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For a simplex $\sigma$ in a simplicial complex $K$, its link consists of the simplexes disjoint from $\sigma$ whose union with $\sigma$ is a simplex of $K$:This is a simplicial subcomplex, because taking a nonempty face preserves both conditions. At a vertex of a closed combinatorial surface its link is a cycle graph; at a boundary vertex in a triangulated surface with boundary it is a graph path. Geometrically, the incident triangles form a cyclic fan or a fan with two ends. Deleting one incident triangular face from a cyclic fan changes the vertex link into a path.

Represent a class in $H_k(K)$ by a chain cycle $z\in Z_k(K)$. Since every simplex of $K=M\cup N$ belongs to at least one of the two simplicial subcomplexes, split the chain in the simplicial chain complex asBecause $\partial z=0$, we haveThe left side lies in $C_{k-1}(M)$ and the right side in $C_{k-1}(N)$, so this common chain is supported in $L=M\cap N$. It is a cycle because ${\partial }^2=0$. The connecting homomorphism is thereforeChanging the decomposition or the representative changes $\partial m$ only by a boundary in $L$, which is why the construction descends to homology classes.

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.

A topological surface is a Hausdorff space with a countable basis of a topology in which every point has an open neighbourhood homeomorphic to an open subset of the Euclidean plane. We use the convention that a surface has no boundary unless a surface with boundary is explicitly specified. A closed surface is compact and has no boundary. Some conventions also include connectedness in the definition; we impose it on the closed combinatorial surface below.

A closed combinatorial surface is a finite connected simplicial complex $K$ with the following properties: every simplex is a face of a simplex of dimension two, and the link of a simplex at every vertex is a cycle graph. Explicitly, for a vertex $v$ its link is the simplicial subcomplexTo say this is a cycle graph means that there are distinct vertices $w_1,\dots ,w_m$, with $m\ge 3$, and exactly the link edges $\{w_i,w_{i+1}\}$, with indices modulo $m$. In particular, every edge of $K$ belongs to exactly two triangles. The vertex-link condition also requires that the triangles around each vertex form one cyclic fan; edge incidence alone would allow singular examples.

These conditions make $|K|$ a closed surface. A point inside a triangle has a disc neighbourhood, the two triangles at an edge give a disc neighbourhood, and the cyclic fan at a vertex gives a disc neighbourhood. Finiteness gives compactness, the Hausdorff property, and a countable basis of a topology from a realization in a finite-dimensional Euclidean space. If disconnected closed combinatorial surfaces are allowed, each connected component satisfies this definition separately.

Use compatible edge identifications: choose a bijection between the three boundary vertices of $\tau$ and those of $\sigma$, and extend it linearly on each edge. This defines a simplicial homeomorphism of the two boundary circles. This compatibility is the usual meaning of gluing the two boundary triangles; independently chosen edge reversals need not agree at their endpoints. The classification needed here is 3(a)(iv); the printed reference to 3(a)(iii) is a source error.

Delete the two triangular simplexes but retain all their proper faces of a simplex, and identify the two resulting boundary simplicial subcomplexes by this map. The result is a finite abstract simplicial complex $L$: vertices from different sides are identified only in the boundary, and the only shared edges are boundary edges. There is no triangle consisting of all three boundary vertices after the two faces have been removed. Consequently no other simplexes become duplicates. Its geometric realization has the specified quotient topology and is homeomorphic to $Z$.

We check the closed combinatorial surface conditions. Away from the seam, vertex links of a simplex remain cycle graphs. At a boundary vertex of $X$ or $Y$, removing the face changes its link from a cycle graph to a graph path, with endpoints corresponding to its two boundary edges. Gluing the boundaries identifies the two paths' respective endpoints, making one cycle graph. Each seam edge now meets one triangle from $X$ and one from $Y$, and all other edges retain their original two incident triangles. Thus every vertex link is a cycle graph and every simplex lies in a triangle. The simplicial complex is connected, since the two connected punctured surfaces meet along their boundary circle. Hence $L$ is a closed combinatorial surface.

This construction is the connected sum of surfaces $T^2\#{\mathbb{RP}}^2$. For completeness, compute its Euler characteristic directly. Removing a triangular face while retaining its edges and vertices subtracts one, soGluing identifies three vertex pairs and three edge pairs, givingFor the explicit triangulations above, this is also $62-189+126=-1$.

Finally $Z$ is a nonorientable surface. If $Z$ were orientable, its restriction would make $Y$ orientable. The consistent choices of orientation of a simplex on its triangles extend across a capping disc: choose the cap's orientation of a simplex so that the induced directions on the common boundary oppose. Capping $Y$ by $\sigma$ would therefore make the real projective plane orientable, a contradiction. The obstruction to orientability in the real projective plane can also be seen from a Möbius band neighbourhood of a projective line.

By the classification theorem for closed combinatorial surfaces, a nonorientable surface with Euler characteristic $-1$ has $2-k=-1$, hence $k=3$. Therefore

If $L$ is a simplicial subcomplex of $K$, thenIts homology is the simplicial relative homology $H_k(K,L)$.