Symmetric versus genuine symmetric forms in Hermitian K-theory

Abstract

We show that for finite dimensional regular Noetherian rings that contain a field or are smooth over a Dedekind domain, the comparison map from the Hermitian K-theory of genuine symmetric forms to that of symmetric forms is an equivalence in degrees greater or equal -1 and a monomorphism in degree -2. In particular, the spaces of Hermitian K-theory of genuine symmetric forms and the symplectic K-theory space are homotopy invariant for such rings.

Improved bounds in mixed characteristic, proof of Flat Excision rewritten