Affine module sheaf 2026-10-14
For an affine variety with coordinate ring and an -module , localization defines sections on principal open subsets by the displayed formula. Restrictions are the natural localization maps. Equivalently, a section is a family of stalk values which locally come from one fraction . These data form a quasi-coherent sheaf, with global sections and stalk at . Sheaf tensor products correspond to tensor products over ; pullback of a sheaf of modules corresponds to extension of scalars, and affine direct image to restriction of scalars.
Inverse-image direct-image adjunction 2026-10-06
For sheaves of abelian groups and a continuous map , there is a natural bijection . It comes from the universal property of an inverse image sheaf. The inverse image of abelian sheaves is different from the tensor-adjusted pullback of a sheaf of modules on a ringed space.
Inverse image functor 2026-10-14
For a continuous map , the inverse-image functor takes a sheaf on to the sheafification of its local inverse-image presheaf on . It is left adjoint to the direct image functor. For sheaves of modules on ringed spaces, extension of scalars gives the separate pullback of a sheaf of modules.
Past exam of the introduction to schemes course of the University of Oxford 2017 3 a Solution 2026-10-25
Write over its ground field; the argument also works over any Noetherian affine base. Since is a closed immersion, is a noetherian scheme and a quasi-compact scheme. LetHere the pullback of a sheaf of modules makes an invertible sheaf, the restriction of the twisting sheaf on projective space. It is an ample line bundle.
By global generation by sufficiently positive twists, choose such that is a globally generated sheaf. Finitely many global sections suffice: at each point, finite generation of the stalk of the coherent sheaf lets us select finitely many generating germs of global sections. Those sections generate on a neighbourhood, because their cokernel sheaf is a coherent sheaf with zero stalk at that point. A finite subcover, using that is a quasi-compact scheme, supplies finitely many global sections generating everywhere. This is finite global generation on a quasi-compact scheme, and gives a surjective sheaf morphism
Tensor with , where is the dual of a sheaf. Here tensoring with an invertible sheaf is exact: locally the tensor product of sheaves is tensoring with a free module of rank one. Using the permitted identity , we obtainA finite direct sum of sheaves of invertible sheaves is a locally free sheaf of finite rank, and it is a coherent sheaf on the noetherian scheme . This constructs the required . No regularity or smoothness assumption on is needed.
Past exam of the introduction to schemes course of the University of Oxford 2021 3 c Solution 2026-10-25
The exact sequence and associated modules. Put and . Evaluation at zero gives the short exact sequence of -modulesThe affine module sheaf associated to is the ideal sheaf of the closed point , and the one associated to is the structure sheaf . To identify the third term, on a principal open subset ,which equals . The restrictions also agree, so . Exactness of localization proves that applying the affine module sheaf construction to the module sequence remains exact: on every stalk the sequence is its localization. ThusEach term is an affine module sheaf, hence a quasi-coherent sheaf. In this example each is also a coherent sheaf, since its defining module is finitely generated over the Noetherian ring .
The failure of left exactness. For an affine module sheaf , the pullback of a sheaf of modules along corresponds to the tensor product of modules . In particular,The first vector space is nonzero, with basis the class of . But sends this class to the class of in , which is zero. Thus is the zero map , and is not injective. More explicitly, the pulled-back sequence iswhere exactness fails at its first copy of . Thus is not a left-exact functor:Although is a free module over with one generator, its inclusion into becomes multiplication by after choosing its generator; the tensor product of modules with kills that map. This makes explicit why local freeness of does not preserve this injection under the given pullback.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 iii Paper 17 2 iii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
First form the inverse image sheaf by sheafifying the presheafwhere runs through open subsets of . It is naturally a module over , not yet over . The structure morphism allows extension of scalars, giving the pullback of a sheaf of modules:The tensor product of sheaves includes its own sheafification. At the construction becomesThis adjustment of the coefficient ring distinguishes the pullback from the underlying inverse image sheaf.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2006 iii Paper 17 2 Solution 2026-10-14
The affine module sheaf construction makes the remaining statements explicit. For and an -module , defineon the basis of principal open subsets. Restrictions are the natural localization maps. Equivalently, a section on an arbitrary open set is a family which near each point is represented by a single fraction , with nonvanishing throughout that neighbourhood. This locally representable family construction gives a sheaf; the usual localization gluing verifies its quasi-coherence. Its stalk is andThis last identification is precisely the standard module-localization gluing on the affine basis, not an assertion that arbitrary sheaves are determined by their global sections.
Now write , and . Let , for -modules , and let for a -module . The affine versions of the three constructions areHere denotes restriction of scalars along , whereas the last associated sheaf lives on . To verify the tensor-product assertion, localize at every prime: both stalks are . For the direct image, , andThese equalities identify the sheaves on a basis and respect restrictions. For the pullback of a sheaf of modules, its stalk at is , exactly the stalk of . The local tensor maps are compatible, so these stalk identifications come from an actual sheaf isomorphism. Thus all three constructions are quasi-coherent in the stated affine setting.
Finally construct the natural projection formula for sheaves map by sending a local tensor to in the pulled-back module, followed by direct image. In the affine description, the target is the sheaf associated with the -module , while corresponds to . The mapsare inverse -linear maps. Localizing them commutes with every restriction, provingNo flatness assumption on or finiteness assumption on is needed.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 iii Paper 16 1 iii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
First form the inverse image sheaf by applying sheafification toIt is a sheaf of modules over . The morphism of ringed spaces gives a ring map , so the pullback of a sheaf of modules isAt , writing , its stalk is . The tensor construction makes the action of the structure sheaf explicit; taking the inverse image alone would not give the requested -module.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 113 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
The tensor product of sheaves is the sheafification of the presheafwith restriction maps induced by those of , , and the structure sheaf of a scheme. Sending the germ of to gives a canonical mapIt is surjective because a finite sum of tensors of germs has representatives on one common neighborhood. It is injective because an equality in a tensor product of modules is witnessed by finitely many additive and balancing relations; all their germs, including the scalars in , can be represented and their equalities made valid on a common smaller neighborhood. Equivalently, a filtered colimit of modules commutes with these tensor products. Since sheafification preserves the stalk of a sheaf, this proves the asserted isomorphism.
For the pullback of a sheaf of modules, first form the inverse image sheaf : sheafify . The morphism of sheaves of rings then definesExactness of a sequence of sheaf of modules morphisms is checked on every stalk of a sheaf. Applying the right exactness of the tensor product of modules to the stalk sequence over gives the exact stalk sequence of the pullbacks. Thus preserves sequences ending in zero, as required.
A quasi-coherent sheaf is a sheaf of modules locally of the form for a module over the coordinate ring of an affine neighborhood. On an affine variety with ring , this associated sheaf is characterized on principal opens by , using localization of a module. Suppose and is affine, with ring . The induced algebra map gives a canonical mapAt a point , both sides identify with : on the right use and associativity of the tensor product of modules. The map is therefore an isomorphism on every stalk of a sheaf, hence an isomorphism of sheaves. Such cover , proving that the pullback is a quasi-coherent sheaf.
Finally, on an affine open with ring , the presheaf defining has, on , the valueConsequently , so is a quasi-coherent sheaf. The algebra map for is the composite . Restriction of functions and the tensor-product construction give a canonical sheaf morphism . At , it is the associativity isomorphismIt is therefore a sheaf of modules isomorphism. In particular,
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2021 iii Paper 113 2 c Solution 2026-09-28
The two pairs of regular functionsdefine maps to the projective line on the loci where their respective coordinates do not vanish simultaneously. Those loci cover , since simultaneous failure would force . On their overlap the equation says that the two projective points are equal. They therefore glue to a morphism
Let be the homogeneous coordinates on . The pullback of the hyperplane divisor has local equation on the first chart and on the second. It is therefore exactly . Compatibility of the pullback of a sheaf of modules with the line bundle associated to a divisor givesThis is the ruling morphism of the punctured three-dimensional affine quadric cone associated with .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2023 iii Paper 113 3 a Solution 2026-09-28
An -module is a quasi-coherent sheaf when every affine open has for some -module . For a morphism , its direct image sheaf iswhile the pullback of a sheaf of modules is
If is a closed immersion of Noetherian schemes, then on an affine open one has . The restriction of corresponds to the cyclic -module , so it is finitely generated. Hence is a coherent sheaf; more generally this is the direct image of a coherent sheaf under a closed immersion.
Coherence need not survive an arbitrary pushforward. Letbe the open immersion. The sheaf is coherent, butis not a finitely generated -module. Therefore is not coherent.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2026 iii Paper 113 2 a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
The direct image sheaf is defined on each open set byThe pullback of a sheaf of modules iswhere is the inverse image sheaf and the tensor product uses the structural morphism of the given ringed-space morphism.
Pullback-direct-image adjunction unit 2026-10-06
For a morphism of ringed spaces, the pullback of a sheaf of modules is left adjoint to the direct image sheaf functor. The unit sends a local section to after inverse image. On the structure sheaf it becomes the given ring homomorphism .
The restriction meant here is the pullback of a sheaf of modules to the closed subvariety, including tensoring with its structure sheaf. On an affine chart, tensoring with gives . This distinction matters because restricting only the underlying topological sheaf would retain the ambient ring action.