Sheaf of meromorphic functions on a complex manifold (${\mathcal{K}}_X$)

The sheaf ${\mathcal{K}}_X$ assigns to an open subset of a complex manifold its meromorphic functions. Its subsheaf ${\mathcal{K}}_X^{\ast }$ consists of the nonzero meromorphic functions, while ${\mathcal{O}}_X^{\ast }$ consists of the nowhere-zero holomorphic functions.

The quotient sheaf ${\mathcal{K}}_X^{\ast }/{\mathcal{O}}_X^{\ast }$ records the zero and pole orders of local nonzero meromorphic functions. Each of its global sections is naturally a divisor on a complex manifold on $X$.

The connecting homomorphism ofsends a divisor on a complex manifold $D$ to its holomorphic line bundle associated to a divisor $\mathcal{O}(D)$ in the Picard group. Its kernel consists exactly of the principal divisors of global nonzero meromorphic functions.

At a point $x$ of a Riemann surface, the principal part of a meromorphic function is the negative-degree part of its Laurent series in a local coordinate. It is equivalently a germ in the quotient ${\mathcal{K}}_x/{\mathcal{O}}_x$.

The principal part at a pole is the finite sum of negative-degree terms of its Laurent series. Prescribing such parts is the problem solved by the Mittag-Leffler theorem.

On a Riemann surface, the quotient sheaf $\mathcal{P}={\mathcal{M}}_X/{\mathcal{O}}_X$ records the finite negative Laurent series tails of meromorphic germs. At $x$, a local coordinate $t$ identifies its stalk with ${⨁}_{m\ge 1}\mathbb{C}{t}^{-m}$. As a sheaf it is the direct sum of sheaves ${⨁}_x(i_x{)}_{\ast }{\mathcal{P}}_x$. Global sections prescribe locally finite families of principal parts, possibly infinite on a noncompact surface. The connecting homomorphism to $H^1(X,{\mathcal{O}}_X)$ is exactly the obstruction to a global meromorphic function with those parts and no extra poles.

The Mittag-Leffler problem asks for a global meromorphic function with prescribed principal parts at a discrete collection of points. For a finite collection, those principal parts define a Čech cocycle for the sheaf $\mathcal{O}$; vanishing of its class in ${\check{H}}^1(X,\mathcal{O})$ is exactly the condition that the problem has a solution.