Brauer-Wall Groups and Truncated Picard Spectra of $K$-theory

Abstract: We compute the first two k-invariants of the Picard spectra of $KU$ and $KO$ by analyzing their Picard groupoids and constructing their unit spectra as global sections of sheaves on the category of manifolds. This allows us to determine the E_\infty-structures of their truncations Pic(KU)[0,3] and Pic(KO)[0,2]. It follows that these truncated Picard spaces represent: the Brauer groups of Z/2-graded algebra bundles of Donovan-Karoubi, Moutuou and Maycock; the Brauer groups of super 2-lines; and the K-theory twists of Freed, Hopkins and Teleman. Our results also imply that that these spaces represent twists of String and Spin structures on manifolds and can be used to twist tmf-cohomology. Finally, we are able to identify pic(KU)[0,3] with a cotruncation of the Anderson dual of the sphere spectrum.