38
votes
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"Cute" applications of the étale fundamental group
Using the étale fundamental group one can construct an injective group homomorphism
$\operatorname{Gal}(\overline{\mathbb{Q}}/\mathbb{Q}) \hookrightarrow \operatorname{Out}(\widehat{F_2})$
which is ...
- 286
27
votes
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Steenrod operations in etale cohomology?
You maybe want to have a look at
P. Brosnan and R. Joshua. Comparison of motivic and simplicial operations in mod-$\ell$ motivic and étale cohomology. In: Feynman amplitudes, periods and motives, ...
- 17.1k
23
votes
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Why do we care about the eigenvalues of the Frobenius map?
The Riemann hypothesis is very important for the relationship between the cohomology and combinatorics of the variety.
First, the Riemann hypothesis lets us read off the Betti numbers from the point ...
- 131k
22
votes
What is known about the cohomological dimension of algebraic number fields?
By definition, an algebraic number field is a finite extension
of the field of rational numbers $\Bbb Q$.
An algebraic number field $K$ is called totally imaginary
if it has no embeddings into $\...
- 13.4k
22
votes
Accepted
When (or why) is a six-functor formalism enough?
When defining a homotopy-coherent structure, you have to strike the correct balance between supplying enough data (so that all isomorphisms (between isomorphisms, ...) that you need later are actually ...
- 18.4k
20
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Clarifying the connection between 'etale locally' and 'formally locally'
For local noetherian rings, the henselization has much more direct algebro-geometric meaning than the completion since it is built from local-etale algebras. Hence, your statement that the completion ...
20
votes
Why do we care about the eigenvalues of the Frobenius map?
Here are a few different uses of knowing how large the eigenvalues are as complex numbers.
Application 1: Bounding exponential sums. Many classical exponential sums can be interpreted essentially as a ...
- 49.1k
18
votes
Steenrod operations in etale cohomology?
Your first map fits in an action of the Steenrod algebra.
In fact $H^*_{ét}(X;\mathbb{F}_2)$ is the homology of $C^*_{ét}(X;\mathbb{F}_2)=R\Gamma(X;\mathbb{F}_2)$, an element of the derived category ...
- 16.1k
18
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A short proof for simple connectedness of the projective line
You can deduce this from the classification of vector bundles on $\mathbf{P}^1$. Say $f:C \to \mathbf{P}^1$ is a connected finite etale Galois cover of degree $n$. We must show $n=1$.
The sheaf $E := ...
- 411
16
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Is there a "universal" cohomology theory for varieties over p-adic fields?
I'm seeing this old question just now, and simply wanted to remark that the situation may be slightly better.
Namely, enlarging the category of $\mathbb Q$-vector spaces into the larger semisimple $\...
- 18.4k
16
votes
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Tate twists and cohomology of $\mathbf{P}^1$
The Tate twist is what we need to express Poincaré duality without making any choice. Such a choice appears in the choice of an orientation of the affine line minus the origin, and have shadows in the ...
- 13.2k
16
votes
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Commutative algebra counterexample
Let $R=\mathbb{Z}$ and let $M=\mathbb{Z}$ with $x$ acting by $2$. Then $M\otimes_{R[x]}R[x,x^{-1}]\cong \mathbb{Z}[1/2]$ is not finitely generated over $R$.
- 30.5k
16
votes
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Étale cohomology of morphism whose fibers are vector spaces
The answer below is slightly reorganized to incorporate the edits. I thank @PiotrAchinger and @S.D. for their comments correcting and clarifying this answer.
Definition 1. An affine space morphism ...
15
votes
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Etale cohomology of localizations of henselian rings
TL;DR: Your expectation is right. In fact, there is a third object to compare with $R[1/p]$ and $\hat R[1/p]$, the affinoid rigid space ${\rm Spf}(\hat R)^{\rm rig}$. The cohomology comparison is ...
- 15.1k
15
votes
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Is there a ring stacky approach to $\ell$-adic or rigid cohomology?
This is an interesting question.
First, I think the [PS] reference does not give the "correct" Betti stack. In my notes on 6 functors, I define a different stack $X_B$ such that $D_{\mathrm{...
- 18.4k
14
votes
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Etale cohomology of $\mathrm{Spec}(k\{X,Y\})\backslash\langle0,0\rangle$
I'm not sure what "easy" means in the context of etale cohomology but there is a way of passing from Artin's result to the stated one.
Let $j$ from $\mathbb A^2 \backslash \langle 0,0\rangle$ to to $\...
- 131k
14
votes
Accepted
Hodge standard conjecture for étale cohomology
I'm very interested myself on a better answer to this question, but let me point out the obvious: the main problem is that there is no Hodge theory on positive characteristic.
The proof in ...
- 17.4k
14
votes
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Etale cohomology can not be computed by Cech
Let $k$ be an algebraically closed field. Glue two copies of $\text{Spec}(k[[x]])$ along $\text{Spec}(k((x)))$. This gives a scheme $X = U \cup V$ such that any etale covering of $X$ can be refined by ...
- 156
14
votes
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Etale cohomology with coefficients in $\mathbb{Q}$
The following is surely expressing whatever is in the core non-formal aspect of Joe Berner's answer (which is above my pay grade); it is offered as an alternative version of the same ideas.
Let $X$ ...
14
votes
"Cute" applications of the étale fundamental group
I think a fantastic application of the étale fundamental group is in extensions of the Chabauty-Coleman(-Kim) method. The original idea was that we could bound the rational points on a curve $C$ by ...
- 7,498
14
votes
Why do we care about the eigenvalues of the Frobenius map?
All of the other answers give good reasons why the eigenvalues and their absolute values are important, but it should be noted that the eigenvalues can be used to give an exact point count via the ...
- 45.3k
13
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The Weil numbers and modulus of an elliptic curve
If $E$ does not have CM, then $\tau$ will be transcendental over $\mathbb Q$, so it's hard to imagine a relation with the eigenvalues of Frobenius, which are integers in an imaginary quadratic field. ...
- 45.3k
13
votes
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Computing the etale cohomology of spheres
This is true over any algebraically closed field $k$ of characteristic different from $2$. More generally, if $\ell$ is invertible in $k$, then
$$H^i(X,\mathbb Z_\ell) = \left\{\begin{array}{ll}\...
- 26.5k
13
votes
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Cohomology of resolution of singularity
In general, the answer is no. It already fails for a nodal curve. In fancier terms, you can understand the obstruction as follows: if $X$ has a resolution $\tilde X$, and the cohomology of $X$ injects ...
- 33.8k
13
votes
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On the definition of the etale site of an adic space
Great question!
The short answer is that Huber simply wanted to be in a setting where everything is (stably) sheafy, and so put some assumptions ensuring this. Note that Huber's work remained somewhat ...
- 18.4k
12
votes
Flat versus etale cohomology
Here is a good example of some pathological behaviour that will shatter all your hopes and dreams.
Claim. Let $k$ be a perfect field, and let $X$ be a smooth, proper, integral $k$-scheme. Then the ...
- 26.5k
12
votes
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Complete intersections in toric varieties
Any smooth projective toric variety is rational, in particular simply connected.
Then, by the Lefschetz hyperplane theorem for global complete intersections, if $\dim X \geq 3$ is a smooth complete ...
- 64.8k
12
votes
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Homology of the étale homotopy type
I'm sure there are easier and better ways to think about this, but here's how I like to think about it.
Work on the big pro-etale site on all schemes, which maps to the pro-etale site of a point, $\pi:...
- 18.4k
12
votes
Accepted
Does $0\to I\to\mathrm{Gal}_K\to\mathrm{Gal}_k\to 0$ always split?
Good question! Let me try to guess what Gabber had in mind there. (Note that he only says "known" (to him), not "well-known"...)
The claim is that the extension splits. Note that ...
- 18.4k
12
votes
Accepted
The Mumford-Tate conjecture
Yes.
Under the Hodge conjecture, the Hodge cycles are the algebraic cycles, so the $\mathbb Q_\ell$-linear combinations of Hodge cycles are the $\mathbb Q_\ell$-linear combinations of algebraic cycles....
- 131k
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