A Conjecture of Bhatt--Lurie and weakly $p$-nilpotent Hodge--Tate stacks

Abstract

Let $k$ be a perfect field of characteristic $p$, and let $X/k$ be a smooth variety. It is known that given a Frobenius lifting of $X$, we can identify prismatic crystals and nilpotent Higgs bundles, known as a positive characteristic version of the Simpson correspondence of $X$. However, Ogus--Vologodsky point out in their original paper of non-abelian Hodge theory in characteristic $p$ that, if we are just given a smooth lifting over $\W_2(k)$, there is a non-abelian Hodge theory on $p$-nilpotent Higgs bundles. Hence, it is natural to ask that whether there exists a subcategory of Hodge--Tate crystals on $X$, which can be described as $p$-nilpotent Higgs bundles. In this paper, we construct an analogue of the Hodge--Tate stack, so called the weakly $p$-nilpotent Hodge--Tate stack, on which the vector bundles are identified with certain Hodge--Tate crystals on $X$ that can be locally described by weakly $p$-nilpotent Higgs bundles. Furthermore, we prove that the weakly $p$-nilpotent Hodge--Tate stack is indeed a gerbe banded by $T_{X/k}\otimes{α_p}$, and the obstruction class coincides with the obstruction of the existence of a Frobenius lifting of $X$, which is a conjecture of Bhatt and Lurie.