This work concerns surjective maps
φ:R→S
of commutative noetherian local rings with kernel generated by a regular
sequence that is part of a minimal generating set for the maximal ideal of
R.
The main result provides criteria for detecting such exceptional complete
intersection maps in terms of the lattices of thick subcategories of the
derived category of complexes of finite length homology. A key input is a
characterization of such maps in terms of the truncated Atiyah class of
φ.