TITLE: $K(\mathbb R P^n)$ from $K(\mathbb C P^k)$
QUESTION [17 upvotes]: EDIT: I found a brief discussion of this in Husemoller's Fibre Bundles, chapter 16 section 12.  Here to compute $\tilde K(\mathbb R P^{2n+1})$ he says to consider the map
$$
\mathbb R P^{2n+1} = S^{2n+1}/\pm 1\to \mathbb C P^n = S^{2n+1}/U(1).
$$
Under this map the canonical line bundle over $\mathbb C P^n$ pulls back to the complexification of the canonical line bundle over $\mathbb R P^{2n+1}$.  Then he says from looking at the (Atiyah-Hirzebruch) spectral sequence we get that $\tilde K(\mathbb R P^{2n+1}) = \mathbb Z/2^n$.  I don't see how looking at the spectral sequence helps (and what we learn from the map from $\tilde K(\mathbb C P^{n}) \to \tilde K(\mathbb R P^{2n+1})$).  All I can see is that $\tilde K(\mathbb R P^{2n+1})$ is pure torsion (by the Chern character isomorphism) and that it has order $2^n$ (from the spectral sequence).  I can't see why, for example, it isn't just a direct sum of $\mathbb Z/2$'s.

I found a homework assignment online from an old K-theory course and one of the problems says to compute $K(\mathbb R P^n)$ by using a suitable comparison map with $\mathbb C P^k$ and knowledge of $K(\mathbb C P^k)$.
I have attempted this but have not been able to get anywhere.  The only map $\mathbb R P^n \to \mathbb C P^n$ I can think of is the one sending the equivalence class of $(x_0,\ldots,x_n) \in \mathbb R P^n$ to its equivalence class in $\mathbb C P^n$.  Under this (I think) the tautological line bundle over $\mathbb C P^n$ (which generates $K(\mathbb C P^n)$) gets sent to the complexification of the tautological line bundle over $\mathbb R P^n$.  But I really don't see where to go from here; if I had a map going the other way maybe I'd be able to say something but the map I have is neither injective nor surjective.  I also can't see how torsion is going to come out of this: $K(\mathbb C P^n)$ is torsionfree but $K(\mathbb R P^n)$ isn't.

REPLY [2 votes]: Using the long exact sequence of the pair $(\mathbb{R}\mathbb{P}^{n},\mathbb{R}\mathbb{P}^{n-1})$. For n=odd, we should have the exact sequence $$..\mathbb{Z}\rightarrow K^{-1}(\mathbb{R}\mathbb{P}^{n})\rightarrow K^{-1}(\mathbb{R}\mathbb{P}^{n-1})\rightarrow 0\rightarrow K^{0}(\mathbb{R}\mathbb{P}^{n})\rightarrow K^{0}(\mathbb{R}\mathbb{P}^{n-1})\rightarrow \mathbb{Z}...$$ for n=even, we should have the exact sequence $$0\rightarrow K^{-1}(\mathbb{R}\mathbb{P}^{n})\rightarrow K^{-1}(\mathbb{R}\mathbb{P}^{n-1})\rightarrow \mathbb{Z}\rightarrow K^{0}(\mathbb{R}\mathbb{P}^{n})\rightarrow K^{0}(\mathbb{R}\mathbb{P}^{n-1})\rightarrow 0\rightarrow...$$
We wish to prove via induction that $K(\mathbb{R}\mathbb{P}^{n})=\mathbb{Z}/2^{n}\mathbb{Z}$. The base case $n=1,K(\mathbb{R}\mathbb{P}^{1})=K(S^{1})=0$ is established by the fact that $U(1)$ is connected. We proceed to the $n=2$ case. 
We notice the middle coboundary map $\delta:K^{-1}(\mathbb{R}\mathbb{P}^{n-1})\rightarrow K^{0}(\mathbb{R}\mathbb{P}^{n}/\mathbb{R}\mathbb{P}^{n-1})$. In this current case it is from $\mathbb{Z}$ to $\mathbb{Z}$. To ascertain $\delta$ we notice the following commuative diagram:
$$\begin{CD}
S^{1} @> >> D^{2}\\
@VV V @VV V\\
\mathbb{R}\mathbb{P}^{1}@> >>\mathbb{R}\mathbb{P}^{2}
\end{CD}$$
Hence $\delta$ is a $\times 2$ map. The exactness at $K^{-1}(\mathbb{R}\mathbb{P}^{2})$ implies $K^{-1}(\mathbb{R}\mathbb{P}^{2})=Ker(\delta)=0$, and $K^{0}(\mathbb{R}\mathbb{P}^{2})=\mathbb{Z}/2\mathbb{Z}$.
For $n=3$ we have the long exact sequence to be 
$$..\mathbb{Z}\rightarrow K^{-1}(\mathbb{R}\mathbb{P}^{3})\rightarrow 0 \rightarrow 0\rightarrow K^{0}(\mathbb{R}\mathbb{P}^{3})\rightarrow \mathbb{Z}/2\mathbb{Z}\rightarrow \mathbb{Z}...$$
The same commuative diagram
$$\begin{CD}
S^{2} @> >> D^{3}\\
@VV V @VV V\\
\mathbb{R}\mathbb{P}^{2}@> >>\mathbb{R}\mathbb{P}^{3}
\end{CD}$$
implies the coboundary map $K^{0}(\mathbb{R}\mathbb{P}^{2})\rightarrow K^{-1}(\mathbb{R}\mathbb{P}^{3}/\mathbb{R}\mathbb{P}^{2}\cong S^{3})$ is still $\times 2$.
Reorganize the sequence we have $$0\rightarrow K^{0}(\mathbb{R}\mathbb{P}^{3})\rightarrow \mathbb{Z}/2\mathbb{Z}\rightarrow \mathbb{Z}\rightarrow K^{-1}(\mathbb{R}\mathbb{P}^{3})\rightarrow 0$$
Hence $K^{0}(\mathbb{R}\mathbb{P}^{3})=\mathbb{Z}/2\mathbb{Z}$, $K^{-1}(\mathbb{R}\mathbb{P}^{3})=\mathbb{Z}$.
For $n=4$ we have the long exact sequence to be
$$...0\rightarrow K^{-1}(\mathbb{R}\mathbb{P}^{4})\rightarrow \mathbb{Z} \rightarrow \mathbb{Z}\rightarrow K^{0}(\mathbb{R}\mathbb{P}^{4})\rightarrow \mathbb{Z}/2\mathbb{Z}\rightarrow 0...$$
Hence $K^{-1}(\mathbb{R}\mathbb{P}^{4})=0$, but we are not sure how to calculate $K^{0}(\mathbb{R}\mathbb{P}^{4})$. I think the map $\mathbb{Z}\rightarrow K^{0}(\mathbb{R}\mathbb{P}^{4})$ is $\mathbb{Z}\rightarrow \mathbb{Z}/2\mathbb{Z}$, both by the exact sequence and the geometrical picture. Hence $K^{0}(\mathbb{R}\mathbb{P}^{4})$ has two choices, either $\mathbb{Z}/2\mathbb{Z}\times \mathbb{Z}/2\mathbb{Z}$, or simply $\mathbb{Z}/4\mathbb{Z}$. So we need to show $K^{0}(\mathbb{R}\mathbb{P}^{4})$ have an element $x$ such that $2x\not=0$. But calculating the Stifel-Whitney class of $w(RP^{4}\oplus RP^{4})$ by Whitney summation formula implies it to be non-zero. Hence such an element do exist. 
We conclude that $K^{0}(\mathbb{R}\mathbb{P}^{4})=\mathbb{Z}/4\mathbb{Z}$, $K^{-1}(\mathbb{R}\mathbb{P}^{4})=0$. 
The induction scheme, totally analogous to the pervious arguments thus gives us:
$K^{0}(RP^{2k+1})=\mathbb{Z}/2^{k}\mathbb{Z}$, $K^{-1}(RP^{2k+1})=\mathbb{Z}$. 
and 
$K^{0}(RP^{2k})=\mathbb{Z}/2^{k}\mathbb{Z}$, $K^{-1}(RP^{2k})=0$.