MAS435 Algebraic Topology

2012–13
Part B: Semester 2
Dr E. L. G. Cheng
Office: J24
E-mail: e.cheng@sheffield.ac.uk

Exercises are labelled by week, so you should prepare them for the given week. (Although we
might go more slowly if necessary.) This is in addition to any exercises embedded in the lecture
notes.

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Exercises for week #2

1. Express each of the following spaces as a cell complex in two different ways.

i) The torus.
ii) The Klein bottle.
iii) RP 2 .
iv) A space whose fundamental group is Z4 .

2. i) Compute the homology of the following chain complex

0 1 0 1 0
0 −→ Z −→ Z −→ Z −→ Z −→ 0.

ii) Give a different chain complex with the same homology.

3. Fix a postive integer n. Compute the homology of the following chain complex

3∂ 2 ∂1 0 ∂ ∂
0 −→ Z −→ Z −→ Z −→ 0
where ∂2 is multiplication by n and ∂1 is the zero map.
4. Given a non-zero chain complex all of whose homology groups are trivial.
5. i) What is the Abelian group generated by a and b quotiented out by the subgroup gen-
erated by 2b?
ii) What is the Abelian group generated by a, b, c quotiented out by the subgroup generated
by a + b − c and b + c − a?
6. An exact sequence is a chain complex all of whose homology groups are trivial.
α
i) Prove that 0 −→ A −→ B is exact iff α is injective.
α
ii) What can we deduce if A −→ B −→ 0 is exact?
α β
iii) What can we deduce if 0 −→ A −→ B −→ C −→ 0 is exact? (This is called a “short
exact sequence”.)
iv) Let θ : A −→ B be a homomorphism of Abelian groups. Write down a short exact
sequence whose exactness expresses the First Isomorphism Theorem for groups.

7. Check that chain complexes and chain maps form a category, and that Hn is a functor.

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Exercises for week #3

1. i) Express the sphere S 2 as a ∆-complex in two different ways.

ii) Calculate the simplicial homology of S 2 for each of your decompositions.
iii) Do the same for the torus and Klein bottle.
iv) Pick a ∆-complex structure on the torus, and calculate the simplicial homology of the
disjoint union of two copies of it.
2. i) Let B ⊂ A and G be Abelian groups. To show that G ∼
= A/B we often simply construct
a surjective homomorphism
A −→ G
with kernel B. Explain why this is enough.
ii) Hence show that given any Abelian groups A, B, there is an isomorphism

A ⊕ B/A ∼
= B.

3. i) Let B1 ⊂ A1 , B2 , ⊂ A2 be Abelian groups. Consider a homomorphism

f
A1 −→ A2

such that f (B1 ) ⊂ B2 .

Show that we can define a homomorphism
f¯
A1 /B1 −→ A2 /B2

by f¯[a] = [f a].
Remember to show that this is well-defined before checking the axioms for a group ho-
momorphism.
ii) What does this result mean in the special case B2 = 0?
iii) In the case B2 = 0 show that
ker f¯ = ker f /B1 .

4. Look up the definition of chain homotopy of chain maps, and show that it is an equivalence
relation.

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Exercises for week #4

1. Let G be the free Abelian group generated by a and b (so it is isomorphic to Z2 ). For each
of the following subgroups H, calculate the quotient group G/H. Note that in each case
H∼ = Z.

i) H = hai
ii) H = h2ai
iii) H = ha + bi
iv) H = h2a + bi
v) H = h2a + 2bi
vi) H = h2a + 3bi
vii) H = h3a + 3bi

2. What familiar space is the quotient ∆-complex of a 2-simplex [v0 , v1 , v2 ] obtained by identify-
ing the edges [v0 , v1 ] and [v1 , v2 ] , preserving the ordering of vertices? Calculate the simplicial
homology of this space. How can you check you have the right answer?
3. Calculate the simplicial and singular homology of a point. Hence calculate the homology of
a disjoint union of n points.

4. Let X be a space with path components Xα . Show that Hn (X) ∼ = ⊕α Hn (Xα ), using singular
homology. How does this result contrast the situation with homotopy groups?

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MAS435 Semester 2, Exercises for week #5

1. Show that S 1 × S 1 and S 1 ∨ S 1 ∨ S 2 have isomorphic homology groups in all dimensions, but
do not have isomorphic fundamental groups. What is the moral of this story?

2. * Consider the group G = Z2 ∗ Z2 with generators a and b.

i) What are the elements of G?
ii) What is the index of the subgroup H generated by (ab)2 ?
iii) Prove that H is a normal subgroup of G.
iv) What is the quotient group G/H?
3. Let X be the space formed by identifying the vertices of a (non-trivial) triangle. Calculate
the homology and fundamental group of X. Check that H1 (X) is the abelianisation of π1 (X).
4. i) Let A be a subspace of X. Show that we can use the singular chain complexes of A and
X to induce a chain complex from the quotient groups

· · · −→ Cn+1 (X)/Cn+1 (A) −→ Cn (X)/Cn (A) −→ Cn−1 (X)/Cn−1 (A) −→ · · ·

This is called the relative chain complex.

ii) Find the relative chain complex when X = unit interval, A = endpoints.
iii) Compute the homology of this chain complex and compare it with the homology of the
quotient space X/A.
5. * Show that if A is a retract of X then the map Hn (A) −→ Hn (X) induced by the inclusion
A ,→ X is injective. (If you’re interested in Category Theory try making this result and its
proof for general functors not just homology functors.)

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MAS435 Semester 2, Exercises for week #6

1. Compute the relative homology of the following pairs (X, A):

i) X = S 2 , A = a pair of antipodal points

ii) X = S 1 × S 1 , A = a pair of distinct points

How can you check some of your answers?

2. i) For an exact sequence A −→ B −→ C −→ D −→ E show that C = 0 iff the map
A −→ B is surjective and D −→ E is injective.
ii) Hence for a pair of spaces (X, A), show that the inclusion A ,→ X induces isomorphisms
on all homology groups iff Hn (X, A) = 0 for all n. Hint: consider the long exact sequence
of homology groups for the pair (X, A).
3. Prove that chain homotopic chain maps induce the same homomorphism on homology.

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MAS435 Semester 2, Exercises for week #7

1. Let X be a CW-complex and A a subspace consisting of a point in it. Apply the long exact
sequence of homology groups to the pair (X, A) to show that for all n the reduced homology
of X is the same as the homology of X relative to a point. (First make that statement
precise.)
2. Let X and Y be CW-complexes equipped with chosen basepoint x and y respectively.
Using the Mayer-Vietoris sequence, calculate the reduced singular homology of X ∨ Y in
terms of the reduced homology of X and the homology of Y .

3. Express S n as the union of two copies of Dn , and hence use the Mayer-Vietoris sequence to
compute the homology of S n by induction.
4. Let X be a Möbius Band and let A be its boundary circle. Calculate the relative homology
of the pair (X, A) in three ways:

i) using cellular or simplicial homology directly, from the relative chain complex,
ii) using a long exact sequence of reduced homology, and
iii) by taking the quotient space X/A.