Second group cohomology classifies group extensions

Equivalence classes of group extensions of $G$ by an abelian $G$-module $A$ correspond to $H^2(G,A)$. A section $s:G\to E$ produces the extension cocycleand changing the section changes $c$ by a group coboundary.

With a fixed identification of the kernel with $\mathbb{Z}$ and quotient with ${\mathbb{Z}}^2$, these central group extensions are classified by $n\in \mathbb{Z}$. Choose lifts $x,y$ of the quotient generators; their commutator is $z^n$ and is unchanged by central changes of lifts. Every element has unique normal form $z^m{y}^b{x}^a$, proving this invariant is complete. A cocycle representative is $c((a,b),(c,d))=nad$, whose cocycle identity follows from bilinearity. Its extension multiplication is $(a,b,m)(c,d,l)=(a+c,b+d,m+l+nad)$. The zero parameter gives ${\mathbb{Z}}^3$ and parameter one gives the integer Heisenberg group. The Koszul resolution for a rank-two free abelian group independently computes $H^2({\mathbb{Z}}^2,\mathbb{Z})\cong \mathbb{Z}$.

An extension cocycle is the two-cocycle obtained from a section of a group extension. It measures the failure of the section to be a group homomorphism.