The Stacks project

18.36 Stalks of modules

We have to be a bit careful when taking stalks at points, since the colimit defining a stalk (see Sites, Equation 7.32.1.1) may not be filtered1. On the other hand, by definition of a point of a site the stalk functor is exact and commutes with arbitrary colimits. In other words, it behaves exactly as if the colimit were filtered.

Lemma 18.36.1. Let $\mathcal{C}$ be a site. Let $p$ be a point of $\mathcal{C}$.

  1. We have $(\mathcal{F}^\# )_ p = \mathcal{F}_ p$ for any presheaf of sets on $\mathcal{C}$.

  2. The stalk functor $\mathop{\mathit{Sh}}\nolimits (\mathcal{C}) \to \textit{Sets}$, $\mathcal{F} \mapsto \mathcal{F}_ p$ is exact (see Categories, Definition 4.23.1) and commutes with arbitrary colimits.

  3. The stalk functor $\textit{PSh}(\mathcal{C}) \to \textit{Sets}$, $\mathcal{F} \mapsto \mathcal{F}_ p$ is exact (see Categories, Definition 4.23.1) and commutes with arbitrary colimits.

Proof. By Sites, Lemma 7.32.5 we have (1). By Sites, Lemmas 7.32.4 we see that $\textit{PSh}(\mathcal{C}) \to \textit{Sets}$, $\mathcal{F} \mapsto \mathcal{F}_ p$ is a left adjoint, and by Sites, Lemma 7.32.5 we see the same thing for $\mathop{\mathit{Sh}}\nolimits (\mathcal{C}) \to \textit{Sets}$, $\mathcal{F} \mapsto \mathcal{F}_ p$. Hence the stalk functor commutes with arbitrary colimits (see Categories, Lemma 4.24.5). It follows from the definition of a point of a site, see Sites, Definition 7.32.2 that $\mathop{\mathit{Sh}}\nolimits (\mathcal{C}) \to \textit{Sets}$, $\mathcal{F} \mapsto \mathcal{F}_ p$ is exact. Since sheafification is exact (Sites, Lemma 7.10.14) it follows that $\textit{PSh}(\mathcal{C}) \to \textit{Sets}$, $\mathcal{F} \mapsto \mathcal{F}_ p$ is exact. $\square$

In particular, since the stalk functor $\mathcal{F} \mapsto \mathcal{F}_ p$ on presheaves commutes with all finite limits and colimits we may apply the reasoning of the proof of Sites, Proposition 7.44.3. The result of such an argument is that if $\mathcal{F}$ is a (pre)sheaf of algebraic structures listed in Sites, Proposition 7.44.3 then the stalk $\mathcal{F}_ p$ is naturally an algebraic structure of the same kind. Let us explain this in detail when $\mathcal{F}$ is an abelian presheaf. In this case the addition map $+ : \mathcal{F} \times \mathcal{F} \to \mathcal{F}$ induces a map

\[ + : \mathcal{F}_ p \times \mathcal{F}_ p = (\mathcal{F} \times \mathcal{F})_ p \longrightarrow \mathcal{F}_ p \]

where the equal sign uses that stalk functor on presheaves of sets commutes with finite limits. This defines a group structure on the stalk $\mathcal{F}_ p$. In this way we obtain our stalk functor

\[ \textit{PAb}(\mathcal{C}) \longrightarrow \textit{Ab}, \quad \mathcal{F} \longmapsto \mathcal{F}_ p \]

By construction the underlying set of $\mathcal{F}_ p$ is the stalk of the underlying presheaf of sets. This also defines our stalk functor for sheaves of abelian groups by precomposing with the inclusion $\textit{Ab}(\mathcal{C}) \subset \textit{PAb}(\mathcal{C})$.

Lemma 18.36.2. Let $\mathcal{C}$ be a site. Let $p$ be a point of $\mathcal{C}$.

  1. The functor $\textit{Ab}(\mathcal{C}) \to \textit{Ab}$, $\mathcal{F} \mapsto \mathcal{F}_ p$ is exact.

  2. The stalk functor $\textit{PAb}(\mathcal{C}) \to \textit{Ab}$, $\mathcal{F} \mapsto \mathcal{F}_ p$ is exact.

  3. For $\mathcal{F} \in \mathop{\mathrm{Ob}}\nolimits (\textit{PAb}(\mathcal{C}))$ we have $\mathcal{F}_ p = \mathcal{F}^\# _ p$.

Proof. This is formal from the results of Lemma 18.36.1 and the construction of the stalk functor above. $\square$

Next, we turn to the case of sheaves of modules. Let $(\mathcal{C}, \mathcal{O})$ be a ringed site. (It suffices for the discussion that $\mathcal{O}$ be a presheaf of rings.) Let $\mathcal{F}$ be a presheaf of $\mathcal{O}$-modules. Let $p$ be a point of $\mathcal{C}$. In this case we get a map

\[ \cdot : \mathcal{O}_ p \times \mathcal{O}_ p = (\mathcal{O} \times \mathcal{O})_ p \longrightarrow \mathcal{O}_ p \]

which is the stalk of the multiplication map and

\[ \cdot : \mathcal{O}_ p \times \mathcal{F}_ p = (\mathcal{O} \times \mathcal{F})_ p \longrightarrow \mathcal{F}_ p \]

which is the stalk of the multiplication map. We omit the verification that this defines a ring structure on $\mathcal{O}_ p$ and an $\mathcal{O}_ p$-module structure on $\mathcal{F}_ p$. In this way we obtain a functor

\[ \textit{PMod}(\mathcal{O}) \longrightarrow \textit{Mod}(\mathcal{O}_ p), \quad \mathcal{F} \longmapsto \mathcal{F}_ p \]

By construction the underlying set of $\mathcal{F}_ p$ is the stalk of the underlying presheaf of sets. This also defines our stalk functor for sheaves of $\mathcal{O}$-modules by precomposing with the inclusion $\textit{Mod}(\mathcal{O}) \subset \textit{PMod}(\mathcal{O})$.

Lemma 18.36.3. Let $(\mathcal{C}, \mathcal{O})$ be a ringed site. Let $p$ be a point of $\mathcal{C}$.

  1. The functor $\textit{Mod}(\mathcal{O}) \to \textit{Mod}(\mathcal{O}_ p)$, $\mathcal{F} \mapsto \mathcal{F}_ p$ is exact.

  2. The stalk functor $\textit{PMod}(\mathcal{O}) \to \textit{Mod}(\mathcal{O}_ p)$, $\mathcal{F} \mapsto \mathcal{F}_ p$ is exact.

  3. For $\mathcal{F} \in \mathop{\mathrm{Ob}}\nolimits (\textit{PMod}(\mathcal{O}))$ we have $\mathcal{F}_ p = \mathcal{F}^\# _ p$.

Proof. This is formal from the results of Lemma 18.36.2, the construction of the stalk functor above, and Lemma 18.14.1. $\square$

Lemma 18.36.4. Let $(f, f^\sharp ) : (\mathop{\mathit{Sh}}\nolimits (\mathcal{C}), \mathcal{O}_\mathcal {C}) \to (\mathop{\mathit{Sh}}\nolimits (\mathcal{D}), \mathcal{O}_\mathcal {D})$ be a morphism of ringed topoi or ringed sites. Let $p$ be a point of $\mathcal{C}$ or $\mathop{\mathit{Sh}}\nolimits (\mathcal{C})$ and set $q = f \circ p$. Then

\[ (f^*\mathcal{F})_ p = \mathcal{F}_ q \otimes _{\mathcal{O}_{\mathcal{D}, q}} \mathcal{O}_{\mathcal{C}, p} \]

for any $\mathcal{O}_\mathcal {D}$-module $\mathcal{F}$.

Proof. We have

\[ f^*\mathcal{F} = f^{-1}\mathcal{F} \otimes _{f^{-1}\mathcal{O}_\mathcal {D}} \mathcal{O}_\mathcal {C} \]

by definition. Since taking stalks at $p$ (i.e., applying $p^{-1}$) commutes with $\otimes $ by Lemma 18.26.2 we win by the relation between the stalk of pullbacks at $p$ and stalks at $q$ explained in Sites, Lemma 7.34.2 or Sites, Lemma 7.34.3. $\square$

[1] Of course in almost any naturally occurring case the colimit is filtered and some of the discussion in this section may be simplified.

Comments (2)

Comment #3408 by Mike Paluch on

I believe the proof of Lemma 04EM ought to read by Sites, Lemma 00Y8 we see the same thing for \textit{Sh}(\mathcal{C}) \to \textit{Sets} rather than \textit{PSh}(\mathcal{C}) \to \textit{Sets}.


Post a comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked.

In your comment you can use Markdown and LaTeX style mathematics (enclose it like $\pi$). A preview option is available if you wish to see how it works out (just click on the eye in the toolbar).

Unfortunately JavaScript is disabled in your browser, so the comment preview function will not work.

All contributions are licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.




In order to prevent bots from posting comments, we would like you to prove that you are human. You can do this by filling in the name of the current tag in the following input field. As a reminder, this is tag 04EM. Beware of the difference between the letter 'O' and the digit '0'.