Lemma 29.26.1. Let X be a scheme. The rule which associates to a closed subscheme of X its underlying closed subset defines a bijection
\left\{ \begin{matrix} \text{closed subschemes }Z \subset X
\\ \text{such that }Z \to X\text{ is flat}
\end{matrix} \right\} \leftrightarrow \left\{ \begin{matrix} \text{closed subsets }Z \subset X
\\ \text{closed under generalizations}
\end{matrix} \right\}
If Z \subset X is such a closed subscheme, every morphism of schemes g : Y \to X with g(Y) \subset Z set theoretically factors (scheme theoretically) through Z.
Proof.
The affine case of the bijection is Algebra, Lemma 10.108.4. For general schemes X the bijection follows by covering X by affines and glueing. Details omitted. For the final assertion, observe that the projection Z \times _{X, g} Y \to Y is a flat (Lemma 29.25.8) closed immersion which is bijective on underlying topological spaces and hence must be an isomorphism by the bijection esthablished in the first part of the proof.
\square
Comments (3)
Comment #5820 by Laurent Moret-Bailly on
Comment #5844 by Johan on
Comment #10013 by Tim Holzschuh on