Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 April 2009
Let R be a graded λ-ring. We extend a well-known formula in the universal ring of Witt vectors by replacing the power operations by the Adams operations. Our method provides us an easy way to compute the inverse image by the symmetric power operators of certain elements of R. As a corollary we get identities, found by Klyachko and Hanlon, in the rings 1 + ℤ[[t]]+ and 1 + Rˆ[[t]]+, where R is the representation ring of the symmetric groups.