Categorical Foundations for K-Theory
Abstract
Recall that the definition of the K-theory of an object C (e.g., a ring or a space) has the following pattern. One first associates to the object C a category AC that has a suitable structure (exact, Waldhausen, symmetric monoidal, ...). One then applies to the category AC a "K-theory machine", which provides an infinite loop space that is the K-theory K(C) of the object C. We study the first step of this process. What are the kinds of objects to be studied via K-theory? Given these types of objects, what structured categories should one associate to an object to obtain K-theoretic information about it? And how should the morphisms of these objects interact with this correspondence? We propose a unified, conceptual framework for a number of important examples of objects studied in K-theory. The structured categories associated to an object C are typically categories of modules in a monoidal (op-)fibred category. The modules considered are "locally trivial" with respect to a given class of trivial modules and a given Grothendieck topology on the object C's category.