Kernel theorems for rigidly-compactly generated $\infty$-categories

Abstract

We prove two representability results for rigidly-compactly generated $\infty$-categories and functors between them. The first one represents contravariant linear functionals out of a category of perfect objects with values in a category of (pseudo)-coherent objects in terms of (pseudo)-coherent objects. The second one represents covariant functionals out of coherent objects with values in a category of coherent objects in terms of perfect objects. The techniques used belong to the realm of "functional analysis" of presentable stable categories and ultimately depend on the interaction between three notion of finiteness, namely compactness, dualizability and coherence. These results apply to $\mathbb{E}_\infty$-ring spectra, quasi-proper maps of quasi-compact quasi-separated schemes and certain spectral algebraic spaces. We also reformulate Grothendieck duality in terms of internal left adjoints.