Cdh descent for homotopy Hermitian $K$-theory of rings with involution

Abstract

We provide a geometric model for the classifying space of automorphism groups of Hermitian vector bundles over a ring with involution $R$ such that $\frac{1}{2} \in R$; this generalizes a result of Schlichting-Tripathi \cite{SchTri}. We then prove a periodicity theorem for Hermitian $K$-theory and use it to construct an $E_\infty$ motivic ring spectrum $\mathbf{KR}^{\mathrm{alg}}$ representing homotopy Hermitian $K$-theory. From these results, we show that $\mathbf{KR}^{\mathrm{alg}}$ is stable under base change, and cdh descent for homotopy Hermitian $K$-theory of rings with involution is a formal consequence.