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:

    The man who knows governments most completely is he who troubles himself least about a definition which shall give their essence. Enjoying an intimate acquaintance with all their particularities in turn, he would naturally regard an abstract conception in which these were unified as a thing more misleading than enlightening.
    William James (1842–1910)

    The definition of good prose is proper words in their proper places; of good verse, the most proper words in their proper places. The propriety is in either case relative. The words in prose ought to express the intended meaning, and no more; if they attract attention to themselves, it is, in general, a fault.
    Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834)

    One definition of man is “an intelligence served by organs.”
    Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)