Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge / 2019 / ii / Paper 3 / 20F (Algebraic Topology)

Because $L$ is a simplicial subcomplex of $K$, every face of a simplex of $L$ also belongs to $L$. The simplicial boundary operator therefore satisfiesso $C_{\bullet }(L)$ is a chain subcomplex of the simplicial chain complex $C_{\bullet }(K)$.

Define a map on the quotient groups byIf $c^{\prime }=c+\ell$ with $\ell \in C_k(L)$, then $\partial c^{\prime }-\partial c=\partial \ell \in C_{k-1}(L)$, so this definition is independent of the representative. Moreover,Thus $C_{\bullet }(K,L)$ is the relative simplicial chain complex.

Inclusion and passage to the quotient give a short exact sequence of chain complexesDefine the connecting homomorphism as follows. If $[c]\in H_k(K,L)$, then $\bar{\partial }[c]=0$, so $\partial c\in C_{k-1}(L)$. Since ${\partial }^{2}c=0$, it is a chain cycle in $L$, and we setChanging $c$ by a relative boundary or a chain in $L$ changes $\partial c$ by a boundary in $L$, so $\delta$ is well defined.

The resulting sequence isWe verify exactness directly. If a cycle of $K$ maps to zero in the relative homology, it differs from a boundary by a cycle in $L$, so it lies in $\mathrm{im}{i}_{\ast }$. If a relative cycle $[c]$ satisfies $\delta [c]=0$, then $\partial c=\partial \ell$ for some $\ell \in C_k(L)$; hence $c-\ell$ is a cycle in $K$ mapping to $[c]$. Finally, if a cycle $z\in C_{k-1}(L)$ becomes a boundary in $K$, say $z=\partial c$, then $[c]$ is a relative cycle with $\delta [c]=[z]$. The reverse containments follow immediately from consecutive composites being zero. This proves the long exact sequence in relative homology.

Let $K_n$ be the abstract simplex on the vertex setthus every subset of these vertices is a simplex. Let $L_{n-1}$ be its boundary subcomplex of a simplex, consisting of all proper faces, so the only simplex of $K_n$ absent from $L_{n-1}$ is the full $n$-simplex $[v_0\cdots v_n]$.

The geometric realization of a simplicial complex $|K_n|$ is the usual solid geometric $n$-simplex, which is homeomorphic to the closed disk $D^n$. Under such a homeomorphism its topological boundary is $|L_{n-1}|$, and

For the pair from part (c), every simplex of dimension below $n$ lies in $L_{n-1}$. Consequently the relative simplicial chain complex haswhere the degree-$n$ generator is the class of $[v_0\cdots v_n]$. Its relative boundary is zero because every codimension-one face lies in $L_{n-1}$. All differentials therefore vanish, andThis is the relative homology of a simplex and its boundary. Equivalently, the long exact sequence in relative homology, together with the fact that $|K_n|$ is a contractible space and the homology of a sphere $|L_{n-1}|\cong S^{n-1}$, gives the reduced homology identification $H_k(K_n,L_{n-1})\cong {\tilde{H}}_{k-1}(S^{n-1})$.