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Let $W$ be an integral effective Cartier divisor in an integral variety $V$ over a perfect field, and suppose $W$ is not contained in the singular locus of $V$. On a dense open subset both varieties are smooth. The Zariski tangent space of $W$ there has codimension one in that of $V$, so the differential of the local defining equation is nonzero. Thus the conormal sheaf map is injective generically. Its kernel is a subsheaf of a line bundle on the integral variety $W$ and is therefore a torsion-free sheaf; generic vanishing implies zero everywhere. Right exactness is the Conormal exact sequence for Kähler differentials.

A proper subvariety locally defined by one non-zero-divisor is an effective Cartier divisor. On an integral variety a nonzero local equation is automatically a non-zero-divisor. Its conormal sheaf is a line bundle, since $A/(f)\cong (f)/(f^2)$ via multiplication by $f$. Allowing the zero equation would include the whole variety and would not give this conclusion.

For a closed immersion $i:Z\hookrightarrow X$ with ideal sheaf $\mathcal{I}$, the normal sheaf is ${\mathcal{N}}_{Z/X}=\mathcal{H}o{m}_{{\mathcal{O}}_Z}(\mathcal{I}/{\mathcal{I}}^2,{\mathcal{O}}_Z)$. It is the dual of the conormal sheaf. For a regular embedding it is a locally free sheaf; in the smooth case it agrees with the normal bundle. Without regularity it need not be locally free, but its global sections still classify first-order embedded deformations.

The identification with ${\mathbf{P}}^1$ means that $C$ is a smooth plane conic. An arbitrary singular or nonreduced conic over an algebraically closed field cannot be identified with the projective line, so this is a necessary qualification implicit in the requested description.

Choose an equation $\ell =0$ for $L\subset {\mathbf{P}}^3$ and a degree-two equation $q=0$ whose restriction to $L$ defines $C$. Its homogeneous ideal in ${\mathbf{P}}^3$ is $(\ell ,q)$. These equations form a regular sequence: $\ell$ is a non-zero-divisor in the polynomial ring, and modulo $\ell$ the ring is a polynomial ring in three variables, in which the nonzero quadratic $q$ is again a non-zero-divisor. The generator classes therefore form a basis of the conormal sheaf, with their grading shifts:One can verify the absence of relations from the two-generator Koszul complex: a relation between $\ell ,q$ is a multiple of $(q,-\ell )$, whose coefficients become zero modulo ${\mathcal{I}}_C$. This is the normal sheaf of a projective complete intersection calculation. Dualizing the conormal sheaf gives

These twists are restrictions from ${\mathbf{P}}^3$, not intrinsic degree-one twists on ${\mathbf{P}}^1$. A line in the plane cuts the degree-two curve in two points counted with multiplicity, so the degree of a line bundle ${\mathcal{O}}_C(1)$ is two. The Picard group of the projective line then givesEquivalently, the degree-two Veronese embedding $[s:t]\mapsto [s^2:st:t^2]$ pulls each linear coordinate back to a quadratic. Thus the normal bundle of a smooth plane conic isThe same splitting follows from the normal sequence for the two embeddings:Its outer terms are ${\mathcal{O}}_{{\mathbf{P}}^1}(4)$ and ${\mathcal{O}}_{{\mathbf{P}}^1}(2)$. The extension group class lies in ${\mathrm{Ext}}^1(\mathcal{O}(2),\mathcal{O}(4))=H^1({\mathbf{P}}^1,\mathcal{O}(2))=0$, by the preceding Čech cohomology calculation, so the sequence splits. Both methods distinguish the ambient twist from the intrinsic degree on the curve.

Use algebraic Chern classes in the Chow ring of a nonsingular algebraic variety $Y$. For a vector bundle $E$ of rank $r$, the classes $c_i(E)\in {\mathrm{CH}}^i(Y)$ are invariant under bundle isomorphism, have $c_0(E)=1$, vanish for $i>r$, and commute with pullback. Their Total Chern class is $c(E)={\sum }_i{c}_i(E)$. The Whitney sum formula for Chern classes applies to every short exact sequence $0\to E^{\prime }\to E\to E^{\prime \prime }\to 0$:Normalization for a line bundle is $c({\mathcal{O}}_Y(D))=1+[D]$, where $[D]$ is the divisor class. In particular, $c_1(L\otimes M)=c_1(L)+c_1(M)$, $c_1(L^{-1})=-c_1(L)$, and the trivial bundle has total class one. These properties determine the classes: pull back to the iterated projective bundle where $E$ has a filtration by line bundles. The projective bundle formula for Chow groups makes this pullback injective, and Whitney multiplication expresses $c_i(E)$ as the elementary symmetric polynomial of the first classes of the line factors. This also gives $c_i(E^{\ast })=(-1{)}^i{c}_i(E)$.

Let $X$ be the smooth degree-$d$ projective hypersurface and set $h=c_1({\mathcal{O}}_X(1))$. The algebraic cotangent bundle has rank $n-1$. Restriction of the cotangent Euler sequence in homogeneous coordinates remains exact, because its terms and quotient are locally free. Thusand Whitney multiplication givesThe defining equation has degree $d$, so the conormal sheaf is ${\mathcal{O}}_X(-d)$. Smoothness makes its differential map injective with locally free quotient, giving the Conormal exact sequence for Kähler differentialsA second application of the Whitney sum formula for Chern classes yieldsThe inverse is the finite geometric series in the graded Chow ring: terms in codimension greater than $n-1$ vanish. Expanding gives every requested class,For example,when the corresponding ranks and codimensions exist. The first expression agrees with the canonical bundle of a smooth projective hypersurface $\det {\Omega }_X^1={\mathcal{O}}_X(d-n-1)$. For a plane curve, $\mathrm{deg}{c}_1=d(d-3)=2g-2$, matching Q4. For a quartic surface in ${\mathbb{P}}^3$, $c_1=0$ and $c_2=6h^2$, whose degree is $24$. These checks also confirm the sign in the cotangent, rather than tangent, formula.

On an affine chart $\mathrm{Spec}A\subseteq V$, the module of Kähler differentials ${\Omega }_{A/k}$ is generated by symbols $da$ subject to $k$-linearity and $d(ab)=adb+bda$. It represents $k$-derivations. These modules commute with localization, so their associated quasi-coherent sheaves glue to the Kähler differential sheaf ${\Omega }_{V/k}^1$. It is coherent: if $A=k[x_1,\dots ,x_N]/I$ and $I=(f_1,\dots ,f_s)$, then it has the finite presentation of a moduleFor a closed point $P$, put $R={\mathcal{O}}_{V,P}$ with maximal ideal $\mathfrak{m}$ and residue field $k$. The Zariski tangent space is ${\mathrm{Hom}}_k(\mathfrak{m}/{\mathfrak{m}}^2,k)$, equivalently ${\mathrm{Der}}_k(R,k)$. A derivation kills constants and ${\mathfrak{m}}^2$, so it factors through $a\mapsto a-a(P)$; conversely every linear functional on $\mathfrak{m}/{\mathfrak{m}}^2$ defines such a derivation by the product rule. The universal property of Kähler differentials therefore identifies this space withIn particular, ${\Omega }_{V,P}^1/{\mathfrak{m}}_P{\Omega }_{V,P}^1\cong {\mathfrak{m}}_P/{\mathfrak{m}}_P^2$, the algebraic cotangent space.

A point is a smooth point of a variety when its local ring is a regular local ring; over this algebraically closed field this says ${\dim }_k{T}_{V,P}=n=\dim V$. Tensor the finite presentation of a module above with $k(P)$. The tangent space is the kernel of the Jacobian matrix $J(P)$, hence has dimension $N-\mathrm{rank}J(P)$. This proves the Jacobian criterionFor a smooth irreducible variety $V$, choose at each point an invertible $(N-n)$-minor and shrink the affine chart so that it remains invertible. Its relations eliminate $N-n$ of the generators of ${\Omega }_{A/k}$, yielding a surjection $A^n\to {\Omega }_{A/k}$. At the generic point, its target has dimension $n$: over a perfect ground field, a separating transcendence basis of the function field has differentials forming a basis. Equivalently this follows from the assumed density of the smooth locus. The kernel therefore becomes zero over the fraction field of the integral domain $A$. As a submodule of $A^n$, it is a torsion-free module, so it is already zero. Thus these maps give local isomorphisms with ${\mathcal{O}}_V^n$, proving local freeness of differentials on a smooth variety with rank $n$.

For an affine chart $\mathrm{Spec}A\subseteq V$, write $W\cap \mathrm{Spec}A=\mathrm{Spec}(A/I)$ and $\mathcal{M}=\tilde{M}$. The restriction of a module sheaf to a closed subvariety is $\widetilde{M{\otimes }_{A}A/I}=\widetilde{M/IM}$. The Conormal exact sequence for Kähler differentials isIt follows from the generators and relations: passing to $A/I$ imposes precisely the additional relations $df=0$ for $f\in I$. The first map is well defined because $d(I^2)$ lies in $I{\Omega }_{A/k}$. Glue these exact module sequences, using exactness of localization, to obtainIn the final assertion, interpret locally principal subvariety as a proper local hypersurface. Its ideal on each chart is $(f)$ with $f\ne 0$. Since $V$ is an irreducible variety and reduced, $f$ is a non-zero-divisor, and $A/(f)\to (f)/(f^2)$, $\bar{a}\mapsto af$, is an isomorphism. These local rank-one descriptions make the conormal sheaf ${\mathcal{I}}_W/{\mathcal{I}}_W^2$ invertible.

Because $W$ is not contained in the singular locus of $V$, there is a dense open subset of $W$ where both $V$ and $W$ are smooth varieties. At a closed point there, $\dim W=\dim V-1$ by the Krull principal ideal theorem. The tangent description $T_{W,P}=\ker (df:T_{V,P}\to k)$ then forces $df\ne 0$. Hence the conormal map is injective at the generic point of $W$. Its kernel is a subsheaf of a line bundle on the integral variety $W$, so it is a torsion-free sheaf; a torsion-free sheaf with zero generic fibre is zero. This proves conormal injectivity for a generically smooth Cartier divisor. If zero equations were allowed in the phrase locally principal, $W=V$ would be a counterexample to invertibility; the proper-hypersurface convention is essential.