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Questions tagged [etale-cohomology]

for questions about etale cohomology of schemes, including foundational material and applications.

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Etale cohomology -- Why study it?

I know (at least I think I know) that some of the main motivating problems in the development of etale cohomology were the Weil conjectures. I'd like to know what other problems one can solve using ...
Joel Dodge's user avatar
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46 votes
3 answers
5k views

"Cute" applications of the étale fundamental group

When I was an undergrad student, the first application that was given to me of the construction of the fundamental group was the non-retraction lemma : there is no continuous map from the disk to the ...
Libli's user avatar
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42 votes
2 answers
10k views

Intuition behind the Eichler-Shimura relation?

The modular curve $X_0(N)$ has good reduction at all primes $p$ not dividing $N$. At such a prime, the Eichler-Shimura relation expresses the Hecke operator $T_p$ (as an element of the ring of ...
Qiaochu Yuan's user avatar
35 votes
7 answers
14k views

Textbook for Etale Cohomology

What is the best textbook (or book) for studying Etale cohomology?
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32 votes
4 answers
8k views

Etale cohomology and l-adic Tate modules

$\newcommand{\bb}{\mathbb}\DeclareMathOperator{\gal}{Gal}$ Before stating my question I should remark that I know almost nothing about etale cohomology - all that I know, I've gleaned from hearing off ...
Jonah Sinick's user avatar
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32 votes
2 answers
2k views

Etale cohomology can not be computed by Cech

It can be proven that if in a quasicompact scheme $X$ any finite subset is contained in an affine open subset then for any sheaf $\mathcal{F}$ on $X$ its Cech cohomology $\hat{H_{et}^{\bullet}}(X,\...
SashaP's user avatar
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32 votes
1 answer
3k views

How is etale cohomology of integer rings related to Galois cohomology?

In the paper of Bloch and Kato in the Grothendieck Festschrift, and some other papers relating to the Bloch-Kato conjecture and the ETNC, the cohomology groups $H^i_{\mathrm{et}}(\operatorname{Spec} ...
David Loeffler's user avatar
29 votes
3 answers
3k views

how to find the varieties whose cohomology realizes certain representations?

The cohomology of Shimura varieties and Drinfeld shtukas is conjectured to realize the representations sought for in the Langlands programme/conjectures, the cohomology of Deligne-Lusztig varieties ...
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27 votes
4 answers
3k views

Why do we care about the eigenvalues of the Frobenius map?

The Riemann hypothesis for finite fields can be stated as follows: take a smooth projective variety X of finite type over the finite field $\mathbb{F}_q$ for some $q=p^n$. Then the eigenvalues $\...
Doron Grossman-Naples's user avatar
27 votes
7 answers
6k views

Etale covers of the affine line

In characteristic p there are nontrivial etale covers of the affine line, such as those obtained by adjoining solutions to x^2 + x + f(t) = 0 for f(t) in k[t]. Using an etale cohomology computation ...
Tyler Lawson's user avatar
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27 votes
2 answers
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Etale site is useful - examples of using the small fppf site?

Edit: After the answers and comments, I'm hoping for a little bit of elaboration (in the comment to the answer below.) Also, question 2 was discussed here: Points in sites (etale, fppf, ... ) There, ...
LMN's user avatar
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26 votes
1 answer
3k views

When (or why) is a six-functor formalism enough?

The six functor formalism in a given cohomology theory consists of for each space a derived category of sheaves and six different ways to construct functors between those categories (four involving a ...
Will Sawin's user avatar
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26 votes
1 answer
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Example of non-projective variety with non-semisimple Frobenius action on etale cohomology?

This question was motivated by a more general question raised by Jan Weidner here. In general one starts with a variety $X$ (say smooth) over an algebraic closure of a finite field $\mathbb{F}_q$ of ...
Jim Humphreys's user avatar
26 votes
2 answers
2k views

Flat versus étale cohomology

Although the definition of étale ($\ell$-adic) cohomology is scary, I have at least some intuition for how it should behave: for instance, when it makes sense, I expect that it should be “similar” to ...
user84144's user avatar
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26 votes
2 answers
2k views

The category of l-adic sheaves

I'm currently trying to understand the construction of the category of l-adic constructible sheaves as in SGA5, and it seems that quite a lot of machinery (the MLAR condition, localization of the ...
Akhil Mathew's user avatar
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25 votes
2 answers
2k views

Steenrod operations in etale cohomology?

For $X$ a topological space, from the short exact sequence $$ 0 \rightarrow \mathbb{Z}/2 \rightarrow \mathbb{Z}/4 \rightarrow \mathbb{Z}/2 \rightarrow 0 $$ we get a Bockstein homomorphism $$H^i(X,...
user84144's user avatar
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25 votes
1 answer
3k views

Are all Galois cohomology groups also étale cohomology groups?

Let $K$ be a field and $K^s$ a separable closure of $K$, and let $\mathcal{F}$ be a sheaf on $\mathrm{Spec}(K)$ (in the étale topology). By Grothendieck's Galois Theory, we have the isomorphism $$H_{...
Sam Derbyshire's user avatar
25 votes
1 answer
3k views

Is there a ring stacky approach to $\ell$-adic or rigid cohomology?

Ever since Simpson's paper [Sim], it was observed that many different cohomology theories arise in the following way: we begin with our space $X$, we associate to it a stack $X_\text{stk}$ (which ...
Gabriel's user avatar
  • 711
24 votes
1 answer
2k views

Clarifying the connection between 'etale locally' and 'formally locally'

The following type of statements is often bandied about around the mathematical watering hole: "etale close is closer than formally close". Namely, if one imagines some sort of 'absolute topology' ...
SomeGuy's user avatar
  • 843
24 votes
1 answer
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When is "independence of l" known?

My question is for which varieties over local fields is "independence of l" known for etale cohomology. Say $X/{\mathbb Q}_p$ is a complete non-singular variety and $W_l$ is the (complex) Weil-...
Tim Dokchitser's user avatar
23 votes
2 answers
4k views

Etale cohomology with coefficients in the integers

Here is a basic question. When does $H^1_{et}(X,\mathbb{Z})$ vanish? Using the exact sequence of constant etale sheaves $0\rightarrow\mathbb{Z}\rightarrow\mathbb{Q}\rightarrow\mathbb{Q}/\mathbb{Z}\...
Benjamin Antieau's user avatar
23 votes
1 answer
2k views

Which algebraic surfaces have non-trivial H^1?

Informally, my question is the following: Is there an "inverse theorem" for the first cohomology group $H^1$ of (the projective completion of) an algebraic surface $S$? Namely, can we give a ...
Terry Tao's user avatar
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22 votes
2 answers
3k views

Comparing cohomology over ${\mathbb C}$ and over ${\mathbb F}_q$

I have the following (probably well-known) question: let $X$ be a regular scheme over $\mathbb Z$. Let $p$ be a prime and Let us denote the reduction of $X$ mod $p$ by $X_p$. Let also $X_{\mathbb C}$...
Alexander Braverman's user avatar
22 votes
3 answers
813 views

A hypersurface with many points

Ok, it's time for me to ask my first question on MO. Consider the affine curve $Y+Y^q=X^{q+1}$ over the finite field $\mathbf{F}_q$. It's interesting because it has the largest number of points over ...
Jared Weinstein's user avatar
21 votes
1 answer
2k views

Points in sites (etale, fppf, ... )

I asked a part of this in an earlier question, but that part of my question didn't receive precedence. Etale site is useful - examples of using the small fppf site? Let $X$ be a scheme (assume it ...
LMN's user avatar
  • 3,555
21 votes
2 answers
1k views

When do two elliptic curves have equivalent small etale toposes?

Let $X$ and $Y$ be elliptic curves over an algebraically closed field $K$. If the characteristic of $K$ is nonzero, assume both curves are ordinary or both are supersingular. Does it follow that $X$ ...
JBorger's user avatar
  • 9,408
20 votes
5 answers
4k views

Equivalent statements of the Riemann hypothesis in the Weil conjectures

In the cohomological incarnation, the Riemann hypothesis part of the Weil conjectures for a smooth proper scheme of finite type over a finite field with $q$ elements says that: the eigenvalues of ...
Brandon Levin's user avatar
20 votes
1 answer
2k views

Any algebraic substitute for Morse theory (and homology) in arbitrary characteristic?

As far as I know, Morse theory yields much information on the topology of smooth manifolds; in particular, it can be used to prove Artin's vanishing (that the singular cohomology of smooth complex ...
Mikhail Bondarko's user avatar
20 votes
1 answer
1k views

Status of conjectures in Serre's 1969 expose on Galois representations on l-adic cohomology

In [S]: Serre, Jean-Pierre. Facteurs locaux des fonctions zeta des varietes algebriques (definitions et conjectures), Seminaire Delange-Pisot-Poitou, 1969-70 Serre presents nine conjectures *C*$_1$...
Kestutis Cesnavicius's user avatar
20 votes
0 answers
993 views

Finiteness of etale cohomology for arithmetic schemes

By an arithmetic scheme I mean a finite type flat regular integral scheme over $\mathrm{Spec} \, \mathbb{Z}$. Let $X$ be an arithmetic scheme. Then is $H_{et}^2(X,\mathbb{Z}/n\mathbb{Z})$ finite ...
Daniel Loughran's user avatar
19 votes
6 answers
2k views

weight 4 eigenforms with rational coefficients---is it reasonable to expect they all come from Calabi-Yaus?

A weight 2 modular form which happens to be a normalised cuspidal eigenform with rational coefficients has a natural geometric avatar---namely an elliptic curve over the rationals. It seems to be a ...
Kevin Buzzard's user avatar
18 votes
2 answers
3k views

comparison of de Rham cohomology and etale cohomology

I have a basic question concerning comparison of different cohomology theories. Let $X$ be a projective smooth (or just proper smooth) variety over a separably closed field $k$ of characteristic $p,$ ...
shenghao's user avatar
  • 4,265
18 votes
2 answers
4k views

Locally constant sheaves for the étale topology, lack of intuition about "étale-localness"

I have started studying some étale cohomology and I am trying to build up some intuition about the concept of local for the étale topology. I can understand some nice examples (like Kummer exact ...
Lorenzo's user avatar
  • 291
18 votes
1 answer
594 views

Does every hyperbolic curve over a finite field have an etale cover with a real Frobenius eigenvalue?

More precisely: let X/F_q be a smooth projective algebraic curve of genus at least 2. Does there always exist a curve Y/F_{q^d} with a finite etale projection Y -> X, such that one of the Frobenius ...
JSE's user avatar
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18 votes
1 answer
2k views

Independence of $\ell$ of Betti numbers

When $X$ is a smooth proper variety over $\mathbb F_q$, we know by Deligne's theory of weights that the dimension of $H^i_{\operatorname{\acute et}}(\bar X, \mathbb Q_\ell)$ does not depend on $\ell$. ...
R. van Dobben de Bruyn's user avatar
17 votes
1 answer
7k views

A nice explanation of what is a smooth (l-adic) sheaf?

I would like to understand this concept. It seems to be important (for the theory of perverse sheaves), yet I don't know any nice exposition of the properties of smooth sheaves.
Mikhail Bondarko's user avatar
17 votes
2 answers
1k views

A short proof for simple connectedness of the projective line

The Riemann-Hurwitz formula implies that the projective line $\mathbb{P}^1_K$ over any algebraically closed field $K$ is simply connected (i.e., $\pi_1^{et}(\mathbb{P}^1_K) = 1$; equivalently, if $\...
Lior Bary-Soroker's user avatar
17 votes
2 answers
1k views

Hodge standard conjecture for étale cohomology

It is known that Hodge standard conjecture is true for étale cohomology for a field $k$ of characteristic zero. It means that the following pairing $$ (x,y)\mapsto (-1)^{i}\langle L^{r-2i}(x),y\...
mikis's user avatar
  • 797
17 votes
4 answers
2k views

Usage of étale cohomology in algebraic geometry

I'm a student interested in arithmetic geometry, and this implies I use étale cohomology a lot. Regarding its definition, étale cohomology is a purely algebro-geometric object. However, almost every ...
Daebeom Choi's user avatar
17 votes
1 answer
1k views

Serre and Tate's conjectures on étale cohomology

In the appendix of Serre and Tate "Good Reduction of Abelian Varieties" [Annals of Mathematics 88 (1968), 492-517], the authors make the following conjectures. Suppose that $X$ is a smooth proper ...
Eric Larson's user avatar
  • 1,832
16 votes
1 answer
3k views

Tate twists and cohomology of $\mathbf{P}^1$

I was wondering if anyone could give me some intuition as to why, for a smooth projective variety $X$ over $\mathbf{C}$ of complex dimension $d$, the Tate twist on $H^n(X(\mathbf{C}),\mathbf{Z})$ to ...
user avatar
16 votes
1 answer
1k views

Motivation for the étale topology over other possibilities

In the search for a Weil cohomology theory $H$ over a field $K$ (with $\text{char}(K)=0$) for varieties in characteristic $p$, a classical argument by Serre shows that the coefficient field cannot be ...
Sam Derbyshire's user avatar
16 votes
1 answer
2k views

Proof of main theorems in étale cohomology theory

(In this question, $p$ can be $0$.) I'm curious if theorems on étale cohomology can be proved by easier way. For example, proper base change theorem. This theorem can be stated as the following way. ...
user avatar
16 votes
2 answers
1k views

Cohomological dimension-doubling

I'm sure this is a question which has been asked many times, if not necessarily on this site: Why does a (smooth, projective) scheme over a field, with dimension d, behave as though it were a ...
Ryan Reich's user avatar
  • 7,273
16 votes
1 answer
1k views

Some basic questions on crystalline cohomology

Let $X_0$ be a smooth projective variety over $\mathbf{F}_q$ and ${X}$ its base change to an algebraic closure $k$ of $\mathbf{F}_q$. Crystalline cohomology $H^*_{\rm cris}(X) := H^*((X/W(k))_{\rm ...
user avatar
16 votes
1 answer
1k views

Motivic cohomology with finite coefficients for singular varieties

Let $X$ be a smooth variety over a field $K$ whose characteristic does not divide a positive integer $m$. Then the motivic cohomology of $X$ with coefficients in $\mathbb Z/m(j)$ can be computed in ...
Leonid Positselski's user avatar
16 votes
1 answer
1k views

GAGA for henselian schemes

In this paper, F. Kato recollects basic facts on henselian schemes and proves some partial results towards GAGA in the context of henselian schemes. Let $I$ be a finitely generated ideal in a ...
user avatar
16 votes
1 answer
2k views

Universal homeomorphisms and the étale topology

Let $f:X\to S$ be a universal homeomorphism of schemes. Assume $X(S')\neq\emptyset$ for some étale surjective $S'\to S$. Does $f$ have a section? The answer is yes if $S$ is reduced, by descent. ...
Laurent Moret-Bailly's user avatar
16 votes
0 answers
878 views

L-Functions of Varieties, Zeta Functions of Their Models

Let $k$ denote a number field, with algebraic closure $\bar{k}$. Take a smooth, projective variety $X$ over $k$. If $\mathfrak{p}$ is a prime of $k$, and $l$ is a rational prime different to the ...
Tom163's user avatar
  • 643
16 votes
0 answers
2k views

Can one compare integral structures on de Rham and crystalline cohomology?

Suppose $\mathfrak{X}$ is a smooth projective scheme of finite type over $\mathbb{Z}_p$, with generic fibre $X$. Then there are comparison theorems relating de Rham and crystalline cohomology, $H^i_{\...
David Loeffler's user avatar

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