De Rham Theory in Derived Differential Geometry

This paper addresses the question: What is the de Rham theory for general differentiable spaces? We identify two potential answers and study them. In the first part, we show that the de Rham cohomology calculated using (the completion of) the exterior algebra of the cotangent complex yields non-trivial local invariants for singular differentiable spaces. In particular, in some cases, it differs from the constant sheaf cohomology, which provides an obstruction for the de Rham comparison map to be an equivalence. Moreover, we provide conditions under which this local invariant trivializes, yielding a de Rham-type isomorphism. In the second part, we show that for a suitably defined de Rham stack, there is always an isomorphism between functions on it and constant sheaf cohomology of the underlying topological space. Consequently, there exists a version of the de Rham theorem for singular differentiable spaces which holds with almost no restrictions. Finally, we sketch a generalization of this result to other theories of smooth functions, such as holomorphic or analytic functions. The last part is thus related to analytic de Rham stacks of Rodriguez Camargo used by Scholze to geometrize the local Langlands correspondence.

💡 Research Summary

The paper tackles the fundamental question “what is de Rham theory for arbitrary differentiable spaces?” by proposing and analysing two distinct approaches within the framework of derived differential geometry.

Part I – Derived de Rham cohomology.
The authors start with a derived C^∞‑manifold M and consider its absolute cotangent complex L_M, the derived analogue of the sheaf of 1‑forms. By taking shifted exterior powers ∧^k L_M