Flat topologyIn mathematics, the flat topology is a Grothendieck topology used in algebraic geometry. It is used to define the theory of flat cohomology; it also plays a fundamental role in the theory of (faithfully flat descent). The term flat here comes from flat modules. There are several slightly different flat topologies, the most common of which are the fppf topology and the fpqc topology. fppf stands for fidèlement plate de présentation finie, and in this topology, a morphism of affine schemes is a covering morphism if it is faithfully flat and of finite presentation.
Picard groupIn 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 version of the construction of the divisor class group, or ideal class group, and is much used in algebraic geometry and the theory of complex manifolds. Alternatively, the Picard group can be defined as the sheaf cohomology group For integral schemes the Picard group is isomorphic to the class group of Cartier divisors.
Fibred categoryFibred categories (or fibered categories) are abstract entities in mathematics used to provide a general framework for descent theory. They formalise the various situations in geometry and algebra in which inverse images (or pull-backs) of objects such as vector bundles can be defined. As an example, for each topological space there is the category of vector bundles on the space, and for every continuous map from a topological space X to another topological space Y is associated the pullback functor taking bundles on Y to bundles on X.
Algebraic spaceIn mathematics, algebraic spaces form a generalization of the schemes of algebraic geometry, introduced by Michael Artin for use in deformation theory. Intuitively, schemes are given by gluing together affine schemes using the Zariski topology, while algebraic spaces are given by gluing together affine schemes using the finer étale topology. Alternatively one can think of schemes as being locally isomorphic to affine schemes in the Zariski topology, while algebraic spaces are locally isomorphic to affine schemes in the étale topology.
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.
Algebraic stackIn mathematics, an algebraic stack is a vast generalization of algebraic spaces, or schemes, which are foundational for studying moduli theory. Many moduli spaces are constructed using techniques specific to algebraic stacks, such as Artin's representability theorem, which is used to construct the moduli space of pointed algebraic curves and the moduli stack of elliptic curves. Originally, they were introduced by Grothendieck to keep track of automorphisms on moduli spaces, a technique which allows for treating these moduli spaces as if their underlying schemes or algebraic spaces are smooth.
GerbeIn mathematics, a gerbe (dʒɜrb; ʒɛʁb) is a construct in homological algebra and topology. Gerbes were introduced by Jean Giraud following ideas of Alexandre Grothendieck as a tool for non-commutative cohomology in degree 2. They can be seen as an analogue of fibre bundles where the fibre is the classifying stack of a group. Gerbes provide a convenient, if highly abstract, language for dealing with many types of deformation questions especially in modern algebraic geometry.
OrbifoldIn the mathematical disciplines of topology and geometry, an orbifold (for "orbit-manifold") is a generalization of a manifold. Roughly speaking, an orbifold is a topological space which is locally a finite group quotient of a Euclidean space. Definitions of orbifold have been given several times: by Ichirô Satake in the context of automorphic forms in the 1950s under the name V-manifold; by William Thurston in the context of the geometry of 3-manifolds in the 1970s when he coined the name orbifold, after a vote by his students; and by André Haefliger in the 1980s in the context of Mikhail Gromov's programme on CAT(k) spaces under the name orbihedron.
Moduli of algebraic curvesIn algebraic geometry, a moduli space of (algebraic) curves is a geometric space (typically a scheme or an algebraic stack) whose points represent isomorphism classes of algebraic curves. It is thus a special case of a moduli space. Depending on the restrictions applied to the classes of algebraic curves considered, the corresponding moduli problem and the moduli space is different. One also distinguishes between fine and coarse moduli spaces for the same moduli problem.
Descent (mathematics)In mathematics, the idea of descent extends the intuitive idea of 'gluing' in topology. Since the topologists' glue is the use of equivalence relations on topological spaces, the theory starts with some ideas on identification. The case of the construction of vector bundles from data on a disjoint union of topological spaces is a straightforward place to start. Suppose X is a topological space covered by open sets Xi. Let Y be the disjoint union of the Xi, so that there is a natural mapping We think of Y as 'above' X, with the Xi projection 'down' onto X.
