Singular homology

Singular homology forms a chain complex from formal sums of continuous maps from standard simplices into a topological space. Its homology groups are invariant under homotopy.

The chain complex whose degree-$n$ group is freely generated over $R$ by the singular simplices $\sigma :{\Delta }^n\to X$. Its boundary is the alternating sum of restrictions to codimension-one faces. The homology of this complex is singular homology.

For an open cover, take the subcomplex generated by singular simplices whose images lie in single cover members. Repeated barycentric subdivision makes each finite singular chain small, and the standard subdivision chain homotopy shows that inclusion induces homology isomorphisms. For a two-set cover, the short exact sequence of these small chains gives the Mayer–Vietoris sequence; excising the complement of one open set from the pair with the other set gives its equivalent relative-homology formulation.

A local coefficient system assigns an Abelian group or module to each point, with compatible transport isomorphisms along paths depending only on homotopy relative endpoints. Equivalently it is a functor from the fundamental groupoid. On a connected manifold it is described by a representation of the fundamental group after fixing one fiber.

Its fiber at $x$ is $H_n(M,M\setminus \{x\};\mathbb{Z})\cong \mathbb{Z}$. Transport changes its generator by the sign of local orientation along the path. For a connected nonorientable manifold, its degree-zero cohomology is zero, because no nonzero integer is invariant under sign reversal, whereas its degree-zero homology is $\mathbb{Z}/2$, the coinvariants under that reversal.

A Betti number is the dimension of a real singular homology group; on a smooth manifold it is also the dimension of the corresponding de Rham cohomology group. For a finite-dimensional cohomology group on a closed Riemannian manifold, it equals the dimension of its space of harmonic representatives. Betti numbers can increase under a finite cover, so equality is a separate hypothesis, not a general covering-space theorem.

For a space with finite-dimensional homology over a specified field and only finitely many nonzero Betti numbers, this polynomial records their graded dimensions. Its value at one is the total Betti number, and its value at minus one is the Euler characteristic. The Künneth theorem gives $P_{M\times N}(t)=P_M(t)P_N(t)$ over a field. For integer homology ranks, use the rational Betti numbers.

A singular $n$-chain is a finite formal integer linear combination of singular simplices. Its support is contained in a compact subset of the ambient space.

The singular chain group is the free abelian group on all continuous maps ${\Delta }^q\to X$, the singular simplices. In particular it is free even when the set of simplices is infinite. This freeness makes applying $\mathrm{Hom}(C_q(X),-)$ to a short exact coefficient sequence exact.

A singular $n$-simplex in a space $X$ is a continuous map $\sigma :{\Delta }^n\to X$ from the standard $n$-simplex. Its alternating restrictions to the faces form its boundary.