On the Witt vector Frobenius

Abstract

We study the kernel and cokernel of the Frobenius map on the $p$-typical Witt vectors of a commutative ring, not necessarily of characteristic $p$. We give some equivalent conditions to surjectivity of the Frobenus map on both finite and infinite length Witt vectors; the former condition turns out to be stable under certain integral extensions, a fact which relates closely to a generalization of Faltings's almost purity theorem.