Let be a nilpotent thickening defined by . If is an affine scheme, its closed subscheme is an affine scheme. Conversely, suppose is an affine scheme. The underlying topological spaces are identical, so is a quasi-compact scheme. For any quasi-coherent sheaf , each subquotient is naturally a quasi-coherent sheaf on . By sheaf cohomology under a closed inclusion and vanishing of quasi-coherent cohomology on an affine scheme, its first sheaf cohomology on vanishes. The long exact sequence in sheaf cohomology and descending mathematical induction through this finite filtration prove . The Serre criterion for affineness now makes an affine scheme.
Affine principal neighbourhoods from ideal-sheaf vanishing Created 2026-10-06 Updated 2026-11-05
Let be an algebraic variety over an algebraically closed field , and assume for every coherent ideal sheaf . Given a closed point , choose an affine open subscheme containing it and give its reduced induced subscheme structure. Since , evaluation at is a surjective morphism of sheaveswith kernel . Here is the skyscraper sheaf at the closed rational point, and the kernel is again a coherent ideal sheaf. The long exact sequence in sheaf cohomology therefore lifts to a global section of .
Viewed as a global regular function, vanishes on and has . Thus , and is a principal open subscheme of an affine scheme, hence affine. Such neighborhoods cover : every nonempty closed subset of an algebraic variety contains a closed point. This is the local step in the cohomological criterion for affineness; the closed-point hypothesis makes the coherent skyscraper argument valid.
Bigness under finite normalization 2026-10-05
Let be the finite normalization of an integral projective variety. The coherent sheaf is supported in dimension at most . For a Cartier divisor , the projection formula for sheaves and the resulting long exact sequence in sheaf cohomology giveThe last step uses the polynomial bound for sections of a fixed divisor. Therefore the leading order growth, and hence bigness, is preserved in both directions. This handles nonnormal varieties without assuming a resolution of singularities in positive characteristic.
On an irreducible variety, a Cartier divisor is a section of : its local rational equations differ by regular units. Their ratios define an invertible sheaf, and a global rational equation gives the trivial class. Conversely a rational trivialization of an invertible sheaf gives local equations. The rational-function sheaf is flasque, so its long exact sequence in sheaf cohomology also identifies the quotient with .
Cotangent-sheaf cohomology of projective space Created 2026-10-07 Updated 2026-10-14
For , the cotangent form of the Euler sequence is . The cohomology of twisting sheaves on projective space and the long exact sequence in sheaf cohomology give , with every other cohomology group zero. Therefore the Euler characteristic of a coherent sheaf is . The nonzero class is the connecting image of the constant section .
Dimension shifting in sheaf cohomology 2026-10-25
From a short exact sequence of sheaves , the long exact sequence in sheaf cohomology gives the displayed isomorphism whenever . Repeating it along a locally free resolution shifts a fixed group to successively higher degrees. If all relevant kernel sheaves are quasi-coherent sheaves and there is a uniform vanishing bound for their sheaf cohomology, sufficiently many shifts force the original group to vanish. The cohomological dimension bound from an affine cover supplies such a bound for a closed subscheme of projective space.
Divisor class group and Picard group of a smooth curve Created 2026-10-05 Updated 2026-10-06
For a smooth irreducible algebraic curve, send a divisor on an algebraic curve to the line bundle associated to a divisor defined locally by . A nonzero rational section of a line bundle gives its inverse construction, and changing that section changes its divisor by a principal divisor. Thus the divisor class group is the Picard group. The quotient of the sheaf of nonzero rational functions on an irreducible variety by the sheaf of units of the structure sheaf has stalk at each closed point, via the discrete valuation. Its global sections are finite sums of points. The corresponding long exact sequence in sheaf cohomology, and the vanishing for the rational-function sheaf, identify both groups with .
Divisor restriction exact sequence Created 2026-10-05 Updated 2026-10-06
For an effective Cartier divisor and any Cartier divisor , multiplication by a defining section of gives the displayed short exact sequence of sheaves. Its long exact sequence in sheaf cohomology compares sections and cohomology on with their restrictions to .
Flasque-kernel section-lifting lemma Created 2026-10-05 Updated 2026-10-14
For a short exact sequence of sheaves with flasque sheaf kernel, every section of the quotient on any open set lifts to the middle sheaf on that set. Use the Zorn lemma to choose a maximal partial lift, with chains glued by the sheaf gluing axiom. A new local lift differs from the old one on their overlap by a kernel section. Extend that difference by flasqueness, adjust the new lift, and glue, contradicting maximality unless its domain is the entire open set. Consequently a quotient of two flasque sheaves is flasque. With an injective resolution of sheaves, the long exact sequence in sheaf cohomology and repeated dimension shifts prove that flasque sheaves have zero positive-degree cohomology.
For a hyperplane with inclusion , multiplication by its defining linear homogeneous polynomial gives the short exact sequence of sheavesThe long exact sequence in sheaf cohomology relates twists in consecutive degrees and consecutive dimensions. Surjectivity of restriction on global homogeneous polynomials, together with eventual positive-twist vanishing, proves vanishing of intermediate cohomology by descending induction. The top-degree dimensions satisfy for , where .
Ideal sheaf of two closed points 2026-10-06
For distinct closed points over an algebraically closed field, evaluation gives the short exact sequence . If all global regular functions are constant, the long exact sequence in sheaf cohomology embeds into . Thus this ideal detects a concrete obstruction to affineness.
Ideal-sheaf vanishing for a coherent submodule of a trivial bundle Created 2026-10-06 Updated 2026-11-05
Let be a Noetherian scheme and suppose for every coherent ideal sheaf . For a coherent sheaf , projection onto the last coordinate has image an ideal sheaf and kernel . Both are coherent sheaves, sois a short exact sequence of sheaves. Thus is a sheaf extension of the quotient ideal by the lower-rank submodule , with this order of the two terms.
For , the assertion is exactly the assumed vanishing for coherent ideal sheaves. For larger , mathematical induction gives , and the long exact sequence in sheaf cohomology places between this zero group and . Hence .
For a length- projective complete intersection , the groups vanish for every integer and . Starting with cohomology of twisting sheaves on projective space, induct through . Both adjacent groups in the long exact sequence in sheaf cohomology vanish precisely in the indicated range.
For , these sheaf cohomology dimensions follow from the vanishing for and the hyperplane exact sequence for twisting sheaves. Induct on dimension and then on in . The long exact sequence in sheaf cohomology gives higher-degree vanishing and the recurrence . Starting with yields the formula; the corresponding homogeneous monomials form a basis of global sections.
Past exam of the introduction to schemes course of the University of Oxford 2017 3 c Solution 2026-10-25
Fix a coherent sheaf and an integer . Set . Repeatedly apply a to construct short exact sequences of sheaveswhere each is a coherent sheaf and a locally free sheaf. Each kernel sheaf is a coherent sheaf because is a noetherian scheme. Thus the construction can be repeated as many times as needed; it does not require the kernel sheaves themselves to be locally free sheaves.
For every integer , the long exact sequence in sheaf cohomology containsBoth outer groups vanish by the hypothesis, since and exceed . Hence is an isomorphism. Iterating this dimension shifting in sheaf cohomology gives
Choose with , where is the uniform bound from b. The coherent sheaf is a quasi-coherent sheaf, so b makes the last group zero. ThereforeThe argument uses a finite initial segment of a locally free resolution. There is no need to assume that every coherent sheaf has a finite locally free resolution: the uniform bound from b is what terminates the argument.
Past exam of the introduction to schemes course of the University of Oxford 2023 3 f iii Solution 2026-10-25
Let be any quasi-coherent sheaf on , and choose from (i). Filter it by the powers of the nilradical sheaf:Each subquotientis a quasi-coherent sheaf annihilated by . Apply (ii) to the quasi-coherent sheaf . Since is an affine scheme, vanishing of quasi-coherent cohomology on an affine scheme givesThe short exact sequencesyield the segments of the long exact sequence in sheaf cohomologyStarting from , descending mathematical induction makes every middle group zero, finally giving .
This holds for every quasi-coherent sheaf . Since a Noetherian scheme is a quasi-compact scheme, the Serre criterion for affineness in (a) applies and provesThis is an instance of the general fact that affineness is invariant under nilpotent thickening.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2001 iii Paper 15 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
At a point , the complex tautological line bundle has fiber . The hyperplane line bundle is its dual, , and . On let be the tautological frame and its dual. On overlaps . The sheaf of holomorphic sections of a vector bundle of this dual bundle is the sheaf .
If a nonzero linear form cuts out the projective hyperplane , it gives a holomorphic section of with a simple zero along . Dividing a local section by gives a meromorphic function with no poles away from and at most a simple pole on . Conversely multiplication by turns such a function into a holomorphic section. These mutually inverse local constructions agree on overlaps and prove the holomorphic line bundle associated to a divisor identification
The nonnegative hyperplane twist cohomology by restriction calculation givesTo derive it from the permitted vanishing, use the hyperplane exact sequence for twisting sheaveswhere and . Local multiplication by a defining equation is injective, and restriction gives exactly its cokernel. Induct on , starting from a point, and then on . For , higher sheaf cohomology vanishes by assumption and global holomorphic functions are constant by compactness and the maximum principle. For , the long exact sequence in sheaf cohomology, the inductive vanishing for and the dimension induction on give vanishing in every positive degree andSumming this recurrence gives . Homogeneous degree- monomials give that many independent sections, so they form a basis. The printed extra equality to zero cannot hold in degree zero, already because ; the boxed calculation gives the intended dimensions.
For the differential of the projective quotient map, the differential of a smooth map is computed by applying a tangent vector to coordinate functions. Since ,ThusUnder replacing by , on a constant ambient tangent vector scales by , while a homogeneous linear form scales by . Therefore is independent of the representative. Its chart coefficients are holomorphic, so it is a global holomorphic vector field. The radial Euler vector field lies in the kernel of , either from the same formulas or because it differentiates a scaling orbit. Hence
Describe the Euler sequence on complex projective space fiberwise as well as in coordinates. At a line , the middle bundle has fiber and the holomorphic tangent bundle has fiber . Send a homomorphism to its composition with the quotient. The map from sends a scalar to that scalar times the inclusion . In homogeneous notation these maps areA local section of is a local degree-one homogeneous function on the punctured cone, so the second expression is representative-independent. Quotienting is surjective, and its kernel consists exactly of scalar inclusion maps. This proves the short exact sequence of locally free sheavesSince it is locally split, dualizing and tensoring by preserves exactness and gives the cotangent Euler sequence in homogeneous coordinatesOn global sections the last map identifies with the basis of linear forms in . Its kernel is zero. This proves the vanishing of global sections of the once-twisted projective cotangent bundle; left exactness gives .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2003 iii Paper 15 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Let be a separated Noetherian scheme over a field and a coherent sheaf. Coherent cohomology studies the groups : global sections in degree zero and the obstructions to gluing local sections in higher degrees. Coherence means finite generation locally, and on a Noetherian scheme it is preserved by kernels, cokernels and extensions. This makes coherent sheaves suitable for exact-sequence calculations.
For an ordered open cover , the Čech cochain groups arewith differentialEach double omission occurs twice with opposite signs, so . The Čech cohomology of the cover is , and taking the direct limit over refinements defines cover-independent Čech cohomology. In degree zero the sheaf gluing axiom identifies it with .
The comparison with derived-functor sheaf cohomology is particularly effective algebraically. Positive-degree cohomology of a quasi-coherent sheaf on an affine scheme vanishes. A separated scheme has affine intersections of affine opens, so a finite affine cover is acyclic for . Its Čech cochain complex consequently computes directly. For a short exact sequence of sheaves, sections over each affine intersection are exact on quasi-coherent sheaves. The resulting short exact sequence of Čech complexes gives the long exact sequence in sheaf cohomology. In particular, the connecting map measures the failure of a global section of the quotient to lift globally.
Several central projective results make the theory finite and computable. On a projective variety over , every coherent cohomology group is finite-dimensional. The Grothendieck vanishing theorem gives for . If is ample, Serre vanishing gives for sufficiently large , and these large twists are globally generated sheaves. On projective space a coherent sheaf has a finite twisting resolution of a coherent sheaf on projective space: finite sums of resolve it. The explicit line-bundle cohomology below and the long exact sequences prove finiteness and positive-twist vanishing. For a closed embedding , is coherent and , reducing these results to projective space. A sufficiently positive twist of a finite presentation by sums of also proves global generation.
The Euler characteristic of a coherent sheafis therefore defined, and the long exact sequence makes it additive. With a fixed projective embedding, is its Hilbert polynomial, and for sufficiently large it equals . On a smooth projective variety of dimension , Serre duality gives, for a vector bundle ,For an arbitrary coherent sheaf the correct counterpart is ; replacing this Ext group indiscriminately by the cohomology of the ordinary sheaf dual would lose local extension information.
We now calculate the basic examples. For , use the standard cover of . Sections of on an intersection are degree- Laurent monomials in which negative exponents are allowed only for coordinates inverted on that intersection. Decompose the Čech cochain complex by exponent vectors with sum . If no exponent is negative, the corresponding simplex complex contributes only in degree zero. If all exponents are negative, the monomial occurs only on the full intersection and contributes only in degree . When the negative-index set is nonempty and proper, inserting any index outside it gives a contracting homotopy, so the monomial complex is acyclic. Hence the cohomology of twisting sheaves on projective space isIn the top group a basis consists of the Laurent monomials with every exponent at most . Writing reduces the count to nonnegative solutions of , giving the displayed binomial coefficient. In particular, all intermediate cohomology vanishes, and agrees with Serre duality. For separately, every twist is trivial and .
On the projective line this givesThus positive and negative degrees produce quite different groups, while their alternating difference is a single polynomial. The twisted cubic is isomorphic to and its hyperplane bundle corresponds to . Consequently for , agreeing with Q2, and .
For a smooth plane curve of degree , the ideal-sheaf sequence of a projective hypersurface isThe long exact sequence in sheaf cohomology and the preceding formula give and . ThereforeFor this is zero; for a plane cubic it is one. Twisting the same exact sequence gives . These examples illustrate how Čech cohomology, vanishing, Serre duality and exact sequences convert local equations into global numerical invariants.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2004 iii Paper 21 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Let be the smooth algebraic curve. A nonzero regular section of a line bundle has an effective zero divisor, so its degree of a line bundle is nonnegative. Degrees add under tensor products and change sign on taking the dual. We use genuine line subbundles, so their quotients in are locally free. Both bounds can be proved constructively.
For the upper bound, take a rational frame of over the function field of . Its two members are rational sections with only finitely many poles. Choose an effective divisor large enough to bound the pole orders of both rational sections. They become global sections of and define a sheaf mapwhich is an isomorphism at the generic point. It is therefore injective as a sheaf map: a section in its kernel would vanish generically in a locally free sheaf, which is a torsion-free sheaf. For any line subbundle , at least one of its two component maps into is nonzero. Such a map is a nonzero global section of . Its zero divisor on an algebraic curve is effective, soThis upper degree bound for line subbundles on a smooth curve depends only on a choice made for , and applies to every one of its line subbundles.
For the lower-bound question we will actually construct subbundles for every sufficiently large integer , where is a fixed point. First prove the globally generated vector bundle property rather than assuming that negative-degree inclusions automatically are subbundles.
Apply the upper-bound argument to the rank-two vector bundle , where is the canonical bundle. Let be its upper degree bound. Choose with . For any point , a nonzero global section of would give a nonzero mapIts image can be saturated to a saturated line subbundle on a smooth curve . Locally the local ring of a smooth algebraic curve is a discrete valuation ring: dividing out the common power of a uniformizer makes the image a primitive rank-one summand, and its quotient is free. Thus the saturation is indeed a subbundle. The original map gives a nonzero global section of and consequently , contradicting the upper bound. Hence for every . By Serre duality,The exact sequenceand its long exact sequence in sheaf cohomology show that evaluation is onto for every . This proves the global generation of positive twists on a smooth curve with one bound on that works at every point.
Write and . The evaluation map is surjective with kernel bundle of rank . Consider the incidence subsetIt is the total space of this kernel bundle, so . Its projection into is closed because is proper, and its image has dimension at most . Choose outside this proper closed subset. It vanishes nowhere. In a local trivialization at any point, one component of is a unit, so it can be completed to a basis. Therefore is a subbundle with a locally free rank-one quotient. Twisting back givesThis proves the unbounded negative degrees of line subbundles. The nowhere-vanishing construction guarantees a subbundle at every point, including the zeros that might otherwise have occurred in a generic meromorphic inclusion. If the curve has several connected components, apply these constructions on each component and add the degrees; the same upper-bound and no-lower-bound conclusions follow.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2004 iii Paper 80 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
The printed vanishing claim needs the restriction . On with and , Question 3 gives for every . Thus no bound on the degree of a divisor can force vanishing in degree zero. We prove finiteness in every degree and the corrected vanishing in every positive degree, uniformly over all divisors on an algebraic curve of large degree.
First take a finite morphism as in Question 3 and put . The direct image sheaf is coherent: on an affine chart its module is finitely generated over a finite algebra and hence over the chart's coordinate ring. The two affine-cover Čech cochain complexes for on and for on are identical. Therefore
We need an elementary presentation of any coherent sheaf on the projective line. Choose finitely many generators on each of its two standard affine charts. A generator on the first chart restricts to an element of the second chart's module localized at . Multiplication by a sufficiently large power of brings that element into the second chart's module. Since the transition of is , this makes the original generator extend to a global section of . A generator on the second chart similarly extends after clearing its denominator at . Use one common exponent for all the finitely many generators. The extended sections generate on both charts. Untwisting gives a surjectionwith coherent kernel . The long exact sequence in sheaf cohomology and Question 3 show that is a quotient of the finite-dimensional , since . Apply the same presentation argument to to obtain finiteness of . Then the segment proves finiteness of . Higher groups vanish by Question 3. Hence every is finite-dimensional.
Next establish a useful degree estimate without using the duality requested later. A global regular function on is constant: a nonconstant one would give a finite morphism by Question 1. Such a morphism is surjective, because its closed image contains the generic point, but a regular function misses , a contradiction. Thus . Write , the genus of a smooth projective curve. For any divisor on an algebraic curve and point , the local discrete valuation ring givesThe last term is a length-one skyscraper sheaf. Additivity of the Euler characteristic of a coherent sheaf and repeated addition or subtraction of points giveThe inequality follows because is nonnegative, and is sufficient for the following argument.
Fix . For this estimate gives at least two independent sections of , one of them the constant section. A nonconstant section is a rational function on an algebraic variety whose poles are confined to . It must have a pole there, since a globally regular function is constant. Its extension is finite, and its inverse image of is exactly . Consequently is affine.
Let be the torsion subsheaf of and let . The support of is finite; such a coherent sheaf is a finite direct sum of sheaves supported at points and has zero higher sheaf cohomology. The torsion-free sheaf is locally free: a finitely generated torsion-free module over a discrete valuation ring is free. Tensoring by any invertible sheaf is exact, so
The inclusions have point-supported quotients. Their long exact sequences in sheaf cohomology therefore give surjections on . Moreovera section regular away from has some finite pole order at . Compute this direct limit on a finite affine cover of . All its intersections with are affine by Question 2, and localization commutes with filtered direct limits. The Čech cochain complex consequently givesThe maps from to these groups are surjective. Choose a finite basis of this starting vector space. Each basis vector becomes zero at some stage in the direct limit; one common stage kills the entire basis. Thus there exists with .
Now let be any divisor on an algebraic curve with . The estimate above gives . A nonzero section identifies with an effective divisor up to linear equivalence of divisors. Hence . Adding gives a point-supported quotient of , so its first sheaf cohomology is a quotient of . We have proved uniform high-degree vanishing on a smooth projective curve:This bound concerns all high-degree divisors, not only multiples of a previously chosen divisor.