Effective Cartier divisor

An effective Cartier divisor is cut out locally by one non-zero-divisor; it is a codimension-one closed subscheme. On an integral scheme a nonzero global section of a line bundle defines such a divisor, possibly empty. On a nonreduced scheme a nonzero section need not be regular, so its zero locus need not be a Cartier divisor.

A relative effective divisor of degree $m$ on a smooth projective curve is an effective Cartier divisor in $C\times T$ that is finite and flat of degree $m$ over $T$. Its associated line bundle has degree $m$ on every fibre. The symmetric product of a curve $C^{(m)}$ represents these families and carries their universal divisor. Locally on a smooth coordinate chart, the divisor is described by a monic polynomial, whose coefficients are elementary symmetric functions of its points; this description includes collisions and works in positive characteristic.

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 an effective Cartier divisor $E$ and any Cartier divisor $D$, multiplication by a defining section of $E$ gives the displayed short exact sequence of sheaves. Its long exact sequence in sheaf cohomology compares sections and cohomology on $X$ with their restrictions to $E$.