Glossary of algebraic geometryThis is a glossary of algebraic geometry. See also glossary of commutative algebra, glossary of classical algebraic geometry, and glossary of ring theory. For the number-theoretic applications, see glossary of arithmetic and Diophantine geometry. For simplicity, a reference to the base scheme is often omitted; i.e., a scheme will be a scheme over some fixed base scheme S and a morphism an S-morphism.
Proper morphismIn algebraic geometry, a proper morphism between schemes is an analog of a proper map between complex analytic spaces. Some authors call a proper variety over a field k a complete variety. For example, every projective variety over a field k is proper over k. A scheme X of finite type over the complex numbers (for example, a variety) is proper over C if and only if the space X(C) of complex points with the classical (Euclidean) topology is compact and Hausdorff. A closed immersion is proper.
Projective varietyIn algebraic geometry, a projective variety over an algebraically closed field k is a subset of some projective n-space over k that is the zero-locus of some finite family of homogeneous polynomials of n + 1 variables with coefficients in k, that generate a prime ideal, the defining ideal of the variety. Equivalently, an algebraic variety is projective if it can be embedded as a Zariski closed subvariety of .
Abelian varietyIn mathematics, particularly in algebraic geometry, complex analysis and algebraic number theory, an abelian variety is a projective algebraic variety that is also an algebraic group, i.e., has a group law that can be defined by regular functions. Abelian varieties are at the same time among the most studied objects in algebraic geometry and indispensable tools for much research on other topics in algebraic geometry and number theory. An abelian variety can be defined by equations having coefficients in any field; the variety is then said to be defined over that field.
Scheme (mathematics)In mathematics, a scheme is a mathematical structure that enlarges the notion of algebraic variety in several ways, such as taking account of multiplicities (the equations x = 0 and x2 = 0 define the same algebraic variety but different schemes) and allowing "varieties" defined over any commutative ring (for example, Fermat curves are defined over the integers). Scheme theory was introduced by Alexander Grothendieck in 1960 in his treatise "Éléments de géométrie algébrique"; one of its aims was developing the formalism needed to solve deep problems of algebraic geometry, such as the Weil conjectures (the last of which was proved by Pierre Deligne).
Algebraic varietyAlgebraic varieties are the central objects of study in algebraic geometry, a sub-field of mathematics. Classically, an algebraic variety is defined as the set of solutions of a system of polynomial equations over the real or complex numbers. Modern definitions generalize this concept in several different ways, while attempting to preserve the geometric intuition behind the original definition. Conventions regarding the definition of an algebraic variety differ slightly.
Zariski topologyIn algebraic geometry and commutative algebra, the Zariski topology is a topology which is primarily defined by its closed sets. It is very different from topologies which are commonly used in real or complex analysis; in particular, it is not Hausdorff. This topology was introduced primarily by Oscar Zariski and later generalized for making the set of prime ideals of a commutative ring (called the spectrum of the ring) a topological space.
