Relative Homology - Definition

Definition

Given a subspace, one may form the short exact sequence

0\to C_\bullet(A) \to C_\bullet(X)\to
C_\bullet(X) /C_\bullet(A) \to 0

where denotes the singular chains on the space X. The boundary map on leaves invariant and therefore descends to a boundary map on the quotient. The corresponding homology is called relative homology:

One says that relative homology is given by the relative cycles, chains whose boundaries are chains on A, modulo the relative boundaries (chains that are homologous to a chain on A, i.e. chains that would be boundaries, modulo A again).

Read more about this topic:  Relative Homology

Famous quotes containing the word definition:

    “It is very hard to give a just definition of love. The most we can say of it is this: that in the soul, it is a desire to rule; in the spirit, it is a sympathy; and in the body, it is but a hidden and subtle desire to possess—after many mysteries—what one loves.”
    —François, Duc De La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680)

    “I’m beginning to think that the proper definition of “Man” is “an animal that writes letters.””
    —Lewis Carroll [Charles Lutwidge Dodgson] (1832–1898)

    “Was man made stupid to see his own stupidity?
    Is God by definition indifferent, beyond us all?
    Is the eternal truth man’s fighting soul
    Wherein the Beast ravens in its own avidity?”
    —Richard Eberhart (b. 1904)