Solution

ID: past-exam-of-the-mathematics-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2009/iii/paper-17/2/b/solution

The two components of a disjoint union are open and closed. Restriction therefore gives an isomorphism
Its inverse assigns the first form on and the second on ; it is smooth because there are no overlaps on which compatibility must be imposed. The exterior derivative is local, so this is an isomorphism of cochain complexes.
A form on is a closed differential form exactly when both restrictions are closed. It is an exact differential form exactly when both restrictions are exact: primitives on and join into a global primitive. Taking the quotient therefore yields the de Rham cohomology of a finite disjoint union:
The same argument covers degree zero, with the space of degree-minus-one forms taken to be zero.

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