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# A renormalized Riemann-Roch formula and the Thom isomorphism for the free loop space

## 1. Introduction

Let $`𝕋`$ denote the circle group, and, if $`X`$ is a compact smooth manifold, let $`X\stackrel{\text{def}}{=}C^{\mathrm{}}(𝕋,X)`$ denote its free loop space. The group $`𝕋`$ acts on $`X`$, and the fixed point manifold is again $`X`$, considered as the subspace of constant loops. In the 1980’s, Witten showed that the fixed-point formula in ordinary equivariant cohomology, applied to the free loop space $`X`$ of a spin manifold $`X`$, yields the index of the Dirac operator (i.e. the $`\widehat{A}`$-genus) of $`X`$—a fundamentally $`K`$-theoretic quantity \[Ati85\]. He also applied the fixed-point theorem in equivariant $`K`$-theory to a Dirac-like operator on $`X`$ to obtain the elliptic genus and “Witten genus” of $`X`$ \[Wit88\]—quantities associated with elliptic cohomology.

Among homotopy theorists, these developments generated considerable excitement. The chromatic program organizes the structure of finite stable homotopy types, locally at a prime $`p`$, into layers indexed by nonnegative integers. The $`n`$th layer is detected by a family of cohomology theories $`_n`$; rational cohomology, $`K`$-theory, and elliptic cohomology are detecting theories for the first three layers \[Mor85, DHS88, HS98\].

The geometry and analysis related to rational cohomology and $`K`$-theory are reasonably well-understood, but for $`n2`$ and for elliptic cohomology in particular, very little is known. Witten’s work provides a major suggestion: for $`n=1`$ and $`n=2`$ his analysis gives a correspondence

$$\begin{array}{c}\text{ analysis underlying }_n\\ \text{applied to }X\end{array}\begin{array}{c}\text{ analysis underlying }_{n1}\\ \text{applied to }X\text{.}\end{array}$$
(1.0.1)
This paper represents our attempt to understand why Witten’s procedure appears to connect the chromatic layers in the manner of (1.0.1). To do this we consider very generally the fixed-point formula attached to a complex-oriented theory $`E`$ with formal group law $`F`$. We recall that for $`n>0`$, such a theory detects chromatic layer $`n`$ if the formal group law $`F`$ has height $`n`$.

Our first result is that the fixed-point formula of a suitable equivariant extension of $`E`$ (Borel cohomology is fine, as is the usual equivariant $`K`$-theory) applied to the free loop space yields a formula which is *identical* to the Riemann-Roch formula for the quotient $`F/(\widehat{q})`$ of the formal group law $`F`$ by a free cyclic subgroup $`(\widehat{q})`$ (compare formulae (3.2.2) and (4.2.3)).

The quotient $`F/(\widehat{q})`$ is not a formal group, so to understand its structure, we work $`p`$-locally and study its $`p`$-torsion subgroup $`F/(\widehat{q})[p^{\mathrm{}}]`$. We construct a group $`\mathrm{Tate}(F)`$ with a canonical map

$$\mathrm{Tate}(F)F/(\widehat{q}),$$

which induces an isomorphism of torsion subgroups in a suitable setting. Our second result is that the group $`\mathrm{Tate}(F)[p^{\mathrm{}}]`$ is a $`p`$-divisible group, fitting into an extension

$$F[p^{\mathrm{}}]\mathrm{Tate}(F)_p/_p$$

of $`p`$-divisible groups. If the height of $`F`$ is $`n`$, then the height of $`\mathrm{Tate}(F)[p^{\mathrm{}}]`$ is $`n+1`$, but its étale quotient has height $`1`$. In a sense we make precise in §5.3, it is the universal such extension.

Thus the fixed-point formula on the free loop space interpolates between the chromatic layers in the same way that $`p`$-divisible groups of height $`n+1`$ with étale quotient of height $`1`$ interpolate between formal groups of height $`n`$ and formal groups of height $`n+1`$. This is discussed in more detail, from the homotopy-theoretic point of view, in our earlier paper \[AMS98\] with Hal Sadofsky; this paper is a kind of continuation, concerned with analytic aspects of these phenomena. We show that Witten’s construction in rational cohomology produces $`K`$-theoretic genera because of the exponential exact sequence

$$0^\times 1$$
(1.0.2)
expressing the multiplicative group ($`K`$-theory) as the quotient of the additive group (ordinary cohomology) by a free cyclic subgroup; while his work in $`K`$-theory produces elliptic genera because of the exact sequence

$$0q^{}^\times ^\times /q^{}1$$
(1.0.3)
(where $`q`$ is a complex number with $`|q|<1`$), expressing the Tate elliptic curve $`^\times /q^{}`$ as the quotient of the multiplicative group by a free cyclic subgroup.

These analytic quotients have already been put to good use in equivariant topology. Grojnowski constructs from equivariant ordinary cohomology a complex $`𝕋`$-equivariant elliptic cohomology using the elliptic curve $`/\mathrm{\Lambda }`$ which is the quotient of the complex plane by a lattice; and Rosu uses Grojnowski’s functor to give a striking conceptual proof of the rigidity of the elliptic genus. Grojnowski’s ideas applied to the multiplicative sequence (1.0.3) give a construction of complex $`𝕋`$-equivariant elliptic cohomology based on equivariant $`K`$-theory; details will appear elsewhere. Completing this circle, Rosu has used the quotient (1.0.2) to give a construction of complex equivariant $`K`$-theory \[Gro94, Ros99, RK99\].

Several of the formulae in this paper involve formal infinite products; see for example (3.2.2) and (4.2.3). On the fixed-point formula side, the source of these is the Euler class of the normal bundle $`\nu `$ of $`X`$ in $`X`$ (3.1.2). From this point of view, the problem is that the bundle $`\nu `$ is infinite-dimensional, so it does not have a Thom spectrum in the usual sense. However, $`\nu `$ has a highly nontrivial circle action, which defines a locally finite-dimensional filtration by eigenspaces. Following the program sketched in \[CJS95\], we construct from this filtration a Thom *pro-spectrum*, whose Thom class is the infinite product.

In the particular cases of the additive and multiplicative formal groups ($`n=1,2`$ above), one can also control the infinite products by replacing them with products which converge to holomorphic functions on $``$; this construction of elliptic functions goes back to Eisenstein. We are grateful to Kapranov for pointing out to us that Eistenstein considered the the analogous problem for $`n>2`$. In \[Eis44\] he described the difficulty of interpreting such infinite products. He went on to hint that he perceived a useful approach, and concluded the following.

> Die Functionen, zu welchen man auf diesen Wege geführt wird, scheinen sehr merkwürdige Eigenschaften zu besitzen; sie eröffnen ein Feld, auf dem sich Stoff zu den reichhaltigsten Untersuchungen darbietet, und welches der eigentliche Grund und Boden zu sein scheint, auf welchem die schwierigsten Theile der Analysis und Zahlentheorie ineinander greifen.

### 1.1. Formal group schemes

In this paper (especially in section 5) we shall consider formal schemes in the sense of \[Str99, Dem72\]. A *formal scheme* is a filtered colimit of affine schemes. For example the “formal line”

$$\widehat{𝔸}^1\stackrel{\text{def}}{=}\underset{n}{colim}\mathrm{spec}[x]/x^n$$

is a formal scheme. Note that an affine scheme is a formal scheme in a trivial way. An important feature of this category which we shall use is that it has finite products. For example,

$$\widehat{𝔸}^1\times \widehat{𝔸}^1=colim\mathrm{spec}\left([x]/(x^n)[y]/(y^m)\right).$$

In particular a *formal group scheme* means an abelian group in the category of formal schemes. A formal group scheme whose underlying formal scheme is isomorphic to the formal scheme $`\widehat{𝔸}^1`$ is called a commutative one-dimensional formal Lie group. We shall simply call it a *formal group*.

The first reason for considering formal schemes is that formal groups are not quite groups in the category of affine schemes, because a group law

$$F(s,t)=s+t+\mathrm{}R[[s,t]]$$

over a ring $`R`$ gives a diagonal

$$R[[s]]\stackrel{}{}R[[s,t]]R[[s]]\widehat{}R[[t]]$$

only to the completed tensor product.

The second reason for considering formal schemes is that, if $`G`$ is an affine group scheme, then its torsion subgroup $`G_{\mathrm{tors}}`$ is a formal scheme (the colimit of the affine schemes $`G[N]`$ of torsion of order $`N`$), but not in general a scheme.

If $`X`$ is a formal scheme over $`R`$, and $`S`$ is an $`R`$-algebra, then $`X_S`$ will denote the resulting formal scheme over $`S`$.

## 2. The umkehr homomorphism and an ungraded analogue

### 2.1.

Let $`E`$ be a complex-oriented multiplicative cohomology theory with formal group law $`F`$, and let $`h:XY`$ be a proper complex-oriented map of smooth finite-dimensional connected manifolds, of fiber dimension $`d=dimXdimY`$. The Pontrjagin-Thom collapse associates to these data an “umkehr” homomorphism \[Qui71\]

$$h_!:E^{}(X)E^d(Y).$$

We will be concerned with similar homomorphisms in certain infinite-dimensional contexts. In order to do so, we systematically eliminate the shift of $`d`$ in the degree by restricting our attention to *even periodic* cohomology theories $`E`$. The examples show (3.3) that this amounts to measuring quantities relative to the vacuum.

### 2.2. Even periodic ring theories

Let $`E`$ be a cohomology theory. If $`X`$ is a space, then $`E^{}(X)`$ will denote its *unreduced* cohomology; if $`A`$ is a spectrum, then $`E^{}(A)`$ will denote its cohomology in the usual sense. These notations are related by the isomorphism $`E^{}(X)E^{}(\mathrm{\Sigma }^{\mathrm{}}X_+)`$, where $`X_+`$ denotes the union of $`X`$ and a disjoint basepoint. The reduced cohomology of $`X`$ will be denoted $`\stackrel{~}{E}(X)`$. Let $``$ denote the one-point space.

A cohomology theory $`E`$ with commutative multiplication is *even* if $`E^{\text{odd}}()=0`$. It is *periodic* if $`E^2()`$ contains a unit of $`E^{}()`$. If $`E`$ is an even periodic theory, then we write $`E(X)`$ for $`E^0(X)`$ and $`E`$ for $`E^0()`$. We sometimes write $`X_E=\mathrm{spec}E(X)`$ for the spectrum, in the sense of commutative algebra, of the commutative ring $`E(X)`$.

A space $`X`$ is *even* if $`H_{}(X)`$ is a free abelian group, concentrated in even degrees. In that case the natural map

$$colimF_EX_E,$$
(2.2.1)
where $`F`$ is the filtered system of maps of finite CW complexes to $`X`$, is an isomorphism. This gives $`X_E`$ the structure of a formal scheme. The functor $`XX_E`$ from even spaces to formal schemes over $`E`$ preserves finite products and coproducts: if $`X`$ and $`Y`$ are two even spaces, then

$$(X\times Y)_EX_E\times Y_E\mathrm{spec}E(X)\widehat{}E(Y).$$

Here $`\widehat{}`$ refers to the completion of the tensor product with respect to the topology defined by the filtrations of $`E(X)`$ and $`E(Y)`$.

### 2.3. Orientations and coordinates

Let $`P\stackrel{\text{def}}{=}P^{\mathrm{}}`$ be the classifying space for complex line bundles. Let $`m:P\times PP`$ be the map classifying the tensor product of line bundles. It induces a map

$$P_E\times P_E\stackrel{m_E}{}P_E,$$

which makes $`P_E`$ a formal group scheme over $`E`$. Of course it is a formal group: let $`i:S^2P`$ be the map classifying the Hopf bundle. A choice of element $`x\stackrel{~}{E}(P)`$ such that $`v=i^{}x\stackrel{~}{E}(S^2)E^2()`$ is a unit is called a *coordinate* on $`P_E`$. There is then an isomorphism

$$E(P)E[[x]],$$

which determines a formal group *law* $`F`$ over $`E`$ by the formula

$$F(x,y)=m^{}xE(P\times P)E[[x,y]].$$

Any even-periodic cohomology theory $`E`$ is complex-orientable. An *orientation* on $`E`$ is a multiplicative natural transformation

$$MUE.$$

These correspond bijectively with elements $`u\stackrel{~}{E}^2(P)`$ such that

$$i^{}u=\mathrm{\Sigma }^2(1),$$
(2.3.1)
where $`\mathrm{\Sigma }`$ is the suspension isomorphism \[Ada74\]. A coordinate $`x`$ thus determines an orientation $`u=v^1x`$.

###### Definition 2.3.2.

We shall use the notation $`(E,x,F)`$ to denote an even periodic cohomology theory $`E`$ with coordinate $`x`$ and group law $`F`$. We shall call such a triple a *parametrized* theory.

### 2.4. Thom isomorphism

An orientation $`u\stackrel{~}{E}^2(P)`$ gives the usual Thom classes and characteristic classes for complex vector bundles. If $`k`$ is an integer, let $`\underset{¯}{k}`$ denote the trivial complex vector bundle of rank $`k`$. If $`X`$ is a connected space and $`V`$ is a complex vector bundle of rank $`d`$ over $`X`$, then we write

$$X^V\stackrel{\text{def}}{=}\mathrm{\Sigma }^{\mathrm{}}((V\underset{¯}{1})/(V))$$

for the suspension spectrum of its Thom space, with bottom cell in degree $`2d`$. We write $`\alpha _{\text{usual}}^V`$ for the Thom isomorphism

$$\alpha _{\text{usual}}^V:E^{}(X)E^{+2d}(X^V).$$

In the same way, a coordinate $`x\stackrel{~}{E}(P)`$ gives rise to a Thom isomorphism

$$\alpha ^V:E(X)E(X^V).$$

If $`v=i^{}x\stackrel{~}{E}(S^2)`$ is the associated orientation, the isomorphisms $`\alpha _{\text{usual}}`$ and $`\alpha `$ are related by the formula

$$\alpha ^V=v^{\text{rank }V}\alpha _{\text{usual}}^V.$$

###### Remark 2.4.1.

One effect of condition (2.3.1) is that $`\alpha _{\text{usual}}^{\underset{¯}{d}}`$ coincides with the suspension isomorphism

$$\alpha _{\text{usual}}^{\underset{¯}{d}}=\mathrm{\Sigma }^{2d}:E^{}(X)E^{+2d}(X^{\underset{¯}{d}}).$$

The Thom isomorphism $`\alpha `$ defined by a coordinate chooses $`v\stackrel{~}{E}(S^2)E(^{\underset{¯}{1}})`$ as $`\alpha ^{\underset{¯}{1}}`$. Thus $`\alpha _{\text{usual}}`$ may be viewed as a composition of Thom isomorphisms

$$\alpha _{\text{usual}}^V:E(X^{\underset{¯}{d}})\stackrel{(\alpha ^{\underset{¯}{d}})^1}{}E(X)\stackrel{\alpha ^V}{}E(X^V).$$

If $`\zeta :\mathrm{\Sigma }^{\mathrm{}}X_+X^V`$ denotes the zero section, then we write

$`e_{\text{usual}}(V)`$ $`\stackrel{\text{def}}{=}\zeta ^{}\alpha _{\text{usual}}^V(1)E^{2d}(X)`$
$`e(V)`$ $`\stackrel{\text{def}}{=}\zeta ^{}\alpha ^V(1)E(X)`$
for the usual and degree-zero Euler classes of $`V`$; these are related by the formula

$$e(V)=v^{\text{rank }V}e_{\text{usual}}(V).$$

If $`U(n)`$ denotes the unitary group and $`T`$ is its maximal torus of diagonal matrices, then the map

$$E(BU(n))E(BT)E((B𝕋)^n)$$

is the inclusion of the ring of invariants under the action of the Weyl group $`W`$. The coordinate gives an isomorphism

$$E(BT)E((B𝕋)^n)E[[x_1,\mathrm{},x_n]],$$

with $`W`$ acting as the permutation group $`\mathrm{\Sigma }_n`$ on the $`x_i`$’s. Thus we can define degree-zero Chern classes $`c_i`$ in $`E(BU(n))`$ by the formula

$$\underset{i=0}{\overset{n}{}}c_iz^{ni}=\underset{i=0}{\overset{n}{}}(z+x_i).$$
(2.4.2)
If $`F`$ is the group law resulting from the coordinate $`x`$, then we call the $`c_i`$ the “$`F`$–Chern classes”.

Returning to the map

$$X\stackrel{}{}Y,$$

as in (2.1), we can now define an umkehr map

$$E(X)\stackrel{h_F}{}E(Y),$$

using the degree-zero Thom isomorphism $`\alpha `$. We write $`F`$ to indicate the dependence on the coordinate.

###### Definition 2.4.3.

If $`X`$ is any manifold, we denote by $`p^X`$ the map

$$X\stackrel{p^X}{}.$$

If $`E`$ is an even periodic theory with group law $`F`$, then its $`F`$*genus* is the element $`p_F^X(1)`$ of $`E`$.

### 2.5. The Riemann-Roch formula

The Riemann-Roch formula compares the umkehr homomorphisms $`h_F`$ and $`h_G`$ of two coordinates with formal group laws $`F`$ and $`G`$, related by an isomorphism

$$\theta :FG.$$

The book of Dyer \[Dye69\] is a standard reference.

###### Proposition 2.5.1.

If $`h:XY`$ is a proper complex-oriented map of fiber dimension $`2d`$, then

$$h_G(u)=h_F\left[u\underset{j=1}{\overset{d}{}}\frac{x_j}{\theta (x_j)}\right],$$
(2.5.2)
where the $`x_i`$ are the terms in the factorization

$$z^d+c_1z^{d1}+\mathrm{}+c_d=\underset{j=1}{\overset{d}{}}(z+x_i)$$

of the total $`F`$–Chern class of the formal inverse of the normal bundle of $`h`$. ∎

###### Remark 2.5.3.

Changing the coordinate by a unit $`uE`$ multiplies the umkehr homomorphism by $`u^d`$; by such a renormalization, we can always assume that $`\theta `$ is a *strict* isomorphism.

### 2.6. The fixed-point formula

#### Notations for circle actions

Let $`𝕋`$ denote the circle group $`/`$. If $`X`$ is a $`𝕋`$-space then we write

$$X_𝕋\stackrel{\text{def}}{=}E𝕋\underset{𝕋}{\times }X$$

for the Borel construction and $`X^𝕋`$ for the fixed-point set. Let $`𝕋^{}=\mathrm{Hom}[𝕋,^\times ]`$ be the character group of $`𝕋`$; we will also write $`\widehat{𝕋}=𝕋^{}\{1\}`$ for the set of nontrivial irreducible representations. For $`k𝕋^{}`$, let $`(k)`$ be the associated one-dimensional complex representation. There is then an associated complex line bundle $`(k)_𝕋`$ over $`B𝕋`$.

It is convenient to choose an an isomorphism $`𝕋^{}`$; this determines, in particular, an isomorphism $`B𝕋P^{\mathrm{}}`$. For $`k`$ we have $`(k)=(1)^k`$ and $`(k)_𝕋=(1)_𝕋^k`$. If $`\widehat{q}E(B𝕋)`$ is the Euler class of $`(1)_𝕋`$, then the Euler class of $`(k)_𝕋`$ is $`[k](\widehat{q})`$.

#### Equivariant cohomology

###### Definition 2.6.1.

Let $`(E,x,F)`$ be a parametrized theory. A $`𝕋`$-equivariant cohomology theory $`E_𝕋`$ is an *extension* of $`(E,x,F)`$ if

1. There is a natural transformation

$$E(X/𝕋)E_𝕋(X),$$

which is an isomorphism if $`𝕋`$ acts freely on $`X`$. In particular the coefficient ring $`E_𝕋()`$ is an algebra over $`E()`$, and so it is $`2`$-periodic.
2. There is a natural forgetful transformation

$$E_𝕋(X)E(X).$$

If $`X`$ is a trivial $`𝕋`$-space then the composition

$$E(X)E_𝕋(X)E(X)$$

is the identity.
3. $`E_𝕋`$ has Thom classes and so Euler classes for complex $`𝕋`$-vector bundles, which are multiplicative and natural under pull-back. If $`V/X`$ is such a bundle, then we write $`e_𝕋(V)E_𝕋(X)`$ for its (degree-zero) Euler class. These are compatible with the Thom isomorphism in $`E`$ in the sense that, if the $`𝕋`$-action on $`V/X`$ is trivial, then

$$e_𝕋(V)=e(V).$$
4. If $`L_1`$ and $`L_2`$ are complex $`𝕋`$-line bundles, then

$$e_𝕋(L_1L_2)=e_𝕋(L_1)+_Fe_𝕋(L_2).$$

###### Definition 2.6.2.

If $`E_𝕋`$ is equivariantly complex oriented as above, a homomorphism $`E_𝕋\widehat{E}_𝕋`$ of multiplicative $`𝕋`$-equivariant cohomology theories is a *suitable* localization if

1. $`\widehat{E}_𝕋()`$ is flat over $`E_𝕋()`$,
2. When $`k0`$, $`e_𝕋((k))`$ maps to a unit of $`\widehat{E}_𝕋()`$, and
3. The fixed-point formula (2.6.4) holds for $`\widehat{E}_𝕋`$.

In order to state the fixed-point formula, we need the following observation of \[AS68\].

###### Lemma 2.6.3.

Let $`E_𝕋`$ be a suitable theory. Let $`S`$ be a compact manifold with trivial $`𝕋`$–action, and let $`V`$ be a complex $`𝕋`$–vector bundle over $`S`$. If the fixed-point bundle $`V^𝕋`$ is zero, then $`e_𝕋(V)`$ is a unit of $`E_𝕋(S)`$.

###### Proof.

Recall \[Seg68\] that the natural map

$$\underset{k\widehat{𝕋}}{}V(k)(k)\stackrel{}{}V$$

is an isomorphism, where $`V(k)\stackrel{\text{def}}{=}\mathrm{Hom}[(k),V]`$ is the evident vector bundle over $`S`$ with trivial $`𝕋`$–action. By applying the ordinary splitting principle to $`V(k)`$, we are reduced to the case that $`V=L(k)`$, where $`L`$ is a complex line bundle over $`S`$ with trivial $`𝕋`$-action. If $`E_𝕋`$ is suitable then the Euler class of $`V`$ is

$$e_𝕋(L(k))=e(L)+_Fe_𝕋((k)).$$

Since $`S`$ is a compact manifold, $`e(L)`$ is nilpotent in $`E(S)`$, so $`e_𝕋(V)`$ is a unit of $`E_𝕋(S)`$ because $`e_𝕋((k))`$ is a unit of $`E_𝕋()`$. ∎

Now suppose that $`M`$ is a compact almost-complex manifold with a compatible $`𝕋`$-action. Let

$$j:SM$$

denote the inclusion of the fixed-point set; it is a complex-oriented equivariant map, with $`𝕋`$–equivariant normal bundle $`\nu `$. The fixed-point formula which we require in Definition 2.6.2 is the equation

$$p_F^M(u)=p_F^S\left(\frac{j^{}u}{e_𝕋(\nu )}\right).$$
(2.6.4)
By Lemma 2.6.3 $`e_𝕋(\nu )`$ is a unit of $`E_𝕋(S)`$, so this localization theorem is a corollary to the projection formula

$$j_Fj^{}(x)=xe_𝕋(\nu )$$

for the umkehr of the inclusion of the fixed-point set.

###### Example 2.6.5.

The Borel extension

$$E_{\mathrm{Borel}}(X)\stackrel{\text{def}}{=}E(X_𝕋)$$

of an even periodic ring theory has Thom classes $`e_𝕋(V)=e(V_𝕋)`$ for complex $`𝕋`$-vector bundles, and the localization defined by inverting the multiplicative subset generated by $`e_𝕋((k)),k0`$ will be suitable.

###### Example 2.6.6.

Let $`K_𝕋`$ denote the usual equivariant $`K`$-theory. Then $`K_𝕋=[q,q^1]`$, where $`q`$ is the representation $`(1)`$, considered as a vector bundle over a point. The Euler class of a line bundle is $`e_𝕋(L)=1L`$, so $`\widehat{q}=1q`$. The group law is multiplicative:

$$𝔾_m(x,y)=x+yxy.$$
(2.6.7)
We have $`[k](\widehat{q})=1q^k`$, and consequently

$$\widehat{K}(X)\stackrel{\text{def}}{=}K_𝕋(X)_{K_𝕋}((q))$$

is suitable.

###### Example 2.6.8.

If

$$H_𝕋^{}(X)\stackrel{\text{def}}{=}H^{}(X_𝕋;[v,v^1])$$

is Borel cohomology with two-periodic rational coefficients, and $`\widehat{q}=e((1)_𝕋)`$, then $`H_𝕋()[[\widehat{q}]]`$, and $`e((k)_𝕋)=k\widehat{q}.`$ The rational Tate cohomology

$$\widehat{H}^{}(X)\stackrel{\text{def}}{=}H_𝕋^{}(X)[\widehat{q}^1]$$

is suitable.

###### Example 2.6.9.

More generally, two–periodic $`\widehat{K}(n)_𝕋`$ (with $`n`$ finite positive) is suitable: if $`[p]_{K(n)}(X)=X^{p^n}`$ and $`k=k_0p^s`$ with $`(k_0,p)=1`$ then

$$[k](\widehat{q})=[k_0](\widehat{q}^{p^{ns}})=k_0\widehat{q}^{p^{ns}}+\mathrm{}𝔽_p((\widehat{q}))$$

has invertible leading term. Integral lifts of $`K(n)`$ behave similarly; the Cohen ring \[AMS98\] of $`𝔽_p((\widehat{q}))`$ defines a completion of the Borel-Tate localization.

These coefficient rings have natural topologies, which are relevant to the convergence of infinite products in Corollary 6.2.3.

## 3. Application to the free loop space

Let $`\widehat{E}_𝕋`$ be a suitable localization (2.6.2) of an equivariantly complex oriented cohomology theory, let $`X`$ be a compact complex-oriented manifold, and let $`X`$ be its free loop space. Since $`X`$ is not finite-dimensional, the existence of an umkehr homomorphism $`p_F^X`$ is not clear. However, $`𝕋`$ acts on $`X`$ by rotations with fixed set $`X`$ of constant loops, and Witten discovered that the fixed-point formula (2.6.4) for the $`F`$-genus $`p_F^X(1)`$ of $`X`$ continues to yield interesting formulae. In this section we review his calculation.

### 3.1. The normal bundle to the constant loops and its Euler class

One approximates the space $`C^{\mathrm{}}(S^1,)`$ by the sub-vector space of Laurent polynomials

$$[𝕋^{}]\underset{k𝕋^{}}{}(k)C^{\mathrm{}}(S^1,).$$

The tangent space of $`X`$ is $`C^{\mathrm{}}(S^1,TX)`$. If $`pX`$ is considered as a constant loop, then the tangent space to $`X`$ at $`p`$ is the $`𝕋`$–space $`TX_pC^{\mathrm{}}(S^1,TX_p)`$. It is a $`𝕋`$-bundle with a Laurent polynomial approximation

$$TX_p[𝕋^{}]$$

Thus the normal bundle $`\nu `$ of the inclusion of $`X`$ in $`X`$ has approximation

$$\nu \underset{k\widehat{𝕋}}{}TX(k).$$
(3.1.1)
If

$$z^d+c_1z^{d1}+\mathrm{}+c_d=\underset{j=1}{\overset{d}{}}(z+x_i)$$

is the formal factorization of the total $`F`$-Chern class of $`TX`$, then

$$e_𝕋(\nu )=\underset{j=1}{\overset{d}{}}\underset{k0}{}(x_j+_F[k]_F(\widehat{q})),$$
(3.1.2)
where $`\widehat{q}=e_𝕋((1))`$.

### 3.2. The fixed point formula

Applying (2.6.4) to the inclusion

$$X\stackrel{}{}X$$

yields the formula

$$p_F^X(1)=p_F^X\left[\underset{j=1}{\overset{d}{}}\underset{k0}{}\frac{1}{x_j+_F[k]_F(\widehat{q})}\right].$$
(3.2.1)
Equation (3.2.1) requires some interpretive legerdemain. For example, the leading coefficient of

$$\underset{k0}{}(x+_F[k]_F(\widehat{q}))$$

is the objectionable expression $`_{k0}(k\widehat{q})`$; but, as physicists say, this quantity is not directly ‘observable’. For this reason, we consider the the *renormalized* formal product

$$\mathrm{\Theta }_F(x;\widehat{q})\stackrel{\text{def}}{=}x\underset{k0}{}\frac{(x+_F[k](\widehat{q}))}{[k](\widehat{q})}.$$

In section 6 below we provide a natural setting for such formal products.

The fixed point formula suggests that we define the equivariant $`F`$-genus of $`X`$ to be

$$\stackrel{~}{p}_F^X(1)\stackrel{\text{def}}{=}p_F^X\left[\underset{j=1}{\overset{d}{}}\frac{x_j}{\mathrm{\Theta }_F(x_j;\widehat{q})}\right].$$
(3.2.2)
### 3.3. Examples

#### The additive group law

When $`F`$ is the additive group law $`\mathrm{\Theta }_F`$ becomes

$`\mathrm{\Theta }_{𝔾_a}(x,\widehat{q})`$ $`=x{\displaystyle \underset{k0}{}}({\displaystyle \frac{x}{k\widehat{q}}}+1)`$
$`=x{\displaystyle \underset{k>0}{}}(1{\displaystyle \frac{x^2}{k^2\widehat{q}^2}}).`$
This is the Weierstrass product for $`\pi ^1\widehat{q}\mathrm{sin}\widehat{q}^1\pi x`$, so for the theory $`\widehat{H}`$ of (2.6.8), formula (3.2.2) gives

$$\stackrel{~}{p}_F^X(1)=(2\pi i/\widehat{q})^d\left[\underset{j=1}{\overset{d}{}}\frac{x_j/2}{\mathrm{sinh}(x_j/2)}\right][X].$$

This is just the $`\widehat{A}`$–genus of $`X`$, up to a normalization depending on the dimension of $`X`$. In \[Ati85\], Atiyah rewrites the formal product

$$x\underset{k0}{}(x+k\widehat{q})$$

as

$$x\left(\underset{k>0}{}k\right)^2\underset{k>0}{}\left(\frac{x^2}{k^2}\widehat{q}^2\right)$$

and invokes zeta-function renormalization \[Den92\] to replace $`(_{k>0}k)^2`$ with $`2\pi `$, yielding

$$2\pi x\underset{k>0}{}(\frac{x^2}{k^2}\widehat{q}^2);$$

specializing $`\widehat{q}`$ to $`i`$ then gives the classical expression. From our point of view it’s natural to think of the Chern class $`\widehat{q}`$ of $`(1)`$ as the holomorphic one-form $`z^1dz`$ on the complex projective line, and thus to identify $`\widehat{q}`$ with its period $`2\pi i`$ with respect to the equator of $`P_1`$ as in §2.1 of \[Del89\]: the ‘Betti realization’ of the Tate motive $`(n)`$ is $`(2\pi i)^n`$.

#### The multiplicative group law

In the case of the equivariant $`K`$-theory $`\widehat{K}`$ of example (2.6.6), the Euler class of a line bundle $`L`$ is $`e_𝕋(L)=1L`$. Writing $`q`$ for the generator $`(1)`$ of $`𝕋^{}`$, the Euler class of $`(1)`$ is

$$\widehat{q}=e_𝕋((1))=1q.$$

The multiplicative group law (2.6.7) gives

$$e_𝕋(L)+_{𝔾_m}[k](\widehat{q})=1q^kL,$$

and so the formal product $`\mathrm{\Theta }_{𝔾_m}(x,\widehat{q})`$ becomes

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill \mathrm{\Theta }_{𝔾_m}(x,\widehat{q})& =(1L)\underset{k>0}{}\frac{(1Lq^k)(1Lq^k)}{(1q^k)(1q^k)}\hfill \\ & =\left(\underset{k>0}{}L\right)(1L)\underset{k>0}{}\frac{(1Lq^k)(1L^1q^k)}{(1q^k)^2}.\hfill \end{array}$$
(3.3.1)
Aside for the powers of $`L`$, this is essentially the product expansion for the Weierstrass $`\sigma `$ function

$$\sigma (L,q)=(1L)\underset{k>0}{}\frac{(1q^kL)(1q^kL^1)}{(1q^k)^2}[L,L^1][[q]]$$

(see for example \[MT91\] or p. 412 of \[Sil94\]). The infinite factor is objectionable: in the product (3.2.2) defining the hypothetical $`\widehat{K}`$-genus of $`X`$ this factor contributes an infinite power of $`\mathrm{\Lambda }^{\mathrm{top}}TX`$, but if $`c_1X=0`$ (e.g. if $`X`$ is Calabi-Yau) and we are careful with the product, we can replace $`\mathrm{\Theta }_{𝔾_m}`$ with $`\theta `$. The resulting invariant is the Witten genus \[Wit88, AHS98\]. Segal \[Seg88\] replaces the formal product

$$\underset{k0}{}(1q^kL)(1q^kL)$$

which arises in the multiplicative case with

$$(\underset{k>0}{}q^kL)\underset{k>0}{}(1q^kL)(1q^kL^1).$$

He eliminates the infinite product of $`L`$’s by assuming $`\mathrm{\Lambda }^{\mathrm{top}}TX`$ trivial and he uses zeta-function renormalization to replace $`q^{\scriptscriptstyle k}`$ with $`q^{1/12}`$.

## 4. A Riemann-Roch formula for the quotient of a formal group by a free subgroup

The starting point for this paper was the discovery that the formal products (3.2.1) and (3.2.2) which arise in applying the fixed point formula to study the $`F`$-genus of the free loop space are *precisely* the same as those obtained from the Riemann-Roch theorem for the quotient of $`F`$ by a free cyclic subgroup. We explain this in section 4.2, after briefly reviewing finite quotients of formal groups, following \[Lub67, And95\].

### 4.1. The quotient of a formal group by finite subgroup

In this section, we assume that $`F`$ is a formal group law over a complete local domain $`R`$ of characteristic $`0`$ and residue characteristic $`p>0`$. If $`A`$ is a complete local $`R`$-algebra, the group law $`F`$ defines a new abelian group structure on the maximal ideal $`𝐦_A`$ of $`A`$. We will refer to $`(𝐦_A,+_F)`$ as the group $`F(A)`$ of $`A`$-valued points of $`F`$.

If $`H`$ is a *finite* subgroup of $`F(R)`$, then Lubin shows that there is a formal group law $`F/H`$ over $`R`$, determined by the requirement that the power series

$$f_H(x)\stackrel{\text{def}}{=}\underset{hH}{}(x+_Fh)R[[x]]$$
(4.1.1)
is a homomorphism of group laws $`F\stackrel{f_H}{}F/H`$; in other words there is an equation

$$F/H(f_H(x),f_H(y))=f_H\left(F(x,y)\right).$$

The main point is that the power series $`f_H`$ is constructed so the kernel of $`f_H`$ applied to $`F(R)`$ is the subgroup $`H`$.

The coefficient $`f_H^{}(0)=_{h0}h`$ of the linear term of $`f_H(x)`$ is not a unit of $`R`$, and so $`f_H`$ is an isomorphism of formal group laws only over $`R[f_H^{}(0)^1].`$ Over this ring, we might as well replace $`f_H`$ with the strict isomorphism

$$g_H(x)\stackrel{\text{def}}{=}x\underset{h0}{}\frac{x+_Fh}{h}=\frac{f_H(x)}{f_H^{}(0)},$$

and define $`G`$ to be the formal group law

$$G(x,y)=g_H\left(F(g_H^1(x),g_H^1(y))\right)$$

over $`R[f_H^{}(0)^1]`$; then $`F/H`$ and $`G`$ are related by the isomorphism

$$t(x)=f_H^{}(0)x.$$

If $`F`$ is the group law and $`R`$ the ring of coefficients of a parametrized theory, then the Riemann-Roch formula (2.5.2) for a compact complex-oriented manifold $`X`$ is the equation

$$p_G^X(u)=p_F^X\left[u\underset{j=1}{\overset{d}{}}\frac{x_j}{g_H(x_j)}\right]$$
(4.1.2)
over $`R[f_H^{}(0)^1]`$.

### 4.2. The case of a free cyclic subgroup

Now suppose that $`(E,x,F)`$ is a parametrized theory. Let $`R`$ be the even periodic theory defined by the formula

$$R(X)\stackrel{\text{def}}{=}E(B𝕋\times X).$$

The projection $`B𝕋`$ gives a natural transformation $`E(X)R(X)`$. In particular the coordinate $`xE(P)`$ gives a coordinate $`xR(P)`$. The group law $`𝐅`$ is just the group law $`F`$, considered over the $`E`$-algebra $`R`$.

What extra structure is available over $`R`$? A character $`\lambda 𝕋^{}`$ gives a map $`B𝕋P`$, and so an $`R`$-valued point $`u(\lambda )`$ of $`P_E`$. As $`\lambda `$ varies through the group of characters, these points assemble into a homomorphism of groups

$$u:𝕋^{}𝐅(R).$$
(4.2.1)
It is easy to see that this is the inclusion of a subgroup. As usual we write $`\widehat{q}=u(1)`$ for the generator of $`𝕋^{}`$ using the isomorphism $`𝕋^{}`$. We write $`(\widehat{q})`$ for the subgroup $`u(𝕋^{})`$ generated by $`\widehat{q}`$.

The analogue of Lubin’s formula (4.1.1) is

$$f_{(\widehat{q})}(x)=\underset{k}{}(x+_F[k](\widehat{q})),$$
(4.2.2)
and the resulting Riemann-Roch formula

$$p_{𝐅/(\widehat{q})}^X(u)=p_F^X\left[u\underset{j=1}{\overset{d}{}}\underset{0k}{}\frac{1}{x_j+_F[k]_F(\widehat{q})}\right]$$

has right-hand side identical to the formal product (3.2.1) arising from the fixed-point formula.

Of course this does not avoid the problems of applying the fixed-point formula to the free loop space. From this point of view, the trouble is that the quotient object $`𝐅/(\widehat{q})`$ isn’t a formal group; for example the coefficient of $`x`$ is the product (4.2.2) is $`_{k0}(k\widehat{q})`$ This particular problem is fixed by using

$`g_{(\widehat{q})}(x)`$ $`=x{\displaystyle \underset{0k𝕋^{}}{}}{\displaystyle \frac{x+_F[k]_F(\widehat{q})}{[k]_F(\widehat{q})}}`$
$`=\mathrm{\Theta }_F(x,\widehat{q}).`$
The Riemann-Roch formula in this case is

$$p_G^X(u)=p_F^X\left[u\underset{j=1}{\overset{d}{}}\frac{x_j}{\mathrm{\Theta }_F(x_j,\widehat{q})}\right]$$
(4.2.3)
with right-hand-side identical to the renormalized genus (3.2.2).

However, expanding such Weierstrass products as formal power series is still highly nontrivial, as the examples above have shown.

## 5. The structure of $`𝐅/(\widehat{q})`$

Suppose now that $`F`$ is a formal group law over a complete local ring $`E`$ with residue field $`k`$ of characteristic $`p>0`$, and that $`𝐅`$ is its pullback over the power series algebra $`R=E[[\widehat{q}]]`$. The coordinate defines a homomorphism

$$\begin{array}{cc}\hfill u:& 𝐅(R)\hfill \\ \hfill u(n)& =[n]_𝐅(\widehat{q});\hfill \end{array}$$
(5.0.1)
but there is no reason to expect the cokernel of this homomorphism to be a formal group. However, $`𝐅/(\widehat{q})`$ certainly makes sense as a group-valued functor of complete local $`R`$-algebras.

In section 5.1, we show by construction that the torsion subgroup of $`𝐅/(\widehat{q})`$ has a natural approximation by a representable functor. We construct a formal group scheme $`\mathrm{Tate}(F)`$ over $`R`$ together with a natural transformation

$$\mathrm{Tate}(F)_{\mathrm{tors}}𝐅/(\widehat{q})_{\mathrm{tors}}$$

of group-valued functors, which is an isomorphism if $`\widehat{q}`$ has infinite order in $`F`$. The formal group scheme $`\mathrm{Tate}(F)_{\mathrm{tors}}`$ is our model for $`𝐅/(\widehat{q})`$.

Because $`E`$ has finite residue characteristic, we work $`p`$-locally: the formal group scheme $`\mathrm{Tate}(F)[p^{\mathrm{}}]`$ is a $`p`$-divisible group in the sense of \[Tat67, Dem72\]. The $`p`$-torsion subgroup $`G[p^{\mathrm{}}]`$ of a formal group $`G`$ of finite height is a *connected* $`p`$-divisible group, but $`\mathrm{Tate}(F)[p^{\mathrm{}}]`$ is not; its maximal étale quotient is a constant height-one $`p`$-divisible group $`_p/_p`$, and its connected component is just the $`p`$-divisible group $`F[p^{\mathrm{}}]`$ of $`F`$. In other words, there is an extension

$$𝐅[p^{\mathrm{}}]\stackrel{}{}\mathrm{Tate}(F)[p^{\mathrm{}}]\stackrel{}{}_p/_p$$

of $`p`$-divisible groups over $`R`$. We will see in (5.3.1) that it is in fact the *universal* example of such an extension, and it follows that if $`E_n`$ is the ring which classifies lifts of a formal group $`G`$ of height $`n`$ over an algebraically closed field $`k`$ \[LT66\], then $`R=E_n[[\widehat{q}]]`$ represents the functor which classifies lifts of a $`p`$-divisible group of height $`n+1`$ with connected component $`G[p^{\mathrm{}}]`$. Thus $`\widehat{q}`$ may be viewed as a “Serre-Tate parameter” in the sense of \[Kat81\].

### 5.1. A model for the torsion subgroup of $`F/(\widehat{q})`$

One difficulty in representing the quotient $`𝐅/(\widehat{q})`$ over $`E[[\widehat{q}]]`$ is that the subgroup $`(\widehat{q})`$ does not act universally freely on $`𝐅`$: consider, for example, the specialization $`\widehat{q}=0`$. It turns out that, as long as one restricts to the torsion subgroup of $`𝐅/(\widehat{q})`$, this is the only obstruction. By freeing up the action, we are able to construct a representable functor whose torsion subgroup coincides with that of $`F/(\widehat{q})`$ whenever $`\widehat{q}`$ is of infinite order.

Following \[KM85, §8.7\], let $`\mathrm{Tate}(F)`$ be the scheme over $`R=E[[\widehat{q}]]`$ defined by the disjoint union

$$\mathrm{Tate}(F)=\underset{a[0,1)}{}F_R\times \{a\}.$$

If $`A`$ is a complete local $`R`$-algebra, then

$$\mathrm{Tate}(F)(A)=\{\text{pairs }(g,a)\text{ with }gF(A)\text{ and }a[0,1).\}$$

This has a group structure given by

$$(g,a)(h,b)=\{\begin{array}{cc}(g+_Fh,a+b)\hfill & \text{ if }a+b<1\hfill \\ (g+_Fh_F\widehat{q},a+b1)\hfill & \text{ if }a+b1\text{.}\hfill \end{array}$$

By construction, $`\mathrm{Tate}(F)(A)`$ is the quotient in the exact sequence

$$\begin{array}{cccc}0\stackrel{}{}& \stackrel{}{}\hfill & \hfill F(A)\times & \stackrel{}{}\mathrm{Tate}(F)(A)\stackrel{}{}0\hfill \\ & n\hfill & \hfill ([n](\widehat{q}),n)& \\ & & \hfill (x,a)& (x_F[\mathrm{}(a)](\widehat{q}),\mathrm{}(a)),\hfill \end{array}$$
(5.1.1)
where $`\mathrm{}(a)`$ and $`\mathrm{}(a)`$ are the integral and fractional parts of the rational number $`a`$. Equivalently, $`\mathrm{Tate}(F)`$ is the pushout of $`/`$ along the homomorphism $`u`$:

$$\begin{array}{ccccc}& & & & /\\ u& & & & =& & \\ F_R& & \mathrm{Tate}(F)& & /.\end{array}$$

Thus $`\mathrm{Tate}(F)`$ is a kind of homotopy quotient of $`𝐅`$ by $``$.

###### Proposition 5.1.2.

Projection onto the first factor in the construction above defines a natural transformation

$$\mathrm{Tate}(F)_{\mathrm{tors}}(𝐅/(\widehat{q}))_{\mathrm{tors}},$$

which is an isomorphism if $`\widehat{q}`$ is not in $`F(A)_{\mathrm{tors}}`$.

###### Proof.

Let $`A`$ be a complete local $`R`$ algebra, and suppose that $`\widehat{q}`$ is not torsion in $`F(A)`$. We see from (5.1.1) that there is an isomorphism

$$\mathrm{Tate}(F)(A)𝐅/(\widehat{q})(A)\times $$

which is compatible with the projection and clearly induces an isomorphism

$$\mathrm{Tate}(F)_{\mathrm{tors}}(A)(𝐅/(\widehat{q}))_{\mathrm{tors}}(A).$$

###### Remark 5.1.3.

The Proposition holds in any context in which $`\widehat{q}`$ is not torsion. Another source of examples is $`p`$-adic fields. Let $`S=E[\frac{1}{p}]((\widehat{q}))`$. Let $`L`$ be a complete nonarchimedean field with norm $``$. Given a continuous map $`SL`$, the group law $`𝐅`$ defines a group structure on the set $`\{vL|v<1\}`$; and we write $`𝐅(L)`$ for this group. The subgroup generated by $`\widehat{q}`$ is necessarily free, and the argument shows that there is an isomorphism of groups

$$\mathrm{Tate}(F)_{\mathrm{tors}}(L)(𝐅/(\widehat{q}))_{\mathrm{tors}}(L).$$

###### Remark 5.1.4.

If the ring $`E`$ is the ring of coefficients in an even periodic ring theory, then the preceding construction could be carried out with $`R=E(B𝕋)`$ and the homomorphism $`u`$ (4.2.1). The result is an extension

$$P_E\mathrm{Tate}(P_E)(𝕋^{})/𝕋^{}$$

of group schemes over $`R`$. Proposition 5.1.2 becomes an isomorphism

$$\mathrm{Tate}(P_E)_{\mathrm{tors}}((P_E)_R/𝕋^{})_{\mathrm{tors}}.$$

### 5.2. Notation

If $`A`$ is an abelian group, then $`A_T=\mathrm{spec}T^A`$ is the resulting constant formal group scheme over $`T`$. The category of *test rings* is the category of Artin local $`E`$-algebras with residue field $`k`$.

###### Definition 5.2.1.

If $`G`$ is a formal group scheme over a ring $`T`$, and $`A`$ is an abelian group, let $`\mathrm{Hom}[A,G]`$ be the group of homomorphisms

$$A_T\stackrel{}{}G$$

of formal group schemes over $`T`$. Similarly, let $`\mathrm{Ext}[A,G]`$ be the set of isomorphisms classes of extensions of formal group schemes

$$G\stackrel{}{}X\stackrel{}{}A_T.$$

If $`G`$ is a formal group scheme over $`E`$, let $`\underset{¯}{\mathrm{Hom}}[A,G]`$ and $`\underset{¯}{\mathrm{Ext}}[A,G]`$ be the functors from test rings to groups such that

$$\underset{¯}{\mathrm{Hom}}[A,G](T)\stackrel{\text{def}}{=}\mathrm{Hom}[A_T,G_T]$$

and

$$\underset{¯}{\mathrm{Ext}}[A,G](T)\stackrel{\text{def}}{=}\mathrm{Ext}[A_T,G_T].$$

Now if $`G`$ is a formal group over $`E`$, pulling back over $`G`$ defines a natural point

$$\mathrm{\Delta }:G\stackrel{}{}G\times G=G_G$$

and hence a homomorphism

$$u:_G\stackrel{}{}G_G.$$

It is clear that this gives an isomorphism $`G\underset{¯}{\mathrm{Hom}}[,G]`$.

Equivalently, if $`F`$ is a formal group law over $`E`$, then $`R=E[[\widehat{q}]]`$ pro-represents the functor $`\underset{¯}{\mathrm{Hom}}[,F]`$ on the category of test rings, with universal example $`u(n)=[n]_F(\widehat{q})`$ (5.0.1). Similarly, if $`E`$ is the ring of coefficients of an even periodic ring theory, then $`R=E(B𝕋)`$ pro-represents the functor $`\underset{¯}{\mathrm{Hom}}[𝕋^{},P_E]`$, with the homomorphism $`u`$ of (4.2.1) as the universal example.

### 5.3. Universal properties

#### A universal extension

A continuous homomorphism of $`E`$-algebras from $`R`$ to a test algebra $`T`$ defines an extension

$$F_T\stackrel{}{}(\mathrm{Tate}(F))_T\stackrel{}{}(/)_T$$

and hence an extension

$$F[p^{\mathrm{}}]_T\stackrel{}{}(\mathrm{Tate}(F)[p^{\mathrm{}}])_T\stackrel{}{}([\frac{1}{p}]/)_T.$$

of torsion subgroups.

###### Lemma 5.3.1.

The ring $`R`$ pro-represents the functor $`\underset{¯}{\mathrm{Ext}}[_p/_p,F]`$, with $`\mathrm{Tate}(F)`$ as the universal example.

###### Proof.

In the exact sequence

$$\underset{¯}{\mathrm{Hom}}[,F]\stackrel{}{}\underset{¯}{\mathrm{Hom}}[,F]\stackrel{}{}\underset{¯}{\mathrm{Ext}}[/,F]\stackrel{}{}\underset{¯}{\mathrm{Ext}}[,F],$$

the first and last terms are zero because $`p`$ acts nilpotently on $`F`$ and as an isomorphism on $``$. ∎

#### A universal $`p`$-divisible group

Any $`p`$-divisible group $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ over a field $`k`$ is naturally an extension

$$\mathrm{\Gamma }^0\stackrel{}{}\mathrm{\Gamma }\stackrel{}{}\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\mathrm{et}}$$
(5.3.2)
of a connected group by an étale group. If the residue field $`k`$ is algebraically closed, then the sequence (5.3.2) has a canonical splitting \[Dem72, p. 34\]. We will be interested in the case when $`\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\mathrm{et}}`$ has height one, which is to say that it is isomorphic to the constant group scheme $`(_p/_p)_k`$.

Tate showed \[Tat67\] that the functor $`GG[p^{\mathrm{}}]`$ is an equivalence between the categories of formal groups of finite height and connected $`p`$-divisible groups. Let’s fix a one-dimensional formal group $`\mathrm{\Gamma }^0`$ of height $`n`$ over the algebraically closed field $`k`$ and define $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$ to be the product extension

$$\mathrm{\Gamma }^0\mathrm{\Gamma }(𝕋^{}_p/_p)_k.$$

###### Definition 5.3.3.

If $`G`$ is a $`p`$-divisible group over $`k`$, and if $`T`$ is a test ring, then a *lift* of $`G`$ to $`R`$ is a pair $`(F,\delta )`$ consisting of a $`p`$-divisible group $`F`$ over $`R`$ and an isomorphism

$$F_k\underset{}{\overset{𝛿}{}}G$$

of $`p`$-divisible groups over $`k`$. An equivalence of lifts $`(F,\delta )`$ and $`(F^{},\delta ^{})`$ is an isomorphism $`f:FF^{}`$ such that

$$\delta =\delta ^{}f_k.$$

The set of isomorphism classes of lifts of $`G`$ to $`R`$ will be denoted $`\mathrm{Lifts}_G(R)`$. As $`R`$ varies, $`\mathrm{Lifts}_G(R)`$ defines a functor from test rings to sets.

Lubin and Tate construct a formal power series algebra $`E_n`$ over the Witt ring of $`k`$ which pro-represents the functor $`\mathrm{Lifts}_{\mathrm{\Gamma }^0}`$. There is an even periodic cohomology theory with $`E_n`$ as ring of coefficients, and the universal lift $`F`$ of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }^0`$ as formal group.

###### Theorem 5.3.4.

The ring $`R=E_n(B𝕋)`$ pro-represents $`\mathrm{Lifts}_\mathrm{\Gamma }`$, with universal example $`\mathrm{Tate}(F)[p^{\mathrm{}}]`$.

###### Proof.

Let $`T`$ be a test ring. Suppose that $`(H,ϵ)`$ is a lift of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }`$. Then $`(H^0,ϵ^0)`$ is a lift of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }^0`$. According to \[LT66\], there is a unique pair $`(f,a)`$ consisting of a map $`f:E_nT`$ and an isomorphism

$$a:(F_T,ϵ_T^{\mathrm{univ}})(H^0,ϵ^0)$$

of lifts of $`\mathrm{\Gamma }^0`$. On the other hand, $`ϵ_{\mathrm{et}}`$ induces an isomorphism

$$H_{\mathrm{et}}=(H_{\mathrm{et}}(k))_T(\mathrm{\Gamma }_{\mathrm{et}}(k))_T=(𝕋^{}_p/_p)_T.$$

Assembling these gives an extension

$$F_TH(𝕋^{}_p/_p)_T$$

which defines an isomorphism

$$\mathrm{Lifts}_\mathrm{\Gamma }\underset{¯}{\mathrm{Ext}}[F,𝕋^{}_p/_p].$$

$`R`$ pro-represents the right-hand side by Lemma 5.3.1. ∎

###### Remark 5.3.5.

The analogous result for the ordinary multiplicative group $`𝔾_m`$ is described in \[KM85, §8.8\]. Closely related examples occur in \[AMS98\], which are motivated by purely homotopy-theoretic questions about Mahowald’s root invariant.

### 5.4. Examples

If $`LA((q))`$ is a unit, the formal product defining the Weierstrass function of3.3 defines an element $`\sigma (L,q)A((q))`$. The functional equation $`\sigma (qL,q)=(L)^1\sigma (L,q)`$ then implies that the modified product

$$\sigma [L,r]\stackrel{\text{def}}{=}q^{\mathrm{}(r)(\mathrm{}(r)+1)/2}(L)^{\mathrm{}(r)}\sigma (L,q)$$

(where $`\mathrm{}(r)`$ is the integral part of $`r`$) satisfies the identity $`\sigma [qL,r+1]=\sigma [L,r]`$ and can thus be regarded as a function from a localization of $`\mathrm{Tate}(𝔾_m)`$ to the $`((q))`$-line. Since $`\sigma (L,0)=1L`$ we can think of the modified function as a deformation of the usual coordinate at the identity of the multiplicative group.

Similarly, if we regard $`\widehat{q}`$ as an element of the locally compact field $``$, the modified sine function

$$s[x,r]\stackrel{\text{def}}{=}\pi ^1\widehat{q}\mathrm{sin}\widehat{q}^1(\pi xr)$$

satisfies the identity $`s[x+\widehat{q},r+1]=s[x,r]`$ and so can be interpreted as a function from $`\mathrm{Tate}(𝔾_a)(A)`$ to $`A`$. It is also a deformation of the usual coordinate on the additive group, in that $`s[x,0]0`$ as $`\widehat{q}\mathrm{}`$.

In general, however, there seems to be no reason to expect that a coordinate on $`F`$ will extend to a coordinate on $`\mathrm{Tate}(F)`$: our construction yields a group object, but not a group *law*. In the two examples above, we do have (something like) coordinates, which define interesting genera: ordinary cohomology leads to the $`\widehat{A}`$-genus, suitably normalized, if $`r=0`$; but if $`r0/`$, Cauchy’s theorem (applied to a small circle $`𝐂`$ around the origin) yields

$$\frac{1}{2\pi i}_𝐂p_{𝔾_a}^X\left[\underset{j=1}{\overset{j=d}{}}\frac{\widehat{q}^1\pi x_jz}{\mathrm{sin}\widehat{q}^1\pi (x_jz+r\widehat{q})}\right]z^{d1}𝑑z=(\frac{\pi }{\widehat{q}\mathrm{sin}\pi r})^d\chi (X).$$

The $`K`$-theory genus extends similarly, but the resulting function is just $`(1)^dq^{d\mathrm{}(r)(\mathrm{}(r)+1)/2}`$ times the standard elliptic genus.

Any multiplicative cohomology theory $`E`$ can be described as taking values in a category of sheaves over $`\mathrm{spec}E()`$, and the Borel extension of such a theory takes values in sheaves over $`\mathrm{spec}(E()[[\widehat{q}]])`$. The construction in 5.1 of the Tate group as a disjoint union of copies of such affines implies that a theory $`E`$ with formal group $`F`$ has a natural extension to an equivariant theory taking values in a category of sheaves over the group object $`\mathrm{Tate}(F)`$. Similarly, a suitable localization of the Borel extension defines an equivariant theory taking values in sheaves over a suitable localization of $`\mathrm{Tate}(F)`$. This resembles (but is easier than) the constructions of \[GKV, Gro94, RK99\], for here we’re only patching together Borel extensions.\]

## 6. Prospectra and equivariant Thom complexes

Cohen, Jones, and Segal show that pro-objects in the category of spectra are the appropriate context in which to study Thom complexes, and so umkehr maps, for semi-infinite vector bundles. In this section we observe that the ideas of this paper fit very naturally into their framework.

### 6.1. Thom prospectra

If $`V`$ and $`W`$ are complex vector bundles over a space $`X`$, we extend the notation for Thom isomorphisms in 2.4.1 by writing

$$\alpha _W^V\stackrel{\text{def}}{=}\alpha ^V(\alpha ^W)^1:E(X^W)E(X^V).$$

‘Desuspending’ by $`VW`$ then gives a homomorphism

$$\alpha _V^W:E(X^V)E(X^W).$$

The inclusions of a filtered vector bundle

$$𝒱:0=V_0V_1\mathrm{}$$

define maps

$$i_{V_n}:X^{V_{n1}}X^{V_n}$$

of Thom spectra, which desuspend to define a pro-object

$$X^𝒱\stackrel{\text{def}}{=}\{\mathrm{}X^{V_n}\stackrel{i^{V_n}}{}X^{V_{n1}}\mathrm{}\}$$

in the category of spectra. The $`E`$-cohomology of $`X^𝒱`$ is the colimit

$$E(X^𝒱)\stackrel{\text{def}}{=}\underset{n}{colim}E(X^{V_n}),$$

as in the appendix to \[CJS95\].

###### Lemma 6.1.1.

On cohomology, the homomorphism induced by $`i^{V_n}`$ is $`e(V_n/V_{n1})\alpha _{V_{n1}}^{V_n}`$. ∎

###### Example 6.1.2.

For any integer $`n`$, let

$$I_n=\underset{n|k|>0}{}(k);$$

thus $`=colim_nI_n`$ is a filtered $`𝕋`$-vector bundle over a point. More generally, if $`V`$ is a complex vector bundle over a space $`X`$, let

$$V\stackrel{\text{def}}{=}V$$

be the corresponding filtered $`𝕋`$-vector bundle. In this notation the Laurent approximation (3.1.1) to the formal normal bundle of the constant loops in $`X`$ is $`TX`$.

We write $`j_n`$ for the map

$$j_n=i^{I_nV}:X^{I_nV}X^{I_{n1}V}.$$

###### Example 6.1.3.

If $`V_n`$ is the sum of $`n`$ copies of $`(1)`$, considered as a $`𝕋`$-vector bundle over a point, then the Borel construction on $`𝒱`$ is the Thom prospectrum for $`P_{\mathrm{}}^{\mathrm{}}`$ constructed in \[CJS95\].

### 6.2. Equivariant cohomology

Suppose now that $`\widehat{E}_𝕋`$ is a suitable extension of an equivariantly oriented theory $`E_𝕋`$, and let $`X`$ be a finite complex with trivial $`𝕋`$-action, as above. As $`n`$ varies, the Thom isomorphisms

$$\alpha ^{I_nV}:E_𝕋(X)\underset{}{\overset{E_𝕋}{}}(X^{I_nV})$$

are not compatible with the maps $`j_n`$; but this can be cured over $`\widehat{E}_𝕋`$ by a suitable renormalization. By (2.6.3) the class

$$u_n(V)\stackrel{\text{def}}{=}e(VI_n)=\underset{0<|k|n}{}e_𝕋(V(k)).$$

is a unit of $`\widehat{E}_𝕋(X)`$, and the homomorphism

$$\omega _n(V):\widehat{E}_𝕋(X)\stackrel{}{}\widehat{E}_𝕋(X^{I_nV})$$

defined by the formula $`\omega _n(V)=u_n(V)\alpha ^{I_nV}`$ is an isomorphism.

###### Theorem 6.2.1.

The diagram

$$\begin{array}{ccc}\widehat{E}_𝕋(X)& =& \widehat{E}_𝕋(X)\\ \omega _{n1}\left(V\right)& & \omega _n\left(V\right)& & \\ \widehat{E}_𝕋(X^{I_{n1}V})& \stackrel{j_n}{}& \widehat{E}_𝕋(X^{I_nV})\end{array}$$

commutes; in particular, the maps $`\omega _n(V)`$ assemble into a “Thom isomorphism”

$$\omega ^V:\widehat{E}_𝕋(X)\stackrel{}{}\widehat{E}_𝕋(X^V).$$

If $`V`$ and $`W`$ are two complex vector bundles over $`X`$, then (as with the usual Thom isomorphism) we define

$$\omega _W^V:\widehat{E}_𝕋(X^W)\stackrel{}{}\widehat{E}_𝕋(X^V).$$

###### Corollary 6.2.2.

If the vector bundle $`V`$ has rank $`d`$, then the relative isomorphism

$$\omega _d^V:\widehat{E}_𝕋(X^{\underset{¯}{d}})\widehat{E}_𝕋(X^V)$$

is given by the formula

$$\omega _d^V=\left(\underset{j=1}{\overset{d}{}}\underset{k0}{}\frac{x_j+_F[k](\widehat{q})}{[k](\widehat{q})}\right)\alpha _{\underset{¯}{d}}^V,$$

where the $`x_j`$ are the terms in the formal factorization (2.4.2) of the total $`F`$-Chern class of $`V`$.∎

The terms in this product are well-defined at any finite stage, if not in the limit. If $`E_𝕋`$ is $`\widehat{H}`$ or $`\widehat{K}`$ (and $`c_1(V)=0`$), then the infinite products converge and we have the

###### Corollary 6.2.3.

If the vector bundle $`V`$ has rank $`d`$, then the diagram

$$\begin{array}{ccc}\widehat{E}_𝕋(X^{\underset{¯}{d}})& \stackrel{\alpha _{\underset{¯}{d}}^{\underset{¯}{d}}}{}& \widehat{E}_𝕋(X^{\underset{¯}{d}})\\ \widehat{\alpha }_{\underset{¯}{d}}^V& & \omega _{\underset{¯}{d}}^V& & \\ \widehat{E}_𝕋(X^V)& \stackrel{\alpha _V^V}{}& \widehat{E}_𝕋(X^V).\end{array}$$

commutes; where

$$\widehat{\alpha }_{\underset{¯}{d}}^V\stackrel{\text{def}}{=}\frac{\mathrm{\Theta }_F(V)}{c_d(V)}\alpha _{\underset{¯}{d}}^V.$$

More precisely, the assertion is that these examples are naturally topologized, and that at any finite stage the diagram commutes modulo error terms which converge in this topology to zero as $`n`$ grows. ∎

In other words, in a suitable theory with group law $`F`$ the isomorphism $`\omega _{\underset{¯}{d}}^V`$ is very much like a Thom isomorphism $`\widehat{\alpha }_{\underset{¯}{d}}^V`$ for a theory with $`F`$ replaced by its extension $`\mathrm{Tate}(F)`$. From this point of view, the fact that Witten’s formula for the $`\alpha `$-genus of $`X`$ equals the $`\widehat{\alpha }`$-genus of $`X`$ can be interpreted as saying that the inclusion $`j:XX`$ behaves as if there is a cohomological analogue

$$j_{}:\widehat{E}_𝕋(X^{TX})\widehat{E}_𝕋(X)$$

of the Thom collapse map, with an associated umkehr $`j_F=j_{}\omega ^{TX}`$ satisfying the projection formula

$$j_Fj^{}(x)=xe_𝕋(\nu ).$$

Perhaps the intuition underlying the physicists’ interest in elliptic cohomology is that a reasonable equivariant theory applied to the geometrical object $`X^{TX}`$ captures more information than that theory does, when applied directly to $`X`$. Thus the equivariant $`K`$-theory of this formal neighborhood of $`X`$ is the Tate elliptic cohomology of $`X`$. This seems to be related to the recent construction (by Kontsevich and others) of new invariants for singular complex algebraic varieties, by considering them as varieties over the Laurent series field $`((q))`$.

### 6.3. Polarizations

In the preceding account, the role of the rational parameter in the construction of $`\mathrm{Tate}(F)`$ is geometrically unmotivated, because we have ignored some issues connected with the polarization \[CJS95\] of the loopspace.

Such a structure is an equivalence class of splittings of the tangent bundle of $`X`$ into a sum of positive- and negative-frequency components: if $`X`$ is complex-oriented (e.g. symplectic, with a choice of compatible almost-complex structure), then the composition

$$X(BU)=U\times BUU/SO$$

of the map induced by the classifying map for the tangent bundle of $`X`$ with the projection to a classifying space for such splittings defines a canonical polarization.

#### The universal cover of the free loopspace

If $`X`$ is simply-connected, the fundamental group of its free loopspace will be isomorphic to $`H_2(X,)`$, which will be nontrivial in general. There is thus good reason to consider the simply-connected cover $`\stackrel{~}{X}`$ of the loopspace: this can be defined as the space of smooth maps of a two-disk to $`X`$, modulo the relation which identifies two maps if their restrictions to the boundary circle agree, and if furthermore their difference, regarded as an element of the deck-transformation group $`\pi _2(X)=H_2(X,)`$, is null-homotopic. The circle acts on $`\stackrel{~}{X}`$ by rotating loops, as does the fundamental group of $`X`$, and in general the fixed-point set

$$\stackrel{~}{X}^𝕋H_2(X,)\times X$$

will have many components. The choice of a basepoint defines a lift of the canonical polarization to a map

$$\stackrel{~}{X}\times SU/SO$$

which restricts to a locally constant map

$$H_2(X,)\times X\times SU/SO$$

defined by evaluating $`\alpha H_2(X,)`$ on the first Chern class of $`X`$. We think of the polarization as defining the zero-frequency modes in the Fourier decomposition of small loops near a fixed-point component, so that shifting by $`\beta H_2(X,)`$ gives an isomorphism

$$T\stackrel{~}{X}_{x,\alpha }^𝕋T\stackrel{~}{X}_{x,\alpha +\beta }^𝕋(c_1(V),\beta ).$$

#### $`𝕋`$-equivariant Picard groups and orientations

We can regard the cohomology of a space $`Y`$ as a sheaf of rings over the zero-dimensional scheme

$$(\pi _0Y)_{}\stackrel{\text{def}}{=}\mathrm{spec}H^0(Y,).$$

Similarly, the set of equivalence classes of $`𝕋`$-line bundles over a $`𝕋`$-space $`X`$ is naturally isomorphic to $`H^2(Y_𝕋,)`$, which can be interpreted as a sheaf of groups over $`(\pi _0Y)_{}`$, the fiber above component $`Y_i`$ being the constant group scheme

$$\mathrm{coker}[H_𝕋^2(,)H_𝕋^2(Y_i)];$$

when the circle action on $`X`$ is trivial, this is just a complicated way of indexing the summands of $`H^2(Y,)`$.

An orientation on a complex-oriented cohomology theory $`E`$ with formal group $`F`$ defines a natural homomorphism from the Picard group of line bundles over $`Y`$ to the group of $`E(Y)`$-valued points of $`F`$. This suggests that a complex orientation for the Tate extension of an equivariantly complex-oriented theory should be defined as a natural transformation from the Picard group of $`𝕋`$-line bundles over $`X`$ to $`\mathrm{Tate}(F)(E(Y))`$, both regarded as schemes over $`(\pi _0Y)_{}`$; by restriction such a transformation defines a map

$$\pi _0Y/.$$

In other words, such a generalized orientation assigns to a component of $`Y`$ and a $`𝕋`$-line bundle over it, a characteristic class in the cohomology of the component, together with an $`r`$ depending on the component, which shifts by an integer when the bundle is twisted by a character.

When $`Y`$ is $`\stackrel{~}{X}^𝕋`$, the polarization defines a very natural map of this sort, which sends $`\alpha `$ to $`c_1(V),\alpha `$. In more general situations, e.g. in Givental’s work \[Vo99\] on the quantum cohomology of a symplectic manifold $`(X,\omega )`$ the evaluation map $`\alpha \omega ,\alpha `$ plays a similar role; but in this generalization, $`\omega `$ no longer needs to be an integral class.

## 7. Concluding remarks

The parts of this paper which deal principally with the fixed point formula on the free loop space are formulated in terms of a general equivariant cohomology theory $`E_𝕋`$, but those which relate to the quotient $`𝐅/(\widehat{q})`$ use only the group law $`𝐅`$ of the theory $`R(X)=E(B𝕋\times X)`$, and so essentially use the Borel theory $`E_{\mathrm{Borel}}`$. We do this because in that case we can be more specific about our constructions. In good cases one can hope to do better.

Specifically, suppose that the multiplication homomorphism $`𝕋\times 𝕋𝕋`$ induces a map

$$E_𝕋E_{𝕋\times 𝕋}$$

and that one has an isomorphism $`E_{𝕋\times 𝕋}()E_𝕋()\underset{𝐸}{}E_𝕋()`$. The upshot is a group scheme $`G=\mathrm{spec}E_𝕋()`$ over $`E`$, such that the formal group $`P_E`$ associated to $`E(P)`$ is the completion of $`G`$. Indeed \[GKV, Gro94\], one expects in general that there is an abelian group scheme $`G`$ which is the more fundamental object in $`𝕋`$-equivariant $`E`$-theory, with $`E_𝕋()`$ as structure sheaf.

In any case, as remarked in §5.2, over $`G_G=G\times G`$ there is a natural map

$$_GG_G,$$
(7.0.1)
and the natural map $`G_G\mathrm{Hom}[,G]`$ is an isomorphism. One could consider the group $`\mathrm{Tate}(G)`$ over $`G`$, fitting into a short exact sequence

$$G_G\stackrel{}{}\mathrm{Tate}(G)\stackrel{}{}/Z.$$

The group $`\mathrm{Tate}(P_E)`$ considered in the main text would then arise from $`\mathrm{Tate}(G)`$ by completing in both copies of $`G`$.

This is the situation in $`K`$-theory. Over the ring $`K_𝕋=[q,q^1]`$ one has a homomorphism

$`u:`$ $`𝔾_{m}^{}{}_{K_𝕋}{}^{}`$
$`n`$ $`q^n`$
and this gives rise to a group $`\mathrm{Tate}(𝔾_m)`$ over $`K_𝕋`$. Over the completion $`K_𝕋K(B𝕋)=[[\widehat{q}]]`$ one recovers the group $`\mathrm{Tate}(𝔾_m)`$ considered in the main text. On the other hand, the group $`\mathrm{Tate}(𝔾_m)_{\mathrm{tors}}`$ becomes isomorphic to the torsion subgroup of the classical Tate curve $`\mathrm{Tate}(q)`$ already over the suitable localization $`\widehat{K}=((q))`$ of (2.6.6), where $`u`$ is the inclusion of a sub-groupscheme. See \[KM85, §8.8\] for details.

Interestingly enough, in the case of $`K`$-theory this *is* the solution to the problem of the infinite products. We have purposefully written the equivariant Euler class of $`L(k)`$ as $`e(L)+_F[k]_F(\widehat{q})`$, as in any finite situation the formula

$$1L_1L_2=(1L_1)+(1L_2)(1L_1)(1L_2)$$

makes it possible to calculate the Euler class of a vector bundle using the formal multiplicative group, i.e. the right-hand side. However, in order to calculate the infinite product $`\mathrm{\Theta }_{𝔾_m}(x,\widehat{q})`$ (3.3.1), one is *forced* to use the left-hand side. Thus from this point of view the renormalization is handled by knowing about the global multiplicative group, instead of merely its formal completion.

It seems reasonable to hope that the rich theory of $`𝕋`$-equivariant ring spectra will provide additional examples of such $`E_𝕋`$. If $`E_𝕋`$ is a complex-oriented $`𝕋`$-equivariant ring spectrum, then the cohomology $`E_𝕋()`$ (where $``$ is the space of lines in the ambient $`𝕋`$-universe) carries the structure of a $`𝕋`$-equivariant formal group law (in the sense of \[CGK\]). This is, among other things, a formal group law $`F`$ and a homomorphism

$$v:𝕋^{}F(E_𝕋()).$$

In the situation we are considering, $`F`$ is the completion of the group $`G=\mathrm{spec}E_𝕋`$, and the homomorphism $`v`$ is obtained from the homomorphism $`u`$ by completion.


format: text

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# Norms of products and factors polynomials

## 1. Introduction

Let $`E`$ be a compact set in the complex plane $``$. Define the uniform (sup) norm on $`E`$ as follows:

$$f_E=\underset{zE}{sup}|f(z)|.$$

Consider algebraic polynomials $`\{p_k(z)\}_{k=1}^m`$ and their product

$$p(z):=\underset{k=1}{\overset{m}{}}p_k(z).$$

We are interested here in polynomial inequalities of the form

(1.1)
$$\underset{k=1}{\overset{m}{}}p_k_ECp_E.$$

One of the first results in this direction is due to Kneser , for $`E=[1,1]`$ and $`m=2`$ (see also Aumann ), who proved that

(1.2)
$$p_1_{[1,1]}p_2_{[1,1]}K_{\mathrm{},n}p_1p_2_{[1,1]},$$

where

(1.3)
$$K_{\mathrm{},n}:=2^{n1}\underset{k=1}{\overset{\mathrm{}}{}}\left(1+\mathrm{cos}\frac{2k1}{2n}\pi \right)\underset{k=1}{\overset{n\mathrm{}}{}}\left(1+\mathrm{cos}\frac{2k1}{2n}\pi \right),$$

$`\mathrm{deg}p_1=\mathrm{}`$ and $`\mathrm{deg}(p_1p_2)=n`$. Note that (1.2) becomes an equality for the Chebyshev polynomial $`t(z)=\mathrm{cos}n\mathrm{arccos}z=p_1(z)p_2(z)`$, with a proper choice of the factors $`p_1(z)`$ and $`p_2(z)`$. P. B. Borwein  gave a new proof of (1.2)-(1.3) and generalized this to the multifactor inequality

(1.4)
$$\underset{k=1}{\overset{m}{}}p_k_{[1,1]}2^{n1}\underset{k=1}{\overset{[\frac{n}{2}]}{}}\left(1+\mathrm{cos}\frac{2k1}{2n}\pi \right)^2p_{[1,1]}.$$

He has also showed that

(1.5)
$$2^{n1}\underset{k=1}{\overset{[\frac{n}{2}]}{}}\left(1+\mathrm{cos}\frac{2k1}{2n}\pi \right)^2(3.20991\mathrm{})^n,\text{ as }n\mathrm{}.$$

Another case of the inequality (1.1) was considered by Gel’fond \[14, p. 135\] in connection with the theory of transcendental numbers, for $`E=\overline{D}`$, where $`D:=\{w:|w|<1\}`$ is the unit disk:

(1.6)
$$\underset{k=1}{\overset{m}{}}p_k_{\overline{D}}e^np_{\overline{D}}.$$

The latter inequality was improved by Mahler , who replaced $`e`$ by $`2`$:

(1.7)
$$\underset{k=1}{\overset{m}{}}p_k_{\overline{D}}2^np_{\overline{D}}.$$

It is easy to see that the base $`2`$ cannot be decreased, if $`m=n`$ and $`n\mathrm{}`$. However, (1.7) has recently been further improved in two directions. D. W. Boyd  showed that, by taking in account the number of factors $`m`$ in (1.7), one has

(1.8)
$$\underset{k=1}{\overset{m}{}}p_k_{\overline{D}}(C_m)^np_{\overline{D}},$$

where

(1.9)
$$C_m:=\mathrm{exp}\left(\frac{m}{\pi }_0^{\pi /m}\mathrm{log}\left(2\mathrm{cos}\frac{t}{2}\right)𝑑t\right)$$

is asymptotically best possible for each fixed $`m`$, as $`n\mathrm{}`$. Kroó and Pritsker  showed that, for any $`mn,`$

(1.10)
$$\underset{k=1}{\overset{m}{}}p_k_{\overline{D}}2^{n1}p_{\overline{D}},$$

where equality holds in (1.10) for each $`n`$, with $`m=n`$ and $`p(z)=z^n1`$. We give an asymptotically sharp inequality for the norm of products of polynomials on arbitrary compact set in Section 2, which generalizes the results of Mahler, Kneser and Borwein. This inequality and other connected to it results were originally obtained in .

A closely related problem is to estimate the norm of a single factor via the norm of the whole polynomial. Clearly, we have to normalize the problem by assuming that $`p(z)`$ is a monic polynomial of degree $`n`$, with a monic factor $`q(z)`$, so that

$$p(z)=q(z)r(z).$$

In the case of the unit disk, Boyd  proved an asymptotically sharp inequality

(1.11)
$$q_{\overline{D}}\beta ^np_{\overline{D}},$$

with

(1.12)
$$\beta :=\mathrm{exp}\left(\frac{1}{\pi }_0^{2\pi /3}\mathrm{log}\left(2\mathrm{cos}\frac{t}{2}\right)𝑑t\right).$$

This inequality improved upon a series of results by Mignotte , Granville  and Glesser .

Further progress was made by Borwein in , for the segment $`[a,a],a>0`$ (see Theorems 2 and 5 there or see Section 5.3 in ). In particular, Borwein proved that if $`\mathrm{deg}q=m`$ then

(1.13)
$$|q(a)|p_{[a,a]}a^{mn}2^{n1}\underset{k=1}{\overset{m}{}}\left(1+\mathrm{cos}\frac{2k1}{2n}\pi \right),$$

where the bound is attained for a monic Chebyshev polynomial of degree $`n`$ on $`[a,a]`$ and a factor $`q`$. He also showed that, for $`E=[2,2]`$, the constant in the above inequality satisfies

$`\underset{n\mathrm{}}{lim\; sup}\left(2^{m1}{\displaystyle \underset{k=1}{\overset{m}{}}}\left(1+\mathrm{cos}{\displaystyle \frac{2k1}{2n}}\pi \right)\right)^{1/n}`$
$``$ $`\underset{n\mathrm{}}{lim}\left(2^{[2n/3]1}{\displaystyle \underset{k=1}{\overset{[2n/3]}{}}}\left(1+\mathrm{cos}{\displaystyle \frac{2k1}{2n}}\pi \right)\right)^{1/n}`$
$`=`$ $`\mathrm{exp}\left({\displaystyle _0^{2/3}}\mathrm{log}\left(2+2\mathrm{cos}\pi x\right)𝑑x\right)=1.9081\mathrm{},`$
which hints that

(1.14)
$$C_{[2,2]}=\mathrm{exp}\left(_0^{2/3}\mathrm{log}\left(2+2\mathrm{cos}\pi x\right)𝑑x\right)=1.9081\mathrm{}.$$

In Section 3, we find an asymptotically sharp inequality of this type for a rather arbitrary compact set $`E`$. The general result is then applied to the cases of a disk and a line segment, so that we recover (1.11)-(1.12) and confirm (1.14). Also see  for these results.

Considered problems have applications in transcendence theory (see ) and in designing algorithms for factoring polynomials (see  and ). We confine ourselves to studying the sup norms for polynomials of one variable only. A survey of the results involving other norms (e.g., Bombieri norms) can be found in . These inequalities are also of considerable interest for polynomials in several variables, where very little is known about sharp constants (cf. , ,  and ).

## 2. Products of Polynomials in Uniform Norms

Inequalities (1.2)-(1.10) clearly indicate that the constant $`C`$ in (1.1) grows exponentially fast with $`n`$, with the base for the exponential depending on the set $`E`$. A natural general problem arising here is to find the smallest constant $`M_E>0,`$ such that

(2.1)
$$\underset{k=1}{\overset{m}{}}p_k_EM_E^np_E$$

for arbitrary algebraic polynomials $`\{p_k(z)\}_{k=1}^m`$ with complex coefficients, where $`p(z)=_{k=1}^mp_k(z)`$ and $`n=\mathrm{deg}p`$. The solution of this problem is based on the logarithmic potential theory (cf.  and ). Let $`\mathrm{cap}(E)`$ be the logarithmic capacity of a compact set $`E`$. For $`E`$ with $`\mathrm{cap}(E)>0`$, denote the equilibrium measure of $`E`$ by $`\mu _E`$. We remark that $`\mu _E`$ is a positive unit Borel measure supported on $`E`$ (see \[27, p. 55\]). Define

(2.2)
$$d_E(z):=\underset{tE}{\mathrm{max}}|zt|,z,$$

which is clearly a positive and continuous function on $``$.

###### Theorem 2.1.

Let $`E`$ be a compact set, $`\mathrm{cap}(E)>0`$. Then the best constant $`M_E`$ in (2.1) is given by

(2.3)
$$M_E=\frac{\mathrm{exp}\left(\mathrm{log}d_E(z)𝑑\mu _E(z)\right)}{\mathrm{cap}(E)}.$$

One can see from (2.1) or (2.3) that $`M_E`$ is invariant with respect to the rigid motions and dilations of the set $`E`$ in the plane.

Note that the restriction $`\mathrm{cap}(E)>0`$ excludes only very thin sets from our consideration (see \[27, pp. 63-66\]), e.g., finite sets in the plane. On the other hand, Theorem 2.1 is applicable to any compact set with a connected component consisting of more than one point (cf. \[27, p. 56\]). In particular, if $`E`$ is a continuum, i.e., a connected set, then we obtain a simple universal bound for $`M_E`$.

###### Corollary 2.2.

Let $`E`$ be a bounded continuum (not a single point). Then we have

(2.4)
$$M_E\frac{\mathrm{diam}(E)}{\mathrm{cap}(E)}4,$$

where $`\mathrm{diam}(E)`$ is the Euclidean diameter of the set $`E`$.

For the unit disk $`D=\{w:|w|<1\}`$, we have that $`\mathrm{cap}(\overline{D})=1`$ \[27, p. 84\] and that

(2.5)
$$\mu _{\overline{D}}=\frac{1}{2\pi }d\theta ,$$

where $`d\theta `$ is the arclength on $`D`$. Thus Theorem 2.1 yields

(2.6)
$$M_{\overline{D}}=\mathrm{exp}\left(\frac{1}{2\pi }_0^{2\pi }\mathrm{log}d_{\overline{D}}(e^{i\theta })𝑑\theta \right)=\mathrm{exp}\left(\frac{1}{2\pi }_0^{2\pi }\mathrm{log}2d\theta \right)=2,$$

so that we immediately obtain Mahler’s inequality (1.7).

If $`E=[1,1]`$ then $`\mathrm{cap}([1,1])=1/2`$ and

(2.7)
$$\mu _{[1,1]}=\frac{dx}{\pi \sqrt{1x^2}},x[1,1],$$

which is the Chebyshev (or arcsin) distribution (see \[27, p. 84\]). Using Theorem 2.1, we obtain

(2.8) $`M_{[1,1]}`$ $`=`$ $`2\mathrm{exp}\left({\displaystyle \frac{1}{\pi }}{\displaystyle _1^1}{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{log}d_{[1,1]}(x)}{\sqrt{1x^2}}}𝑑x\right)=2\mathrm{exp}\left({\displaystyle \frac{2}{\pi }}{\displaystyle _0^1}{\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{log}(1+x)}{\sqrt{1x^2}}}𝑑x\right)`$
$`=`$ $`2\mathrm{exp}\left({\displaystyle \frac{2}{\pi }}{\displaystyle _0^{\pi /2}}\mathrm{log}(1+\mathrm{sin}t)𝑑t\right)3.2099123.`$
This gives the asymptotic version of Borwein’s inequality (1.4)-(1.5).

It appears that the upper bound 4 in Corollary 2.2 is not the best possible. One might conjecture that the sharp universal bounds are as follows

(2.9)
$$2=M_{\overline{D}}M_EM_{[1,1]}3.2099123,$$

for any bounded non-degenerate continuum $`E`$.

It is of interest to determine the nature of the extremal polynomials for (2.1). We characterized the asymptotically extremal polynomials for (2.1), i.e., those polynomials, for which (2.1) becomes an asymptotic equality as $`n\mathrm{}`$, by their asymptotic zero distributions. The precise statements of these results can be found in Theorems 2.3-2.5 and Corollaries 3.1-3.3 of .

## 3. Uniform Norm of a Single Factor

In the same way as in Section 2, we naturally arrive at the problem to find the best (the smallest) constant $`C_E`$, such that

(3.1)
$$q_EC_E^np_E,\mathrm{deg}p=n,$$

is valid for any monic polynomial $`p(z)`$ and any monic factor $`q(z)`$. Our solution of this problem is based on similar ideas, involving the logarithmic capacity and the equilibrium measure of $`E`$.

###### Theorem 3.1.

Let $`E`$ be a compact set, $`\mathrm{cap}(E)>0`$. Then the best constant $`C_E`$ in (3.1) is given by

(3.2)
$$C_E=\frac{\underset{uE}{\mathrm{max}}\mathrm{exp}\left({\displaystyle _{|zu|1}}\mathrm{log}|zu|d\mu _E(z)\right)}{\mathrm{cap}(E)}.$$

Furthermore, if $`E`$ is regular then

(3.3)
$$C_E=\underset{uE}{\mathrm{max}}\mathrm{exp}\left(_{|zu|1}\mathrm{log}|zu|d\mu _E(z)\right).$$

The above notion of regularity is to be understood in the sense of exterior Dirichlet problem (cf. \[27, p. 7\]).

One can readily see from (3.1) or (3.2) that the best constant $`C_E`$ is invariant under the rigid motions of the set $`E`$ in the plane. Therefore we consider applications of Theorem 3.1 to the family of disks $`D_r:=\{z:|z|<r\}`$, which are centered at the origin, and to the family of segments $`[a,a],a>0.`$

###### Corollary 3.2.

Let $`D_r`$ be a disk of radius $`r`$. Then the best constant $`C_{\overline{D}_r}`$, for $`E=\overline{D_r}`$, is given by

(3.4)
$$C_{\overline{D}_r}=\{\begin{array}{c}\frac{1}{r},0<r1/2,\hfill \\ \\ \frac{1}{r}\mathrm{exp}\left(\frac{1}{\pi }_0^{\pi 2\mathrm{arcsin}\frac{1}{2r}}\mathrm{log}\left(2r\mathrm{cos}\frac{x}{2}\right)𝑑x\right),r>1/2.\hfill \end{array}$$

Note that (1.11)-(1.12) immediately follow from (3.4) for $`r=1.`$ The graph of $`C_{\overline{D}_r}`$ is in Figure 1.

###### Corollary 3.3.

If $`E=[a,a],a>0`$, then

(3.5)
$$C_{[a,a]}=\{\begin{array}{c}\frac{2}{a},0<a1/2,\hfill \\ \\ \frac{2}{a}\mathrm{exp}\left(_{1a}^a\frac{\mathrm{log}(t+a)}{\pi \sqrt{a^2t^2}}𝑑t\right),a>1/2.\hfill \end{array}$$

Observe that (3.5), with $`a=2`$, implies (1.14) by the change of variable $`t=2\mathrm{cos}\pi x.`$ We include the graph of $`C_{[a,a]}`$ in Figure 2.

We now state two general consequences of Theorem 3.1. They explain some interesting features of $`C_E`$, which the reader may have noticed in Corollaries 3.2 and 3.3. Recall that the Euclidean diameter of $`E`$ is defined by

$$\mathrm{diam}(E):=\underset{z,\zeta E}{\mathrm{max}}|z\zeta |.$$

###### Corollary 3.4.

Suppose that $`\mathrm{cap}(E)>0.`$ If $`\mathrm{diam}(E)1`$ then

(3.6)
$$C_E=\frac{1}{\mathrm{cap}(E)}.$$

It is well known that cap$`(D_r)=r`$ and cap$`([a,a])=a/2`$ (see \[26, p. 135\]), which clarifies the first lines of (3.4) and (3.5) by (3.6).

The next Corollary shows how the constant $`C_E`$ behaves under dilations of the set $`E`$. Let $`\alpha E`$ be the dilation of $`E`$ with a factor $`\alpha >0.`$

###### Corollary 3.5.

If $`E`$ is regular then

(3.7)
$$\underset{\alpha +\mathrm{}}{lim}C_{\alpha E}=1.$$

Thus Figures 1 and 2 clearly illustrate (3.7).

We conclude this section with two remarks.

###### Remark 3.6.

One can deduce inequalities of the type (3.1), for various $`L_p`$ norms, from Theorem 3.1, by using relations between $`L_p`$ and $`L_{\mathrm{}}`$ norms of polynomials on $`E`$ (see, e.g., ).

###### Remark 3.7.

Note that the inequalities considered in this section hold for any monic factor $`q(z)`$ of a monic polynomial $`p(z)`$, i.e., they hold for the largest factor in the terminology of . However, if we are granted the existence of the factoring $`p(z)=q(z)r(z)`$, then the norm of the smallest factor (cf. ) can be estimated from (2.1) as follows:

(3.8)
$$r_EM_E^{n/2}p_E^{1/2},\mathrm{deg}p=n,$$

which may be better than (3.1) in some cases.

## 4. Proofs

The following lemma is a generalization of Lemma 2 in . We refer to  for its proof.

###### Lemma 4.1.

Let $`E`$ be a compact set (not a single point) and let

$$d_E(z):=\underset{tE}{\mathrm{max}}|zt|,z.$$

Then $`\mathrm{log}d_E(z)`$ is a subharmonic function in $``$ and

(4.1)
$$\mathrm{log}d_E(z)=\mathrm{log}|zt|d\sigma _E(t),z,$$

where $`\sigma _E`$ is a positive unit Borel measure in $``$ with unbounded support, i.e.,

(4.2)
$$\sigma _E()=1\text{ and }\mathrm{}\mathrm{supp}\sigma _E.$$

###### Lemma 4.2.

(Bernstein-Walsh) Let $`E`$ be a compact set, $`\mathrm{cap}(E)>0`$, with the unbounded component of $`\overline{}E`$ denoted by $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$. Then, for any polynomial $`p(z)`$ of degree $`n`$, we have

(4.3)
$$|p(z)|p_Ee^{ng_\mathrm{\Omega }(z,\mathrm{})},z,$$

where $`g_\mathrm{\Omega }(z,\mathrm{})`$ is the Green function of $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$, with pole at $`\mathrm{}`$, satisfying

(4.4)
$$g_\mathrm{\Omega }(z,\mathrm{})=\mathrm{log}\frac{1}{\mathrm{cap}(E)}+\mathrm{log}|zt|d\mu _E(t),z.$$

This is a well known result about the upper bound (4.3) for the growth of $`p(z)`$ off the set $`E`$ (see \[26, p. 156\], for example). The representation (4.4) for $`g_\mathrm{\Omega }(z,\mathrm{})`$ is also classical (cf. Theorem III.37 in \[27, p. 82\]).

Consider the $`n`$-th Fekete points $`\{a_{k,n}\}_{k=1}^n`$ for a compact set $`E`$ (cf. \[26, p. 152\]). Let

(4.5)
$$F_n(z):=\underset{k=1}{\overset{n}{}}(za_{k,n})$$

be the Fekete polynomial of degree $`n`$, and define the normalized counting measures in Fekete points by

(4.6)
$$\tau _n:=\frac{1}{n}\underset{k=1}{\overset{n}{}}\delta _{a_{k,n}},n,$$

where $`\delta _{a_{k,n}}`$ is a unit point-mass at $`a_{k,n}.`$

###### Lemma 4.3.

For a compact set $`E`$, $`\mathrm{cap}(E)>0`$, we have that

(4.7)
$$\underset{n\mathrm{}}{lim}F_n_E^{1/n}=\mathrm{cap}(E)$$

and

(4.8)
$$\tau _n\stackrel{}{}\mu _E,\text{ as }n\mathrm{}.$$

Equation (4.7) is standard (see Theorems 5.5.4 and 5.5.2 in \[26, pp. 153-155\]), while (4.8) follows from (4.7) (see Ex. 5 on page 159 of ).

###### Proof of Theorem 2.1.

First we show that the best constant $`M_E`$ in (2.1) is at most the right hand side of (2.3). Clearly, it is sufficient to prove an inequality of the type (2.1) for monic polynomials only. Thus, we assume that $`p_k(z),1km`$, are all monic, so that $`p(z)`$ is monic too. Let $`\{z_{k,n}\}_{k=1}^n`$ be the zeros of $`p(z)`$ and let $`\nu _n`$ be the normalized zero counting measure for $`p(z)`$. Then, we use (4.1), Fubini’s theorem and Lemma 4.2 in the following estimate:

$`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{n}}\mathrm{log}{\displaystyle \frac{_{k=1}^mp_k_E}{p_E}}`$
$``$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{n}}\mathrm{log}{\displaystyle \frac{_{k=1}^nzz_{k,n}_E}{p_E}}=\mathrm{log}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{p_E^{1/n}}}+{\displaystyle \mathrm{log}d_E(z)𝑑\nu _n(z)}`$
$`=`$ $`\mathrm{log}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{p_E^{1/n}}}+{\displaystyle \mathrm{log}|zt|d\nu _n(z)𝑑\sigma _E(t)}={\displaystyle \mathrm{log}\frac{|p(t)|^{1/n}}{p_E^{1/n}}d\sigma _E(t)}`$
$``$ $`{\displaystyle g_\mathrm{\Omega }(t,\mathrm{})𝑑\sigma _E(t)}=\mathrm{log}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\mathrm{cap}(E)}}+{\displaystyle \mathrm{log}|zt|d\sigma _E(t)𝑑\mu _E(z)}`$
$`=`$ $`\mathrm{log}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\mathrm{cap}(E)}}+{\displaystyle \mathrm{log}d_E(z)𝑑\mu _E(z)}.`$
This gives that

(4.9)
$$M_E\frac{\mathrm{exp}(\mathrm{log}d_E(z)𝑑\mu _E(z))}{\mathrm{cap}(E)}.$$

To show that equality holds in (4.9), we consider the $`n`$-th Fekete points $`\{a_{k,n}\}_{k=1}^n`$ for $`E`$ and the Fekete polynomials $`F_n(z),n.`$ Observe that

$$za_{k,n}_E=d_E(a_{k,n}),1kn,n.$$

Since $`\mathrm{cap}(E)0`$, the set $`E`$ consists of more than one point and, therefore, $`d_E(z)`$ is a strictly positive continuous function in $``$. Consequently, $`\mathrm{log}d_E(z)`$ is also continuous in $``$, and we obtain by (4.8) of Lemma 4.3 that

$`\underset{n\mathrm{}}{lim}\left({\displaystyle \underset{k=1}{\overset{n}{}}}za_{k,n}_E\right)^{1/n}=\underset{n\mathrm{}}{lim}\mathrm{exp}\left({\displaystyle \frac{1}{n}}{\displaystyle \underset{k=1}{\overset{n}{}}}\mathrm{log}d_E(a_{k,n})\right)`$
$`=`$ $`\mathrm{exp}\left(\underset{n\mathrm{}}{lim}{\displaystyle \mathrm{log}d_E(z)𝑑\tau _n(z)}\right)=\mathrm{exp}\left({\displaystyle \mathrm{log}d_E(z)𝑑\mu _E(z)}\right).`$
Finally, we have from the above and (4.7) that

$$M_E\underset{n\mathrm{}}{lim}\frac{(_{k=1}^nza_{k,n}_E)^{1/n}}{F_n_E^{1/n}}=\frac{\mathrm{exp}(\mathrm{log}d_E(z)𝑑\mu _E(z))}{\mathrm{cap}(E)}.$$

###### Proof of Corollary 2.2.

Since $`E`$ is a bounded continuum, we obtain from Theorem 5.3.2(a) of \[26, p. 138\] that

$$\mathrm{cap}(E)\frac{\mathrm{diam}(E)}{4}.$$

Thus, the Corollary follows by combining this estimate with the obvious inequality

$$d_E(z)\mathrm{diam}(E),zE,$$

and by using that $`\mu _E()=1,\mathrm{supp}\mu _EE.`$

###### Proof of Theorem 3.1.

The proof of this result is quite similar to that of Theorem 2.1 (also see ). For $`u`$, consider a function

$$\rho _u(z):=\mathrm{max}(|zu|,1),z.$$

One can immediately see that $`\mathrm{log}\rho _u(z)`$ is a subharmonic function in $`z`$, which has the following integral representation (see \[26, p. 29\]):

(4.11)
$$\mathrm{log}\rho _u(z)=\mathrm{log}|zt|d\lambda _u(t),z,$$

where $`d\lambda _u(u+e^{i\theta })=d\theta /(2\pi )`$ is the normalized angular measure on $`|tu|=1`$.

Let $`uE`$ be such that

$$q_E=|q(u)|.$$

If $`z_k,k=1,\mathrm{},n,`$ are the zeros of $`p(z)`$, arranged so that the first $`m`$ zeros belong to $`q(z)`$, then

(4.12) $`\mathrm{log}q_E`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{k=1}{\overset{m}{}}}\mathrm{log}|uz_k|{\displaystyle \underset{k=1}{\overset{m}{}}}\mathrm{log}\rho _u(z_k){\displaystyle \underset{k=1}{\overset{n}{}}}\mathrm{log}\rho _u(z_k)`$
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \underset{k=1}{\overset{n}{}}}{\displaystyle \mathrm{log}|z_kt|d\lambda _u(t)}={\displaystyle \mathrm{log}|p(t)|d\lambda _u(t)},`$
by (4.11).

It follows from (4.11)-(4.12), Lemma 4.2 and Fubini’s theorem that

$`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{n}}\mathrm{log}{\displaystyle \frac{q_E}{p_E}}`$ $``$ $`{\displaystyle \mathrm{log}\frac{|p(t)|^{1/n}}{p_E^{1/n}}d\lambda _u(t)}{\displaystyle g_\mathrm{\Omega }(t,\mathrm{})𝑑\lambda _u(t)}`$
$`=`$ $`\mathrm{log}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\mathrm{cap}(E)}}+{\displaystyle \mathrm{log}|zt|d\lambda _u(t)𝑑\mu _E(z)}`$
$`=`$ $`\mathrm{log}{\displaystyle \frac{1}{\mathrm{cap}(E)}}+{\displaystyle \mathrm{log}\rho _u(z)𝑑\mu _E(z)}.`$
Using the definition of $`\rho _u(z)`$, we obtain from the above estimate that

$`q_E`$ $``$ $`\left({\displaystyle \frac{\underset{uE}{\mathrm{max}}\mathrm{exp}\left({\displaystyle \mathrm{log}\rho _u(z)𝑑\mu _E(z)}\right)}{\mathrm{cap}(E)}}\right)^np_E`$
$`=`$ $`\left({\displaystyle \frac{\underset{uE}{\mathrm{max}}\mathrm{exp}\left({\displaystyle _{|zu|1}}\mathrm{log}|zu|d\mu _E(z)\right)}{\mathrm{cap}(E)}}\right)^np_E.`$
Hence

(4.13)
$$C_E\frac{\underset{uE}{\mathrm{max}}\mathrm{exp}\left({\displaystyle _{|zu|1}}\mathrm{log}|zu|d\mu _E(z)\right)}{\mathrm{cap}(E)}.$$

In order to prove the inequality opposite to (4.13), we consider the $`n`$-th Fekete points $`\{a_{k,n}\}_{k=1}^n`$ for the set $`E`$ and the Fekete polynomials $`F_n(z),n`$. Let $`uE`$ be a point, where the maximum of the right hand side of (4.13) is attained. Define the factor $`q_n(z)`$ for $`F_n(z)`$, with zeros being the $`n`$-th Fekete points satisfying $`|a_{k,n}u|1`$. Then we have by (4.8) that

$`\underset{n\mathrm{}}{lim}q_n_E^{1/n}`$ $``$ $`\underset{n\mathrm{}}{lim}|q_n(u)|^{1/n}=\underset{n\mathrm{}}{lim}\mathrm{exp}\left({\displaystyle \frac{1}{n}}{\displaystyle \underset{|a_{k,n}u|1}{}}\mathrm{log}|ua_{k,n}|\right)`$
$`=`$ $`\mathrm{exp}\left(\underset{n\mathrm{}}{lim}{\displaystyle _{|zu|1}}\mathrm{log}|uz|d\tau _n(z)\right)`$
$`=`$ $`\mathrm{exp}\left({\displaystyle _{|zu|1}}\mathrm{log}|uz|d\mu _E(z)\right).`$
Combining the above inequality with (4.7) and the definition of $`C_E`$, we obtain that

$$C_E\underset{n\mathrm{}}{lim}\frac{q_n_E^{1/n}}{F_n_E^{1/n}}\frac{\mathrm{exp}\left({\displaystyle _{|zu|1}}\mathrm{log}|zu|d\mu _E(z)\right)}{\mathrm{cap}(E)}.$$

This shows that (3.2) holds true. Moreover, if $`uE`$ is a regular point for $`\mathrm{\Omega }`$, then we obtain by Theorem III.36 of \[27, p. 82\]) and (4.4) that

$$\mathrm{log}\frac{1}{\mathrm{cap}(E)}+\mathrm{log}|ut|d\mu _E(t)=g_\mathrm{\Omega }(u,\mathrm{})=0.$$

Hence

$$\mathrm{log}\frac{1}{\mathrm{cap}(E)}+_{|zu|1}\mathrm{log}|ut|d\mu _E(t)=_{|zu|1}\mathrm{log}|ut|d\mu _E(t),$$

which implies (3.3) by (3.2). ∎

###### Proof of Corollary 3.2.

It is well known \[27, p. 84\] that cap$`(\overline{D_r})=r`$ and $`d\mu _{\overline{D_r}}(re^{i\theta })=d\theta /(2\pi ),`$ where $`d\theta `$ is the angular measure on $`D_r`$. If $`r(0,1/2]`$ then the numerator of (3.2) is equal to 1, so that

$$C_{\overline{D_r}}=\frac{1}{r},0<r1/2.$$

Assume that $`r>1/2.`$ We set $`z=re^{i\theta }`$ and let $`u_0=re^{i\theta _0}`$ be a point where the maximum in (3.2) is attained. On writing

$$|zu_0|=2r\left|\mathrm{sin}\frac{\theta \theta _0}{2}\right|,$$

we obtain that

$`C_{\overline{D_r}}`$ $`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{r}}\mathrm{exp}\left({\displaystyle \frac{1}{2\pi }}{\displaystyle _{\theta _0+2\mathrm{arcsin}\frac{1}{2r}}^{2\pi +\theta _02\mathrm{arcsin}\frac{1}{2r}}}\mathrm{log}\left|2r\mathrm{sin}{\displaystyle \frac{\theta \theta _0}{2}}\right|d\theta \right)`$
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{r}}\mathrm{exp}\left({\displaystyle \frac{1}{2\pi }}{\displaystyle _{2\mathrm{arcsin}\frac{1}{2r}\pi }^{\pi 2\mathrm{arcsin}\frac{1}{2r}}}\mathrm{log}\left(2r\mathrm{cos}{\displaystyle \frac{x}{2}}\right)𝑑x\right)`$
$`=`$ $`{\displaystyle \frac{1}{r}}\mathrm{exp}\left({\displaystyle \frac{1}{\pi }}{\displaystyle _0^{\pi 2\mathrm{arcsin}\frac{1}{2r}}}\mathrm{log}\left(2r\mathrm{cos}{\displaystyle \frac{x}{2}}\right)𝑑x\right),`$
by the change of variable $`\theta \theta _0=\pi x.`$

###### Proof of Corollary 3.3.

Recall that cap$`([a,a])=a/2`$ (see \[27, p. 84\]) and

$$d\mu _{[a,a]}(t)=\frac{dt}{\pi \sqrt{a^2t^2}},t[a,a].$$

It follows from (3.2) that

(4.14)
$$C_{[a,a]}=\frac{2}{a}\mathrm{exp}\left(\underset{u[a,a]}{\mathrm{max}}_{[a,a](u1,u+1)}\frac{\mathrm{log}|tu|}{\pi \sqrt{a^2t^2}}𝑑t\right).$$

If $`a(0,1/2]`$ then the integral in (4.14) obviously vanishes, so that $`C_{[a,a]}=2/a`$. For $`a>1/2`$, let

(4.15)
$$f(u):=_{[a,a](u1,u+1)}\frac{\mathrm{log}|tu|}{\pi \sqrt{a^2t^2}}𝑑t.$$

One can easily see from (4.15) that

$$f^{}(u)=_{u+1}^a\frac{dt}{\pi (ut)\sqrt{a^2t^2}}<0,u[a,1a],$$

and

$$f^{}(u)=_a^{u1}\frac{dt}{\pi (ut)\sqrt{a^2t^2}}>0,u[a1,a].$$

However, if $`u(1a,a1)`$ then

$$f^{}(u)=_{u+1}^a\frac{dt}{\pi (ut)\sqrt{a^2t^2}}+_a^{u1}\frac{dt}{\pi (ut)\sqrt{a^2t^2}}.$$

It is not difficult to verify directly that

$$\frac{dt}{\pi (ut)\sqrt{a^2t^2}}=\frac{1}{\pi \sqrt{a^2u^2}}\mathrm{log}\left|\frac{a^2ut+\sqrt{a^2t^2}\sqrt{a^2u^2}}{tu}\right|+C,$$

which implies that

$$f^{}(u)=\frac{1}{\pi \sqrt{a^2u^2}}\mathrm{log}\left(\frac{a^2u^2+u+\sqrt{a^2(u1)^2}\sqrt{a^2u^2}}{a^2u^2u+\sqrt{a^2(u+1)^2}\sqrt{a^2u^2}}\right),$$

for $`u(1a,a1).`$ Hence

$$f^{}(u)<0,u(1a,0),\text{ and }f^{}(u)>0,u(0,a1).$$

Collecting all facts, we obtain that the maximum for $`f(u)`$ on $`[a,a]`$ is attained at the endpoints $`u=a`$ and $`u=a`$, and it is equal to

$$\underset{u[a,a]}{\mathrm{max}}f(u)=_{1a}^a\frac{\mathrm{log}(t+a)}{\pi \sqrt{a^2t^2}}𝑑t.$$

Thus (3.5) follows from (4.14) and the above equation. ∎

###### Proof of Corollary 3.4.

Note that the numerator of (3.2) is equal to 1, because $`|zu|1,zE,uE`$. Thus (3.6) follows immediately. ∎

###### Proof of Corollary 3.5.

Observe that $`C_E1`$ for any $`E`$, so that $`C_{\alpha E}1`$. Since $`E`$ is regular, we use the representation for $`C_E`$ in (3.3). Let $`T:E\alpha E`$ be the dilation mapping. Then $`|TzTu|=\alpha |zu|,z,uE,`$ and $`d\mu _{\alpha E}(Tz)=d\mu _E(z)`$. This gives that

$`C_{\alpha E}`$ $`=`$ $`\underset{Tu(\alpha E)}{\mathrm{max}}\mathrm{exp}\left({\displaystyle _{|TzTu|1}}\mathrm{log}|TzTu|d\mu _{\alpha E}(Tz)\right)`$
$`=`$ $`\underset{uE}{\mathrm{max}}\mathrm{exp}\left({\displaystyle _{|zu|1/\alpha }}\mathrm{log}(\alpha |zu|)𝑑\mu _E(z)\right)`$
$`=`$ $`\underset{uE}{\mathrm{max}}\mathrm{exp}\left(\mu _E(\overline{D_{1/\alpha }(u)})\mathrm{log}\alpha {\displaystyle _{|zu|1/\alpha }}\mathrm{log}|zu|d\mu _E(z)\right)`$
$`<`$ $`\underset{uE}{\mathrm{max}}\mathrm{exp}\left({\displaystyle _{|zu|1/\alpha }}\mathrm{log}|zu|d\mu _E(z)\right),`$
where $`\alpha 1`$. Using the absolute continuity of the integral, we have that

$$\underset{\alpha +\mathrm{}}{lim}_{|zu|1/\alpha }\mathrm{log}|zu|d\mu _E(z)=0,$$

which implies (3.7). ∎