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removed bogus construction
S. Carnahan
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The answer to your question is "yes". We need the following properties of $X_1^{iso}$:

  1. The map $X_1^{iso} \to X_1$ given by $(f,g) \mapsto f$ on scheme-valued points is a monomorphism. This is straightforward from uniqueness of inverses.

  2. $s,t: X_1 \to X_0$ are formally smooth. We use this for existence of a lift of an infinitesimal deformation.

  3. $s,t: X_1 \to X_0$ are locally of finite presentation. Using basic permanence properties (see e.g., Stacks 02KL with $X=S=X_1$ and $Y = X_0$), we find that $i: X_0 \to X_1$ is also locally of finite presentation. Combining with the fiber product construction, the two maps from $X_1^{iso}$ to $X_0$ are also lfp.

  4. Infinitesimal formal categories are formal groupoids. This is basically the statement that tangent spaces have abelian group structure.

We will show that the monomorphism $X_1^{iso} \to X_1$ is formally étale by rephrasing Matt E's argument in a bit more generality.

Let $j: U \to T$ be a closed immersion of affine schemes over $X_0$ defined by a square zero ideal $I$. Let $\bar{f}$ be a $U$-point of $X_1^{iso}$, and let $f$ be a $T$-point of $X_1$, such that $f \circ j$ is equal to $\bar{f}$ followed by the monomorphism. By assumption, $\bar{f}$ has an inverse $\bar{g}$, and by formal smoothness of both $s,t: X_1 \to X_0$, there exists some $T$-point $\tilde{g}$ of $X_1$ that restricts to the $U$-point $\bar{g}$.

We now translate by $\tilde{g}$ to bring us to an infinitesimal neighborhood of the origin. $\bar{g}$ and $\bar{f}$ are inverses as $U$-points, so $\tilde{g} f$ and $f \tilde{g}$ are $T$-points whose restriction to $U$ factors through identity. The square zero condition on $I$ gives an additive bijection between lifts of the identity and elements of $\operatorname{Hom}_{\mathcal{O}_U}(e_U^*\Omega_{X_1/X_0},I)$, where $e_U: U \to X_1$ is the identity section (SGAI Exp. 3 Proposition 5.1). Because the Hom space is an abelian group, we can easily form inverses by negating. Translating back yields $(\tilde{g} f)^{-1} \tilde{g} = \tilde{g} (f \tilde{g})^{-1}$ as the unique inverse of $f$.

To summarize, if $f$ is a $T$-point in $X_1$ whose restriction to $U$ factors through $X_1^{iso}$, then there is a unique $T$-point $(f,f^{-1})$ in $X_1^{iso}$ that maps to $f$. Thus, $X_1^{iso} \to X_1$ is formally étale, and the composition with either source or target $X_1 \to X_0$ is formally smooth and locally of finite presentation, hence smooth.

This argument works for algebraic spaces without change (although you may need to find new references).

S. Carnahan
  • 45.7k
  • 6
  • 114
  • 220