/K)/G(L/E) ∼ = G(E/K) = {a.4. the identity map. Here. if L = K = Fq .

g)(u1 ). . (F j . . induced by the Galois action on L. (c. xd ) = (F0 (xd ). L ⊗K K0 λ λ ? ? F̂ ⊕di=1 L0 . With the notation of §2. in the tensor product we may define a Z[G(L/K)]-homomorphism F̂ : ⊕di=1 Ks (L0 ) −→ ⊕di=1 Ks (L0 ) by the same formula as before. Lemma 2. Then the action of g on (u1 . . . . This isomorphism induces a G(L/K)-action on the right-hand group. . . g)(u2 ). . . ud ) | ui ∈ U}. K0 . .5. each of the inclusions ⊕di=1 (Q/Z)(2)[1/p] ∼ = ⊕di=1 K3 (Fp ) ⊂ W ⊂ ⊕di=1 K3 (L0 ) . [15] Proposition 3.4. Therefore the induced map F̂ : ⊕di=1 K3ind (L0 ) −→ ⊕di=1 K3ind (L0 ) is also a Z[G(L/K)]-homomorphism. Definition 2. . u2 .f. . ⊕di=1 L0 where F̂ (x1 . . (F j . . . . SNAITH (1 ⊗ F ) L ⊗K K0 . . ([15] Lemma 3. . . Let U ⊂ K3ind (L0 ) be as in §2. x1 .266 VICTOR P. Theorem 2. there is a natural exact sequence of Z[G(L/K)]-modules of the form ∆ 1−F̂ 0 −→ K3ind (L) −→ ⊕di=1 K3ind (L0 ) −→ W −→ 0 where ∆ denotes the diagonal map.2) Suppose that g ∈ G(L/K) satisfies (g|W 0 ) = (F j |W 0 ) for some 0 ≤ j ≤ d − 1. is a Z[G(L/K)]-submodule and (ii) the image of 1 − F̂ : ⊕di=1 K3ind (L0 ) −→ ⊕di=1 K3ind (L0 ) lies in W. W ⊂ ⊕di=1 K3ind (L0 ). . i=1 Hence W = U when d = 1. Define a subgroup. xd−1 ). Proposition 2. u2 . ([15] Lemma 3. . ud ) = F̂ −j ((F j . .6. Lemma 2.8.4. ud ) ∈ ⊕di=1 K3ind (L0 ) is given by g(u1 . .9.3.4) (i) The subgroup. Since K-theory is additive there is an induced isomorphism λ : Ks (L ⊗K K0 ) −→ ⊕di=1 Ks (L0 ) for each s ≥ 0. u2 .5) In the notation of §2. g)(ud )). . W ⊂ ⊕di=1 K3ind (L0 ) by d X W = {(u1 . Since the Frobenius acts on the other factor.7.

let r = [G(L/W ) : G1 (L/W 0 )] = [G0 (L/K) : G1 (L/K)]. .4. . Consider the spectral sequence for ordinary group cohomology E2s. Note that L0 = W0 . q. . . 1). Also. although in the rest of this proof we shall refer to it as W00 0 since it helps in keeping track of the Galois actions which are to follow.5. Furthermore   Z/r if i is odd. . LOCAL FUNDAMENTAL CLASSES DERIVED FROM HIGHER K-GROUPS: III 267 induces an isomorphism on Tate cohomology groups.4. . such that ai = q d−i ad which comprise a copy of Z/r generated by (q d−1 . . F0−1 (F (a1 ))) = (F (a2 ). −). F (a3 ). . . Ĥ i (G(L/K). By Lemma 2. G(L/W 0 ) acts diagonally. Ĥ i (G(L/K). (Q/Z)(2)[1/p]) = which is isomorphic to Z/r = r (Q/Z)(2)[1/p]). (Q/Z)(2)[1/p]) ∼ H t (G(E/W 0 ). . F0 = F d and r divides q d − 1. On the other . . . . Hence. ⊕di=1 K3 (L0 )) ∼ =  0 if i is even where r = [G0 (L/K) : G1 (L/K)]. F (ad ). . If g ∈ G(W 0 /K) ∼ = Z/d is a generator then the cohomology. . As in §2. Therefore Ker(1 − g) consists of d-tuples. M ). is computed from the cochain complex 1−g N 1−g . ⊕di=1 (Q/Z)(2)[1/p]. for all i. . if 0 < t is odd and is zero if 0 < t is even. F (a1 )) = (qa2 . . . . may be lifted to (F. F (a3 ). Proof The statement concerning cohomology isomorphisms follows from the discus- sion of §2. .   d ⊕i=1 K3 (W00 ) if t = 0. g. K3 (L0 )) ∼ = H t (G(L/W 0 ). −→ M −→ M −→ M −→ M −→ . ⊕di=1 K3 (L0 ))) =⇒ H s+t (G(L/K). since G1 (L/K) = G(L/E) is a p-group. (a1 . q d−2 . . . . By Lemma 2. Pd−1 where N = j=0 g j . F ) ∈ G(L0 /K) ⊂ G(K0 /K) × G(L/K) in the notation of §2. The generator. H (G(L/W ). H t (G(L/W 0 ). qa1 ) since F acts on Z/r = r (Q/Z)(2)[1/p] by “multiplication” by q = |K|2 . . ad ) = (F (a2 ). ⊕i=1 K3 (L0 )) ∼ t 0 d = 0 if 0 < t is even. H ∗ (G(W 0 /K). since G(E/W 0 ) ∼ = G0 (L/W 0 )/G1 (L/W 0 ) ∼= Z/r. component-by-component on ⊕di=1 K3ind (L0 ) and trivially on the subgroup. .5.  d  ⊕i=1 Z/r  if t is odd.3. F (ad ).t = H s (G(W 0 /K). . ad ). the action on ⊕di=1 Z/r is given by g(a1 . qad . ⊕di=1 K3 (L0 )). . qa3 . the r-torsion subgroup. H t (G(L/W 0 ). .

. b2 − qb3 . . . v2 . for such elements. . . = (w. qad . vd ) = (v1 . . . F (v1 )) +(F 2 (v3 ). . ad ) = (a1 . vd ) +(F (v2 ). . . . F −1 (w). . vd ) = (v1 − F (v2 ). . . . . F (u3 ).268 VICTOR P. F (ud ). . . . lies in Ker(N ) if and only if 0 = j=1 F j−1 (uj ) ∈ K3 (W00 ) while (1 − g)(v1 . . . . . . . . . q. Hence H 2s+1 (G(W 0 /K). (u1 . . ⊕di=1 K3 (W00 )) vanishes for s > 0 while H 0 (G(W 0 /K). SNAITH hand N (a1 . . ud ) ∈ ⊕di=1 K3 (W00 ) is given by g(u1 . . Setting v1 = v2 = . 1) Pd i−1 where x = i=1 q ai ∈ Z/r. . a2 . . On the other hand N (v1 . . ad−1 . = xq 1−d (q d−1 .. . . bd − qb1 ) by choosing b1 and bd to satisfy bd − qb1 = ad and then setting d X bi = q d−i+1 b1 + q j−1 aj j=i for 2 ≤ i ≤ d − 1. Therefore H 2s (G(W 0 /K). . . q 2 a1 . . (a1 . . . F (u1 )) . . In this case the equation (1 − g)(v1 . . ⊕di=1 K3 (W00 )) ∼ = K3 (W00 ). . v2 − F (v3 ). . . Therefore (u1 . F 2 (v1 ). . . j=2 2s+1 0 Hence H (G(W /K). ud ). This is consistent because d X u1 + F (v2 ) = u1 + F j−2+1 (uj ) + F d (v1 ) = v1 . ud ) = (F (u2 ). . . + q d−1 ad ) + q d b1 = b1 . . . F 1−d (w)) Pd where w = j=1 F j−1 (vj ). . Since F0 = F d acts trivially on W00 the action on (u1 . . F (vd ). . q 2 a4 . . . . . ⊕di=1 Z/r) vanishes if s > 0 and is isomorphic to Z/r if s = 0. q d−2 . . ad ) +(qa2 . vd ) = (u1 . . F −2 (w). . . . . . vd−1 . ⊕di=1 K3 (W00 )). . This is consistent because. . . . . = vd−1 = 0 and vd = ud shows that Ker(1 − g) = Im(N ) and H 2s (G(W 0 /K). . . ⊕di=1 K3 (W00 )) vanishes for all s ≥ 0. . . . However. ad ).. . . . Pd The element. ud ) may be solved by choosing v1 Pd and vd to satisfy vd −F (v1 ) = ud and then setting vi = F d−i+1 (v1 )+ j=i F j−i (uj ) for 2 ≤ i ≤ d − 1. . . ⊕di=1 Z/r) vanishes for all s ≥ 0. . . . . . . q 2 a2 ) . F (v3 ). . F 2 (v4 ). . qa3 . F 2 (v2 )) . . . . . . . . bd ) = (b1 − qb2 . . Now let us consider H s (G(W 0 /K). ud ) ∈ Ker(1 − g) if and only if ui = F d−i (ud ) for each 1 ≤ i ≤ d. . qa1 ) +(q 2 a3 . vd − F (v1 )). Pd An element. in Z/r a1 + qb2 = (a1 + qa2 + q 2 a3 + . lies in Ker(N ) if and only if x = i=1 q i−1 ai ≡ 0 (modulo r). we may solve the equation (a1 . ad ) = (1 − g)(b1 . . .

mt) where t = |L|. since L/K is totally ramified. g. Proposition 2. since t ≡ 1 (modulo r).t) (1.4 we shall define a Z[G(L/K)]-module e di=1 K3 (L0 ).0 ∼ = K3 (W00 ). while the Frobenius. F (ad ).9 (proof). Suppose that L/K is a totally ramified Galois extension of local fields in characteristic p with group. ⊕di=1 K3 (L0 )) comes from E20. 2 2. 2. depending on the choice of ξr . This action is well-defined since g i (0. . in additive notation. then g(0. 1) = (iξr . In the situation of §2.8) In the notation of §2. . If X is any Z[G(L/K)]-module containing e r (Q/Z)(2)[1/p]. LOCAL FUNDAMENTAL CLASSES DERIVED FROM HIGHER K-GROUPS: III 269 Therefore E2s. Choose a primitive r-th root of unity. X ⊕Z[1/p]. 0). For example.11. m) to (z. acts like “multiplication” by t2 where t = |L|. . ad ) = (F (a2 ). F ) ∈ G(L0 /K) and acts like g(a1 . . the action on (0.t) e X ⊕Z[1/p] = lim(X ⊕Ze −→ e −→ X ⊕Z e −→ X ⊕Z . F (a3 ). as required. ξr . as in Theorem 2. Similarly we may define a Z[G(L/K)]-module. If G1 (L/K) = G(L/E). from which is it easy to calculate the Tate cohomology in dimensions less than or equal to zero. This is a Z[G(L/K)]-module. as required.t) (1.2u+1 ∼ = Z/r and so Ĥ 2u+1 (G(L/K). Finally. ⊕ As an abelian group this module is simply the direct sum (⊕di=1 K3 (L0 )) ⊕ (⊕di=1 Z[1/p]).12. has the Z[G(L/K)]-module structure described in the proof of Theorem 2. 1). this construction may be applied with X equal to any module in the chain K3 (Fp ) ∼ = (Q/Z)(2)[1/p] ⊂ U ⊂ K3 (L0 ).4. we shall define a new module X ⊕Z. . and an extension of the form 0 −→ X −→ X ⊕Z e −→ Z −→ 0. F of §2. F0−1 (F (a1 ))).9. When s+t = 2u+1 the only contributions in the spec- tral sequence come from E20. ⊕di=1 K3 (L0 )) van- ishes when s > 0.). G(L/K) and set r = [G(L/K) : G1 (L/K)]. . e and an extension of the form e 0 −→ X −→ X ⊕Z[1/p] −→ Z[1/p] −→ 0 by setting (1. ([15] Proposition 2. As a Z[G(L/K)]- module the embedding of X is given by sending x ∈ X to (x. The summand. ⊕di=1 K3 (L0 ). 1) ∈ X ⊕Z e will factor through G(L/K)/G(L/E) ∼ = G(E/K). Thus g ∈ G(L/K) lifts to (F. 1) = (ξr . Note that the action of G(L/K) on (Q/Z)(2)[1/p] is trivial. if G(E/K) ∼ = Z/r with generator. . X ⊕ Z.t = 0 if 0 < s + t is even so that Ĥ 2s (G(L/K).10. . . Furthermore. e Then X ⊕Z[1/p] is a cohomologically trivial Z[G(L/K)]-module.10 let X be any of the Z[G(L/K)]-modules in the chain T ors(K3 (L0 ))[1/p] ∼ = (Q/Z)(2)[1/p] ⊂ U ⊂ K3 (L0 ). 1). → the direct limit of iterations of the map sending (z. . ⊕di=1 K3 (L0 )) ∼ = Z/r. . the only contribution to H 0 (G(L/K). As an abelian group X ⊕Z e is just the direct sum.

bd ) then g(z) = (b2 . + g d−1 ⊗ b1 and g(z) = 1 ⊗ b1 + g ⊗ bd + . Hence. . ad ) = (F (a2 ). ⊕di=1 (Q/Z)(2)[1/p] ⊂ ⊕di=1 K3 (L0 ). ad . . q 2−d a2 . qad . . . . F (a3 ). . . . SNAITH Any element. . . . . . Consider the Z[G(L/K)]-submodule. . We have an isomorphism of Z[G(L/K)]-modules G(W 0 /K) ((Q/Z)(2)[1/p]) ∼ G(L/K) G(L/K) InfG(W 0 /K) Ind{1} = IndG(L/W 0 ) ((Q/Z)(2)[1/p]) where G(L/W 0 ) acts trivially on (Q/Z)(2)[1/p]. . Define an isomorphism ∼ = G(L/K) G(W 0 /K) φ : ⊕di=1 (Q/Z)(2)[1/p] −→ InfG(W 0 /K) Ind{1} ((Q/Z)(2)[1/p]) by φ(a1 . This is an isomorphism of Z[G(L/K)]-modules. h(ad )). . An arbitrary element of the Z[G(L/K)]-module G(L/K) G(W 0 /K) InfG(W 0 /K) Ind{1} ((Q/Z)(2)[1/p]) has the form z = 1 ⊗ bd + g ⊗ bd−1 + . . q 1−d a1 ) where q = v 2 and v = |K|. q −1 ad−1 .10) The Z[G(L/K)]-module. ad )) = φ(qa2 . if we write z = (b1 . . . . q 1−d a1 ) = (q 2−d a2 . . ([15] Proposition 3. F0−1 F (a1 )) = (qa2 . . ad ) = (h(a1 ). ad . . . . . ⊕e di=1 K3 (L0 ). ⊕di=1 (Q/Z)(2)[1/p] ∼ G(L/K) . qad . h ∈ G(L/W 0 ). . ad ) = (q 2−d a2 . which defines the module ⊕ e di=1 K3 (L0 ). . . . . . bd . with g(a1 . G(L/W 0 ) acts trivially on this submodule. ad ) = (q 1−d a1 . .12 is cohomologically trivial. . . . ad ) . ad )) = g(q 1−d a1 . q 2−d a2 . + g d−1 ⊗ b2 . . . . b3 . qa3 . b1 ). q −1 ad−1 . . . . since φ(g(a1 . . Since L/W 0 is totally ramified. . . . .13. . . . . . q 3−d a3 . qa3 .270 VICTOR P. . F (ad ). . acts component-by-component as h(a1 . Hence G(L/K) acts through the quotient. . q 1−d a1 ) and g(φ(a1 . . . ⊕di=1 K3 (L0 ) = IndG(L/W 0 ) ((Q/Z)(2)[1/p]) ? ? G(L/K) e IndG(L/W 0 ) ((Q/Z)(2)[1/p]⊕Z[1/p]) . . Hence we may form the following push-out diagram. G(W 0 /K) =< g >. . . of §2. e di=1 K3 (L0 ) ⊕ Proposition 2. q 3−d a3 . . . . . . q 1−d a1 ).

. .6. W.12 ∼ = G(L/K) φ : ⊕di=1 (Q/Z)(2)[1/p] −→ IndG(L/W 0 ) ((Q/Z)(2)[1/p]) where. ⊕di=1 K3ind (L0 )). 2. . . then (1 − F̂ )(a1 . on the right. . . . On (Q/Z)(2)[1/p] F0 acts by multiplication by q d where q = v 2 . W ⊂ ⊕di=1 K3ind (L0 ).9. Hence. W) −→ Ĥ t (G(L/W 0 ).14. . q 2−d a2 . q −1 ad−1 . Also G(L/W 0 ) acts component-by-component on W so that W ∼ = (⊕d−1 ind i=1 K3 (L0 )) ⊕ U 0 as a Z[G(L/W )]-module. by Theorem 2.13. . i=0 . . .15. Now consider the Z[G(L/K)]-submodule. v = |K|. Proposition 2. LOCAL FUNDAMENTAL CLASSES DERIVED FROM HIGHER K-GROUPS: III 271 2.14 is cohomologically trivial. G(L/W 0 ) acts trivially on (Q/Z)(2)[1/p] and d−1 X φ(a1 . Since (Q/Z)(2)[1/p] ⊂ U we have ⊕di=1 (Q/Z)(2)[1/p] ⊂ W.16. . of De- finition 2. . f by the pushout diagram Define W - ⊕di=1 (Q/Z)(2)[1/p] ∼ G(L/K) = IndG(L/W 0 ) ((Q/Z)(2)[1/p]) W ? ? G(L/K) . a2 − a1 . if ai ∈ (Q/Z)(2)[1/p]. ad − ad−1 ).12) f of §2. ad ) = (a1 − q d ad . . . ad ) = (q 1−d a1 . the inclusion induces a co- homology isomorphism of the following form ∼ = Ĥ t (G(L/W 0 ). Therefore. ([15] Proposition 3. ad ) = g i ⊗ q −i ad−i . Now consider the isomorphism of §2. f e IndG(L/W 0 ) ((Q/Z)(2)[1/p]⊕Z[1/p]) W so that we immediately obtain the following result from Proposition 2. . The Z[G(L/K)]-module.

1))) = a(g i−1 ⊗ (0. bd ))) = φ(F̂ (q d−1 b1 . .4. 1))) = F̂ (g i ⊗ au (0. . . . qbd−1 )) = (qbd . . v) and these are equal since vui−1 ≡ quui−1 ≡ qui (modulo r). . q d−2 b2 . Here a and g are as in §2. 1)) = g i ⊗ (0. 1))) = F̂ (g i+1 ⊗ (0. SNAITH Hence F̂ translates to φF̂ φ−1 . . . v)) i = g i−1 ⊗ au (0. vm). If u ∈ Z satisfies uv ≡ 1 (modulo r) then i g −i ag i (0. . 1)) = g i−1 ⊗ (qui ξr . + g d−1 ⊗ bd ) Pd−1 = qg d−1 ( i=0 g i ⊗ bd−i ) Pd−1 = qg −1 ( i=0 g i ⊗ bd−i ). bd )) = φ(q d bd .272 VICTOR P. . . writing the first coordinate additively. Also F̂ (g(g i ⊗ (0. . v)) = g i−1 ⊗ (vui−1 ξr . m)) = g i−1 ⊗ (qb. which is given by Pd−1 φ(F̂ (φ−1 ( i=0 g i ⊗ bd−i ))) = φ(F̂ (φ−1 (b1 . Then F̂ is a Z[G(L/K)]-module homomorphism since i F̂ (a(g i ⊗ (0. . . as usual. Define G(L/K) G(L/K) e F̂ : IndG(L/W 0 ) ((Q/Z)(2)[1/p]⊕Z[1/p]) e −→ IndG(L/W 0 ) ((Q/Z)(2)[1/p]⊕Z[1/p]) by the formula (b ∈ (Q/Z)(2)[1/p]. 1) = (ui ξr . . m ∈ Z[1/p])) F̂ (g i ⊗ (b. . v). q d−1 b1 . v) while a(F̂ (g i ⊗ (0. 1))) = g(g i−1 ⊗ (0. 1) ∈ (Q/Z)(2)[1/p]⊕Z[1/p]) e . v) while g(F̂ (g i ⊗ (0. q d−2 b2 . qbd−1 . v)) = g i ⊗ (0. . . qb1 . qbd−1 ) = q(1 ⊗ bd−1 + g ⊗ bd−2 + . . 1) = au (0. 1)) = F̂ (g i ⊗ (ui ξr .

. Therefore. . . xd ) by choosing xd . . . + vxd−1 + xd then Ker(π2 ) = Im(λ). g ∈ G(W 0 /K). .18. .16. m2 = vm1 . . ∗ It remains to verify that G(L/K) acts on Z/(v d − 1) ∼ = L via the quotient to G(W 0 /K) whose generator acts by “multiplication” by v = |K|.2 d 2. . Proof We have merely to evaluate the kernel and cokernel of the map e di=1 K3ind (L0 ) −→ W 1 − F̂ : ⊕ f where F̂ was defined in §2. G(L/E) e di=1 K3ind (L0 ) and W. xd−2 successively but the equations are consistent if and only if md (1 − v d ) = v d−1 x1 + v d−2 x2 + . . If (m1 . Furthermore the resulting map on the quotients of these direct sums by the sub- modules given by the first summands has the form λ : ⊕di=1 Z[1/p] −→ ⊕di=1 Z[1/p] and is given by λ(m1 . However. md ) = (x1 . LOCAL FUNDAMENTAL CLASSES DERIVED FROM HIGHER K-GROUPS: III 273 Theorem 2. which proves the exactness of the sequence.2 The verification of the naturality properties for the 2-extension of Theorem 2. . . . + v x2 ≡ v(v d−1 x1 + v d−2 x2 + . .14) In the notation of §2. . xd ) = g( i=0 g i ⊗ xd−i ) Pd−1 = i=0 g i+1 ⊗ xd−i = (x2 . .17. acts trivially on ⊕ f Also the action by a ∈ G(E/W 0 ) is trivial on the second coordinates in the direct sums.f. acts via Pd−1 g(x1 . + vxd−1 + xd ) (modulo v − 1) so that g acts on Z/(v d − 1) by multiplication by v. . Also we can solve the equation λ(m1 . . md − vmd−1 ). . . . . . Finally the generator. 2 . . . . [15] Theorem 3.17 is identical to that of the p-adic case in ([15] §4). . . The proof of Theorem 2. if π2 is defined to depend only on the coordinates in the second summand and to be given by π2 (x1 . as abelian groups there are isomorphism e di=1 K3ind (L0 ) ∼ ⊕ = (⊕di=1 K3ind (L0 )) ⊕ (⊕di=1 Z[1/p]) and f∼ W = W ⊕ (⊕di=1 Z[1/p]). . and md (1 − v d ) = 0 so that λ is injective. md ) = (m1 − vmd . . . (c.4 and §2. . + vxd−1 + xd . . . x1 ) 2 d−1 and x1 + vxd + v xd−1 + . md ) ∈ Ker(λ) then m1 = vmd .16. . . there is a 2-extension of Z[G(L/K)]-modules of the form ∗ ∆ e di=1 K3 (L0 ) 1− K3 (L) −→ ⊕ F̂ f −→ W −→ L ∼= T orsK2 (L). Certainly. . . x1 . . . . x2 . . x3 . . xd ) = v d−1 x1 + v d−2 x2 + . as required. xd . . . . .

1 when r ≥ 2 one replaces G(L/K) G(L/K) e F̂ : IndG(L/W 0 ) ((Q/Z)(2)[1/p]⊕Z[1/p]) e −→ IndG(L/W 0 ) ((Q/Z)(2)[1/p]⊕Z[1/p]) in 2. as in §2.1. The local fundamental classes in the tame case in characteristic p 3. Hence G(L/K) is equal to the semi-direct product < g >∝< a > of the cyclic group of order d. < a >.16 by the homomorphism G(L/K) e F̂ : IndG(L/W 0 ) ((Q/Z)(r + 1)[1/p]⊕Z[1/p]) G(L/K) e −→ IndG(L/W 0 ) ((Q/Z)(r + 1)[1/p]⊕Z[1/p]) given by the formula (b ∈ (Q/Z)(r + 1)[1/p]. If L0 is the maxi- mal unramified extension of L. as in ([3] p.§2. < g >. That is. by gag −1 = av . v H i (G(L(m)/K). L(m)/K. G(L(m)/L). m ∈ Z[1/p])) F̂ (g i ⊗ (b. when char(K) = p > 0 we may arrange that c = r since K ∼= Fv ((X)). gag −1 = av > and there is an extension of the form m π G(L(m)/L) −→ G(L(m)/K) −→ G(L/K) in which πm (a) = a and πm (g) = g.1.3 so that L(m) = Fvdm and G(L(m)/K) = < a. Modifications when r ≥ 2 In order to construct the local fundamental class of Theorem 1. SNAITH 2. m. g | g d = ac . and L is a Kummer extension of L<a> = Fvd ((X)). for r ≥ 1 there are homomorphisms of the form δ : K2r (L(m)) −→ K2r−1 (L(m)) = K2r−1 (Fvdm ) ∼ = F∗vdmr and F∗vdm(r+1) ∼ = K2r+1 (Fvdm ) = K2r+1 (L(m)) −→ K2r+1 (L(m)) each having uniquely divisible kernel and cokernel.274 VICTOR P. For each positive integer. L/K is a tamely ramified Galois extension of local fields with Galois group G(L/K) of the following form: G(L/K) = < a. 3. then L0 /K is equal to the limit of the extensions. g | g dm = 1 = ar . the order of the residue field of K. set L(m) = Fvdm L as in §2. F∗dmr ). gag −1 = av > where v = |K|. However. acting on the cyclic group of order r. K2r+1 (L(m))) ∼ = H i (G(L(m)/K).3 . v r m). The kernel of πm . Thereafter one follows the construction of §2.369). Hence we have canonical cohomology isomorphisms for r ≥ 1 H i (G(L(m)/K). m)) = g i−1 ⊗ (v r+1 b. Note that. As explained in §2. Suppose we are in the tame situation. K2r (L(m))) ∼ = H i (G(L(m)/K). in general we may arrange that c is a divisor of r.18 after the manner of [16]. is isomorphic to G(Fvdm /Fvd ) which is cyclic of order m generated by g d . Here.1. the field of fractions of Fv [[X]]. ar = 1.19. if W 0 /K is the maximal unramified subextension then G(L/W 0 ) =< a > and the image of g in G(L/K) is the Frobenius automorphism. F∗vdm(r+1) ) .

Proof We shall consider only the case when r = 1. L) of ([9] [10]).2. For that purpose we shall need the following two computational results. Then G(L(m)/K) (i) Ind<a> e is a cohomologically trivial Z[G(L(m)/K)]-mod- (µ∞ [1/p]⊕Z) ule and (ii) there is a 2-extension of Z[G(L(m)/K)]-modules of the form G(L(m)/K) F∗vdm(r+1) −→ Ind<a> e (µ∞ [1/p]⊕Z) F̂ −1 G(L(m)/K) −→ Ind<a> e −→ F∗vdmr (µ∞ [1/p]⊕Z) where r+1 F̂ (g i ⊗ (η. F∗v2dm ) corresponds under the isomorphism of §3. F∗vdm(r+1) ). LOCAL FUNDAMENTAL CLASSES DERIVED FROM HIGHER K-GROUPS: III 275 for all i > 0 and Ext2Z[G(L(m)/K)] (K2r (L(m)).4.2. K2r+1 (L(m))) ∼ = Ext2Z[G(L(m)/K)] (F∗vdmr .1.12 and §2. Proposition 3. Z. Let µ∞ [1/p]⊕Z e denote the Z[< a >]-module given by the direct sum of µ∞ [1/p] with the integers where a acts trivially on µ∞ [1/p] but satisfies a(1. Hence we have the induced Z[G(L(m)/K)]-module. This group is Q/Z[1/p] written multiplicatively. mv r ) whose class in Ext2Z[G(L(m)/K) (F∗vdm . Theorem 3. Hence we obtain a homomorphism of 2-extensions of Z[G(L(m)/K)]- modules. It is straightforward to verify that this homomorphism induces the canon- ical maps of §3.1 yields an isomorphism of the form ∼ = H ∗ (G(L(m)/K).19. m)) = g i−1 ⊗ (η v . the only difference being that Z[1/p] has been replaced by the integers. since for r ≥ 2 one modifies the argument in the manner described in §2. G(L(m)/K) Ind<a> e (µ∞ [1/p]⊕Z). 2 In the next section we shall compare the 2-extension of Theorem 3.14 when r = 1. Part (i) follows from Proposition 2. This is a submodule of the module appearing in the bottom left corner of the diagrams of §2. 3. 1) is the trivial element of µ∞ [1/p] while the second coordinate is the integer. As mentioned in §3. 1) = (ξr . m. F∗vd ) for all positive integers. the module G(L(m)/K) Ind<a> e (µ∞ [1/p]⊕Z) is a submodule of both ⊕ e di=1 K3 (L0 ) and W. Note that the first coordinate of (1. F∗vdm ) −→ H ∗ (G(L/K).11.3(ii). f Further- more the homomorphism e di=1 K3 (L0 ) 1− ⊕ F̂ f −→ W restricts to the homomorphism 1 − F̂ where F̂ is defined by the formula of Theo- rem 3. The economical 2-extension Let µ∞ [1/p] denote the group of roots of unity of order prime to p.3.1 to the K2r /K2r+1 local fundamental class of Theorem 1. 1.1 between the modules at the two ends.1. . The edge homomorphism in the Serre spectral sequence of the extension in §3. ξr .3 when r = 1 with the motivic-cohomology complex Γ(2. 1) for some primitive r-th root of unity. Let L(m)/K be as in §3.

t (M/K) −→ s. m. K3 (M ) it is ∼ = not difficult to show that the natural map induces an isomorphism. Consider the spectral sequence E2s. Remark 3.276 VICTOR P. F∗vdm ). F∗v2d ) ∼ = Z/r ⊕ Z/r where r is the order of the inertia group. Since G(L/M ) / G(L/K) is a p-group and multiplication by p is an isomorphism on each of K2 (L). .1. E2s. F∗vdm ) = F∗vd . G(L/K).t (L/K) = H s (G(L/K). K3 (L))) =⇒ Exts+t Z[G(L/K)] (K2 (L). If M is the fixed field of G1 (L/K) = G(L/M ) then M/K is the maximal tamely ramified subextension.t 2 E2 (L/K). K3 (Fvdm )) −→ H ∗ (G(L/K).t = H s (G(L/K). In the circumstances of §3. This proves the first part and replacing Fvdm by Fv2dm ∼= K3 (Fvdm ) yields the second part.t = 0 for all t > 0. F∗vdms ) for all t ≥ 0. K3 (M )) ∼ = Ext2Z[G(L/K)] (K2 (L). K3 (L). G0 (L/K) =< a >. The natural map yields an isomorphism ∼ = H t (G(L(m)/K). K3 (L)) and the corresponding one for M/K. F∗vdm ) m for all t ≥ 0. s ≥ 1. In fact this isomorphism holds even if L/K is not tamely ramified.6. Therefore it gives an isomorphism between corresponding Ext ’s so that Z/r ⊕ Z/r ∼ = Ext2Z[G(M/K)] (K2 (M ). SNAITH There is a similar isomorphism of the form ∼ = H ∗ (G(L(m)/K). which is a finite p-group. 2 Corollary 3. K3 (L)) as claimed.62). using Theorem 3. Proof For the first part the cohomology spectral sequence has the form E2s. one can show that there is an isomorphism of the form Ext2Z[G(L/K)] (F∗vd . Let L/K be any Galois extension of local fields in characteristic p > 0 with Galois group. ExttZ (K2 (L).3. F∗vdm ) = 0 for all t > 0 and H 0 (G(L(m)/L). F∗vd ) −→ lim → H t (G(L(m)/K). We have E2s. which implies that H t (G(L(m)/L). K3 (Fvd )). This is because L(m)/L is unramified and so G(L(m)/L) ∼= G(Fvdm /Fvd ). In the limit we obtain an isomorphism ∼ = H t (G(L/K). H t (G(L(m)/L).5. F∗vdm ) −→ H t (G(L(ms)/K). K2 (M ). Let G1 (L/K) ⊂ G(L/K) denote the first wild ramification group ([14] p. F∗vdm )) =⇒ H s+t (G(L(m)/K).

1.2 (L) −→ K1 (L) ∼ = L∗ −→ 0 where C1.1 (L) −→ C1. When L/K is a Galois extension of local fields in characteristic p > 0 the 2-extension associated to Γ(2. L) 4. K3 (L)) ∼ = Ext2Z[G(L/K)] (F∗vd .2 (L) −→ 0 and is denoted by Γ(2.2 (L) −→ K2 (L) −→ 0.L 0 −→ K3ind (L) −→ C2. L). K3ind (L)) ∼ = Ext2Z[G(L/K)] (K2 (L). F∗v2d ) for all i. the free abelian group on the projective line minus three points. may be taken to be X Y φ( ni [ai . In [9] (see also [10]) Lichtenbaum constructs the motivic complex. The motivic-cohomology complex for L is given by φ2. if L is a local field of charac- teristic p > 0.L 0 −→ C2.2 (L) = Z[P1L − {0. . The motivic complex Γ(2. LOCAL FUNDAMENTAL CLASSES DERIVED FROM HIGHER K-GROUPS: III 277 4.1. ∞}].1 and Theorem 2.1 (L) −→ C2. for a field L. This class defines cup-product homomorphisms in Tate cohomology of the form [ ([Γ(2. K2 (L)) −→ Ĥ i+2 (G(L/K). i i There is a pairing which gives rise to an important commutative diagram of the form 1⊗φ T or(L∗ .1 (L) / C2. L) is given by a short exact sequence of the form ([9] Proposition 2.1 (L) / L∗ ⊗ C1.2 (equivalently Theorem 3.2 (L) / L∗ ⊗ L∗ ρL ∼ = µL φL ² ² ² ² K3 (L) / C2. Γ(2. L) defines a class in [Γ(2. ρL becomes an isomorphism upon inverting 2.4) φ 0 −→ C1. On the other hand cup-product with the K2 /K3 local fundamental class of Theo- rem 1. F∗v2d ) where K = Fv and L = Fvd . bi ]) = (1 − (ai /bi ))ni ∈ L∗ .2 (L) / K2 (L) In this diagram φL is the Steinberg symb