In this paper we demonstrate that non-commutative localizations of arbitrary additive categories (generalizing those defined by Cohn in the setting of rings) are closely (and naturally) related to weight structures. Localizing an arbitrary triangulated category $\text{}\underline{C}$ by a set $S$ of morphisms in the heart $\text{}\underline{Hw}$ of a weight structure $w$ on it one obtains a triangulated category endowed with a weight structure $w^{\prime }$. The heart of $w^{\prime }$ is a certain version of the Karoubi envelope of the non-commutative localization $\text{}\underline{Hw}[S^{-1}]_{\mathit{add}}$ (of $\text{}\underline{Hw}$ by $S$). The functor $\text{}\underline{Hw}\rightarrow \text{}\underline{Hw}[S^{-1}]_{\mathit{add}}$ is the natural categorical version of Cohn’s localization of a ring, i.e., it is universal among additive functors that make all elements of $S$ invertible. For any additive category $\text{}\underline{A}$, taking $\text{}\underline{C}=K^{b}(\text{}\underline{A})$ we obtain a very efficient tool for computing $\text{}\underline{A}[S^{-1}]_{\mathit{add}}$; using it, we generalize the calculations of Gerasimov and Malcolmson (made for rings only). We also prove that $\text{}\underline{A}[S^{-1}]_{\mathit{add}}$ coincides with the ‘abstract’ localization $\text{}\underline{A}[S^{-1}]$ (as constructed by Gabriel and Zisman) if $S$ contains all identity morphisms of $\text{}\underline{A}$ and is closed with respect to direct sums. We apply our results to certain categories of birational motives $DM_{gm}^{o}(U)$ (generalizing those defined by Kahn and Sujatha). We define $DM_{gm}^{o}(U)$ for an arbitrary $U$ as a certain localization of $K^{b}(Cor(U))$ and obtain a weight structure for it. When $U$ is the spectrum of a perfect field, the weight structure obtained this way is compatible with the corresponding Chow and Gersten weight structures defined by the first author in previous papers. For a general $U$ the result is completely new. The existence of the corresponding adjacent$t$-structure is also a new result over a general base scheme; its heart is a certain category of birational sheaves with transfers over $U$.

The goal of this paper is to prove that if certain ‘standard’ conjectures on motives over algebraically closed fields hold, then over any ‘reasonable’ scheme $S$ there exists a motivic$t$-structure for the category $\text{DM}_{c}(S)$ of relative Voevodsky’s motives (to be more precise, for the Beilinson motives described by Cisinski and Deglise). If $S$ is of finite type over a field, then the heart of this $t$-structure (the category of mixed motivic sheaves over $S$) is endowed with a weight filtration with semisimple factors. We also prove a certain ‘motivic decomposition theorem’ (assuming the conjectures mentioned) and characterize semisimple motivic sheaves over $S$ in terms of those over its residue fields. Our main tool is the theory of weight structures. We actually prove somewhat more than the existence of a weight filtration for mixed motivic sheaves: we prove that the motivic $t$-structure is transversal to the Chow weight structure for $\text{DM}_{c}(S)$ (that was introduced previously by Hébert and the author). We also deduce several properties of mixed motivic sheaves from this fact. Our reasoning relies on the degeneration of Chow weight spectral sequences for ‘perverse étale homology’ (which we prove unconditionally); this statement also yields the existence of the Chow weight filtration for such (co)homology that is strictly restricted by (‘motivic’) morphisms.

Bondarko defines and studies the notion of weight structure and he shows that there exists a weight structure over the category of Voevodsky motives with rational coefficients (over a field of characteristic 0). In this paper we extend this weight structure to the category of Beilinson motives (for any scheme of finite type over a base scheme which is excellent of dimension at most two) introduced and studied by Cisinsky and Déglise. We also check the weight exactness of the Grothendieck operations.

The main goal of this paper is to deduce (from a recent resolution of singularities result of Gabber) the following fact: (effective) Chow motives with ℤ[1/p]-coefficients over a perfect field k of characteristic p generate the category DMeffgm[1/p] (of effective geometric Voevodsky’s motives with ℤ[1/p]-coefficients). It follows that DMeffgm[1/p] can be endowed with a Chow weight structure wChow whose heart is Choweff[1/p] (weight structures were introduced in a preceding paper, where the existence of wChow for DMeffgmℚ was also proved). As shown in previous papers, this statement immediately yields the existence of a conservative weight complex functor DMeffgm[1/p]→Kb (Choweff [1/p]) (which induces an isomorphism on K0-groups), as well as the existence of canonical and functorial (Chow)-weight spectral sequences and weight filtrations for any cohomology theory on DMeffgm[1/p] . We also mention a certain Chow t-structure for DMeff−[1/p] and relate it with unramified cohomology.

In this paper we introduce a new notion of weight structure (w) for a triangulated category C; this notion is an important natural counterpart of the notion of t-structure. It allows extending several results of the preceding paper [Bon09] to a large class of triangulated categories and functors.

The heart of w is an additive category Hw ⊂ C. We prove that a weight structure yields Postnikov towers for any X ∈ ObjC (whose 'factors' Xi ∈ ObjHw). For any (co)homological functor H : C → A (A is abelian) such a tower yields a weight spectral sequenceT : H(Xi [j]) ⇒ H(X[i + j]); T is canonical and functorial in X starting from E2. T specializes to the usual (Deligne) weight spectral sequences for 'classical' realizations of Voevodsky's motives DMeffgm (if we consider w = wChow with Hw = Choweff ) and to Atiyah-Hirzebruch spectral sequences in topology.

We prove that there often exists an exact conservative weight complex functor C → K(Hw). This is a generalization of the functor t : DMeffgm → Kb(Choweff) constructed in [Bon09] (which is an extension of the weight complex of Gillet and Soulé). We prove that K0(C) ≅ K0(Hw) under certain restrictions.

We also introduce the concept of adjacent structures: a t-structure is adjacent to w if their negative parts coincide. This is the case for the Postnikov t-structure for the stable homotopy category SH (of topological spectra) and a certain weight structure for it that corresponds to the cellular filtration. We also define a new (Chow) t-structure tChow for DMeff_ ⊃ DMeffgm which is adjacent to the Chow weight structure. We have HtChow ≅ AddFun(Choweffop,Ab); tChow is related to unramified cohomology. Functors left adjoint to those that are t-exact with respect to some t-structures are weight-exact with respect to the corresponding adjacent weight structures, and vice versa. Adjacent structures identify two spectral sequences converging to C(X,Y): the one that comes from weight truncations of X with the one coming from t-truncations of Y (for X,Y ∈ ObjC). Moreover, the philosophy of adjacent structures allows expressing torsion motivic cohomology of certain motives in terms of the étale cohomology of their 'submotives'. This is an extension of the calculation of E2 of coniveau spectral sequences (by Bloch and Ogus).

In a recent paper, Bondarko [Weight structures vs. t-structures; weight filtrations, spectral sequences, and complexes (for motives and in general), Preprint (2007), 0704.4003] defined the notion of weight structure, and proved that the category DMgm(k) of geometrical motives over a perfect field k, as defined and studied by Voevodsky, Suslin and Friedlander [Cycles, transfers, and motivic homology theories, Annals of Mathematics Studies, vol. 143 (Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ, 2000)], is canonically equipped with such a structure. Building on this result, and under a condition on the weights avoided by the boundary motive [J. Wildeshaus, The boundary motive: definition and basic properties, Compositio Math. 142 (2006), 631–656], we describe a method to construct intrinsically in DMgm(k) a motivic version of interior cohomology of smooth, but possibly non-projective schemes. In a sequel to this work [J. Wildeshaus, On the interior motive of certain Shimura varieties: the case of Hilbert–Blumenthal varieties, Preprint (2009), 0906.4239], this method will be applied to Shimura varieties.