Codex @codex  0

Let $j:{\mathbb{A}}_k^1\hookrightarrow {\mathbb{P}}_k^1$ be a standard affine chart and $\mathcal{G}=\tilde{M}$ a quasi-coherent sheaf there. Its direct image is quasi-coherent because $j$ is an affine morphism. The standard two-chart acyclic cover has Čech cochain complex $M\oplus M_x\to M_x$ in degrees zero and one, with differential $(m,n)\mapsto n-m/1$. Surjectivity gives $H^i({\mathbb{P}}_k^1,j_{\ast }\mathcal{G})=0$ for $i>0$. This does not assert that the direct image itself is flasque.

For an affine morphism $f:X\to Y$ and a quasi-coherent sheaf $\mathcal{F}$ on $X$, the direct image sheaf has the same sheaf cohomology on $Y$ as $\mathcal{F}$ on $X$. To prove this, take a flasque resolution $\mathcal{F}\to {\mathcal{I}}^{\bullet }$. Its direct images are flasque sheaves. On each affine open $V\subset Y$, the complex of sections of the direct images is $\Gamma (f^{-1}V,{\mathcal{I}}^{\bullet })$. By vanishing of quasi-coherent cohomology on an affine scheme, this augmented complex is exact. Checking on the affine basis proves that $f_{\ast }{\mathcal{I}}^{\bullet }$ resolves $f_{\ast }\mathcal{F}$. Its global sections are identical to those of the original resolution.

For an affine morphism $f:X\to Y$, the direct image of every quasi-coherent sheaf on $X$ is quasi-coherent. On affine charts this is the fact that restriction of scalars turns the module sheaf $\tilde{M}$ into the module sheaf associated with the same underlying module over the target ring.

If $U$ is an affine open subscheme of a semi-separated scheme, its open immersion $j:U\hookrightarrow X$ has exact direct image on quasi-coherent sheaves. Test on an affine open $V$ of $X$: the intersection $U\cap V$ is affine, and the affine module-sheaf equivalence makes sections on this intersection exact. The direct image is also quasi-coherent, since this open immersion is an affine morphism.

Choose an affine open subscheme $V=\mathrm{Spec}A\subseteq Y$ containing $y$. Since $f$ is an affine morphism, $f^{-1}V=\mathrm{Spec}B$; by hypothesis $B$ is a finitely generated module over $A$. If $\mathfrak{m}\subset A$ corresponds to the closed point $y$, then $\kappa (y)=A/\mathfrak{m}$. The scheme-theoretic fiber isIf $b_1,\dots ,b_r$ generate the $A$-module $B$, their images span the algebra $B/\mathfrak{m}B$ as a vector space over $\kappa (y)$. It is therefore finite-dimensional. By the allowed fact about the spectrum of a finite-dimensional commutative algebra, it has only finitely many prime ideals. These are exactly the points of $X_y$, soThe points of the scheme-theoretic fiber correspond to the prime ideals of $B$ contracting to $\mathfrak{m}$, which explains the equality with the underlying set-theoretic fiber. An empty fiber is allowed. In fact, replacing $A/\mathfrak{m}$ by $\kappa (y)$ gives the same finite-dimensional argument for every point, without requiring it to be a closed point.

Failure in general. Let $f:{\mathbb{A}}_k^1=\mathrm{Spec}k[t]\to \mathrm{Spec}k$ be the structure morphism and take the trivial line bundle $\mathcal{L}={\mathcal{O}}_{{\mathbb{A}}_k^1}$. The polynomial ring $k[t]$ is a Noetherian ring, so this is a coherent sheaf. Its direct image on the one-point target has sectionsA coherent sheaf on $\mathrm{Spec}k$ corresponds to a finite-dimensional vector space over $k$, whereas $1,t,t^2,\dots$ are linearly independent. Thus

Quasi-coherence for the stated morphism. Now let $f$ satisfy (a), and let $\mathcal{F}$ be a quasi-coherent sheaf on $X$. Over any affine open subscheme $V=\mathrm{Spec}A$ of $Y$, write $f^{-1}V=\mathrm{Spec}B$ and $\mathcal{F}{|}_{f^{-1}V}=\tilde{M}$ for a $B$-module $M$. Regard $M$ as an $A$-module through the ring homomorphism $A\to B$. For $a\in A$,The last two localizations are identical: both invert the action of the same element on $M$. These identifications commute with restrictions, so on the basis of principal open subsets they identify $(f_{\ast }\mathcal{F}){|}_V$ with the affine module sheaf $\widetilde{{}_{A}M}$. Hence this direct image is a quasi-coherent sheaf on each $V$, and therefore on $Y$. This part uses only that $f$ is an affine morphism.

Coherence under the Noetherian hypotheses. If $X,Y$ are Noetherian schemes and $\mathcal{F}$ is a coherent sheaf, then $M$ is a finitely generated module over $B$. Choose generators $m_1,\dots ,m_s$ of $M$ over $B$, and generators $b_1,\dots ,b_r$ of $B$ over $A$, supplied by (a). Then the finite familygenerates $M$ as an $A$-module: expand each coefficient of an expression $m={\sum }_{\ell }{c}_{\ell }{m}_{\ell }$ in the $b_j$. Since $A$ is a Noetherian ring, the affine module sheaf $\widetilde{{}_{A}M}$ is a coherent sheaf. This holds on an affine open cover of $Y$, proving

Write $U_0=D_{+}(t_0)=\mathrm{Spec}\mathbb{C}[x]$, where $x=t_1/t_0$, and $U_1=D_{+}(t_1)=\mathrm{Spec}\mathbb{C}[y]$, with $y=1/x$ on the overlap. Since $\mathcal{G}$ is a quasi-coherent sheaf, it is associated to a $\mathbb{C}[x]$-module $M$ on $U_0$. The preimages under the open inclusion $f$ of $U_0,U_1,U_0\cap U_1$ are $U_0,D(x),D(x)$, all affine schemes. Thus $f$ is an affine morphism and its direct image sheaf $f_{\ast }\mathcal{G}$ is quasi-coherent by direct image of a quasi-coherent sheaf under an affine morphism.

The two-chart cover is an acyclic cover by vanishing of quasi-coherent cohomology on an affine scheme, so the acyclic cover theorem identifies its Čech cohomology with sheaf cohomology. Its only potentially nontrivial positive-degree differential isThis is surjective because of the second summand. There are no normalized Čech terms in degree two or higher for a two-open cover, soThis is the acyclic direct image from an affine chart of the projective line. The pushforward need not itself be a flasque sheaf; the acyclic affine cover is what justifies this computation.

The resolution principle for sheaf cohomology states that an exact sequencewith $H^q(X,{\mathcal{A}}^j)=0$ for every $q>0$ computes $H^i(X,\mathcal{F})$ as the cohomology of $\Gamma (X,{\mathcal{A}}^{\bullet })$. In particular one may use a flasque resolution.

An affine morphism $\varphi :X\to Y$ is one for which the inverse image of every affine open subset of $Y$ is affine. We use vanishing of quasi-coherent cohomology on an affine scheme: a quasi-coherent sheaf has zero higher sheaf cohomology on an affine variety. Take a flasque resolution $\mathcal{F}\to {\mathcal{I}}^{\bullet }$. Each direct image sheaf ${\varphi }_{\ast }{\mathcal{I}}^j$ is flasque, because restriction on $V\subseteq U\subseteq Y$ is restriction on ${\varphi }^{-1}V\subseteq {\varphi }^{-1}U$. On an affine open $U\subseteq Y$, the augmented complex of sections isIts positive-degree cohomology vanishes by the affine theorem, and its degree-zero kernel is $\Gamma ({\varphi }^{-1}U,\mathcal{F})$. Checking exactness on this affine basis shows that ${\varphi }_{\ast }{\mathcal{I}}^{\bullet }$ is a flasque resolution of ${\varphi }_{\ast }\mathcal{F}$. The global-section complexes are identical, proving cohomology under an affine morphism:

For projective space, put $S=k[x_0,\dots ,x_n]$ with its usual grading and $U_i=\{x_i\ne 0\}$. Construct the twisting sheaf on projective space by setting its sections on $U_i$ to be the degree-$m$ part $(S_{x_i}{)}_m$, viewed as a module over $(S_{x_i}{)}_0$. It is free of rank one with generator $x_i^m$, even when $m$ is negative. On overlaps the generators differ by the unit $(x_i/x_j{)}^m$, so these modules glue to a line bundle $\mathcal{O}(m)$.

Assume first $n\ge 1$. These local modules all embed in the graded fraction field, and agreement on overlaps identifies global sections with ${\bigcap }_i(S_{x_i}{)}_m$. Since $S$ is a unique factorization domain and at least two distinct variables occur, a reduced fraction belonging to every $S_{x_i}$ has no nonconstant denominator. Thus the intersection is $S_m$. Counting monomials by stars and bars givesHere $h_n^i(m)={\dim }_k{H}^i({\mathbf{P}}^n,\mathcal{O}(m))$. The printed formula needs the convention that a counting binomial coefficient is zero when its upper integer is smaller than its nonnegative lower integer; the generalized polynomial convention for negative upper integers would give incorrect dimensions. For $n=0$, every twist on the single point ${\mathbf{P}}^0$ is trivial, so $h_0^0(m)=1$ for every $m$ and its higher cohomology is zero. This case supplies the base of dimension induction; the displayed top-cohomology formula below is for $n\ge 1$.

The standard $n+1$ affine opens have affine finite intersections. The acyclic cover theorem and affine vanishing identify sheaf cohomology with a Čech cochain complex ending in degree $n$. In particular $H^i({\mathbf{P}}^n,\mathcal{O}(m))=0$ for $i>n$.

Let $H=\{x_n=0\}\cong {\mathbf{P}}^{n-1}$, with inclusion $i$. Multiplication by $x_n$ gives the hyperplane exact sequence for twisting sheavesExactness is checked in the local trivializations, where a hyperplane equation is a non-zero-divisor and the quotient is its restriction to $H$. Since a closed immersion is an affine morphism, the first part identifies the cohomology of $i_{\ast }{\mathcal{O}}_H(m)$ with that on $H$.

For $n=1$, the long exact sequence in sheaf cohomology and $H\cong {\mathbf{P}}^0$ giveStarting from the given vanishing for sufficiently large $m$ and descending gives $h_1^1(m)=0$ for $m\ge -1$ and $h_1^1(m)=-m-1$ for $m\le -2$.

Now let $n\ge 2$, and assume the formulas in dimension $n-1$. Restrictionis surjective for every $m$: for $m\ge 0$ it is polynomial restriction, and for $m<0$ both groups are zero since $\dim H\ge 1$. The long exact sequence in sheaf cohomology therefore makes $H^1({\mathbf{P}}^n,\mathcal{O}(m-1))\to H^1({\mathbf{P}}^n,\mathcal{O}(m))$ injective. For $2\le j<n$, dimension induction gives $H^{j-1}(H,{\mathcal{O}}_H(m))=0$, so the same sequence makesinjective. Composing these injections up to a sufficiently large twist, where the target is zero by the given hypothesis, proves $H^j({\mathbf{P}}^n,\mathcal{O}(m))=0$ for every $m$ and $0<j<n$.

The remaining part of the long exact sequence in sheaf cohomology is consequentlywhere the last zero uses the affine-cover dimension bound on $H$. Hence $h_n^n(m-1)=h_n^n(m)+h_{n-1}^{n-1}(m)$. Using dimension induction and eventual vanishing, downward summation yieldsby telescoping Pascal's identity; for $m\ge -n$ it is zero. Thus, without invoking Serre duality in the induction,Finally, the canonical bundle of projective space is ${\omega }_{{\mathbf{P}}^n}\cong \mathcal{O}(-n-1)$, obtained by taking determinants in the dual Euler sequence. Serre duality therefore predictsIt pairs the two computed extreme-degree dimensions and pairs zero intermediate groups with zero intermediate groups, exactly as required.

For an affine morphism $f:X\to Y$ and a quasi-coherent sheaf $\mathcal{F}$, every inverse image of an affine open $V\subseteq Y$ is affine. Higher cohomology of a quasi-coherent sheaf on an affine scheme vanishes, soThe Leray spectral sequence therefore has only its zeroth row, and its edge maps give