Motivic configurations on the line

Abstract

For each configuration of rational points on the affine line, we define an operation on the group of unstable A1 motivic homotopy classes of endomorphisms of the projective line. We also derive an algebraic formula for the image of such an operation under Cazanave and Morel's unstable degree map, which is valued in an extension of the Grothendieck--Witt group. In contrast to the topological setting, these operations depend on the choice of configuration of points via a discriminant. We prove this by first showing a local-to-global formula for the global unstable degree as a modified sum of local terms. We then use an anabelian argument to generalize from the case of local degrees of a global rational function to the case of an arbitrary collection of endomorphisms of the projective line.