All Questions
Tagged with homological-algebra at.algebraic-topology
388 questions
128
votes
12
answers
12k
views
Spectral sequences: opening the black box slowly with an example
My friend and I are attempting to learn about spectral sequences at the moment, and we've noticed a common theme in books about spectral sequences: no one seems to like talking about differentials.
...
- 13.5k
93
votes
3
answers
11k
views
What is homology anyway?
Disclaimer: I don't feel qualified to ask this question and yet it's been troubling me for some time now and I lost my patience and decided to ask to get some kind of answer. If there are any stupid ...
- 7,789
90
votes
5
answers
7k
views
Algorithm or theory of diagram chasing
One of the standard parts of homological algebra is "diagram chasing", or equivalent arguments with universal properties in abelian categories. Is there a rigorous theory of diagram chasing, and ...
- 56.6k
72
votes
3
answers
8k
views
Where do all these projection formulas come from?
I have been intrigued for a long time by the formal similarity of results from different areas of mathematics. Here are some examples.
Set theory Given a map $f:X\to Y$ and subsets $X' \subset X, Y'\...
- 47.5k
58
votes
12
answers
29k
views
Homological Algebra texts
I would like to hear the communities' ideas on good Homological Algebra textbooks / references. The standard example is of course Weibel (which I'll leave for someone else to describe).
As usual, ...
51
votes
8
answers
7k
views
Motivating the category of chain complexes
Let $R$ be a commutative ring. For awhile I have been trying to motivate to myself more fully the definition of and various structures on the category $\text{Ch}(R)$ of chain complexes of $R$-modules (...
- 118k
40
votes
4
answers
3k
views
Chain homotopy: Why du+ud and not du+vd?
When one wants to prove that a morphism $f_*$ between two chain complexes $\left(C_*\right)$ and $\left(D_*\right)$ is zero in homology, one of the standard approaches is to look for a chain homotopy, ...
- 33.8k
38
votes
3
answers
6k
views
What is so "spectral" about spectral sequences?
From recent mathematical conversations, I have heard that when Leray first defined spectral sequences, he never published an official explanation of his terminology, namely what is "spectral" about a ...
- 1,764
35
votes
4
answers
3k
views
References for sign conventions in homological algebra
There is no shortage of sign conventions in homological algebra. And once these conventions are set out, there is no shortage of diagrams where an obvious commutative diagram on the underlying ...
34
votes
2
answers
5k
views
Example Wanted: When Does Čech Cohomology Fail to be the same as Derived Functor Cohomology?
I want to know exactly how derived functor cohomology and Cech cohomology can fail to be the same.
I started worrying about this from Dinakar Muthiah's answer to an MO question, and Brian Conrad's ...
- 27.5k
33
votes
3
answers
6k
views
(co)homology of symmetric groups
Let $S_n=\{\text{bijections }[n]\to[n]\}$ be the n-th symmetric group. Its (co)homology will be understood with trivial action. What are the $\mathbb{Z}$-modules $H_k(S_n;\mathbb{Z})$? Using GAP, we ...
- 1,589
33
votes
1
answer
740
views
Equivalence of topological Hochschild homology and Mac Lane homology via an equivalence $QA\simeq HA \wedge_{\mathbb{S}} H\mathbb{Z}$
Mac Lane homology is a homology theory for (not necessarily commutative) rings. Given a ring $A$, Eilenberg and Mac Lane define its cubical construction $QA$ to be a certain connective chain complex, ...
- 498
32
votes
8
answers
2k
views
Noncommutative rational homotopy type
Ok, this question is much less ambitious than it might sound, but still:
Two commutative differential graded algebras (cdga's) are quasi-isomorphic if they can be connected by a chain of cdga quasi-...
- 23.5k
32
votes
5
answers
4k
views
Some intuition behind the five lemma?
Slightly simplified, the five lemma states that if we have a commutative diagram (in, say, an abelian category)
$$\require{AMScd}
\begin{CD}
A_1 @>>> A_2 @>>> A_3 @>>> A_4 @...
- 1,412
31
votes
1
answer
3k
views
What was the error in the proof of Roos' theorem?
Background: In 1961, Roos (who, sadly, apparently passed away just last month) purported to prove [1] that in an abelian category with exact countable products (AB4${}^\ast_\omega$), limits of inverse ...
- 63.9k
30
votes
6
answers
3k
views
Poincare duality and the $A_\infty$ structure on cohomology
If $X$ is a topological space then the rational cohomology of $X$ carries a canonical $A_\infty$ structure (in fact $C_\infty$) with differential $m_1: H^\ast(X) \to H^{\ast+1}(X)$ vanishing and ...
- 6,229
29
votes
4
answers
3k
views
origin of spectral sequences in algebraic topology
I have the following somewhat vague question. I am not sure if it is appropriate for this forum, please feel free to close (or migrate to stackexchange).
I have been "brought up" as an algebraic ...
- 1,961
28
votes
1
answer
3k
views
Two points of view about Borel-moore homology
They are several ways to define the Borel-Moore homology on a locally compact space $X$.
The first one is by analogy with the singular homology but instead of using finite chains, we use locally ...
- 1,017
25
votes
4
answers
6k
views
Singular Homology/Cohomology as a derived functor?
Hello,
Learning some Alg.geometry and Sheaf theory, I got used to the notion that cohomology arises naturally as a derived functor of some sort.
This has led me thinking, singular cohomology, from ...
- 1,893
25
votes
4
answers
3k
views
A Peculiar Model Structure on Simplicial Sets?
I'm wondering if there is a Quillen model structure on the category of simplicial sets which generalizes the usual model structure, but where every simplicial set is fibrant? I want to use this to do ...
- 27.5k
25
votes
0
answers
922
views
Does the Tate construction (defined with direct sums) have a derived interpretation?
Any abelian group M with an action of a finite group $G$ has a Tate cohomology object $\hat H(G;M)$ in the derived category of chain complexes. There are several ways to define this. One is as the ...
- 52.6k
23
votes
3
answers
6k
views
Does homology detect chain homotopy equivalence?
Is the following true: If two chain complexes of free abelian groups have isomorphic homology modules then they are chain homotopy equivalent.
- 425
23
votes
3
answers
3k
views
Homology theory constructed in a homotopy-invariant way
Singular homology sends homotopic morphisms on equal morphisms and weakly equivalent spaces on isomorphic objects. So singular homology is in fact defined on the homotopy category of topological ...
- 3,033
23
votes
2
answers
3k
views
Calculating Mayer-Vietoris efficiently
This is a question whose motivation and framing seem to involve a lot of topology, but which I suspect comes down to some simple and standard combinatorics that's probably recorded in a book somewhere....
- 156k
22
votes
7
answers
3k
views
Essential theorems in group (co)homology
I'm trying to fill in the gaps in my understanding of group (co)homology and I'm wondering what are considered the "must know" theorems and concepts. I'm thinking of things along the lines of
Hopf's ...
22
votes
2
answers
6k
views
Grothendieck's Tohoku Paper and Combinatorial Topology
I've read some discussions of Grothendieck's famous Tohoku Paper, and I understand that one reason it was a landmark paper was that it introduced abelian categories and gave us sheaf cohomology as a ...
- 221
22
votes
0
answers
866
views
Bar construction vs. twisted tensor product
One may study the cohomology of a space $E$ expressed as a homotopy pullback of $X$ and $Y$ over $Z$ using either the Eilenberg-Moore spectral sequence or the Serre spectral sequence for the fibration ...
- 985
21
votes
6
answers
3k
views
A ring such that all projectives are stably free but not all projectives are free?
This question is motivated by this recent question. Suppose $R$ is commutative, Noetherian ring and $M$ a finitely generated $R$-module. Let $FD(M)$ and $PD(M)$ be the shortest length of free and ...
- 30.5k
21
votes
1
answer
8k
views
When is a quasi-isomorphism necessarily a homotopy equivalence?
Under what circumstances is a quasi-isomorphism between two complexes necessarily a homotopy equivalence? For instance, this is true for chain complexes over a field (which are all homotopy ...
- 10.1k
21
votes
1
answer
2k
views
A spectral sequence for computing cohomology of a space from that of its strata
Let $X$ be a smooth complex variety (not necessarily compact) and let $D$ be a normal crossings divisors with components $D_1$, $D_2$, ..., $D_N$. For a set of indices $I$, let $D_I = \bigcap_{i \in I}...
- 156k
20
votes
5
answers
2k
views
Equivalence of ordered and unordered cech cohomology.
Given a topological space X and a finite cover X = $\cup X_i$, one can define Cech cohomology of a sheaf of abelian groups F with respect to the cover $\{X_i\}$ in two different ways:
(Ordered): ...
- 10.5k
19
votes
2
answers
994
views
Does Koszul duality between $Comm$ and $Lie$ imply the power series identity $\exp(\ln(1-z))-1 = -z$?
To a symmetric sequence $V_\bullet$ of vector spaces, associate the generating function $F_V(z) = \sum_n \frac{\dim(V_n)}{n!} z^n$. Then
$$F_{Comm_\ast}(z) = \exp(z)-1 \qquad F_{Lie}(z) = \ln(1-z)$$
...
- 63.9k
19
votes
5
answers
2k
views
References for Eilenberg-Zilber shuffle product
Most of the treatments I can find in the literature for the Eilenberg-Zilber shuffle product approach it from the point of view of simplicial sets (including the original Eilenberg-MacLane paper). I ...
- 5,489
19
votes
0
answers
504
views
Other examples of computations using transfer of structure from the chains to the homology?
There is a `long' history of transfer (up to homotopy!) of algebraic structure from a dg _ algebra A to its homology H(A) (e.g. Kadeishvili for the associative case and Heubschmann for the Lie case). ...
- 3,880
18
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Is homology finitely generated as an algebra?
If a differential graded algebra is finitely generated as an algebra, is its homology finitely generated as an algebra?
Is it easier if we impose any of the three conditions: characteristic zero; ...
- 8,717
18
votes
1
answer
2k
views
What is the geometric fixed points of an (equivariant) Eilenberg Maclane Spectrum?
The following was posted to math.stackexchange to no avail: https://math.stackexchange.com/questions/908756/an-exercise-in-homology-computation-what-is-the-geometric-fixed-points-of-an-e
The question ...
- 1,961
17
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Who wrote `if only I could understand the equation $d^2=0$'?
I remember reading something like
if only I could understand the equation $d^2=0$
as an epigraph to a memoir on homological algebra. I think the author was Henri Cartan, and the epigraph may have ...
- 4,492
16
votes
1
answer
808
views
"Rotated" version of the Atiyah-Hirzebruch spectral sequence
Let $G$ be a group, $X$ a topological space with $G$-action. For an Abelian group $A$, let $\mathcal{C}^n(X,A)$ be the group of $n$-cochains on $X$ with $A$ coefficients. We can treat this as a $G$-...
- 863
16
votes
1
answer
360
views
Moduli space of boundary maps with prescribed chain and homology groups?
Let $R$ be a reasonable ring (maybe I mean a PID, or $\mathbb{Z}$, and when sufficiently desperate, a field). Now consider fixed sequences $C_n$ and $H_n$ of $R$-modules, which are tame in every ...
- 15.5k
15
votes
2
answers
2k
views
When is bar-cobar duality an equivalence?
Let $A$ be an augmented differential graded algebra over a field $k$. I will write $BA$ for its bar construction (whose homology is $Tor^A(k, k)$). This is a co-augmented differential graded ...
- 4,133
15
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Cosheaf homology and a theorem of Beilinson (in a paper on Mixed Tate Motives)
I'm trying to understand the proof of Theorem 4.1 in the paper Multiple Polylogarithms and Mixed Tate Motives by AB Goncharov (http://arxiv.org/pdf/math/0103059v4.pdf). In it, the author uses cosheaf ...
- 15.4k
15
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Spectral Sequences reference
What is the best reference for spectral sequences for mathematicians who are not experts at the subject, but would just like to open a book and find the SS they need, without going in to deep.
I'm ...
- 1,589
15
votes
1
answer
703
views
Homotopy transfer in the opposite direction
Let $X\rightleftarrows Y\circlearrowleft$ be a strong deformation retraction of chain complexes (a.k.a. contraction), i.e. $X\rightarrow Y\rightarrow X$ is the identity, $Y\rightarrow Y$ is a homotopy ...
- 15.2k
14
votes
2
answers
740
views
Examples of topoi that are not ordinary spaces
In [SGA6] we find:
Mais nous lui conseillons néanmoins, de préférence, de s'assimiler le langage des topos, qui fournit un principe d'unification extrêmement commode. (DeepL translate: However, we ...
user144439
14
votes
1
answer
296
views
Detecting weak equivalence on free loop space homology
Given $f:X \to Y$ a continuous map between two spaces (unpointed CW-complexes) such that $f$ induces an isomorphism in homology with integer coefficient, and $f$ induces an isomorphism on homology of ...
- 42.4k
13
votes
0
answers
864
views
A step in Toda's computation of a Cotor
I am trying to understand a proof from Toda's paper Cohomology of classifying spaces. The step I am stuck on is at page 96. Here is the setup.
We work with cohomology with $\mathbb{F}_2$ coefficients. ...
- 31
13
votes
0
answers
680
views
Singular chains generated by manifolds with corners --- does it really work?
Usually we define singular homology via the complex of singular chains:
$$C_\ast(X)=\bigoplus_{n\geq 0}\mathbb Z\langle\sigma:\Delta^n\to X\rangle$$
where the right hand side denotes the free abelian ...
- 18.7k
12
votes
4
answers
2k
views
Applications of the Dold-Kan correspondence
The Dold-Kan correspondence says essentially that simplicial abelian groups and nonnegative chain complexes of abelian groups are equivalent objects. While this is a very natural statement, I am not ...
- 129
12
votes
1
answer
625
views
Any group is a quotient of an acyclic group?
As far as I know, for any group $G$ there exists an acyclic group $H$ such that $G$ is a subgroup of $H$.
I am wondering about the dual situation. Is any group $A$ a quotient of an acyclic group $B$ ...
- 530
12
votes
3
answers
827
views
"Secondary operations" for a group acting on a chain complex
Suppose a group G acts on a chain complex K and induced action on H(K) is trivial. What "secondary operations" on H(K) can be defined in this situation?
Example. If $G=\langle\sigma\rangle/\sigma^n$ ...
- 726