Completions and derived de Rham cohomology

Abstract: We show that Illusie's derived de Rham cohomology (Hodge-completed) coincides with Hartshorne's algebraic de Rham cohomology for a finite type map of noetherian schemes in characteristic 0; the case of lci morphisms was a result of Illusie. In particular, the E_1-differentials in the derived Hodge-to-de Rham spectral sequence for singular varieties are often non-zero. Another consequence is a completely elementary description of Hartshorne's algebraic de Rham cohomology: it is computed by the completed Amitsur complex for any variety in characteristic 0.