On refined metric and hermitian structures in arithmetic, I: Galois-Gauss sums and weak ramification

Abstract

We use techniques of relative algebraic K-theory to develop a common refinement of the existing theories of metrized and hermitian Galois structures in arithmetic. As a first application of this very general approach, we then use it to prove several new results, and to formulate a framework of new conjectures, concerning the detailed arithmetic properties of wildly ramified Galois-Gauss sums.