In mathematics, a sheaf of ''O''-modules or simply an ''O''-module over a
ringed space
In mathematics, a ringed space is a family of (commutative) rings parametrized by open subsets of a topological space together with ring homomorphisms that play roles of restrictions. Precisely, it is a topological space equipped with a sheaf of ...
(''X'', ''O'') is a
sheaf
Sheaf may refer to:
* Sheaf (agriculture), a bundle of harvested cereal stems
* Sheaf (mathematics)
In mathematics, a sheaf (: sheaves) is a tool for systematically tracking data (such as sets, abelian groups, rings) attached to the open s ...
''F'' such that, for any open subset ''U'' of ''X'', ''F''(''U'') is an ''O''(''U'')-module and the restriction maps ''F''(''U'') → ''F''(''V'') are compatible with the restriction maps ''O''(''U'') → ''O''(''V''): the restriction of ''fs'' is the restriction of ''f'' times the restriction of ''s'' for any ''f'' in ''O''(''U'') and ''s'' in ''F''(''U'').
The standard case is when ''X'' is a
scheme and ''O'' its structure sheaf. If ''O'' is the
constant sheaf
In mathematics, the constant sheaf on a topological space X associated to a set (mathematics), set A is a Sheaf (mathematics), sheaf of sets on X whose stalk (sheaf), stalks are all equal to A. It is denoted by \underline or A_X. The constant presh ...
, then a sheaf of ''O''-modules is the same as a
sheaf of abelian groups
In mathematics, a sheaf (: sheaves) is a tool for systematically tracking data (such as sets, abelian groups, rings) attached to the open sets of a topological space and defined locally with regard to them. For example, for each open set, the d ...
(i.e., an abelian sheaf).
If ''X'' is the
prime spectrum
In commutative algebra, the prime spectrum (or simply the spectrum) of a commutative ring R is the set of all prime ideals of R, and is usually denoted by \operatorname; in algebraic geometry it is simultaneously a topological space equipped with ...
of a ring ''R'', then any ''R''-module defines an ''O''
''X''-module (called an associated sheaf) in a natural way. Similarly, if ''R'' is a
graded ring
In mathematics, in particular abstract algebra, a graded ring is a ring such that the underlying additive group is a direct sum of abelian groups R_i such that . The index set is usually the set of nonnegative integers or the set of integers, but ...
and ''X'' is the
Proj
In algebraic geometry, Proj is a construction analogous to the spectrum-of-a-ring construction of affine schemes, which produces objects with the typical properties of projective spaces and projective varieties. The construction, while not funct ...
of ''R'', then any graded module defines an ''O''
''X''-module in a natural way. ''O''-modules arising in such a fashion are examples of
quasi-coherent sheaves
In mathematics, especially in algebraic geometry and the theory of complex manifolds, coherent sheaves are a class of sheaves closely linked to the geometric properties of the underlying space. The definition of coherent sheaves is made with refer ...
, and in fact, on affine or projective schemes, all quasi-coherent sheaves are obtained this way.
Sheaves of modules over a ringed space form an
abelian category
In mathematics, an abelian category is a category in which morphisms and objects can be added and in which kernels and cokernels exist and have desirable properties.
The motivating prototypical example of an abelian category is the category o ...
. Moreover, this category has
enough injectives
In mathematics, especially in the field of category theory, the concept of injective object is a generalization of the concept of injective module. This concept is important in cohomology, in homotopy theory and in the theory of model categories. ...
, and consequently one can and does define the
sheaf cohomology
In mathematics, sheaf cohomology is the application of homological algebra to analyze the global sections of a sheaf on a topological space. Broadly speaking, sheaf cohomology describes the obstructions (holes) to solving a geometric problem glob ...
as the ''i''-th
right derived functor of the
global section functor .
Examples
*Given a ringed space (''X'', ''O''), if ''F'' is an ''O''-submodule of ''O'', then it is called the sheaf of ideals or
ideal sheaf In algebraic geometry and other areas of mathematics, an ideal sheaf (or sheaf of ideals) is the global analogue of an ideal (ring theory), ideal in a ring (mathematics), ring. The ideal sheaves on a geometric object are closely connected to its sub ...
of ''O'', since for each open subset ''U'' of ''X'', ''F''(''U'') is an
ideal of the ring ''O''(''U'').
*Let ''X'' be a
smooth variety In algebraic geometry, a smooth scheme over a Field (mathematics), field is a scheme (mathematics), scheme which is well approximated by affine space near any point. Smoothness is one way of making precise the notion of a scheme with no Singular poi ...
of dimension ''n''. Then the
tangent sheaf of ''X'' is the dual of the
cotangent sheaf and the
canonical sheaf
The adjective canonical is applied in many contexts to mean 'according to the canon' the standard, rule or primary source that is accepted as authoritative for the body of knowledge or literature in that context. In mathematics, ''canonical example ...
is the ''n''-th exterior power (
determinant
In mathematics, the determinant is a Scalar (mathematics), scalar-valued function (mathematics), function of the entries of a square matrix. The determinant of a matrix is commonly denoted , , or . Its value characterizes some properties of the ...
) of
.
*A
sheaf of algebras is a sheaf of modules that is also a sheaf of rings.
Operations
Let (''X'', ''O'') be a ringed space. If ''F'' and ''G'' are ''O''-modules, then their tensor product, denoted by
:
or
,
is the ''O''-module that is the sheaf associated to the presheaf
(To see that sheafification cannot be avoided, compute the global sections of
where ''O''(1) is
Serre's twisting sheaf
In algebraic geometry, Proj is a construction analogous to the spectrum-of-a-ring construction of affine schemes, which produces objects with the typical properties of projective spaces and projective varieties. The construction, while not funct ...
on a projective space.)
Similarly, if ''F'' and ''G'' are ''O''-modules, then
:
denotes the ''O''-module that is the sheaf
. In particular, the ''O''-module
:
is called the dual module of ''F'' and is denoted by
. Note: for any ''O''-modules ''E'', ''F'', there is a canonical homomorphism
:
,
which is an isomorphism if ''E'' is a
locally free sheaf
In mathematics, especially in algebraic geometry and the theory of complex manifolds, coherent sheaves are a class of sheaves closely linked to the geometric properties of the underlying space. The definition of coherent sheaves is made with refer ...
of finite rank. In particular, if ''L'' is locally free of rank one (such ''L'' is called an
invertible sheaf
In mathematics, an invertible sheaf is a sheaf on a ringed space that has an inverse with respect to tensor product of sheaves of modules. It is the equivalent in algebraic geometry of the topological notion of a line bundle. Due to their intera ...
or a
line bundle
In mathematics, a line bundle expresses the concept of a line that varies from point to point of a space. For example, a curve in the plane having a tangent line at each point determines a varying line: the ''tangent bundle'' is a way of organis ...
), then this reads:
:
implying the isomorphism classes of invertible sheaves form a group. This group is called the
Picard group
In mathematics, the Picard group of a ringed space ''X'', denoted by Pic(''X''), is the group of isomorphism classes of invertible sheaves (or line bundles) on ''X'', with the group operation being tensor product. This construction is a global ver ...
of ''X'' and is canonically identified with the first cohomology group
(by the standard argument with
ÄŒech cohomology
In mathematics, specifically algebraic topology, ÄŒech cohomology is a cohomology theory based on the intersection properties of open set, open cover (topology), covers of a topological space. It is named for the mathematician Eduard ÄŒech.
Moti ...
).
If ''E'' is a locally free sheaf of finite rank, then there is an ''O''-linear map
given by the pairing; it is called the
trace map of ''E''.
For any ''O''-module ''F'', the
tensor algebra
In mathematics, the tensor algebra of a vector space ''V'', denoted ''T''(''V'') or ''T''(''V''), is the algebra over a field, algebra of tensors on ''V'' (of any rank) with multiplication being the tensor product. It is the free algebra on ''V'', ...
,
exterior algebra
In mathematics, the exterior algebra or Grassmann algebra of a vector space V is an associative algebra that contains V, which has a product, called exterior product or wedge product and denoted with \wedge, such that v\wedge v=0 for every vector ...
and
symmetric algebra
In mathematics, the symmetric algebra (also denoted on a vector space over a field is a commutative algebra over that contains , and is, in some sense, minimal for this property. Here, "minimal" means that satisfies the following universal ...
of ''F'' are defined in the same way. For example, the ''k''-th exterior power
:
is the sheaf associated to the presheaf
. If ''F'' is locally free of rank ''n'', then
is called the
determinant line bundle (though technically
invertible sheaf
In mathematics, an invertible sheaf is a sheaf on a ringed space that has an inverse with respect to tensor product of sheaves of modules. It is the equivalent in algebraic geometry of the topological notion of a line bundle. Due to their intera ...
) of ''F'', denoted by det(''F''). There is a natural perfect pairing:
:
Let ''f'': (''X'', ''O'') →(''X'', ''O'') be a morphism of ringed spaces. If ''F'' is an ''O''-module, then the
direct image sheaf
In mathematics, the direct image functor is a construction in sheaf theory that generalizes the global sections functor to the relative case. It is of fundamental importance in topology and algebraic geometry. Given a sheaf ''F'' defined on a topo ...
is an ''O''-module through the natural map ''O'' →''f''
*''O'' (such a natural map is part of the data of a morphism of ringed spaces.)
If ''G'' is an ''O''-module, then the module inverse image
of ''G'' is the ''O''-module given as the tensor product of modules:
:
where
is the
inverse image sheaf of ''G'' and
is obtained from
by
adjuction.
There is an adjoint relation between
and
: for any ''O''-module ''F'' and ''O
'''-module ''G'',
:
as abelian group. There is also the
projection formula: for an ''O''-module ''F'' and a locally free ''O
'''-module ''E'' of finite rank,
:
Properties
Let (''X'', ''O'') be a ringed space. An ''O''-module ''F'' is said to be generated by global sections if there is a surjection of ''O''-modules:
:
Explicitly, this means that there are global sections ''s''
''i'' of ''F'' such that the images of ''s''
''i'' in each stalk ''F''
''x'' generates ''F''
''x'' as ''O''
''x''-module.
An example of such a sheaf is that associated in
algebraic geometry
Algebraic geometry is a branch of mathematics which uses abstract algebraic techniques, mainly from commutative algebra, to solve geometry, geometrical problems. Classically, it studies zero of a function, zeros of multivariate polynomials; th ...
to an ''R''-module ''M'', ''R'' being any
commutative ring
In mathematics, a commutative ring is a Ring (mathematics), ring in which the multiplication operation is commutative. The study of commutative rings is called commutative algebra. Complementarily, noncommutative algebra is the study of ring prope ...
, on the
spectrum of a ring
In commutative algebra, the prime spectrum (or simply the spectrum) of a commutative ring R is the set of all prime ideals of R, and is usually denoted by \operatorname; in algebraic geometry it is simultaneously a topological space equipped with ...
''Spec''(''R'').
Another example: according to
Cartan's theorem A
In mathematics, Cartan's theorems A and B are two results proved by Henri Cartan around 1951, concerning a coherent sheaf on a Stein manifold . They are significant both as applied to several complex variables, and in the general development of s ...
, any
coherent sheaf
In mathematics, especially in algebraic geometry and the theory of complex manifolds, coherent sheaves are a class of sheaves closely linked to the geometric properties of the underlying space. The definition of coherent sheaves is made with refer ...
on a
Stein manifold In mathematics, in the theory of several complex variables and complex manifolds, a Stein manifold is a complex submanifold of the vector space of ''n'' complex dimensions. They were introduced by and named after . A Stein space is similar to a Stei ...
is spanned by global sections. (cf. Serre's theorem A below.) In the theory of
schemes, a related notion is
ample line bundle
In mathematics, a distinctive feature of algebraic geometry is that some line bundles on a projective variety can be considered "positive", while others are "negative" (or a mixture of the two). The most important notion of positivity is that of ...
. (For example, if ''L'' is an ample line bundle, some power of it is generated by global sections.)
An injective ''O''-module is
flasque (i.e., all restrictions maps ''F''(''U'') → ''F''(''V'') are surjective). Since a flasque sheaf is acyclic in the category of abelian sheaves, this implies that the ''i''-th right derived functor of the global section functor
in the category of ''O''-modules coincides with the usual ''i''-th sheaf cohomology in the category of abelian sheaves.
Sheaf associated to a module
Let
be a module over a ring
. Put
and write
. For each pair
, by the universal property of localization, there is a natural map
: