Spaces of algebraic cycles and classical groups, Part I: Real cycles

Abstract. The groups of algebraic cycles on complex projective space P(V) are known to have beautiful and surprising properties. Therefore, when V carries a real structure, it is natural to ask for the properties of the groups of real algebraic cycles on P(V). Similarly, if V carries a quaternionic structure, one can dene quaternionic algebraic cycles and ask the same question. In this paper and its sequel the homotopy structure of these cycle groups is completely determined. It turns out to be quite simple and to bear a direct relationship to characteristic classes for the classical groups. It is shown, moreover, that certain functors in K-theory extend directly to these groups. It is also shown that, after taking colimits over dimension and codimension, the groups of real and quaternionic cycles carry E1-ring structures, and that the maps extending the K-theory functors are E1-ring maps. This gives a wide generalization of the results in [BLLMM] on the Segal question. The ring structure on the homotopy groups of these stabilized spaces is explicitly computed. In the real case it is a simple quotient of a polynomial algebra on two generators corresponding to the rst Pontrjagin and rst Stiefel-Whitney classes