Zig-zag lemmaIn mathematics, particularly homological algebra, the zig-zag lemma asserts the existence of a particular long exact sequence in the homology groups of certain chain complexes. The result is valid in every . In an abelian category (such as the category of abelian groups or the category of vector spaces over a given field), let and be chain complexes that fit into the following short exact sequence: Such a sequence is shorthand for the following commutative diagram: where the rows are exact sequences and each column is a chain complex.
Equaliser (mathematics)In mathematics, an equaliser is a set of arguments where two or more functions have equal values. An equaliser is the solution set of an equation. In certain contexts, a difference kernel is the equaliser of exactly two functions. Let X and Y be sets. Let f and g be functions, both from X to Y. Then the equaliser of f and g is the set of elements x of X such that f(x) equals g(x) in Y. Symbolically: The equaliser may be denoted Eq(f, g) or a variation on that theme (such as with lowercase letters "eq").
Category theoryCategory theory is a general theory of mathematical structures and their relations that was introduced by Samuel Eilenberg and Saunders Mac Lane in the middle of the 20th century in their foundational work on algebraic topology. Category theory is used in almost all areas of mathematics. In particular, numerous constructions of new mathematical objects from previous ones that appear similarly in several contexts are conveniently expressed and unified in terms of categories.
MonomorphismIn the context of abstract algebra or universal algebra, a monomorphism is an injective homomorphism. A monomorphism from X to Y is often denoted with the notation . In the more general setting of , a monomorphism (also called a monic morphism or a mono) is a left-cancellative morphism. That is, an arrow f : X → Y such that for all objects Z and all morphisms g1, g2: Z → X, Monomorphisms are a categorical generalization of injective functions (also called "one-to-one functions"); in some categories the notions coincide, but monomorphisms are more general, as in the examples below.
Exact sequenceAn exact sequence is a sequence of morphisms between objects (for example, groups, rings, modules, and, more generally, objects of an ) such that the of one morphism equals the kernel of the next. In the context of group theory, a sequence of groups and group homomorphisms is said to be exact at if . The sequence is called exact if it is exact at each for all , i.e., if the image of each homomorphism is equal to the kernel of the next. The sequence of groups and homomorphisms may be either finite or infinite.
FunctorIn mathematics, specifically , a functor is a mapping between . Functors were first considered in algebraic topology, where algebraic objects (such as the fundamental group) are associated to topological spaces, and maps between these algebraic objects are associated to continuous maps between spaces. Nowadays, functors are used throughout modern mathematics to relate various categories. Thus, functors are important in all areas within mathematics to which is applied.
Mitchell's embedding theoremMitchell's embedding theorem, also known as the Freyd–Mitchell theorem or the full embedding theorem, is a result about ; it essentially states that these categories, while rather abstractly defined, are in fact of modules. This allows one to use element-wise diagram chasing proofs in these categories. The theorem is named after Barry Mitchell and Peter Freyd. The precise statement is as follows: if A is a small abelian category, then there exists a ring R (with 1, not necessarily commutative) and a full, faithful and exact functor F: A → R-Mod (where the latter denotes the category of all left R-modules).
Functor represented by a schemeIn algebraic geometry, a functor represented by a scheme X is a set-valued contravariant functor on the category of schemes such that the value of the functor at each scheme S is (up to natural bijections) the set of all morphisms . The scheme X is then said to represent the functor and that classify geometric objects over S given by F. The best known example is the Hilbert scheme of a scheme X (over some fixed base scheme), which, when it exists, represents a functor sending a scheme S to a flat family of closed subschemes of .
