On the toplogical computation of K4 of the Gaussian and Eisenstein integers

Abstract

In this paper we use topological tools to investigate the structure of the algebraic K-groups K_4 (Z[i]) and K_4 (Z[rho]), where i := sqrt{-1} and rho := (1+sqrt{-3})/2. We exploit the close connection between homology groups of GL_n(R) for n <= 5 and those of related classifying spaces, then compute the former using Voronoi&#39;s reduction theory of positive definite quadratic and Hermitian forms to produce a very large finite cell complex on which GL_n(R) acts. Our main result is that K_4 (Z[i]) and K_4 (Z[rho]) have no p-torsion for p >= 5.