Group Scheme - Constructions

Constructions

• Given a group G, one can form the constant group scheme G_S. As a scheme, it is a disjoint union of copies of S, and by choosing an identification of these copies with elements of G, one can define the multiplication, unit, and inverse maps by transport of structure. As a functor, it takes any S-scheme T to a product of copies of the group G, where the number of copies is equal to the number of connected components of T. G_S is affine over S if and only if G is a finite group. However, one can take a projective limit of finite constant group schemes to get profinite group schemes, which appear in the study of fundamental groups and Galois representations or in the theory of the fundamental group scheme, and these are affine of infinite type. More generally, by taking a locally constant sheaf of groups on S, one obtains a locally constant group scheme, for which monodromy on the base can induce non-trivial automorphisms on the fibers.

• The existence of fiber products of schemes allows one to make several constructions. Finite direct products of group schemes have a canonical group scheme structure. Given an action of one group scheme on another by automorphisms, one can form semidirect products by following the usual set-theoretic construction. Kernels of group scheme homomorphisms are group schemes, by taking a fiber product over the unit map from the base. Base change sends group schemes to group schemes.

• Group schemes can be formed from smaller group schemes by taking restriction of scalars with respect to some morphism of base schemes, although one needs finiteness conditions to be satisfied to ensure representability of the resulting functor. When this morphism is along a finite extension of fields, it is known as Weil restriction.

• For any abelian group A, one can form the corresponding diagonalizable group D(A), defined as a functor by setting D(A)(T) to be the set of abelian group homomorphisms from A to invertible global sections of O_T for each S-scheme T. If S is affine, D(A) can be formed as the spectrum of a group ring. More generally, one can form groups of multiplicative type by letting A be a non-constant sheaf of abelian groups on S.

• For a subgroup scheme H of a group scheme G, the functor that takes an S-scheme T to G(T)/H(T) is in general not a sheaf, and even its sheafification is in general not representable as a scheme. However, if H is finite, flat, and closed in G, then the quotient is representable, and admits a canonical left G-action by translation. If the restriction of this action to H is trivial, then H is said to be normal, and the quotient scheme admits a natural group law. Representability holds in many other cases, such as when H is closed in G and both are affine.