Structure of the space of $GL_4(\mathbb Z_2)$-coinvariants $\mathbb Z_2\otimes_{GL_4(\mathbb Z_2)} PH_*(\mathbb Z_2^4, \mathbb Z_2)$ in some generic degrees and its application to Singer's cohomological transfer

Abstract

Let $A$ denote the Steenrod algebra at the prime 2 and let $k = \mathbb Z_2.$ An open problem of homotopy theory is to determine a minimal set of $A$-generators for the polynomial ring $P_q = k[x_1, \ldots, x_q] = H^{*}(k^{q}, k)$ on $q$ generators $x_1, \ldots, x_q$ with $|x_i|= 1.$ Equivalently, one can write down explicitly a basis for the graded vector space $Q^{\otimes q} := k\otimes_{A} P_q$ in each non-negative degree $n.$ This problem is the content of "hit problem" of Frank Peterson. We study the $q$-th Singer algebraic transfer $Tr_q^{A}$, which is a homomorphism from the space of $GL_q(k)$-coinvariant $k\otimes _{GL_q(k)} P((P_q)_n^{*})$ of $Q^{\otimes q}$ to the Adams $E_2$-term, ${\rm Ext}_{A}^{q, q+n}(k, k).$ Here $GL_q(k)$ is the general linear group of degree $q$ over the field $k,$ and $P((P_q)_n^{*})$ is the primitive part of $(P_q)^{*}_n$ under the action of $A.$ The Singer transfer is one of the useful tools for describing mysterious Ext groups. In the present study, by using techniques of the hit problem of four variables, we explicitly determine the structure of the spaces $k\otimes _{GL_4(k)} P((P_4)_{n}^{*})$ in some generic degrees $n.$ Applying these results and the representation of the fourth transfer over the lambda algebra, we show that $Tr_4^{A}$ is an isomorphism in respective degrees. These new results confirmed Singer's conjecture for the monomorphism of the rank $4$ transfer. Our approach is different from that of Singer.