The Quarterly Journal of Mathematics Advance Access published online on February 21, 2009
The Quarterly Journal of Mathematics, doi:10.1093/qmath/hap005
THETA CHARACTERISTICS AND STABLE HOMOTOPY TYPES OF CURVES

Institut für Mathematik, Universität Osnabrück, 49069 Osnabrück, Germany
E-mail: oroendig{at}math.uni-osnabrueck.de
Received 6 January 2009;
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Let k be a field and X be a smooth projective curve over k with a rational point. Then X admits a theta characteristic if and only if the motivic stable homotopy type of X splits off the top cell. The constructed splitting lifts the splitting of the motive of X.