Constant presheaf of sets 2026-10-07
Every restriction is the identity. Its stalk at each point is , and its étale space of a presheaf is with discrete. It is generally not a sheaf; in particular its value on the empty open set is . Its sheafification is the constant sheaf of sets.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2012 iii Paper 23 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
At a point , all restrictions of the constant presheaf of sets are identities. Two representatives and give the same germ precisely when , so its stalk is canonically . The disjoint union of the stalks is therefore the set .
The topology of the associated étale space of a presheaf has basic opens obtained from sections over open . For the constant section , that basic open is . These are exactly the basic opens of the product topology with discrete. Consequently the germ-space identification is a homeomorphism over , and the projectionis a local homeomorphism.
A continuous section over has the form , where is continuous, equivalently locally constant. Its sections form the constant sheaf of sets:The sheaf gluing axiom follows by gluing the functions; continuity is local. This includes being a singleton, even when the constant presheaf's value on the empty open set was . The construction is its sheafification.
A function acts by postcomposition on locally constant functions, defining a functor . It preserves identities and composition.
To prove the adjunction with the global sections functor, let be a sheaf. A sheaf morphism gives a functionConversely, suppose global sections are prescribed for every . For a locally constant , its fibres are disjoint open sets covering . Restrict to and glue these sections. They agree on intersections, which are empty, so unique gluing defines . Restriction to smaller opens commutes with this construction, making a sheaf morphism.
Applying the two constructions successively returns the original data: a locally constant function is locally one of the constant functions, and sheaf morphisms respect those restrictions and unique gluing. Naturality in and follows from postcomposition and restriction. HenceFor an empty space the same proof works: all global sections sets are singletons, and the sheaf category is degenerate. Constant sheaves are generally locally constant rather than globally constant on disconnected opens.