Home » Sheaf Cohomology

Sheaf Cohomology

1950
  • Jean Leray
  • Henri Cartan
  • Jean-Pierre Serre
  • Alexander Grothendieck

Sheaf cohomology is a central tool in modern algebraic geometry for studying global properties of geometric spaces. For a sheaf \(\mathcal{F}\) on a space \(X\), the cohomology groups \(H^i(X, \mathcal{F})\) are vector spaces whose dimensions provide important invariants. The group \(H^0\) represents global sections, while higher groups \(H^i\) for \(i > 0\) measure the obstructions to patching together local sections into a global one.

The intuition behind sheaf cohomology is to measure the failure of a certain ‘local-to-global’ principle. A sheaf is a tool that assigns data (like functions or vector spaces) to open sets of a topological space in a consistent way. The global sections functor, which takes a sheaf \(\mathcal{F}\) and returns its group of global sections \(\Gamma(X, \mathcal{F})\), is left exact but not always right exact. Sheaf cohomology groups are defined as the right derived functors of the global sections functor. This abstract definition from homological algebra provides a robust computational and theoretical framework.

In practice, \(H^1(X, \mathcal{F})\) often classifies certain geometric objects. For example, if \(\mathcal{O}^*\) is the sheaf of non-vanishing regular functions, \(H^1(X, \mathcal{O}^*)\) classifies line bundles on the scheme \(X\). The vanishing of cohomology groups has strong geometric consequences; for instance, Kodaira’s vanishing theorem states that for ample line bundles on a projective variety in characteristic zero, certain cohomology groups are zero, which has profound implications for the geometry of the variety. Serre’s FAC paper and Grothendieck’s Tohoku paper established sheaf cohomology as the correct language for algebraic geometry, replacing older, more ad-hoc methods.

UNESCO Nomenclature: 1105
– Geometry

Type

Abstract System

Disruption

Revolutionary

Usage

Widespread Use

Precursors

  • sheaf theory (Jean Leray)
  • homological algebra (Cartan, Eilenberg)
  • de rham cohomology in differential geometry
  • algebraic topology (simplicial and singular homology)
  • čech cohomology

Applications

  • generalization of the Riemann-Roch theorem (hirzebruch-riemann-roch)
  • string theory and theoretical physics (calculating states and anomalies)
  • proof of the weil conjectures (deligne)
  • classification of vector bundles and other geometric objects
  • deformation theory (studying how geometric objects can be varied)

Patents:

NA

Potential Innovations Ideas

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Related to: sheaf cohomology, sheaf, derived functor, global sections, obstruction, Čech cohomology, Serre, Grothendieck

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Historical Context

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