SPECTRAL SEQUENCES

MATTHEW GREENBERG

1. Introduction Denition 1. Let a 1. An a-th stage spectral (cohomological) sequence consists of the following data: p,q bigraded objects Er = p,qZ Er , r a p,q p+r,qr+1 dierentials dr : Er Er such that dr (Er ) Er satisfying H(Er ) = Er+1 , i.e.,
p,q Er+1 = p,q p+r,qr+1 ker(Er Er ) pr,q+r1 p,q . im(Er Er )

We usually draw the r-th stage of a spectral sequence in a tabular format with p increasing horizontally to the left and q increasing vertically to the right:
0,1 E0 O 1,1 E0 O 2,1 E0 O 3,1 E0 O

0,0 E0

1,0 E0

2,0 E0

3,0 E0

0,1 E1

/ E 1,1 1

/ E 2,1
1

/ E 3,1 1

0,0 E1

/ E 1,0 1

/ E 2,0
1

/ E 3,0 1

0,1 E2 QQ E 1,1 E 2,1 E 3,1 QQQ 2 QQQQQ 2 QQQQQ 2 QQQ QQQ QQQ QQQ QQQ QQQ QQQ QQQ QQQ QQ( QQ( QQ( 0,0 1,0 2,0 3,0 E2 E2 E2 E2

2. The spectral sequence of a filtered complex Let K = F 0 K F 1 K be a ltered complex (i.e., each object K n in the complex K is ltered and the dierentials of the complex K respect the ltration). We set Grp K = F p K /F p+1 K . Note that the ltration on K induces a ltration H(K ) = F 0 H(K ) F 1 H(K ) on cohomology in a natural way. Given this setup, one may prove the following. Theorem 2. Suppose that K is a nonnegative ltered complex (i.e., K n = 0 if p,q n < 0). Then there exists a spectral sequence Er satisfying
1

MATTHEW GREENBERG p,q E0 = Grp K p+q p,q E1 = H p+q (Grp K ) p,q Er = Grp H p+q (K ) for r = r(p, q) p,q E0 p

0.

Sketch of proof. Set = Gr K p+q . As dierential of the complex K respects p,q p,q+1 p,q the ltration, it induces a map d0 : E0 E0 . To realize Er , r 1, one denes the set p,q Zr = {x F p K p+q | dx F p+r K p+q+1 } of cocycles modulo F p+r K p+q+1 and sets
p,q p,q Er = Zr /(appropriate coboundaries).

The dierential d then induces the map dr : Er Er (it is at least evident from p,q p+r,qr+1 the above that we get a map Zr Zr ). It remains to check the desired properties of these object. We omit this; for details see [3, Ch. XX, Proposition 9.1]. The spectral sequence whose existence is asserted in the above theorem is an example of a rst quadrant spectral sequance, by denition a spectral sequence such p,q that Er is zero unless p, q 0. It is easy to see that in a rst quadrant spectral p,q p,q sequence, Er = Er+1 = if r > max(p, q + 1). In the situation of the theorem, this stable value is Grp H p+q (K ). 3. Convergence of spectral sequences
p,q Let Er be a spectral sequence, and suppose that for every pair (p, q), the term stabilizes as r (a rst quadrant spectral sequence, for example). Denote p,q this stable value by E . Let H n be a collection of objects with nite ltrations p,q Er

0 F sH n F tH n = H n.
p,q p,q We say that Er converges to H , and write Er H p+q , if p,q E = F p H p+q /F p+1 H p+q = Grp H p+q .

Example 3. Suppose K is a nonnegative ltered complex. Then by Theorem 2, we have a convergent spectral sequence
p,q E1 = H p+q (Grp K ) H p+q (K ).

Given this denition of convergence, one is led immediately to ask to what extent the limit of a spectral sequence is determined by the sequence itself. The next two lemmas give some basic though useful results in this direction.
p,q Lemma 4. Suppose Er H p+q . nq p,q (1) If E = 0 unless q = q0 , then H n = E 0 ,q0 . p,q n p0 (2) If E = 0 unless p = p0 , then H = E ,np0 .

Proof. We prove (1), the proof of (2) being similar. Consider the ltration 0 F nq0 +1 H n F nq0 H n F nq0 1 H n H n .
p,q Since E = 0 unless q = q0 , the only nonzero quotient of this ltration is nq F nq0 H n /F nq0 +1 H n = E 0 ,q0 . Thus, F nq0 +1 H n = 0 and F nq0 H n = H n , implying nq H n = F nq0 H n = H n /F nq0 +1 H n = E 0 ,q0 .

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The next result shows that in certain cases the form of the ltration on the limit object is determined by the spectral sequence.
p,q Lemma 5. Suppose Er H p+q . p,q (1) If Er is a rst quarter spectral sequence, then H n has a ltration of the form

0 = F n+1 H n F n H n F 1 H n F 0 H n = H n .
p,q (2) If Er is a third quarter spectral sequence, then H n has a ltration of the form

0 = F 1 H n F 0 H n F n+1 H n F n H n = H n .
p,q p,q A third quarter spectral sequence Er is one in which Er = 0 unless p, q 0.

Proof. Again we only prove (1), the proof of (2) being similar. We must show that F n+k H n = 0 if k > 0 and F k H n = H n if k 0. Consider the left tail of the (nite!) ltration of H n , 0 F n+2 H n F n+1 H n F n H n .
p,q As Er is a rst quarter spectral sequence, n+k,k E = 0 if k > 0 n,0 if k = 0. E

F n+k H n /F n+k+1 H n =

Therefore, F n+k H n = 0 if k > 0. One shows that F k H n = H n if k 0 in a similar fashion by considering the right tail of the ltration. 4. The spectral sequence of a double complex In this section, we treat one of the most common ways spectral sequences arise from a double complex. Denition 6. A double complex M consists of a bigraded object M = p,qZ M p,q together with dierentials d : M p,q M p+1,q and : M p,q M p,q+1 satisfying d2 = 2 = d + d = 0. Example 7. Let R be a ring (P , dP ) and (Q , dQ ) be complexes of R-modules. Dene a double complex M = P R Q by M p,q = P p R Qq , d = dP , and = (1)p dQ : P p R Qq P p R Qq+1 . To each double complex M , we attach a (single) complex Tot M called its total complex dened by Totn M = M p,q .
p+q=n

The dierential D on this total complex is given by D = d + . Notice that D2 = (d + )2 = d2 + 2 + d + d = 0, i.e., (Tot M, D) is a complex. There are two canonical ltrations on the total complex Tot M of a double complex M given by F p Totn M =
r+s=n rp

M r,s

and

F q Totn M =
r+s=n sq

M r,s .

By the theorem of Section 2, the ltrations F p Totn M and F p Totn M determine p,q p,q p,q spectral sequcences Er and Er , respectively. One observes easily that E0 =

MATTHEW GREENBERG

p,q p,q+1 M p,q and checks (perhaps not so easily) that the dierential E0 E0 arising from the construction of the spectral sequence of a ltration is simply given by . p,q q p,q p+1,q Thus, E1 = H (M p, ). The dierential E1 E1 is induced by d, viewed as p,q p, p+1, a homomorphism of complexes M M , implying that E2 is equal to the pq p, th homology group of the complex (H (M ), d). We will write this simply (though p q p,q slightly ambiguously) as Hd (H (M )). One may obtain similar expressions for Er , r = 0, 1, 2. We summarize these important results in the following theorem.

Theorem 8. Let M be a double complex with total complex Tot M . Then there p,q p,q exist two spectral sequences Er and Er (corresponding to the two canonical ltrations on Tot M ) such that
p,q E0 = M p,q , p,q E0 = M q,p , q p,q E1 = H (M p, ), q p,q E1 = Hd (M ,p ), p q p,q E2 = Hd (H (M )), p,q p q E2 = H (Hd (M )).

p,q p,q Further, if M is a rst or third quadrant double complex, then both Er and Er p+q converge to H (Tot M ).

Example 9. Let R be a ring. In what all follows, all tensor products are taken over R. We shall use the spectral sequences attached to a double complex to show that for R-modules A and B, we have equality of left derived functors Lp ( B)(A) = Lp (A )(B). Let P 2 P 1 P 0 A and
d d d

Q2 Q1 Q0 B

be projective resolutions of A and B, respectively, and consider the double complex P Q . We use negative indexing on these spectral sequences in order to stay in a p,q q cohomological, as opposed to a homological, situation. Then E1 = H (P p Q ). p Since P is a projective and hence at R-module, one can show in an elementary q q fashion that H (P p Q ) = P p H (Q ). Since Q is a projective resolution of B, we have P p B if q = 0, p,q E1 = 0 otherwise. Therefore,
p,q E2 =

Lp ( B)(A) if q = 0, 0 otherwise.

In like manner, one computes

p,q E2 =

Lp (A )(B) if q = 0, 0 otherwise.

Using Lemma 4 and the fact that both of these (third quadrant!) spectral sequences converge to H p+q (Tot P Q ), we have
p,0 p,0 Lp ( B)(A) = E2 = E = H p (Tot P Q ) p,0 p,0 = E = E2 = Lp (A )(B).

Example 10. Let M be an R-module and P be a nonpositive complex of at Rmodules (i.e., P p = 0 if p > 0). Again, all tensor products and Tors are taken over R. The relation between H (P M ) and H (P ) M is encoded by a spectral sequence.

SPECTRAL SEQUENCES

Proposition 11. Let M and P be as above. Then there exists a third quadrant spectral sequence
p,q E2 = Torp (H q (P ), M ) H p+q (P M ).

Proof. Take a projective resolution Q2 Q1 Q0 M of M . We consider the double complex P Q and its associated spectral sequences. By the same argument as in the previous example,
p,q E2 =

H p (P M ) if q = 0, 0 otherwise.

Here, we have used the atness of P . Therefore, by Lemma 4,

p+q,0 p,q = H p+q (P M ), H p+q (Tot P Q ) = E = E2

and we have identied the limit term of the spectral sequence whose existence the p,q proposition asserts. Now let us consider the spectral sequence Er . We have
p,q E1 = H q (P Qp ) = H q (P ) Qp ,

as Qp is projective and hence at. Therefore,

p p,q E2 = H (H q (P ) Qp ) = Lp (H q (P ) )(M ) = Torp (H q (P ), M ). p,q Since Er H p+q (Tot P Q ) = H p+q (P M ), we are done.

This spectral sequence contains much useful information, the extraction of which is the topic of the next section. 5. Getting information out of spectral sequences 5.1. A universal coecients theorem. Consider again the situation of Example 10 in the special case where the ring R is a principal ideal domain. In this case, p,q E2 = 0 unless p = 0, 1. In such a situation, one may apply the following lemma to obtain an exact sequence from the spectral sequence of Proposition 11.
p,q Lemma 12. Suppose E2 H p+q is a third quarter spectral sequence, and that p,q E2 = 0 unless p = 0, 1. Then we have an exact sequence 0,n 1,n+1 0 E2 H n E2 0,

for all n 0. Proof. By Lemma 5, the ltration on H n has the form 0 = F 1 H n F 0 H n F n+1 H n F n H n = H n . Combining this with the fact that
k,n+k k,n+k F k H n /F k+1 = E = E2 =0 0,n for 2 k n, it follows that F 1 H n = H n and F 0 H n = E2 . Now substitute these values in the exact sequence 1,n+1 0 F 0 H n F 1 H n E2 0.

Proposition 11 and Lemma 12 yield the universal coecients theorem for homology.

MATTHEW GREENBERG

Corollary 13. Let R be a principal ideal domain, and let M , and P be as in proposition 11. Then for all n 0, we have an exact sequence 0 H n (P ) R M H n (P R M ) TorR (H n+1 (P ), M ) 0. 1
p,q 5.2. Edge maps and terms of low degree. Let E2 H p+q be a rst quadrant spectral sequence. By Lemma 5, F n+1 H n = 0, implying n,0 E = F n H n /F n+1 H n = F n H n H n . n,0 For each r 2, the dierential leaving Er is the zero map. Therefore, we have n,0 n,0 n,0 E . The composition surjections Er Er+1 n,0 Er n,0 E H n

n,0 is called an edge map, as the terms Er lie along the bottom edge of the r-th 0,n 0 n stage diagram. Similarly, E = F H /F 1 H n = H n /F 1 H n by Lemma 5, giving a 0,n 0,n surjection H n E . As the dierentials mapping into Er are all zero, we have 0,n 0,n 0,n inclusions Er Er+1 E . The composition

Hn

0,n 0,n E E r

is also called an edge map. When r = 2 and n is small, we can be more specic about the kernels and images of these edge maps.
p,q Proposition 14 (Exact sequence of terms of low degree). Let E2 H p+q be a rst quadrant spectral sequence. Then the sequence 1,0 0,1 2,0 0 E2 H 1 E 2 E2 H 2 e e d e

is exact, where d is the E2 -stage dierential and the arrows labelled e are the edge maps described above. Proof. By Lemma 5, F 2 H 1 = 0. Therefore,
1,0 1,0 E2 = E = F 1 H 1 /F 2 H 1 = F 1 H 1 H 1 , 1,0 and the edge map E2 H 1 is injective with image F 1 H 1 . The edge map H 1 0,1 0,1 0,1 0,1 0,1 E2 is the composition H 1 E3 = E E2 . Therefore, ker(H 1 E2 ) = 0,1 1 1 1 1 1 0,1 ker(H E ) = F H , proving exactness at H . Also, the image of H in E2 0,1 0,1 2,0 0,1 is precisely E3 = ker(E2 E2 ), proving exactness at E2 . As 2,0 E3 = F 2 H 2 /F 3 H 2 = F 2 H 2 H 2 , 2,0 2,0 2,0 0,1 2,0 we have ker(E2 H 2 ) = ker(E2 E3 ) = im(E2 E2 ), completing the verication. d

6. The Grothendieck spectral sequence Let A, B, and C be abelian categories with enough injectives and let A B C left exact covariant functors (so we may form their right derived functors). It is natural to ask if there is a relationship between right derived functors of F G and those of F and G. Under a certain technical hypothesis, this relationship exists and is encoded in the Grothendieck spectral sequence.
G F

SPECTRAL SEQUENCES

Theorem 15 (The Grothendieck spectral sequence). Suppose that GI is F -acyclic for each injective object I of A (i.e., Rp F (GI) = 0 if p > 0). Then for each object A of A, there exists a spectral sequence
p,q E2 = (Rp F )(Rq G)(A) Rp+q (F G)(A).

Let C be a complex and let C I ,0 I ,1 be an injective resolution (i.e., each term of each complex I ,j is injective). I 0,1 I 1,1 I 2,1 I 0,0 I 1,0 I 2,0 C0 C1 C2 From this array, we can extract complexes Z p (C ) Z p (I ,0 ) Z p (I ,1 ) , B p (C ) B p (I ,0 ) B p (I ,1 ) , H (C ) H (I
p p ,0

and

) H (I

,1

) .

We shall say that I , is a fully injective resolution of C if the above complexes are injective resolutions of Z p (C ), B p (C ), and H p (C ), respectively. Such things exist: Lemma 16. Suppose A has enough injectives. Then any complex in A has a fully injective resolution. Proof. [3, Ch. 20, Lemma 9.5] Sketch of proof of Theorem 15. Let A be an object of A, and let 0 A C be an injective resolution of A. Let I , be a fully injective resolution of GC . We examine the spectral sequences associated to the double complex F I , . We have
p,q E1 = H q (F I p, ) = Rq F (GC p ) =

(F G)C p 0

if q = 0, otherwise,

as GC p is F -acyclic. Therefore,
p,q E2 =

H p ((F G)C ) = Rp (F G)(A) if q = 0, 0 otherwise,

p,q and consequently, E2 H p+q (Tot F I , ) = Rp (F G)(A), by Lemma 4. p,q To complete the proof, it suces to show that E2 = (Rp F )(Rq G)(A). Evip,q q ,p dently, E1 = H (F I ). Using the fact that everything in sight is injective, one p,q may show that H q (F I ,p ) = F H q (I ,p ). Therefore, E2 = H p (F H q (I ,p )). Now q ,p q q H (I ) is an injective resolution of H (GC ) = R G(A) by the full injectivity of I , . Therefore, p,q E2 = H p (F H q (I ,p )) = (Rp F )(Rq G)(A),

as desired.

MATTHEW GREENBERG

Example 17 (Base change for Ext). Let R S be a ring homomorphism (endowing S with an R-module structure) and let A be an S-module. Let G = HomR (S, ) and F = HomS (A, ), and consider the diagram R-modules S-modules Abelian Groups. F and G are left exact, covariant functors, and F G(B) = HomS (A, HomR (S, B)) = HomR (A S S, B) = HomR (A, B), i.e., F G = HomR (A, ). If I be an injective R-module, then HomS (, HomR (S, I)) = HomR ( S S, I) = HomR (, I). So HomS (, HomR (S, I)) is exact and HomR (S, ) sends injectives to injectives. Therefore, Theorem 15 implies that there exists a spectral sequence
p,q p+q E2 = Extp (A, Extq (S, B)) ExtR (A, B). S R G F

Now suppose S is a projective R module. In this case, HomR (S, ) is exact, implying Extq (S, B) = Rq HomR (S, )(B) = 0 if q > 0. That is, the above R spectral sequence collapses at the E2 -stage. Therefore, by Lemma 4, we obtain the identity Extp (A, HomR (S, B)) = Extp (A, B) S R for any S-module A and R-module B. 7. The Leray spectral sequence In this section, we construct the Leray spectral sequence, an essential tool in modern algebraic geometry. Its construction is an application of Theorem 15. Let f : X Y be a continuous map of topological spaces. Then we have a commutative diagram SheavesX JJ JJ JJ J (X,) JJ $
f

Ab

/ SheavesY tt tt tt t ztt (Y,)

where Ab, f and denote the category of abelian groups, sheaf pushforward, and the sections functor, respectively. It is well known that the category of sheaves of abelian groups on a topological space has enough injectives. Also, f and (Y, ) are left exact, covariant functors. We claim that f sends injectives to injectives (and thus, to (Y, )-acyclics). To see this, we shall use the following useful lemma. Lemma 18. Let G : A B and F : B A be covariant functors. Further suppose that F is right adjoint to G and that G is exact. Then F sends injectives to injectives. Proof. Let I be an injective object of B. We must show that Hom(F I, ) is exact. Let 0 A A A 0 be an exact sequence in A. The the by the exactness of G, the sequence 0 GA GA GA 0 is exact. By the injectivity of I, the sequence 0 Hom(GA , I) Hom(GA, I) Hom(GA , I) 0 is exact. The adjointness property of F and G completes the argument.

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If is a fact that f is right adjoint to the sheaf inverse image functor f 1 an exact functor (see [2, Ch. 2, Exercise 1.18]). Therefore, by the lemma, f sends injectives to injectives, and by Theorem 15, for any sheaf F on X, there exists a spectral sequence p,q E2 = H p (Y, Rq f F) H p+q (X, F) with exact sequence of terms of low degree 0 H 1 (Y, f F) H 1 (X, F) (Y, R1 f F) H 2 (Y, f F) H 2 (X, F). The above spectral sequence is called the Leray spectral sequence. For a nice application of this spectral sequence to geometry, see [1], where it is used to analyze certain birational isomorphisms between surfaces. 8. Group cohomology and the Hochschild-Serre spectral sequence Let G be a nite group and let A be a G-module (equivalently, a Z[G]-module). Let G-mod and Ab denot the categories of G-modules and abelian groups, respectively. We consider the G-invariants functor invG : G-mod Ab, A AG

which to a G-module A associates its subgroup of elements invariant invariant under the action of G. It is easy to see that invG is a left exact, covariant functor, so we may take its right derived functors. We dene H n (G, A) = Rn invG (A) and call this the n-th cohomology group of G with coecients in A. If H is a normal subgroup of G and A is a G-module (and thus, also an H-module, then AH naturally has the structure of a G/H-module. In fact, the diagram G-mod GG GG GG G invG GG #
invH

Ab

/ G/H-mod tt tt tt G/H t inv ytt

is easily seen to be commutative. In order to apply Theorem 15 to this situation, we shall verify that invH sends injectives to injectives. Every G/H-module is also a G-module in a natural way. Let : G/H-mod G-mod be this functor, easily checked to be exact. It follows trivially that invH is right adjoint to and therefore, by Lemma 18, the functor invH preserves injectives. Thus, by Theorem 15, there exists a spectral sequence
p,q E2 = H p (G/H, H q (H, A)) H p+q (G, A)

with exact sequence of terms of low degree 0 H 1 (G/H, AH ) H 1 (G, A) H 1 (H, A)G/H H 2 (G/H, AH ) H 2 (G, A) H 2 (H, A)G/H . The maps inf, res, and t are called ination, restriction, and transgression, respectively. Working with a more down-to-earth description of these cohomology groups in terms of certain cocycles and coboundaries, one may explicitly describe these maps; see [3, Ch. XX, Exercise 6].
inf res inf res t

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MATTHEW GREENBERG

References
[1] A. Archibald, Spectral sequences for surfaces, Unpublished. [2] R. Hartshorne, Algebraic Geometry, Graduate Texts in Mathematics 52, Springer, 1977. [3] S. Lang, Algebra, Addison-Weseley Publishing Company, 1993.