Staggered t-structures on derived categories of equivariant coherent sheaves

Let X be a scheme, and let G be an affine group scheme acting on X. Under reasonable hypotheses on X and G, we construct a t-structure on the derived category of G-equivariant coherent sheaves that in many ways resembles the perverse coherent t-structure, but which incorporates additional information from the G-action. Under certain circumstances, the heart of this t-structure, called the staggered t-structure, is a finite-length category, and its simple objects are particularly easy to describe. We also exhibit two small examples in which the staggered t-structure is better-behaved than the perverse coherent t-structure. © The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved