Math 2.0

Category theory; homological algebra Definition

Split exact sequence

Builds on Short exact sequenceAbelian categoryBiproduct

Definition

Let ๐’œ\mathcal{A} be an abelian category and let 0โ†’Aโ†’fBโ†’gCโ†’00 \to A \xrightarrow{f} B \xrightarrow{g} C \to 0 be a short exact sequence in ๐’œ\mathcal{A}. Let AโŠ•CA \oplus C be the biproduct of AA and CC, with inclusion iAโ€‰โฃ:Aโ†’AโŠ•Ci_A \colon A \to A \oplus C and projection pCโ€‰โฃ:AโŠ•Cโ†’Cp_C \colon A \oplus C \to C. The sequence is split if there is an isomorphism hโ€‰โฃ:Bโ†’AโŠ•Ch \colon B \to A \oplus C with hโˆ˜f=iAh \circ f = i_A and pCโˆ˜h=gp_C \circ h = g.

Remarks

Equivalently, there is a morphism tโ€‰โฃ:Bโ†’At \colon B \to A with tโˆ˜f=1At \circ f = 1_A, or there is a morphism uโ€‰โฃ:Cโ†’Bu \colon C \to B with gโˆ˜u=1Cg \circ u = 1_C. Every additive functor sends a split exact sequence to a split exact sequence.

Example: 0โ†’โ„คโ†’iโ„คโŠ•โ„ค/2โ„คโ†’pโ„ค/2โ„คโ†’00 \to \Z \xrightarrow{i} \Z \oplus \Z/2\Z \xrightarrow{p} \Z/2\Z \to 0, with i(n)=(n,0)i(n) = (n, 0) and p(n,a)=ap(n, a) = a, is split. Take hh to be the identity of โ„คโŠ•โ„ค/2โ„ค\Z \oplus \Z/2\Z; then hโˆ˜i=iAh \circ i = i_A and pCโˆ˜h=pp_C \circ h = p.

Non-example: 0โ†’โ„คโ†’2โ„คโ†’โ„ค/2โ„คโ†’00 \to \Z \xrightarrow{2} \Z \to \Z/2\Z \to 0 is short exact but not split. A split sequence would give an isomorphism โ„คโ‰…โ„คโŠ•โ„ค/2โ„ค\Z \cong \Z \oplus \Z/2\Z, but โ„ค\Z has no nonzero element of finite order.

Reading path

To understand this page from the ground up, read these 4 pages in order. The foundations come first.

Show the path as a graph
Each page uses the pages above it. The colour of the bar on a box shows how strong the evidence is, and the box also gives it as text. The list has the same pages.
  • no evidence level
  1. Abelian category concept
  2. Biproduct concept
  3. Short exact sequence concept
  4. Split exact sequence definition

Further reading

  1. Web https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Split_exact_sequence
About this page
TagW57F9ENPMV
URIm2://W57F9ENPMV
Kinddefinition
WritingW0 stub
MSC18G35, 18E10
DefinesSplit exact sequence
UsesShort exact sequence, Abelian category, Biproduct
Changed2 November 2026

Markdown ยท JSON ยท Edit on GitHub

What this page needs for W1

  • a source with a locator (0 of 1)

The writing levels say how complete the text of a page is. They do not measure its truth.

What links here

No page links to this page yet.