TORSORS OF ISOTROPIC LOOP REDUCTIVE GROUPS OVER

LAURENT POLYNOMIALS

ANASTASIA STAVROVA
arXiv:1909.01984v1 [math.AG] 4 Sep 2019

Abstract. Let k be a field of characteristic 0. Let G be a reductive group over the ring
of Laurent polynomials R = k[x±1 ±1
1 , ..., xn ]. Assume that G is loop reductive, that is, G
contains a maximal R-torus, and that every semisimple normal subgroup of G contains
1 1
Gm,R . We show that the natural map Hét (R, G) → Hét (k(x1 , . . . , xn ), G) has trivial kernel.
This settles in positive the conjecture of V. Chernousov, Ph. Gille, and A. Pianzola that
1
HZar (R, G) = ∗.

1. Introduction
Let R be a commutative ring. Let G be a reductive group scheme over R in the sense
of [SGA3]. We say that G has isotropic rank ≥ n if every normal semisimple reductive
R-subgroup of G contains (Gm,R )n .
V. Chernousov, Ph. Gille, and A. Pianzola proposed the following conjecture.
Conjecture. [ChGP17, Conjecture 5.4] Let k be a field of characteristic 0. Let G be a loop
reductive group over the ring of Laurent polynomials R = k[x±1 ±1
1 , ..., xn ]. Assume that G
1
has isotropic rank ≥ 1. Then HZar (R, G) is trivial.
We prove this conjecture. Previously, this statement was known to hold if G is defined
over k [GP2]; if k is algebraically closed, n = 2 and G is simply connected [SZ12]; for some
twisted forms of GLn [Art95] and of orthogonal groups [Par83].
The proof relies on the “diagonal argument” trick for loop reductive groups [St16] and on
the established cases of the Serre–Grothendieck conjecture [PSV15, FP15].

2. Preliminaries on loop reductive groups

Let k be a field of characteristic 0. We fix once and for all an algebraic closure k̄ of k and
a compatible set of primitive m-th roots of unity ξm ∈ k̄, m ≥ 1.
P. Gille and A. Pianzola [GP3, Ch. 2, 2.3] compute the étale (or algebraic) fundamental
group of the k-scheme
X = Spec k[x±1 ±1
1 , . . . , xn ]

at the natural geometric point e : Spec k̄ → X induced by the evaluation x1 = x2 = . . . =

xn = 1. Namely, let kλ , λ ∈ Λ be the set of finite Galois extensions of k contained in k̄.

2010 Mathematics Subject Classification. 14F20, 20G35, 17B67, 11E72.

Key words and phrases. loop reductive group, Laurent polynomials, torsor.
The author is a winner of the contest “Young Russian Mathematics”. The work was supported by the
Russian Science Foundation grant 19-71-30002.
1
 TORSORS OF ISOTROPIC LOOP REDUCTIVE GROUPS OVER LAURENT POLYNOMIALS 2

Let I be the subset of Λ × Z>0 consisting of all pairs (λ, m) such that ξm ∈ kλ . The set I is
directed by the relation (λ, m) ≤ (µ, k) if and only if kλ ⊆ kµ and m|k. Consider
1 1
± ±
Xλ,m = Spec kλ [x1 m , . . . , xn m ]
as a scheme over X via the natural inclusion of rings. Then Xλ,m → X is a Galois cover
with the Galois group
Γλ,m = (Z /m Z)n ⋊ Gal(kλ /k),
1 1
± ±
where Gal(kλ /k) acts on kλ [x1 m , . . . , xn m ] via its canonical action on kλ , and each (k̄1 , . . . , k̄n ) ∈
1/m ki 1/m
(Z /m Z)n sends xi to ξm xi , 1 ≤ i ≤ n. The semi-direct product structure on Γλ,m is
induced by the natural action of Gal(kλ /k) on µm (kλ ) ∼ = Z /m Z. We have
(2.1) π1 (X, e) = lim Γλ,m = Ẑ(1)n ⋊ Gal(k),
←−
(λ,m)∈I

where Ẑ(1) denotes the profinite group lim µm (k̄) equipped with the natural action of the
←−
m
absolute Galois group Gal(k) = Gal(k̄/k).
For any reductive group scheme G over X, we denote by G0 the split, or Chevalley—
Demazure reductive group in the sense of [SGA3] of the same type as G. The group G
is a twisted form of G0 , corresponding to a cocycle class ξ in the étale cohomology set
Hét1 (X, Aut(G0 )).
Definition 2.1. [GP3, Definition 3.4] The group scheme G is called loop reductive, if the
cocycle ξ is in the image of the natural map
H 1 π1 (X, e), Aut(G0 )(k̄) → Hét1 X, Aut(G0 ) .

Here H 1 π1 (X, e), Aut(G0 )(k̄) stands for the non-abelian cohomology set in the sense of

Serre [Se]. The group π1 (X, e) acts continuously on Aut(G0 )(k̄) via the natural homomor-
phism π1 (X, e) → Gal(k̄/k).
This definition can be reformulated as follows.
Theorem. [GP3, Corollary 6.3] A reductive group scheme over X is loop reductive if and
only if G has a maximal torus over X.
The definition of a maximal torus is as follows.
Definition 2.2. [SGA3, Exp. XII Déf. 3.1] Let G be a group scheme of finite type over a
scheme S, and let T be a S-torus which is an S-subgroup scheme of G. Then T is a maximal
torus of G over S, if Tk(s) is a maximal torus of Gk(s) for all s ∈ S.
Our main result is based on the following observation.
Lemma 2.3 ("diagonal argument"). [St16, Lemma 4.1] Let k be a field of characteristic 0.
Let G be a loop reductive group over R = k[x±1 ±1
1 , . . . , xn ]. For any integer d > 0, denote by
fz,d (respectively, fw,d) the composition of k-homomorphisms
1 1
R → k[z1±1 , . . . , zn±1 , w1±1 , . . . , wn±1] → k[z1±1 , . . . , zn±1 , (z1 w1−1 )± d , . . . , (zn wn−1)± d ]
sending xi to zi (respectively, to wi ) for every 1 ≤ i ≤ n. Then there is d > 0 such that
f ∗ (G) ∼
= f ∗ (G)
z,d w,d
 TORSORS OF ISOTROPIC LOOP REDUCTIVE GROUPS OVER LAURENT POLYNOMIALS 3

1 1
as group schemes over k[z1±1 , . . . , zn±1 , (z1 w1−1 )± d , . . . , (zn wn−1 )± d ].
We introduce additional notation that will be used every time when we apply Lemma 2.3
in proofs of other statements.
Notation 2.4. In the setting of the claim of Lemma 2.3, set
ti = (zi wi−1 )1/d , 1 ≤ i ≤ n,
where zi , wi , and d are as in that lemma. Note that this is equivalent to
zi = wi tdi , 1 ≤ i ≤ n.
We denote by Gz the group scheme over k[z1±1 , . . . , zn±1 ] which is the pull-back of G under
the k-isomorphism
±1 xi 7→zi
k[x±1 ±1 ±1
1 , . . . , xn ] −−−→ k[z1 , . . . , zn ].
The group scheme Gw over k[w1±1 , . . . , wn±1] is defined analogously. Note that Gz and Gw are
isomorphic after pull-back to
k[z1±1 , . . . , zn±1 , t±1 ±1 ±1 ±1 ±1 ±1
1 , . . . , tn ] = k[w1 , . . . , wn , t1 , . . . , tn ].

3. Proof of the conjecture

The following statement was obtained in [St19] as a joint corollary of the corresponding
statement for simply connected semisimple reductive groups [PSV15, Theorem 1.6], and of
the result of I. Panin and R. Fedorov on the Serre–Grothendieck conjecture [FP15].
Theorem. [St19, Theorem 4.2] Assume that R is a regular semilocal domain that contains
an infinite field, and let K be its fraction field. Let G be a reductive group scheme over R of
isotropic rank ≥ 1. Then for any n ≥ 1 the natural map
Hét1 (R[x1 , . . . , xn ], G) → Hét1 (K[x1 , . . . , xn ], G)
has trivial kernel.
Lemma 3.1. Let G be a reductive group of isotropic rank ≥ 1 over a regular local ring A
containing an infinite field k. Let f (x) ∈ A[x] be a non-zero polynomial. Then Hét1 (A1A , G) →
Hét1 ((A1A )f , G) has trivial kernel.
Proof. Let K be the fraction field of A. By [St19, Theorem 4.2] the map Hét1 (A[x], G) →
Hét1 (K[x], G) has trivial kernel. By [CTO, Proposition 2.2] the map Hét1 (K[x], G) → Hét1 (K(x), G)
has trivial kernel. Hence the claim. 
The following lemma is based on a classical trick of Quillen [Q].
Lemma 3.2. Let G be a reductive group of isotropic rank ≥ 1 over a regular ring A con-
taining an infinite field k. Let f (x) ∈ A[x] be a monic polynomial. Then Hét1 (A1A , G) →
Hét1 ((A1A )f , G) has trivial kernel.
Proof. Let ξ ∈ Hét1 (A1A , G) be in the kernel. Since f is monic, for any maximal ideal m of A
the image of f in Am [x] is non-zero. Then by Lemma 3.1 the G-bundle ξ|A1A is trivial. Since
m
A is regular, G is A-linear by [Tho87, Corollary 3.2]. Then by [AHW18, Theorem 3.2.5] (see
also [Mos, Korollar 3.5.2]) the fact that for any maximal ideal m of A the G-bundle ξ|A1A is
m
trivial implies that ξ is extended from A.
 TORSORS OF ISOTROPIC LOOP REDUCTIVE GROUPS OVER LAURENT POLYNOMIALS 4

Set y = x−1 and choose g(y) ∈ A[y] so that xdeg(f ) g(y) = f (x). Then g(0) ∈ A× and
A[x]xf = A[y]yg . We have P1A = A1A ∪ Spec(A[y]g ), and A1A ∩ Spec(A[y]g ) = (A1A )xf . Hence
we can extend ξ to a bundle ξˆ on P1A by patching it with the trivial bundle on Spec(A[y]g ).
Let η = ξ|ˆ Spec(A[y]) . By assumption, η is trivial on Spec(A[y]g ). Since g(0) ∈ A× , by the
same argument as above η is extended. However, g(0) is invertible and η is trivial at y = 0,
hence η is trivial. Hence ξ is trivial at x = y = 1. Hence ξ is trivial. 
Lemma 3.3. Let G be a reductive group of isotropic rank ≥ 1 over a regular ring A contain-
ing an infinite field k. Let f (x) ∈ A[x] be a monic polynomial such that f (0) ∈ A× . Then
Hét1 ((A1A )x , G) → Hét1 ((A1A )xf , G) has trivial kernel.
Proof. Since f (0) ∈ A× , any G-bundle in the kernel can be extended to A1A by patching with
a trivial G-bundle on (A1A )f . Then it is trivial by Lemma 3.2 applied to xf . 
Lemma 3.4. Under the assumptions of Lemma 3.2 for any n ≥ 0 the natural map
Hét1 A[t±1 ±1 1



1 , . . . , tn ], G → Hét A ⊗k k(t1 , . . . , tn ), G

has trivial kernel.

Proof. We prove the claim by induction on n; the case n = 0 is trivial. Set l = k(t1 , . . . , tn−1 ).
By the inductive hypothesis, the map
Hét1 A[t±1 ±1 1 ±1 1 ±1




1 , . . . , tn ], G → Hét A[tn ] ⊗k l, G = Hét A ⊗k l[tn ], G

has trivial kernel, so it remains to prove the triviality of the kernel for the map
Hét1 A ⊗k l[t±1 1



n ], G → Hét A ⊗k l(tn ), G .

We have l(tn ) = lim l[tn ]tn g , where g ∈ l[tn ] runs over all monic polynomials with g(0) ∈ l× .
−→
g
Since Hét1 (−, G) commutes with filtered direct limits, it remains to show that every map
(3.1) Hét1 (A ⊗k l[t±1 1
n ], G) → Hét (A ⊗k l[tn ]tn g , G)

has trivial kernel. This is the claim of Lemma 3.3. 

Lemma 3.5. Let k be an infinite field, A be a regular ring containing k, and let G be a
reductive group of isotropic rank ≥ 1 over A[z1±1 , . . . , zn±1 ]. For any set of integers di > 0,
1 ≤ i ≤ n, the map

zi 7→wi tdi i
ψ : Hét1 A[z1±1 , . . . , zn±1 , t1 , . . . , tn ], G −−−−−→ Hét1 A ⊗k k(w1 , . . . , wn )[t±1 ±1 ∗


1 , . . . , tn ], ψ (G)

has trivial kernel.

Proof. We prove the claim by induction on n ≥ 0. The case n = 0 is trivial. To prove the
induction step for n ≥ 1, it is enough to show that

z1 7→w1td1
φ : Hét1 A⊗k k[z1±1 , . . . , zn±1 , t1 , . . . , tn ], G −−−−−1→ Hét1 A⊗k k(w1 )[t±1 ±1 ±1 ∗


1 ][z2 , . . . , zn , t2 , . . . , tn ], φ (G)

has trivial kernel. Indeed, after that we can apply the induction assumption with k substi-
tuted by k(w1 ) and A substituted by A ⊗k k(w1 )[t±1
1 ]. Set

B = A[z2±1 , . . . , zn±1 , t2 , . . . , tn ]
 TORSORS OF ISOTROPIC LOOP REDUCTIVE GROUPS OVER LAURENT POLYNOMIALS 5

and omit for simplicity the subscript 1. Then we need to show that the map

z7→wtd
φ : Hét1 B[z ±1 , t], G −−−−→ Hét1 B ⊗k k(w)[t±1 ], φ∗ (G)

has trivial kernel. Here G is defined over B[z ±1 ]. We have

B ⊗k k(w)[t±1 ] = lim B ⊗k k[w ±1 ]g [t±1 ] = lim B ⊗k k[w ±1 , t±1 ]g ,
−→ −→
g g

where g = g(w) runs over all monic polynomials in k[w] with g(0) 6= 0. Let N = deg(g) ≥ 1.
Since φ(z) = wtd , we have g(w) = g(φ(z)t−d ) = t−N d f (t), where f (t) is a polynomial in t
with coefficients in k[φ(z)±1 ] such that its leading coefficient is in k \ 0, and f (0) = φ(z)N .
Then
B ⊗k k[w ±1 , t±1 ]g = B ⊗k k[φ(z)±1 , t]tf .
The group scheme φ∗ (G) is defined over B ⊗k k[φ(z)±1 ]. Both terminal coefficients of tf (t)
are invertible in k[φ(z)±1 ], hence by Lemma 3.2 the map

z7→wtd
Hét1 B[z ±1 , t], G −−−−→ Hét1 B ⊗k k[w ±1 , t±1 ]g , φ∗ (G) = Hét1 B ⊗k k[φ(z)±1 , t]tf , φ∗ (G)

has trivial kernel.

Since Hét1 (−, G) commutes with filtered direct limits, we conclude that φ has trivial kernel.

Theorem 3.6. Let k be a field of characteristic 0, and let G be a loop reductive group of
isotropic rank ≥ 1 over R = k[x±1 ±1
1 , . . . , xn ]. For any regular ring A containing k, the natural
map
Hét1 k[x±1 ±1 1



1 , . . . , xn ] ⊗ k A, G → Hét k(x1 , . . . , xn ) ⊗k A, G
has trivial kernel.
Proof. We apply Lemma 2.3 to G, and we use Notation 2.4. Consider the following commu-
tative diagram. In this diagram, the horizontal maps j1 and j2 are the natural ones, and all
maps always take variables ti to ti , 1 ≤ i ≤ n, and A to A. The bijections g1 and g2 exist by
Lemma 2.3.
1

±1 ±1
 j1 1
 
Hét k[x1 , . . . , xn ] ⊗k A, G Hét k(x1 , . . . , xn ) ⊗k A, G

f1 : xi 7→zi f2 : xi 7→zi
   
Hét1 k[z1±1 , . . . , zn±1 , t1 , . . . , tn ] ⊗k A, Gz Hét1 k(z1 , . . . , zn , t1 , . . . , tn ) ⊗k A, Gz

h : zi 7→wi tdi
 
Hét1 k(w1 , . . . , wn )[t±1 ±1
1 , . . . , tn ] ⊗k A, Gz g2 : zi 7→wi tdi ∼
=

g1 ∼
=
  j2  
Hét1 k(w1 , . . . , wn )[t±1
1 , . . . , t±1
n ] ⊗k A, G w Hét1 k(w1 , . . . , wn , t1 , . . . , tn ) ⊗k A, Gw

In order to prove that j1 has trivial kernel, it is enough to show that all maps j2 , g1 , h, f1
have trivial kernels. The map j2 has trivial kernel by Lemma 3.4. As explained above, g1
 TORSORS OF ISOTROPIC LOOP REDUCTIVE GROUPS OVER LAURENT POLYNOMIALS 6

is bijective. The map h is has trivial kernel by Lemma 3.5. Finally, the map f1 has trivial
kernel, since it has a retraction. Therefore, the map j1 has trivial kernel. 
Corollary 3.7. Let k be a field of characteristic 0, and let G
be a loop reductive group of
isotropic rank ≥ 1 over R = k[x±1 1 1
±1


1 , . . . , xn ]. Then H Zar R, G = H N is R, G is trivial.
1
k(x1 , . . . , xn ), G = HN1 is k(x1 , . . . , xn ), G is trivial.



Proof. This is clear, since HZar 
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Chebyshev Laboratory St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia

E-mail address: anastasia.stavrova@gmail.com