Double complex 2026-10-06
A double complex has modules and differentials lowering either index, each squaring to zero and anticommuting with the other. The total chain complex has term and differential the sum of the two differentials. For the tensor product of two chain complexes, a sign on the second differential ensures anticommutation. If the double complex is in the first quadrant and one direction has homology only in degree zero, its total homology is computed by the surviving degree-zero complex. Applying this twice to two free resolutions proves the balanced calculation of the Tor functor.
Hilbert syzygy theorem 2026-10-06
Every finitely generated module with a grading over the polynomial ring has a finite graded free resolution of length at most . The Koszul resolution of has length , so for . In a minimal graded free resolution, this Tor functor is ; the graded Nakayama lemma forces for .
The cellular cochain complex of finite Real projective space consists of alternating maps zero and two. Its groups can be tensored using the Künneth theorem; the integral Künneth torsion polynomial efficiently counts all tensor and Tor functor summands. A product of factors of dimensions two, three and four has free-rank polynomial and torsion polynomial .
Integral Künneth torsion polynomial 2026-10-06
For spaces whose integral cohomology has only free and summands, let encode free ranks and count order-two summands by degree. An additively split integral Künneth theorem gives and the displayed rule for . The term is the cohomological degree shift of the Tor functor contribution. The formula requires this torsion type and the usual finite-type hypotheses.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 iii Paper 15 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Cells and attaching maps. Regard as the lines in and include as the lines whose last coordinate is zero. Its complement consists of lines with a unique representative , and is therefore an open -cell. Inductively this makes Real projective space a CW complex with one cell in each dimension from zero to .
A characteristic map is obtained from the northern closed hemisphere of : send a unit vector to the line it spans. Its interior maps homeomorphically onto the open cell, while its equator has the antipodal identification. Thus the -cell is attached by the quotient mapwhich is the antipodal two-sheeted covering. This includes the two endpoints of the one-cell attaching to the zero-cell.
The cellular chain complex has for and zero otherwise. To compute its differential, follow the attaching map by collapse of the -skeleton. The resulting map to has two local contributions. They differ by the mapping degree of the antipodal map on . With compatible cell orientations,For the two oriented endpoints cancel, giving the same formula. Consecutive differentials compose to zero, as required.
The mod-two cup products. Modulo two every cellular differential vanishes, so cellular cohomology gives a one-dimensional group in each degree . Let be the Poincare dual of a projective hyperplane. This class is nonzero: a projective line transverse to that hyperplane meets it once. Intersecting generic projective hyperplanes produces , and the cup product of their Poincare duals is the Poincare dual of that intersection. In particular, evaluates to one on the mod-two fundamental class. Therefore every , , is nonzero, since otherwise multiplying it by would contradict . Dimension makes . The mod-two cohomology ring of real projective space isFor this simply means the cohomology of a point.
The product with integral coefficients. The final product's coefficients are unstated; take as the default. Dualizing the cellular chain complex above giveswith all unlisted groups zero. The integral Künneth theorem has tensor terms with and Tor functor terms with :For these finite free cellular complexes it splits additively, though not canonically. Both the tensor and Tor functor of two summands give , so no order-four summands occur.
For an efficient count, write for the free-rank polynomial and for the number of summands in each degree. The integral Künneth torsion polynomial rule isThe last two factors record respectively the tensor contribution in summed degree and the Tor functor contribution one degree lower. The three factors haveThe first two give and . Multiplying by the third givesConsequently the integral cohomology of a product of finite real projective spaces in this case isIf the intended coefficients were instead , the Künneth theorem over a field gives the dimension polynomialThus the mod-two groups in degrees zero through nine are respectivelyand all other degrees vanish.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 iii Paper 4 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
For a cohomological spectral sequence, and the next page is its cohomology. In the bounded setting, convergence of a spectral sequence to means that each has a finite decreasing, exhaustive and separated filtration withHere is the eventual stable value. This determines the associated graded module of , rather than automatically a canonical direct-sum decomposition of . For unbounded filtrations additional completeness/convergence conditions are necessary; boundedness removes those issues here.
The bounded filtered-complex convergence theorem states the following. If is a decreasing filtration by cochain subcomplexes, preserved by the differential, finite in each cochain degree (uniform bounds , are sufficient), then there is a spectral sequenceThe abutment filtration is . Its finite length ensures stabilization and the displayed limiting-page identification. The filtered cochain complex need not itself be bounded in cochain degree. In the degreewise finite version, the bounds in degrees suffice to stabilize the terms of total degree .
For a double cochain complex bounded in both indices, form the total cochain complex with anticommuting differentials and total differential . If the original differentials commute, inserting the usual sign in one of them gives this convention. Filtering by the first index gives and then . Filtering by the second index gives the spectral sequence taking horizontal cohomology first and vertical cohomology next. Both filtrations are finite, so both converge to . This is the two spectral sequences of a bounded double complex construction.
The printed left/left tensor expression needs a handedness repair. Over an arbitrary ring, a tensor product of modules over pairs a right module with a left module. To retain the order of the printed formula, take to be a bounded cochain complex of projective right -modules and a left -module. Alternatively, keep left, take right, and write and . For a commutative ring no repair is needed. We prove the first, correctly typed formulation.
Finite projective dimension gives a finite projective resolution by left modules. Form for . On take and . These anticommute, and the double cochain complex is bounded in both directions. Projective modules are flat modules, so taking vertical cohomology first givesThe first identification uses flatness of ; the second is the Tor functor computed by resolving its left-module argument . Balancedness of the Tor functor allows either correctly sided projective resolution to compute it, by the double-resolution argument.
Taking horizontal cohomology first instead uses flatness of . The resolution then leaves only in column . Its remaining differential is , so the augmentation is a quasi-isomorphism. Apply the convergence theorem to this underlying abelian-group double complex. The two spectral sequences therefore prove the Künneth spectral sequence:These are abelian groups in general; an extra module structure requires appropriate bimodule hypotheses. The index is nonpositive, so is the nonnegative homological index of the Tor functor.
Finally write the cycle modules as and the boundary modules as . If every boundary module is projective, the short exact sequence splits. Thus is projective. The short exact sequence is now a length-one projective resolution, so for . The page occupies only columns . Every for goes columns to the right, hence has zero source or zero target. ThereforeThis two-column degeneration of a Künneth spectral sequence gives the edge short exact sequencesDegeneration itself does not supply a canonical splitting. Projective boundaries also do not force to be projective: a complex with differential multiplication by over has projective boundary but a cohomology group.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 iii Paper 101 6 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
For a finitely generated module over the graded ring , with each of degree one, its Poincare series of a graded module isThis is also its Hilbert series. One usually takes ; allowing an integer grading also permits finitely many negative degrees. Homogeneous generators of degrees give a surjection , where the graded shift is defined by . Consequently every is a finite-dimensional vector space and for all sufficiently negative .
The Hilbert-Serre theorem in the standard grading saysFor a nonnegatively graded , the numerator is in . Equivalently, the only possible pole of this rational expression is at , with order at most .
We prove the Hilbert-Serre theorem by induction on the number of variables. For , and is a finite-dimensional graded module; thus is a Laurent polynomial. Suppose and putThe Hilbert basis theorem makes a Noetherian ring, so is a finitely generated module, as is . Both are graded modules killed by , hence finitely generated over .
The graded exact sequenceidentifies the kernel and cokernel of multiplication by . Taking the alternating sum of the finite-dimensional degree components yieldssoBy induction the right side has denominator , which proves the required denominator . Since has no negative powers when is nonnegatively graded, its Laurent polynomial numerator is an ordinary polynomial in that case.
For , this also implies the usual Hilbert polynomial consequence. Writing and usinggives, for all sufficiently large ,a polynomial in of degree at most . For , the graded pieces are eventually zero.
For the final request, a free resolution of is an exact sequencewith each a free module. In the graded setting we take finite direct sums of shifts and maps preserving degree. The resolution has length at most if for every . The syzygy modules are the successive kernels which record the relations among generators, then relations among those relations, and so on.
Put , the homogeneous maximal ideal with . Choose a homogeneous -basis of and lift it to . These lifts generate by the graded Nakayama lemma: a bounded-below graded module satisfying must be zero, since a nonzero homogeneous element of least degree could not be a sum of variables times elements of lower degrees. Apply this to the quotient by the submodule generated by the chosen lifts. This gives a surjection inducing an isomorphism modulo .
Its kernel is finitely generated because is a Noetherian ring. Repeat the construction for that kernel, then for each subsequent kernel. We obtain a minimal graded free resolution, meaningIndeed, at each stage the free cover induces an isomorphism modulo , so its kernel lies in times its source. The sequence is exact by construction, though it may at first appear infinite.
The Koszul complex on iswith basis vectors given degree one, and differentialThe hat means omission of that factor. Every pair of terms in cancels with opposite signs, so this is a chain complex. The sequence is a regular sequence: after quotienting by the first variables, the next variable is a non-zero-divisor in the remaining polynomial ring.
The Koszul complex is consequently exact in positive degrees and has , so it is a Koszul resolution of of length . For completeness, one proves this by induction: for one variable it is . Appending constructs the mapping cone of multiplication by on the previous chain complex. Its homology is zero in positive degrees because acts injectively on ; its degree-zero homology is the further quotient. Here a mapping cone combines a chain complex with a shifted copy and adds the given multiplication map to the differential, thereby measuring its kernel and cokernel on homology.
The Tor functor is defined as the degree- homology of for a free resolution of . It can equally be computed as the homology of , using the Koszul resolution of . To see the equality, form the double complex . Taking homology first along leaves , since each is a free module; taking homology first along leaves , since each is free. The finite sums along each total degree identify both with the homology of the total complex. This also explains the symmetry used in computing the Tor functor.
Since for , we have for . On the other hand, all differentials of the minimal graded free resolution become zero after tensoring with , soThus for , and the graded Nakayama lemma implies for those . We have proved the required Hilbert syzygy theorem:where some initial may be zero. The argument supplies finitely generated graded free modules, which is stronger than merely giving an ungraded free resolution.