Hochschild-Mitchell (co)homology of skew categories and of Galois coverings

Abstract

Let $\mathcal C$ be category over a commutative ring $k$, its Hochschild-Mitchell homology and cohomology are denoted respectively $HH_*(\mathcal C)$ and $HH^*(\mathcal C).$ Let $G$ be a group acting on $\mathcal C$, and $\mathcal C[G]$ be the skew category. We provide decompositions of the (co)homology of $\mathcal C[G]$ along the conjugacy classes of $G$. For Hochschild homology of a $k$-algebra, this corresponds to the decomposition obtained by M. Lorenz. If the coinvariants and invariants functors are exact, we obtain isomorphisms $\left(HH_*(C)\right)_G\simeq HH^{\{1\}}_* (\mathcal C[G])$ and $\left(HH^*(\mathcal C)\right)^G\simeq HH^*_{\{1\}} (\mathcal C[G]), $ where $\{ {1}\}$ is the trivial conjugacy class of $G$. We first obtain these isomorphisms in case the action of $G$ is free on the objects of $\mathcal C$. Then we introduce an auxiliary category $M_G(\mathcal C)$ with an action of $G$ which is free on its objects, related to the infinite matrix algebra considered by J. Cornick. This category enables us to show that the isomorphisms hold in general, and in particular for the Hochschild (co)homology of a $k$-algebra with an action of $G$ by automorphisms. We infer that $\left(HH^*(\mathcal C)\right)^G$ is a canonical direct summand of $HH^*(\mathcal C[G])$. This provides a frame for monomorphisms obtained previously, and which have been described in low degrees.