Divisor restriction exact sequence Created 2026-10-05 Updated 2026-10-06
For an effective Cartier divisor and any Cartier divisor , multiplication by a defining section of gives the displayed short exact sequence of sheaves. Its long exact sequence in sheaf cohomology compares sections and cohomology on with their restrictions to .
Flasque-kernel section-lifting lemma Created 2026-10-05 Updated 2026-10-14
For a short exact sequence of sheaves with flasque sheaf kernel, every section of the quotient on any open set lifts to the middle sheaf on that set. Use the Zorn lemma to choose a maximal partial lift, with chains glued by the sheaf gluing axiom. A new local lift differs from the old one on their overlap by a kernel section. Extend that difference by flasqueness, adjust the new lift, and glue, contradicting maximality unless its domain is the entire open set. Consequently a quotient of two flasque sheaves is flasque. With an injective resolution of sheaves, the long exact sequence in sheaf cohomology and repeated dimension shifts prove that flasque sheaves have zero positive-degree cohomology.
Flasque resolution 2026-10-05
A flasque resolution is an exact sequence of sheaves of abelian groups whose terms are flasque sheaves. Every such sheaf embeds by its section germs into the sheaf . Its restriction maps are projections, so it is flasque. Apply this construction successively to the cokernels to obtain a resolution. The sheaf cohomology of is the cohomology of the cochain complex . A quotient of two flasque sheaves in a short exact sequence of sheaves is flasque: the flasque kernel allows local lifts to be glued into a section of the middle sheaf over the smaller open set; extend that lift using flasqueness of the middle sheaf, and project. Consequently the resolution's successive cokernels are flasque when is flasque, and exactness of sections shows that all its positive-degree cohomology vanishes.
Holomorphic exponential sequence Created 2026-10-05 Updated 2026-10-06
For the structure sheaf of a complex manifold, local holomorphic logarithms give the short exact sequence of sheavesThe connecting map sends a holomorphic line bundle to its First Chern class. In particular, it is onto when .
For a hyperplane with inclusion , multiplication by its defining linear homogeneous polynomial gives the short exact sequence of sheavesThe long exact sequence in sheaf cohomology relates twists in consecutive degrees and consecutive dimensions. Surjectivity of restriction on global homogeneous polynomials, together with eventual positive-twist vanishing, proves vanishing of intermediate cohomology by descending induction. The top-degree dimensions satisfy for , where .
Ideal sheaf of a closed subscheme Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
For a closed immersion , the ideal sheaf is the kernel . It therefore fits into the short exact sequence of sheaves
Local splitting when a quotient sheaf is locally free Created 2026-10-06 Updated 2026-10-14
In a short exact sequence of sheaves , if is locally free of finite rank, the sequence splits near every point. Trivialize , lift its finitely many basis sections locally, and shrink to one neighbourhood on which all lifts exist. The lifts define a splitting. If is also locally free, then so is . Conversely locally free kernel and middle term need not give a locally free quotient: multiplication by on has quotient supported at the origin.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2001 iii Paper 4 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Use homogeneous coordinates . Multiplication by these degree-one sections defines the sheaf morphismOn , write , with , and let be the standard vector in component using the local line bundle frame of . Then , so is surjective since . Its kernel is a locally free sheaf with basisIndeed any vector in the kernel is uniquely a sum of these vectors, by solving for its -th component.
The Kähler differential sheaf has basis on , since this chart is a polynomial affine scheme. Define the local map . To check that these isomorphisms glue, on put and . ThenThe twisting sheaf on projective space frame changes by , henceFor , use , and ; the same formula applies. Thus the differential and kernel frames have identical transition matrices. We obtain the cotangent form of the Euler sequence:This construction works over any field, including positive characteristic.
The Kähler differential sheaf has rank . Taking determinant line bundles in this locally split short exact sequence of sheaves givesThe left side is the tensor product of copies of , and . ConsequentlyIt is the canonical bundle of projective space. The determinant identity can also be seen directly by taking the wedge of the kernel basis followed by a lift of the quotient basis; changing that lift by a kernel vector leaves the wedge unchanged.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2003 iii Paper 15 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Let be a separated Noetherian scheme over a field and a coherent sheaf. Coherent cohomology studies the groups : global sections in degree zero and the obstructions to gluing local sections in higher degrees. Coherence means finite generation locally, and on a Noetherian scheme it is preserved by kernels, cokernels and extensions. This makes coherent sheaves suitable for exact-sequence calculations.
For an ordered open cover , the Čech cochain groups arewith differentialEach double omission occurs twice with opposite signs, so . The Čech cohomology of the cover is , and taking the direct limit over refinements defines cover-independent Čech cohomology. In degree zero the sheaf gluing axiom identifies it with .
The comparison with derived-functor sheaf cohomology is particularly effective algebraically. Positive-degree cohomology of a quasi-coherent sheaf on an affine scheme vanishes. A separated scheme has affine intersections of affine opens, so a finite affine cover is acyclic for . Its Čech cochain complex consequently computes directly. For a short exact sequence of sheaves, sections over each affine intersection are exact on quasi-coherent sheaves. The resulting short exact sequence of Čech complexes gives the long exact sequence in sheaf cohomology. In particular, the connecting map measures the failure of a global section of the quotient to lift globally.
Several central projective results make the theory finite and computable. On a projective variety over , every coherent cohomology group is finite-dimensional. The Grothendieck vanishing theorem gives for . If is ample, Serre vanishing gives for sufficiently large , and these large twists are globally generated sheaves. On projective space a coherent sheaf has a finite twisting resolution of a coherent sheaf on projective space: finite sums of resolve it. The explicit line-bundle cohomology below and the long exact sequences prove finiteness and positive-twist vanishing. For a closed embedding , is coherent and , reducing these results to projective space. A sufficiently positive twist of a finite presentation by sums of also proves global generation.
The Euler characteristic of a coherent sheafis therefore defined, and the long exact sequence makes it additive. With a fixed projective embedding, is its Hilbert polynomial, and for sufficiently large it equals . On a smooth projective variety of dimension , Serre duality gives, for a vector bundle ,For an arbitrary coherent sheaf the correct counterpart is ; replacing this Ext group indiscriminately by the cohomology of the ordinary sheaf dual would lose local extension information.
We now calculate the basic examples. For , use the standard cover of . Sections of on an intersection are degree- Laurent monomials in which negative exponents are allowed only for coordinates inverted on that intersection. Decompose the Čech cochain complex by exponent vectors with sum . If no exponent is negative, the corresponding simplex complex contributes only in degree zero. If all exponents are negative, the monomial occurs only on the full intersection and contributes only in degree . When the negative-index set is nonempty and proper, inserting any index outside it gives a contracting homotopy, so the monomial complex is acyclic. Hence the cohomology of twisting sheaves on projective space isIn the top group a basis consists of the Laurent monomials with every exponent at most . Writing reduces the count to nonnegative solutions of , giving the displayed binomial coefficient. In particular, all intermediate cohomology vanishes, and agrees with Serre duality. For separately, every twist is trivial and .
On the projective line this givesThus positive and negative degrees produce quite different groups, while their alternating difference is a single polynomial. The twisted cubic is isomorphic to and its hyperplane bundle corresponds to . Consequently for , agreeing with Q2, and .
For a smooth plane curve of degree , the ideal-sheaf sequence of a projective hypersurface isThe long exact sequence in sheaf cohomology and the preceding formula give and . ThereforeFor this is zero; for a plane cubic it is one. Twisting the same exact sequence gives . These examples illustrate how Čech cohomology, vanishing, Serre duality and exact sequences convert local equations into global numerical invariants.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2005 iii Paper 14 1 c Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Since is an irreducible variety, every nonempty open subset is irreducible and the sheaf of nonzero rational functions on an irreducible variety has value there. All its restriction maps between nonempty opens are identities, and restriction to the empty set is surjective. Thus is a flabby sheaf, and the introductory argument gives .
Apply the long exact sequence in sheaf cohomology to the short exact sequence of sheavesIts relevant portion isThe connecting homomorphism is therefore surjective, with kernel the image of . The computation in part (a) now givesConcretely, local rational equations of a divisor on an algebraic curve differ by regular units on overlaps. Their ratios give the gluing data of an invertible sheaf; changing the local equations by units changes those data by a coboundary. This is the transition-function interpretation of the identification with the Picard group. Reversing all transition ratios replaces a class by its inverse; either consistent convention gives the same group isomorphism.
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 2016 iii Paper 113 3 iii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
The first implication is false. On the Noetherian scheme , the short exact sequence of sheaveshas locally free first and middle terms. The quotient is not locally free: at it is a nonzero module annihilated by , whereas a free module over the integral domain has no such element.
The second implication is true. Near any point trivialize and . Choose a finite local basis of . Surjectivity as a sheaf gives local lifts of its basis sections; shrink to the intersection of their finitely many neighbourhoods. The lifts define a splitting on that neighbourhood. Thus there and is locally free. This is local splitting when a quotient sheaf is locally free; no global splitting is asserted.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 113 4 i Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
We prove the vanishing by an injective resolution of sheaves and the flasque-kernel section-lifting lemma.
For a short exact sequence of sheaves with flasque kernel, every section of on an open set lifts to there. Indeed choose a maximal partial lift by the Zorn lemma, using the sheaf gluing axiom on chains. At any point outside its domain choose a local lift. The difference on the overlap is a section of and extends to the new open set by flasqueness; subtract that extension from the new lift and glue. Maximality forces the lift's domain to be the whole open set. Thus taking sections preserves this short exact sequence.
Every injective sheaf is flasque: for , the monomorphism between the extension by zero sheaves and the defining extension property of injectivity make the restriction surjective. Embed into an injective sheaf . The quotient is flasque as well: lift a section of on a smaller open to , extend it in , and project.
The long exact sequence in sheaf cohomology now gives , since is surjective, and for gives , since injectives have zero positive-degree derived functors. Repeat the construction for the flasque quotient. After finitely many such shifts any specified positive degree reduces to a vanishing first group. HenceNo separation, compactness or scheme hypothesis is used.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 113 3 a Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
First consider the preliminary cohomological facts. The exam's term flabby means flasque sheaf: every restriction map is surjective. For open sets , lift a section of to using the given surjectivity when is flasque. Extend that lift to using the flasque sheaf , then project to . This proves that is a flasque sheaf.
One construction of a flasque resolution starts with the sheaf , with pointwise restriction. It is a sheaf of abelian groups with surjective restrictions, and sending a section to all its germs embeds in it. Repeating on the cokernels constructs an exact sequencewith each flasque. Define sheaf cohomology by the cohomology of the cochain complex of global sections of such a resolution; the groups are independent of the chosen flasque resolution. If is itself flasque, the quotient result just proved makes every successive cokernel flasque. Applying the assumed surjectivity of sections to each successive short exact sequence of sheaves proves exactness of the global-section complex in positive degrees. Thus for .
Now let be the function field of the smooth algebraic curve. Its divisor class group isHere is the discrete valuation of the discrete valuation ring , and consists of the principal divisor elements . These sums have finite support: on a finite affine cover, represent as a fraction of regular functions; each nonzero numerator or denominator has only finitely many zeros on a curve, since a proper closed subset of a Noetherian one-dimensional irreducible space is finite.
For a divisor on an algebraic curve , define the line bundle associated to a divisor byIn this expression the valuation condition applies to nonzero . If is a uniformizer, the stalk is . Shrinking around removes all other zeros and poles of and all other points in the support of , so this also gives an actual local generator. Thus is a locally free sheaf of rank one. Multiplication gives an isomorphismon every stalk. If , then , so the construction factors through a homomorphism .
It is injective: if is trivial, an isomorphism from supplies a nonzero global rational generator . At each closed point, generates , giving , hence .
It is surjective: take a line bundle and a nonzero rational section , obtained by choosing a frame on any nonempty trivializing open set. If is a local frame, write with . Since changes of frame are units, is independent of the frame near . A finite trivializing cover shows that these numbers have finite support. Set . The map gives , because at the condition is exactly regularity of . Replacing by changes by , so this construction is well defined on classes. This proves the divisor class group and Picard group of a smooth curve identification
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 113 3 c Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
The sheaf of nonzero rational functions on an irreducible variety is a flasque sheaf. Indeed, its sections on any nonempty open subset are : irreducibility makes nonempty open subsets connected and makes any two of them meet, so locally constant rational-function values must agree. Restrictions between such opens are identities; restriction to the empty set is also surjective. The preliminary argument therefore givesApply the long exact sequence in sheaf cohomology to the short exact sequence of sheaves of multiplicative abelian groupsIts relevant part isPart (b) identifies the first map with the principal divisor map . Exactness therefore identifies its cokernel with . Combining this with part (a) givesThe connecting map sends a divisor to the class of the unit ratios of its local rational representatives; these are precisely the transition data of the associated line bundle, up to the usual choice of inverse transition convention.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 118 2 d Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
Evaluation is surjective as a sheaf morphism: near , any prescribed value is supplied by a constant holomorphic function. We therefore have a short exact sequence of sheaveswhere is the point ideal sheaf and the sheaf of holomorphic functions. By part (c), the skyscraper sheaf is flasque, so and for .
On the connected compact elliptic curve, the maximum modulus principle makes every global holomorphic function constant. Consequently , and evaluation on global sections is an isomorphism. Also : by Serre duality for compact complex manifolds, its dual is , generated by the nowhere-zero form descended from . Higher cohomology of vanishes by the Dolbeault theorem in complex dimension one.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 iii Paper 118 5 d Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
Let be the sheaf of closed holomorphic one-forms, namely . The local exactness proved in part (b) gives the short exact sequence of sheavesIts long exact sequence in sheaf cohomology beginsThe first arrow is an isomorphism: on a compact complex manifold, a global holomorphic function is constant on each connected component, just as a global section of the constant sheaf is. Thus is injective. By part (c), every global holomorphic differential form of degree one is closed, so .
Concretely, for a holomorphic differential form of degree one choose local holomorphic primitives . The connecting class is represented by the locally constant Čech cocycle on overlaps. The following arrow is induced by the inclusion of the constant sheaf into the sheaf of holomorphic functions. Exactness is inherited from the long exact sequence, giving
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2025 iii Paper 113 1 c Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25