On standard norm varieties

Let $p$ be a prime integer and $F$ a field of characteristic 0. Let $X$ be the {\em norm variety} of a symbol in the Galois cohomology group $H^{n+1}(F,\mu_p^{\otimes n})$ (for some $n\geq1$), constructed in the proof of the Bloch-Kato conjecture. The main result of the paper affirms that the function field $F(X)$ has the following property: for any equidimensional variety $Y$, the change of field homomorphism \CH(Y)\to\CH(Y_{F(X)}) of Chow groups with coefficients in integers localized at $p$ is surjective in codimensions $< (\dim X)/(p-1)$. One of the main ingredients of the proof is a computation of Chow groups of a (generalized) Rost motive (a variant of the main result not relying on this is given in Appendix). Another important ingredient is {\em $A$-triviality} of $X$, the property saying that the degree homomorphism on \CH_0(X_L) is injective for any field extension $L/F$ with $X(L)\ne\emptyset$. The proof involves the theory of rational correspondences reviewed in Appendix.Comment: 38 pages; final version, to appear in Ann. Sci. \'Ec. Norm. Sup\'er. (4

Galois cohomology of certain field extensions and the divisible case of Milnor-Kato conjecture

We prove the "divisible case" of the Milnor-Bloch-Kato conjecture (which is the first step of Voevodsky's proof of this conjecture for arbitrary prime l) in a rather clear and elementary way. Assuming this conjecture, we construct a 6-term exact sequence of Galois cohomology with cyclotomic coefficients for any finite extension of fields whose Galois group has an exact quadruple of permutational representations over it. Examples include cyclic groups, dihedral groups, the biquadratic group Z/2\times Z/2, and the symmetric group S_4. Several exact sequences conjectured by Bloch-Kato, Merkurjev-Tignol, and Kahn are proven in this way. In addition, we introduce a more sophisticated version of the classical argument known as "Bass-Tate lemma". Some results about annihilator ideals in Milnor rings are deduced as corollaries.Comment: LaTeX 2e, 17 pages. V5: Updated to the published version + small mistake corrected in Section 5. Submitted also to K-theory electronic preprint archives at http://www.math.uiuc.edu/K-theory/0589

Degree formula for connective K-theory

We apply the degree formula for connective $K$-theory to study rational contractions of algebraic varieties. Examples include rationally connected varieties and complete intersections.Comment: 14 page

Cohomological invariants of algebraic tori

Abstract. Let G be an algebraic group over a field F. As defined by Serre, a cohomological invariant of G of degree n with values in Q/Z(j) is a functorial in K collection of maps of sets H1 (K,G) − → Hn ( K,Q/Z(j) ) for all field extensions K/F. We study the group of degree 3 invariants of an algebraic torus with values in Q/Z(2). In particular, we compute the group H3 () nr F(S),Q/Z(2) of unramified cohomology of an algebraic torus S. 1

Equivariant pretheories and invariants of torsors

In the present paper we introduce and study the notion of an equivariant pretheory: basic examples include equivariant Chow groups, equivariant K-theory and equivariant algebraic cobordism. To extend this set of examples we define an equivariant (co)homology theory with coefficients in a Rost cycle module and provide a version of Merkurjev's (equivariant K-theory) spectral sequence for such a theory. As an application we generalize the theorem of Karpenko-Merkurjev on G-torsors and rational cycles; to every G-torsor E and a G-equivariant pretheory we associate a graded ring which serves as an invariant of E. In the case of Chow groups this ring encodes the information concerning the motivic J-invariant of E and in the case of Grothendieck's K_0 -- indexes of the respective Tits algebras.Comment: 23 pages; this is an essentially extended version of the previous preprint: the construction of an equivariant cycle (co)homology and the spectral sequence (generalizing the long exact localization sequence) are adde

Maximal indexes of flag varieties for spin groups

We establish the sharp upper bounds on the indexes for most of the twisted flag varieties under the spin groups Spin(=)