Questions tagged [group-cohomology]

a tool used to compute invariants of group actions using methods from homology theory, such as invariants, coinvariants, extensions... Use with (homology-cohomology).

Given a group $G$ and a $G$-module $M$, it is possible to define invariants: $$H_n(G;M) \qquad H^n(G; M)$$ for all $n \ge 0$ called respectively the homology and the cohomology of the group $G$ with coefficients in $M$. These invariants are generalizations of two well-known constructions, the invariants and coinvariants: $$\begin{align} M^G & = \{ m \in M : g \cdot m = m \forall g \in G \} \\ M_G & = M / ( g \cdot m \sim m ) \end{align}$$ and they fit in long exact sequences, given a short exact sequence $0 \to L \to M \to N \to 0$ of $G$-modules: $$0 \to \underbrace{L^G}_{= H^0(G; L)} \to M^G \to N^G \to H^1(G; L) \to H^1(G; M) \to H^1(G; M) \to \dots$$ $$0 \leftarrow \underbrace{L_G}_{= H_0(G; L)} \leftarrow M_G \leftarrow N_G \leftarrow H_1(G; L) \leftarrow H_1(G; M) \leftarrow H_1(G; M) \leftarrow \dots$$

This tag should be used in conjunction with . More information about group cohomology can be found on Wikipedia.

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Applications of group cohomology to algebra

I started learning about group cohomology (of finite groups) from two books: Babakhanian and Hilton&Stammbach. The theory is indeed natural and beautiful, but I could not find many examples to its uses in algebra. I am looking for problems stated in…
user3533
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What are the homology groups of an abelian group?

What are the homology groups of an abelian group? I know there are simple answers in certain cases (e.g. I believe $H_2(A; \mathbb{Z}) = \wedge^2 A$), but it's surprisingly difficult to find any references (at least, one's that are online and…
user14972
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How to think about cup product in group cohomology?

I am reading the corresponding section in Cassels-Frohlich. This is the axiomatic definition of cup products given there: (I'm copying from Alison Miller's answer here) The cup product is a family of maps from $H^p(G, A) \otimes H^p(G, B)\to H^p(G,…
user27126
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Why is the Herbrand quotient of the dual $\hat{A}$ equal to the inverse of the Herbrand quotient of $A$ in this situation?

I'm reading Serre's Local Fields, and I'm trying to understand the proof of Prop. 9 in $\S$5 of Chap. 8 (p.136). First, the setup: $p$ is a prime number $G$ is a cyclic group of order $p$ $A$ is a $G$-module $h(A)$ is the Herbrand quotient of…
Zev Chonoles
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Definition of Induced Module - Typo in Corps Locaux?

This is from the beginning of the section on group cohomology in Corps Locaux (English Edition). Serre states that $A$ is an induced $G$-module if (1) $A\cong A\otimes_\mathbb{Z}X$ for an abelian group $X$, or, equivalently, (2) $A=\bigoplus_{s\in…
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Does $f(gh)=gf(h)+f(g)$ make $H^1(G,A)$ small enough?

I'm currently reading the text Beginnings of Group Cohomology, trying to understand $H^1(G,A)$ for $G$ a group and $A$ a $G$-module. In the article, the space $H^1(G,A)$ is motivated as a space of obstructions to lifting fixed points, as I now…
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Group cohomology over ring

For any group $G$ and $G$-module ($\mathbb{Z}[G]$-module) $M$, we can define a group cohomology $H^{n}(G, M)$ as $$ H^{n}(G, M):=\mathrm{Ext}_{\mathbb{Z}[G]}^{n}(\mathbb{Z}, M). $$ However, I think one can replace $\mathbb{Z}$ with other rings $R$,…
Seewoo Lee
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Is there a way to interpret the group cocycle condition as an associativity requirement (e.g. pentagon equation)?

The 2-cocycle and 3-cocycle equations for group cohomology with coefficients in U(1) arise naturally from associativity relations. Given a projective representation $U(g_1)U(g_2)=\omega(g_1,g_2)U(g_1g_2)$, the 2-cocycle equation arises from…
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Does H2 depends only on abelian quotient?

Consider a finite group $G$ and an abelian group $N$. Let $G$ act trivially on $N$. Is $H^{2}(G,N)\cong H^{2}(G^{ab},N)$? ($G^{ab}=G/[G,G]$ the abelianization of $G$) I don't get group cohomology so I have no intuitions about this, and computing…
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Confusion about Steinberg module

As explained in [Ash and Yasaki, Theorem. 2.8] the Steinberg module $St_{n}$ is the dualizing module for any finite index subgroup $\Gamma\le\mathrm{GL}_{n}(\mathbb{Z})$. Following the notation of [Brown, Chapter 8] this means that $D:=H^{d}(\Gamma,…
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Show that $ H^2(G, \mathbb{Z}) \simeq \text{Hom} (G, U(1)) $ with $G = \mathbb{Z}/p\mathbb{Z}$

There is "well-known" isomorphism, between "second-cohomology" of a group $G$ and "characters" which are maps $G \to U(1)$: $$ H^2(G, \mathbb{Z}) \simeq \text{Hom} (G, U(1)) $$ I was curious what this isomorphism looked like when $G =…
cactus314
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Is a projective (etc.) $G$-module also a projective $G'$-module?

I'm learning some group cohomology from the third section in Serre's Local Fields, and I'm up to the section on change of group. If $f:G'\rightarrow G$ is a homomorphism of groups and $A$ is a $G$-module, there is an induced $G'$-module structure…
Zev Chonoles
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Computing (co)homology of the quaternion group $Q_8$

I will denote by $Q_8$ the quaternion group. According to this page: Groupprops wiki, the cohomology seems a bit tricky (at least, that is what I deduce from the multiple question marks '?') so I will only describe my problem in the case of…
Hans
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Computation the second group cohomology

I have a problem with computation of $H^2(G, \mathbb Z_2G)$, where $G=\mathbb Z\times \mathbb Z$. I know that I have to find a nice projective resolution for $\mathbb Z$ and then by taking the functor Hom(,), the second cohomology group is…
Jivid
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find a $k[G]$-module basis for a $k$ module with $G$ action

Given a ring $k$, a finite group $G$ and a free $k$-module $M$ with a free action of $G$, why is $M$ a free module over the group ring $k[G]$? (how do I find a $k[G]$ basis for $M$?)
george
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