On the Adams isomorphism for equivariant orthogonal spectra

Abstract: We give a natural construction and a direct proof of the Adams isomorphism for equivariant orthogonal spectra. More precisely, for any finite group G, any normal subgroup N of G, and any orthogonal G-spectrum X, we construct a natural map A of orthogonal G/N-spectra from the homotopy N-orbits of X to the derived N-fixed points of X, and we show that A is a stable weak equivalence if X is cofibrant and N-free. This recovers a theorem of Lewis, May, and Steinberger in the equivariant stable homotopy category, which in the case of suspension spectra was originally proved by Adams. We emphasize that our Adams map A is natural even before passing to the homotopy category. One of the tools we develop is a replacement-by-Omega-spectra construction with good functorial properties, which we believe is of independent interest.