Normalized Derivations for Milnor's Primitive Operations on the Dickson Algebra and Applications
Abstract
We study the action of the Steenrod--Milnor operation on the Dickson algebra over . Our main observation is that normalizing by the Dickson invariant yields a genuine derivation on the localization . This viewpoint provides a transparent framework to derive a closed formula for all higher iterates of on the Dickson generators. Consequently, we establish the vanishing condition on the generators for , and the stronger global operator identity on all of . Furthermore, upon localizing by , the normalized action becomes Euler-type. This allows us to exactly determine the kernel and image of the derivation in the classical range , and describe them via an auxiliary grading when . As an application, our general formalism recovers several known first-order formulas and upgrades them to closed expressions for all higher iterates. Finally, we present an ordinary Koszul-type construction attached to normalized-ratio coefficients, providing a structural analogy to Margolis homology for operations on the -side that do not necessarily square to zero.
Cite
@article{arxiv.2509.08861,
title = {Normalized Derivations for Milnor's Primitive Operations on the Dickson Algebra and Applications},
author = {Dang Vo Phuc},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2509.08861},
year = {2026}
}
Comments
26 pages. In this updated version, further references and new computational results have been incorporated. Constructive comments and discussions are always appreciated