The homotopy theory of cyclotomic spectra, 10 years later

Abstract: This paper studies the foundations of the geometric fixed point functor in multiplicative equivariant stable homotopy theory. We introduce a new class of equivariant orthogonal spectra called generalized orbit desuspension spectra and analyze their homotopical behavior with respect to the geometric fixed point functor and especially the interaction with smash products and symmetric powers. This analysis leads to several new foundational results, including the construction of the derived functor of geometric fixed points on equivariant commutative ring orthogonal spectra and its comparison to the derived functor on the underlying equivariant orthogonal spectra. In addition this theory provides foundations for the category of commutative ring pre-cyclotomic spectra and a formula for the derived space of maps in this category (a formula needed in the authors' paper with Yuan on relative TC). Finally, we prove a new multiplicative tom Dieck splitting for equivariant commutative ring spectra obtained as the pushforward of non-equivariant commutative ring spectra.