Bounding cohomology classes over semiglobal fields

Abstract: We provide a uniform bound for the index of cohomology classes in $H^i(F, \mu_\ell^{\otimes i-1})$ when $F$ is a semiglobal field (i.e., a one-variable function field over a complete discretely valued field $K$). The bound is given in terms of the analogous data for the residue field of $K$ and its finitely generated extensions of transcendence degree at most one. We also obtain analogous bounds for collections of cohomology classes. Our results provide recursive formulas for function fields over higher rank complete discretely valued fields, and explicit bounds in some cases when the information on the residue field is known. In the process, we prove a splitting result for cohomology classes of degree 3 in the context of surfaces over finite fields.