Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 ib Paper 2 4G i Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-07
True. In a discrete topology, the singletons form an open cover. If is compact, a finite subcover exists, so is finite. Conversely, any open cover of a finite set has a finite subcover: choose one member containing each point. This converse does not require the discrete topology.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 13 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
The point to retain in the direct-image theorem is quasi-compactness of inverse images of affine opens and of overlaps; no separation assumption has been supplied. The underlying space of a Noetherian scheme is Noetherian, so every open subset of is quasi-compact. Fix an affine open subscheme of , put , and choose a finite open cover by affine open subschemes . For each pair , choose a finite affine cover of . Empty overlaps contribute no terms.
Write . The sheaf gluing axiom gives the exact sequencewhere is the difference of the two restrictions to each overlap chart. All terms are -modules through . For , the inverse image of cuts each and by a principal open subscheme. Because is a quasi-coherent sheaf, sections on these smaller affine charts are the corresponding module localizations at . Exactness of localization and its commutation with finite products now identify the localized equalizer with the equalizer for the restricted cover. ThusThe isomorphisms respect restrictions, proving on the basis of principal open subschemes. Since was arbitrary, is a quasi-coherent sheaf. The finite covers of overlaps are what allow the proof to work for nonseparated Noetherian schemes; this is the quasi-coherence of direct image under a quasi-compact quasi-separated morphism.
For a quasi-coherent sheaf which is not coherent but has coherent direct image, use andThis infinite negative-twist sum with zero global sections is quasi-coherent: on each standard affine chart it is the sheaf associated with a direct sum of free rank-one modules. Its stalk at every point, modulo the maximal ideal, is an infinite-dimensional vector space. A finitely generated module would have a finite-dimensional quotient, so is not a coherent sheaf.
Nevertheless, . This follows from cohomology of twisting sheaves on projective space, or directly by gluing on the two standard affine charts: if , a section is a polynomial on the first chart and on the second with , which forces both to vanish. Global sections commute with this direct sum: they are the kernel of the difference map for the two-chart cover, and direct sums commute with that finite equalizer of modules. Hencewhich is coherent on . Both schemes in this example are Noetherian.
For a finite morphism, such an example is impossible. On an affine open subscheme of the target, its inverse image is , with a finite -module. Write . Its direct image corresponds to considered as an -module. If the direct image is coherent, is finitely generated over . The same generators also generate it over , because acts through . Since is Noetherian, is coherent. Conversely, a finite set of -generators combined with a finite set of -generators of gives finitely many -generators of . Thus coherence reflected by finite direct image gives the stronger equivalence
Finally, let , let be the punctured affine plane, and let be the open immersion. Both are integral schemes, but is not an isomorphism of schemes because it omits a point. The cover givesinside the field of fractions . Indeed, in a reduced fraction, membership in the first localization forces every denominator factor to be associated to , while membership in the second forces it to be associated to . Unique factorization and coprimality force the denominator to be a unit. By the theorem just proved, is quasi-coherent on the affine , hence determined by this module of global sections. The natural map corresponds to the identity of , soa coherent sheaf. This is a concrete case of codimension-two extension of regular functions on a normal variety.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 13 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
The intersection hypothesis says that is a semi-separated scheme. For an affine open subscheme , the intersection is affine. Restricting the given short exact sequence of sheaves to it and applying the affine module-sheaf equivalence gives an exact sequence of global sections:These are exactly the sections on of the three direct image sheaves. Affine opens form a basis, and every section of the last sheaf on such a basis open lifts to the middle sheaf. This proves surjectivity as a sheaf morphism; left exactness of direct image supplies the other positions. Hence direct image preserves this short exact sequence. The crucial ingredient is exactness of sections of quasi-coherent sheaves on an affine intersection; arbitrary open immersions need not have this property.
For the cohomology comparison, every nonempty finite intersectionis affine. This follows by mathematical induction, intersecting the affine intersection already obtained with the next affine open. The restriction of to it is quasi-coherent, so vanishing of quasi-coherent cohomology on an affine scheme givesWe now prove why this local vanishing gives the acyclic cover theorem, rather than identifying the two sorts of cohomology without a comparison.
Take a flasque resolution . Here a flabby sheaf has surjective restriction maps; its restrictions to open subsets are still flabby and have zero higher sheaf cohomology. Form the double complexThe horizontal differential is the alternating restriction map ; the vertical one is induced by the resolution. They commute, so the total differential in bidegree is and has square zero. The Čech resolution on a semi-separated scheme uses precisely these intersections.
A flabby sheaf has zero positive Čech cohomology for a finite open cover, and its degree-zero Čech cohomology is its global sections. One way to establish this auxiliary fact is to use the exact augmented two-open complexExactness at the first two terms is the sheaf gluing axiom; the last map is onto because a section on the intersection extends to . For the induction step, write for the union of all but the last open and for the last open. Separate Čech cochains according to whether their index list contains the last index. The resulting two-block complex compares the smaller cover of with its restricted cover of , together with in degree zero. By induction those two smaller cover complexes have cohomology only in degree zero, where they give and . The displayed two-open exact sequence then gives zero positive-degree cohomology for the full cover. This proves the auxiliary fact by induction on the number of opens. Thus horizontal cohomology of consists only of in degree zero. Computing the cohomology of the total complex first horizontally therefore gives , by the resolution principle for sheaf cohomology.
On the other hand, vertical cohomology issince the restricted flasque resolutions compute cohomology on each intersection. The already established affine vanishing makes all rows with zero. The surviving row is exactly the Čech cochain complex . Computing total cohomology first vertically therefore gives . These two computations are justified by the two filtrations of the first-quadrant double complex: in every total degree only finitely many terms occur, and the cover also bounds the horizontal degree. Their edge maps give the natural identificationFor negative degrees both groups are zero by convention. In particular, degree zero is the usual identification by the sheaf gluing axiom, not merely a comparison of dimensions.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2013 iii Paper 17 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-07
The divisor determines the bundle through its local equations. Choose an open cover on which has a reduced holomorphic defining equation , using on sets disjoint from . Because is a complex submanifold of codimension of a submanifold one, its ideal is locally generated by a coordinate; consequently is a nowhere-zero holomorphic function on each overlap. Inside the sheaf of meromorphic functions on a complex manifold, consider the locally free sheaf of rank oneThese local descriptions agree on overlaps. With , its transition functions of a vector bundle are specified byThe ratios satisfy the Čech cocycle condition, and the associated holomorphic line bundle associated to a divisor is . The section is holomorphic and vanishes to order one along . Replacing by , with a holomorphic unit, replaces the frame by without changing the subsheaf of meromorphic functions. Refining the cover changes no local sections either. This proves choice independence up to isomorphism rather than merely producing a bundle for one cover.
For a complex manifold of dimension , the canonical bundle isIt is the holomorphic line bundle of holomorphic top-degree differential forms. To compute it on Complex projective space, let be the complex tautological line bundle, so that is the hyperplane line bundle. At a line , the tangent space is . Tensoring the tautological quotient sequence by gives the Euler sequence on complex projective spaceTaking the top exterior power gives ; taking its dual bundle yieldsHere a negative tensor power means the corresponding positive tensor power of the dual bundle.
The proposed sections over form a sheaf: compatible maps into glue uniquely, and their projections remain . Addition and multiplication by holomorphic functions are defined in the fibres of , making this a sheaf of -modules. If is a holomorphic local frame of on , every section over has the unique expressionThus the sheaf is a locally free sheaf of rank one. Its transition functions of a vector bundle are those of composed with , so the corresponding pullback vector bundle is precisely . This proves invertibility locally and compatibility globally.
For the local blowup of a complex manifold at a point, work on the projective chart and writeAll the incidence equations reduce to . Therefore gives a holomorphic coordinate chart isomorphic to . On an overlap with ,which is a biholomorphism where . The incidence subset is closed in the product of two Hausdorff spaces and is covered by these charts; hence it is a complex manifold of dimension . In each chart the exceptional fibre is , so it is a smooth complex submanifold, with its induced projective coordinates givingAway from the origin the inverse of the projection is , which is holomorphic; the projection is therefore a biholomorphism outside .
To find the canonical bundle, pull back the nowhere-zero top form on . In the chart above, its Jacobian determinant givesThe sign depends only on the ordering of the coordinates. This is a section of with divisor on a complex manifold exactly : it has that vanishing order in every exceptional chart and no zeros elsewhere. A nonzero meromorphic section of a holomorphic line bundle with divisor identifies its holomorphic line bundle with , by sending the local generator of to the nowhere-zero frame obtained by dividing the section by . ConsequentlyThis also includes , when the local map is an isomorphism and the exponent is zero.
For a general complex manifold, choose a coordinate neighbourhood of , with sent to , and replace by the inverse image of this coordinate neighbourhood in the local blowup of a complex manifold at a point. Glue this space to along using the preceding biholomorphism. The resulting charts give a complex manifold and a holomorphic map ; the exceptional fibre is and the map is a biholomorphism off that fibre. For completeness, the local projection is proper because its inverse image over a compact subset is closed in that subset times compact Complex projective space. This ensures the gluing is Hausdorff: separate points with distinct images downstairs, and points over inside the local blowup. The atlas is second countable as well.
The top exterior power of the differential defines a global holomorphic bundle map . Equivalently, it is a section of . The same local Jacobian determinant has vanishing order on , and the differential is invertible elsewhere. Applying the holomorphic line bundle associated to a divisor construction gives the canonical bundle formula for a point blowup
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 ib Paper 1 12E Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
A compact space is one for which every open cover has a finite subcover. A Hausdorff space has disjoint open neighbourhoods of any two distinct points.
Let be a compact subspace of a Hausdorff space , and let . For each , choose disjoint open neighbourhoods of and of . Finitely many cover . Their corresponding intersection is an open neighbourhood of disjoint from . Thus is open, proving compact subspaces of a Hausdorff space are closed.
In particular, is closed as a subspace of compact . A closed subset of a compact space is compact: add its open complement to an open cover, apply compactness to the whole space, and discard that extra open set. Hence is compact.
In the cocountable topology on , two nonempty open sets always intersect. Their two countable complements have countable union, which cannot exhaust the uncountable real line. Therefore this space is not Hausdorff.
Every finite subset is compact in any topology. Conversely, from any infinite subset select distinct points and defineEach is cocountable and open; the sets increase and their union is all of . They therefore cover , but a finite selection is contained in some , which misses the infinitely many with . No finite subcover exists. Thus the compact subsets of a cocountable space are
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 13 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
For a presheaf , first form its stalks . Define to consist of families , with , which are locally represented by sections of : every has a neighbourhood and with for all . Addition is pointwise and restriction discards the components outside the smaller open set. The local representability condition is itself local, so compatible such families on an open cover glue uniquely. Thus is a sheaf of abelian groups. This is sheafification by locally representable germs.
The canonical presheaf morphism isThe universal property of sheafification says that, for any sheaf , composition with gives a natural bijectionIndeed, locally representing a family by defines its image locally by the image of in . Equal germs give locally equal images, and the sheaf gluing axiom gives the unique global image. If is already a sheaf, a section with all germs zero is zero, while every locally represented family glues to an actual section. Hence is both injective and surjective for every , so sheafification leaves a sheaf unchanged.
For a continuous map , the direct image sheaf isAn open cover pulls back to an open cover, so its sheaf axioms follow directly from those of . To construct the inverse image sheaf, first setRestriction uses the inclusion of these neighbourhood systems when shrinks. The use of sheafification is important: need not itself be a sheaf. Continuity and the stalk construction give .
Given an f-morphism of sheaves , define its map on stalks byIf two representatives have the same germ at , they agree on a neighbourhood there. Restriction compatibility makes their images agree on its inverse image, a neighbourhood of , proving well-definedness. The map is a group homomorphism. We index it by , since different points over the same have different target stalks.
For , its class in and then in its sheafification defines the canonical f-morphism of sheaves . Its germ at is simply . To factor any , take a section . Locally on an open cover , it comes from a section with . Define the prospective image on byOn an overlap, the representatives have the same inverse-image germs, so their images have the same germs by the maps . Two sheaf sections with equal germs everywhere are equal. The local images therefore glue uniquely, independently of every representative and cover choice. This construction is additive and commutes with restrictions, giving a sheaf morphism withConversely any factorization must have the prescribed image on these locally generating sections, proving uniqueness. This is the universal property of an inverse image sheaf.
An f-morphism of sheaves is exactly a sheaf morphism . Thus the two constructions give the inverse-image direct-image adjunctionNaturality follows from composing the local representatives and their images with morphisms in either sheaf variable. This is an adjunction for sheaves of abelian groups; it is not the tensor-adjusted pullback of modules on a ringed space.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 13 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
For an affine variety , one construction defines as the functions which locally have the form , where are elements of the coordinate ring and does not vanish on the neighbourhood in question. Restrictions are restrictions of functions, and locality gives the sheaf axioms. In particularThe second formula identifies its local rings.
In the classical convention, an algebraic variety over is an irreducible ringed space with a sheaf of -valued functions, admitting a finite open cover by spaces isomorphic to affine varieties, and satisfying the separated variety condition that its diagonal is closed in . Its topology is Noetherian. One can instead allow reducible reduced varieties; the arguments below still work with the denominator-clearing version of the localization argument. A morphism of varieties is a continuous map whose pullback takes local regular functions to regular functions, equivalently a morphism of locally ringed -spaces. The maps on local rings are local because a function nonzero at the image point stays nonzero at the source point.
An affine variety supplies its own finite affine cover, is Noetherian, and is separated: its diagonal in is cut out by the differences of corresponding coordinates. A regular map between affine varieties pulls coordinate functions back to regular functions. It is continuous because the inverse image of any polynomial zero set is the zero set of the pulled-back regular functions; on affine charts such zero sets are closed. Pulling back a locally represented fraction gives a regular fraction wherever its denominator is nonzero. Hence a regular map is a morphism of varieties in this definition.
For a morphism which is an isomorphism over each member of an open cover of , every fibre contains exactly one point. Thus is bijective. Its inverse is continuous and regular on every , since there it is the given inverse of the local isomorphism. These inverses agree on overlaps, being inverses of the same map. They glue to a global inverse morphism of varieties. Therefore being an isomorphism is local on the target.
Let , and let be affine with coordinate ring . Given a -algebra homomorphism , choose a presentation . The maplands in because all the equations in become zero functions. Its coordinates are global regular functions, so it is a morphism on every affine chart of , and therefore globally. On a target neighbourhood where a fraction is defined its pullback is , proving that the induced map on global sections is exactly . This also proves independence of the chosen generators and uniqueness. This is the affine-target adjunction for varieties.
For , the natural map sends to that regular function. In the irreducible convention, if , is dense, so this map is injective: a global regular function vanishing there vanishes everywhere. Cover by finitely many affine charts . A section on restricts on to an element of . A common power clears all these finitely many denominators. The resulting regular sections on agree on the dense principal open in each overlap, hence agree there altogether and glue to a global section . Thus . If , both sides are the zero ring of sections on the empty open. ConsequentlyThis is localization of global sections on a principal open. For reduced reducible varieties, equality on a principal open instead means that a sufficiently large power of annihilates the difference; finitely many charts and overlap refinements allow one common extra power. The same denominator-clearing proof then gives the stated localization isomorphism without a density assumption.
Now suppose in and every is affine. Each is a finitely generated -algebra. Select finitely many generators, writing them as . Let be the -subalgebra generated by all , all , and all . It is finitely generated, andThe inclusion from left to right is immediate, while the chosen generators give the reverse inclusion. This construction does not assume that was finitely generated in advance.
The reduced algebra is the coordinate ring of an affine variety (irreducible when is). The map produces by the preceding construction. The sets cover , since their functions generate the unit ideal already in . Their inverse images are , and on them the map is the isomorphism corresponding to . The target-local argument above now provesThis is affineness from a unit-ideal principal affine cover. The printed sets are ; the missing index in the TeX aid is not a different hypothesis.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 13 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
A sheaf of modules over is quasi-coherent when locally it admits a presentationwith arbitrary indexing sets . On an affine chart, sheafifying the corresponding module presentation and using exactness of localization identifies its cokernel with a sheaf . Thus one may equivalently require that locally on affine charts is associated with a module. This does not impose finite generation, which belongs to the stronger coherent condition.
On the affine variety with coordinate ring , put . Refine local module charts to a finite principal open cover such that for an -module . This is possible because principal opens form an open basis and is quasi-compact. On the overlap the sections are the corresponding further localization of or . The sheaf gluing axiom gives an equalizerwhere the last map is the difference of restrictions. For any , localize this sequence. Exactness of localization and commutation with finite products give exactly the equalizer for the cover . HenceThe isomorphisms are canonical and commute with all basic-open restrictions. Since the sections of on these opens are , they identify the two sheaves:Conversely is quasi-coherent for every -module , since a free presentation of gives the required sheaf presentation. Also , and module homomorphisms sheafify, while a sheaf morphism is determined on every by the localization of its map on global sections. This proves the affine module-sheaf equivalence.
For a short exact sequence of quasi-coherent sheaves, the sequence of their stalks is exact. Under this equivalence the stalk at is the localization of the global-section module at . Exactness of module sequences can be checked at all maximal ideals, by localization detects zero elements applied to their homology, so the global-section modules also form a short exact sequence. Therefore global sections are exact on quasi-coherent sheaves over an affine variety. This is stronger than the left exactness of the global section functor on arbitrary sheaves, and follows from localization, not from assuming the cohomology vanishing still to be proved.
For an open inclusion , the requested sheaf isRestriction gives . This direct image from an open restriction is not extension by zero: its stalks outside may be nonzero.
The locally vanishing principle for sheaf cohomology says that a class , , is killed on a suitable neighbourhood of every point. Under the stated hypothesis that basis opens and their finite intersections have zero cohomology in degrees , these neighbourhoods can be chosen in that basis so that the image of underis zero. In particular its restriction in is zero. This is a statement about individual classes; it does not assert that every locally vanishing class is already globally zero.
Here is a noncircular proof of vanishing of quasi-coherent cohomology on an affine scheme, applied to the variety. Induct on , simultaneously for every affine variety and quasi-coherent sheaf. Assume all lower positive degrees vanish. The principal-open basis is closed under finite intersections, so it satisfies the principle's hypothesis. Given , choose a finite principal cover on which it restricts to zero.
Applying the Čech cochain complex to a flasque resolution gives the Čech lifting below the first possible local cohomology degree comparison segment, under lower-degree vanishing on all intersectionsFor completeness, the double complex has terms . Its augmented rows are exact because each is flasque, so its total cohomology is the cohomology of global sections of the resolution. The vertical cohomology on intersections in degrees is zero. Equivalently, start with local primitives of a cocycle representing , take their differences on pairwise overlaps, and solve successively for primitives of those differences in degrees . The last difference is a Čech -cocycle with values in . This identifies the kernel of the restriction map with the displayed Čech group. No vanishing in degree on the intersections has been assumed.
It remains a module calculation. Write . The augmented Čech complex isSince the cover , the generate the unit ideal. This complex is exact. To see it algebraically, use alternating cochains, with repeated indices giving zero. For a cocycle , choose large enough to clear every -denominator in , as well as the finitely many cocycle relations; vanishing criterion in a module localization allows a further power to clear relations which initially hold only after localization. Since the ideal is still the unit ideal, choose with . Defineusing those cleared representatives in . The cocycle identity gives . The same argument with the augmentation gives gluing and uniqueness in degree zero. This is exactness of the unit-ideal localization Čech complex.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 13 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Order the index set of the open cover . The Čech cochain groups areand their differential is the alternating sum of restrictions:Terms obtained by deleting two indices cancel in pairs, so . The Čech cohomology is , with zero incoming differential in degree zero. Its zeroth group is the group of global sections by sheaf gluing.
The acyclic cover theorem applies if every nonempty finite intersection is acyclic for . For a quasi-coherent sheaf on a variety it is sufficient that every such intersection is affine; on a separated variety, any affine open cover has this property. On , take the standard charts . Every intersection is a principal open in an affine chart, hence affine. The Čech complex has no terms above degree , provingThis is the cohomological dimension bound from an affine cover and requires only quasi-coherence, not finite generation.
For the remaining projective calculations assume . There is a necessary zero-dimensional exception to the negative-twist assertion: is a point, every twist is trivial there, and even for .
Put with its usual grading. The twisting sheaf on projective space is the sheaf associated with the shifted graded module ; on an intersection its sections areOn a generator is , with transition . These are regular units on overlaps and satisfy the cocycle relation, so they glue an invertible sheaf for every integer , including negative .
A global section is a compatible family of these homogeneous fractions, hence a single element of degree in . For , and are relatively prime in the unique factorization domain , so ; therefore the full intersection is . It follows thatFor its dimension is . The proof uses all-chart compatibility; regularity on one chart alone would permit poles on its complement.
If some , the ideal contains , so the requested containment is immediate. Otherwise every . A monomial of degree must have for some : if not, its total degree would be at most . Thus every degree- monomial, and hence every homogeneous polynomial of that degree, belongs to . This is monomial containment in an ideal of coordinate powers.
For , a top-degree Čech cochain for is a degree-zero Laurent polynomial on the full intersection. Write it with a common denominator asThe containment just proved gives , with homogeneous of degree . ConsequentlyThe th term is regular on the intersection omitting , and has degree zero. Give it the sign in that component of the preceding Čech cochain. Its coboundary is the original fraction. Every top cochain is thus a coboundary, andThis is top Čech cohomology from missing-denominator monomials.
To obtain the negative-twist bound by induction on dimension, let be a hyperplane, with inclusion . Its equation gives the hyperplane exact sequence for twisting sheavesThe associated long exact sequence in sheaf cohomology and sheaf cohomology under a closed inclusion giveFor , restriction is the surjection . Exactness and the already proved give . The displayed surjections then give the same vanishing for every . This handles the point hyperplane without making a false negative-twist claim on .
For , the induction hypothesis in dimension gives whenever . Therefore consecutive top-degree groups are isomorphic for . Starting with and stepping down through reaches . Stepping upward proves all positive twists too. We concludeThis is top-twist vanishing by hyperplane induction.
Finally, on write and . On , let be the wedge of for , taken in increasing index order. For , differentiating and givesIn the wedge, all terms involving a second copy of disappear; the surviving powers are from and from the other differentials. Moving into its original position produces the stated sign. Rescale each local generator by . Then on every overlap, exactly the transition of the twist with . This canonical-form transition on projective space proves the canonical bundle of projective space:For line bundles the Serre duality pairing becomesIn particular is dual to , which is zero for , precisely the independently obtained bound. The case recovers , and matches . Thus the calculated transition functions, global sections and top-degree vanishing agree with Serre duality.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 iii Paper 13 1 i Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
The Lusternik-Schnirelmann-Borsuk theorem has the following two equivalent covering formulations. For every integer , a cover of the sphere by closed sets has a member containing an antipodal pair. The same assertion holds with open sets in place of closed sets. Thus antipodal-pair-free open sets, or antipodal-pair-free closed sets, cannot cover . The dimension-zero case simply says that one set covering the two-point sphere contains both points.
Here is why the two versions agree. A finite open cover of a compact metric space admits a closed shrinking that still covers: sufficiently small closed balls subordinate to the open cover can be grouped according to their containing open member. Applying the closed version to that shrinking proves the open version. Conversely, if a nonempty closed subset of avoids antipodal pairs, compactness gives positive distance between and . A sufficiently small open neighbourhood of still avoids antipodal pairs. Enlarge each member of a hypothetical closed counterexample in this way; the open version rules it out. Empty members cause no difficulty.
Another common equivalent formulation is the Borsuk-Ulam theorem: every continuous has for some , or, equivalently, every continuous odd function has a zero. For example, if antipodal-pair-free open sets covered , a subordinate partition of unity would give the odd functionIt cannot vanish, since some , whereas antipodal-pair-freeness forces . In the other direction, if an odd function never vanishes, choose vectors forming a regular simplex centred at the origin in . For , the open sets cover and none contains an antipodal pair, contradicting the covering theorem.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 iii Paper 16 1 ii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
The direct image sheaf is defined on an open set byRestrictions are those of , and the sheaf gluing axiom follows by taking inverse images of an open cover. The morphism of ringed spaces supplies . Thus acts on by , making a sheaf of modules over . This definition uses no quasi-coherence.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 iii Paper 16 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
For , the Čech cochain complex has groupsTerms in cancel in pairs, and Čech cohomology is . A degree-zero cocycle is exactly a family of compatible local sections. The sheaf gluing axiom gives their unique global section, proving . If the cover has affine finite intersections, a quasi-coherent sheaf has no higher cohomology on those intersections by vanishing of quasi-coherent cohomology on an affine scheme. The acyclic cover theorem then identifies all Čech groups with sheaf cohomology. In particular, a finite affine open cover of a separated variety has this property.
For the sheaf of units of the structure sheaf, a multiplicative degree-one cocycle is a family satisfying , with . It glues trivial rank-one free modules into an invertible sheaf. Changing the local frames multiplies by a coboundary, and two sets of transition data give isomorphic line bundles precisely when their cocycles differ this way. Tensoring line bundles multiplies their cocycles. Thus line bundles trivialized by an open cover give the group isomorphismFor the remaining arguments, work over the algebraically closed ground field. On the irreducible variety , put , a quotient of sheaves of abelian groups. A global section of is locally represented by rational functions whose ratios are regular units. The corresponding unit cocycle defines an invertible sheaf. A single global rational function has trivial cocycle. Conversely, every line bundle has a nonzero rational section: choose a nonzero vector in its one-dimensional fibre at the generic point and express it in local frames. This supplies such local . If the associated line bundle is trivial, changing frames makes all restrictions of one rational function. Thereforeis exact. This is the Cartier-divisor description of the Picard group. The sheaf of nonzero rational functions on an irreducible variety is flasque, since all restrictions between nonempty open sets are the identity on . Apply the long exact sequence in sheaf cohomology to . Since , its connecting map has exactly the cokernel just computed, provingFinally the Segre description of a smooth quadric surface identifies with . The two rulings of a smooth quadric surface have classes generating . For completeness, remove one line in each ruling: the remaining chart is the affine plane, with factorial coordinate ring and trivial divisor class group. The localization sequence for the divisor class group makes generators, and their degrees on the two ruling lines prove independence. The hyperplane class, and hence the conic , has bidegree . By Picard-group localization on a smooth variety, the Picard group of a smooth affine quadric surface isExplicitly, the restriction of is nontrivial: if it were trivial on , its rational trivialization would have divisor supported on , forcing to be an integer multiple of , which is impossible.