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Is there a convenient category of spectra? (English) Zbl 0727.55005

Summary: The construction of the smash product of two spectra is one of the most unsatisfactory aspects of every available treatment of the stable category. Increased interest in enriched ring and module spectra has made the misbehavior of smash products a source of growing frustration. This paper conveys the unhappy message that this frustration is unavoidable. Five simple, obviously desirable axioms for a good category of spectra with a well-behaved smash product are listed. Then it is shown that no category can satisfy all five of these minimal axioms.

MSC:

55P42 Stable homotopy theory, spectra
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