Duality of differential operators and algebraic de Rham cohomology

Abstract

Given a smooth proper morphism $f\colon X\rightarrow S$, we introduce a certain derived category where morphisms are permitted to be $\mathcal{O}_S$-linear differential operators. We then prove a generalisation of Serre duality that applies to two-term complexes of this type. We apply this to give a new proof of Poincar\'e duality for relative algebraic de Rham cohomology.