arXiv · 1910.02771
An elementary description of $K_1(R)$ without elementary matrices
Abstract
Let $R$ be a ring with unit. Passing to the colimit with respect to the standard inclusions $GL(n,R) \to GL(n+1,R)$ (which add a unit vector as new last row and column) yields, by definition, the stable linear group $GL(R)$; the same result is obtained, up to isomorphism, when using the "opposite" inclusions (which add a unit vector as new first row and column). In this note it is shown that passing to the colimit along both these families of inclusions simultaneously recovers the algebraic $K$-group $K_1(R) = GL(R)/E(R)$ of~$R$, giving an elementary description that does not involve elementary matrices explicitly.
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Thomas Huettemann, Zuhong Zhang. 2019-09-09. An elementary description of $K_1(R)$ without elementary matrices. https://arxiv.org/abs/1910.02771
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