ii iii Abstract. Let S be the sphere spectrum. We construct an associative, commutative, and unital smash product in a complete and cocomplete category M S of "S-modules" whose derived category D S is equivalent to the classical stable homotopy category. This allows a simple and algebraically manageable definition of "S-algebras" and "commutative S-algebras" in terms of associative, or associative and commutative, products R ∧ S R −→ R. These notions are essentially equivalent to the earlier notions of A ∞ and E ∞ ring spectra, and the older notions feed naturally into the new framework to provide plentiful examples. There is an equally simple definition of R-modules in terms of maps R ∧ S M −→ M .When R is commutative, the category M R of R-modules also has an associative, commutative, and unital smash product, and its derived category D R has properties just like the stable homotopy category.Working in the derived category D R , we construct spectral sequences that specialize to give generalized universal coefficient and Künneth spectral sequences. Classical torsion products and Ext groups are obtained by specializing our constructions to Eilenberg-Mac Lane spectra and passing to homotopy groups, and the derived category of a discrete ring R is equivalent to the derived category of its associated Eilenberg-Mac Lane S-algebra.We also develop a homotopical theory of R-ring spectra in D R , analogous to the classical theory of ring spectra in the stable homotopy category, and we use it to give new constructions as MU-ring spectra of a host of fundamentally important spectra whose earlier constructions were both more difficult and less precise.Working in the module category M R , we show that the category of finite cell modules over an S-algebra R gives rise to an associated algebraic K-theory spectrum KR. Specialized to the Eilenberg-Mac Lane spectra of discrete rings, this recovers Quillen's algebraic K-theory of rings. Specialized to suspension spectra Σ ∞ (ΩX) + of loop spaces, it recovers Waldhausen's algebraic K-theory of spaces.Replacing our ground ring S by a commutative S-algebra R, we define Ralgebras and commutative R-algebras in terms of maps A ∧ R A −→ A, and we show that the categories of R-modules, R-algebras, and commutative R-algebras are all topological model categories. We use the model structures to study Bousfield localizations of R-modules and R-algebras. In particular, we prove that KO and KU are commutative ko and ku-algebras and therefore commutative S-algebras.We define the topological Hochschild homology R-module T HH R (A; M ) of A with coefficients in an (A, A)-bimodule M and give spectral sequences for the calculation of its homotopy and homology groups. Again, classical Hochschild homology and cohomology groups are obtained by specializing the constructions to Eilenberg-Mac Lane spectra and passing to homotopy groups. iv
The topological part of the M-theory partition function was shown by Witten to be encoded in the index of an E 8 bundle in eleven dimensions. This partition function is, however, not automatically anomalyfree. We observe here that the vanishing W 7 = 0 of the DiaconescuMoore-Witten anomaly [1] in IIA and compactified M-theory partition function is equivalent to orientability of spacetime with respect to (complex-oriented) elliptic cohomology. Motivated by this, we define an elliptic cohomology correction to the IIA partition function, and propose its relationship to interaction between 2-and 5-branes in the M-theory limit.e-print archive: http://lanl.arXiv.org/abs/hep-th/0404013
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.