Algebraic Groups The Theory of Group

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C A M B R I D G E S T U D I E S I N A DVA N C E D M AT H E M AT I C S 1 7 0

Editorial Board
B . B O L L O B Á S , W. F U LTO N , F. K I RWA N,
P. S A R NA K , B . S I M O N , B . TOTA RO

ALGEBRAIC GROUPS
Algebraic groups play much the same role for algebraists as Lie groups play for
analysts. This book is the first comprehensive introduction to the theory of algebraic
group schemes over fields that includes the structure theory of semisimple algebraic
groups and is written in the language of modern algebraic geometry.
The first eight chapters study general algebraic group schemes over a field and
culminate in a proof of the Barsotti–Chevalley theorem realizing every algebraic
group as an extension of an abelian variety by an affine group. After a review of the
Tannakian philosophy, the author provides short accounts of Lie algebras and finite
group schemes. The later chapters treat reductive algebraic groups over arbitrary fields,
including the Borel–Chevalley structure theory. Solvable algebraic groups are studied
in detail. Prerequisites have been kept to a minimum so that the book is accessible to
non-specialists in algebraic geometry.

J. S. Milne is professor emeritus at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. His

previous books include Étale Cohomology and Arithmetic Duality Theorems.
CAMBRIDGE STUDIES IN ADVANCED MATHEMATICS

Editorial Board:
B. Bollobás, W. Fulton, F. Kirwan, P. Sarnak, B. Simon, B. Totaro

All the titles listed below can be obtained from good booksellers or from Cambridge University Press.
For a complete series listing visit: www.cambridge.org/mathematics.

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131 D. A. Craven The theory of fusion systems
132 J. Väänänen Models and games
133 G. Malle & D. Testerman Linear algebraic groups and finite groups of Lie type
134 P. Li Geometric analysis
135 F. Maggi Sets of finite perimeter and geometric variational problems
136 M. Brodmann & R. Y. Sharp Local cohomology (2nd Edition)
137 C. Muscalu & W. Schlag Classical and multilinear harmonic analysis, I
138 C. Muscalu & W. Schlag Classical and multilinear harmonic analysis, II
139 B. Helffer Spectral theory and its applications
140 R. Pemantle & M. C. Wilson Analytic combinatorics in several variables
141 B. Branner & N. Fagella Quasiconformal surgery in holomorphic dynamics
142 R. M. Dudley Uniform central limit theorems (2nd Edition)
143 T. Leinster Basic category theory
144 I. Arzhantsev, U. Derenthal, J. Hausen & A. Laface Cox rings
145 M. Viana Lectures on Lyapunov exponents
146 J.-H. Evertse & K. Györy Unit equations in Diophantine number theory
147 A. Prasad Representation theory
148 S. R. Garcia, J. Mashreghi & W. T. Ross Introduction to model spaces and their operators
149 C. Godsil & K. Meagher Erdös–Ko–Rado theorems: Algebraic approaches
150 P. Mattila Fourier analysis and Hausdorff dimension
151 M. Viana & K. Oliveira Foundations of ergodic theory
152 V. I. Paulsen & M. Raghupathi An introduction to the theory of reproducing kernel Hilbert spaces
153 R. Beals & R. Wong Special functions and orthogonal polynomials
154 V. Jurdjevic Optimal control and geometry: Integrable systems
155 G. Pisier Martingales in Banach spaces
156 C. T. C. Wall Differential topology
157 J. C. Robinson, J. L. Rodrigo & W. Sadowski The three-dimensional Navier–Stokes equations
158 D. Huybrechts Lectures on K3 surfaces
159 H. Matsumoto & S. Taniguchi Stochastic analysis
160 A. Borodin & G. Olshanski Representations of the infinite symmetric group
161 P. Webb Finite group representations for the pure mathematician
162 C. J. Bishop & Y. Peres Fractals in probability and analysis
163 A. Bovier Gaussian processes on trees
164 P. Schneider Galois representations and (φ , )-modules
165 P. Gille & T. Szamuely Central simple algebras and Galois cohomology (2nd Edition)
166 D. Li & H. Queffelec Introduction to Banach spaces, I
167 D. Li & H. Queffelec Introduction to Banach spaces, II
168 J. Carlson, S. Müller-Stach & C. Peters Period mappings and period domains (2nd Edition)
169 J. M. Landsberg Geometry and complexity theory
170 J. S. Milne Algebraic groups
The picture illustrates Grothendieck’s vision of a pinned reductive
group: the body is a maximal torus T, the wings are the opposite
Borel subgroups B, and the pins rigidify the situation. (“Demazure nous
indique que, derrière cette terminologie [épinglage], il y a l’image du
papillon (que lui a fournie Grothendieck): le corps est un tore maximal
T, les ailes sont deux sous-groupes de Borel opposées par rapport à T,
on déploie le papillon en étalant les ailes, puis on fixe des éléments dans
les groupes additifs (des épingles) pour rigidifier la situation.” SGA 3,
XXIII, p. 177.)

The background image is a Blue Morpho butterfly. Credit: LPETTET/DigitalVision

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 Algebraic Groups
The Theory of Group Schemes of Finite
Type over a Field

J. S. MILNE
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
 University Printing House, Cambridge CB2 8BS, United Kingdom
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DOI: 10.1017/9781316711736

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Contents

Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xv
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Conventions and notation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

1 Definitions and Basic Properties 6

a Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
b Basic properties of algebraic groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
c Algebraic subgroups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
d Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
e Kernels and exact sequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
f Group actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
g The homomorphism theorem for smooth groups . . . . . . . . . 28
h Closed subfunctors: definitions and statements . . . . . . . . . . 29
i Transporters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
j Normalizers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
k Centralizers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
l Closed subfunctors: proofs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

2 Examples and Basic Constructions 39

a Affine algebraic groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
b Étale group schemes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
c Anti-affine algebraic groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
d Homomorphisms of algebraic groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
e Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
f Semidirect products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
g The group of connected components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
h The algebraic subgroup generated by a map . . . . . . . . . . . 53
i Restriction of scalars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
j Torsors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

3 Affine Algebraic Groups and Hopf Algebras 64

a The comultiplication map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
viii Contents

b Hopf algebras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
c Hopf algebras and algebraic groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
d Hopf subalgebras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
e Hopf subalgebras of O.G/ versus subgroups of G . . . . . . . . 68
f Subgroups of G.k/ versus algebraic subgroups of G . . . . . . . 68
g Affine algebraic groups in characteristic zero are smooth . . . . 70
h Smoothness in characteristic p ¤ 0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
i Faithful flatness for Hopf algebras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
j The homomorphism theorem for affine algebraic groups . . . . 74
k Forms of algebraic groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81

4 Linear Representations of Algebraic Groups 83

a Representations and comodules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
b Stabilizers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
c Representations are unions of finite-dimensional representations 86
d Affine algebraic groups are linear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
e Constructing all finite-dimensional representations . . . . . . . 88
f Semisimple representations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
g Characters and eigenspaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
h Chevalley’s theorem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
i The subspace fixed by a group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97

5 Group Theory; the Isomorphism Theorems 98

a The isomorphism theorems for abstract groups . . . . . . . . . . 98
b Quotient maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
c Existence of quotients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
d Monomorphisms of algebraic groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
e The homomorphism theorem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
f The isomorphism theorem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
g The correspondence theorem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 112
h The connected-étale exact sequence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
i The category of commutative algebraic groups . . . . . . . . . . 115
j Sheaves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
k The isomorphism theorems for functors to groups . . . . . . . . 118
l The isomorphism theorems for sheaves of groups . . . . . . . . 118
m The isomorphism theorems for algebraic groups . . . . . . . . . 119
n Some category theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122

6 Subnormal Series; Solvable and Nilpotent Algebraic Groups 124

a Subnormal series . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
b Isogenies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
c Composition series for algebraic groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
 Contents ix

d The derived groups and commutator groups . . . . . . . . . . . 129

e Solvable algebraic groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
f Nilpotent algebraic groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
g Existence of a largest algebraic subgroup with a given property . 134
h Semisimple and reductive groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
i A standard example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136

7 Algebraic Groups Acting on Schemes 138

a Group actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
b The fixed subscheme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
c Orbits and isotropy groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
d The functor defined by projective space . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
e Quotients of affine algebraic groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
f Linear actions on schemes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
g Flag varieties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146

8 The Structure of General Algebraic Groups 148

a Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
b Normal affine algebraic subgroups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
c Pseudo-abelian varieties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
d Local actions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
e Anti-affine algebraic groups and abelian varieties . . . . . . . . 151
f Rosenlicht’s decomposition theorem. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
g Rosenlicht’s dichotomy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 153
h The Barsotti–Chevalley theorem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 154
i Anti-affine groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156
j Extensions of abelian varieties by affine algebraic groups: a survey159
k Homogeneous spaces are quasi-projective . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162

9 Tannaka Duality; Jordan Decompositions 163

a Recovering a group from its representations . . . . . . . . . . . 163
b Jordan decompositions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
c Characterizing categories of representations . . . . . . . . . . . 171
d Categories of comodules over a coalgebra . . . . . . . . . . . . 174
e Proof of Theorem 9.24 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178
f Tannakian categories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183
g Properties of G versus those of Rep.G/ . . . . . . . . . . . . . 184

10 The Lie Algebra of an Algebraic Group 186

a Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 186
b The Lie algebra of an algebraic group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 188
c Basic properties of the Lie algebra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 190
d The adjoint representation; definition of the bracket . . . . . . . 191
x Contents

e Description of the Lie algebra in terms of derivations . . . . . . 194

f Stabilizers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 196
g Centres . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
h Centralizers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197
i An example of Chevalley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 198
j The universal enveloping algebra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
k The universal enveloping p-algebra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 204
l The algebra of distributions (hyperalgebra) of an algebraic group 207
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208

11 Finite Group Schemes 209

a Generalities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 209
b Locally free finite group schemes over a base ring . . . . . . . . 211
c Cartier duality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212
d Finite group schemes of order p . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 215
e Derivations of Hopf algebras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
f Structure of the underlying scheme of a finite group scheme . . 218
g Finite group schemes of order n are killed by n . . . . . . . . . 220
h Finite group schemes of height at most one . . . . . . . . . . . 222
i The Verschiebung morphism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 224
j The Witt schemes Wn . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 226
k Commutative group schemes over a perfect field . . . . . . . . . 227
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229

12 Groups of Multiplicative Type; Linearly Reductive Groups 230

a The characters of an algebraic group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
b The algebraic group D.M / . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 230
c Diagonalizable groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233
d Diagonalizable representations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 234
e Tori . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
f Groups of multiplicative type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
g Classification of groups of multiplicative type . . . . . . . . . . 239
h Representations of a group of multiplicative type . . . . . . . . 241
i Density and rigidity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242
j Central tori as almost-factors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
k Maps to tori . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 246
l Linearly reductive groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248
m Unirationality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 250
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252

13 Tori Acting on Schemes 254

a The smoothness of the fixed subscheme . . . . . . . . . . . . . 254
b Limits in schemes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 258
c The concentrator scheme in the affine case . . . . . . . . . . . . 260
d Limits in algebraic groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 263
 Contents xi

e Luna maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267

f The Białynicki-Birula decomposition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 272
g Proof of the Białynicki-Birula decomposition . . . . . . . . . . 276
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278

14 Unipotent Algebraic Groups 279

a Preliminaries from linear algebra . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 279
b Unipotent algebraic groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280
c Unipotent elements in algebraic groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286
d Unipotent algebraic groups in characteristic zero . . . . . . . . 288
e Unipotent algebraic groups in nonzero characteristic . . . . . . 292
f Algebraic groups isomorphic to Ga . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 298
g Split and wound unipotent groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 301

15 Cohomology and Extensions 302

a Crossed homomorphisms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302
b Hochschild cohomology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 304
c Hochschild extensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 307
d The cohomology of linear representations . . . . . . . . . . . . 310
e Linearly reductive groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 311
f Applications to homomorphisms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312
g Applications to centralizers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313
h Calculation of some extensions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323

16 The Structure of Solvable Algebraic Groups 324

a Trigonalizable algebraic groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 324
b Commutative algebraic groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 327
c Structure of trigonalizable algebraic groups . . . . . . . . . . . 330
d Solvable algebraic groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334
e Connectedness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338
f Nilpotent algebraic groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 340
g Split solvable groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 343
h Complements on unipotent algebraic groups . . . . . . . . . . . 346
i Tori acting on algebraic groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 347
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 351

17 Borel Subgroups and Applications 352

a The Borel fixed point theorem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 352
b Borel subgroups and maximal tori . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 353
c The density theorem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361
d Centralizers of tori . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363
e The normalizer of a Borel subgroup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 366
f The variety of Borel subgroups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 368
xii Contents

g Chevalley’s description of the unipotent radical . . . . . . . . . 370

h Proof of Chevalley’s theorem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373
i Borel and parabolic subgroups over an arbitrary base field . . . . 375
j Maximal tori and Cartan subgroups over an arbitrary base field . 376
k Algebraic groups over finite fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 382
l Split algebraic groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 384
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 385

18 The Geometry of Algebraic Groups 387

a Central and multiplicative isogenies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 387
b The universal covering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 388
c Line bundles and characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389
d Existence of a universal covering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 392
e Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 393
f Proof of theorem 18.15 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 395
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 396

19 Semisimple and Reductive Groups 397

a Semisimple groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 397
b Reductive groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 399
c The rank of a group variety . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 401
d Deconstructing reductive groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 403
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 406

20 Algebraic Groups of Semisimple Rank One 407

a Group varieties of semisimple rank 0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407
b Homogeneous curves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 408
c The automorphism group of the projective line . . . . . . . . . . 409
d A fixed point theorem for actions of tori . . . . . . . . . . . . . 410
e Group varieties of semisimple rank 1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 412
f Split reductive groups of semisimple rank 1. . . . . . . . . . . . 414
g Properties of SL2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 415
h Classification of the split reductive groups of semisimple rank 1 418
i The forms of SL2 , GL2 , and PGL2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 419
j Classification of reductive groups of semisimple rank one . . . . 421
k Review of SL2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 422
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 423

21 Split Reductive Groups 424

a Split reductive groups and their roots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 424
b Centres of reductive groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 427
c The root datum of a split reductive group . . . . . . . . . . . . . 428
d Borel subgroups; Weyl groups; Tits systems . . . . . . . . . . . 433
e Complements on semisimple groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 439
f Complements on reductive groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 442
 Contents xiii

g Unipotent subgroups normalized by T . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 444

h The Bruhat decomposition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 446
i Parabolic subgroups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 452
j The root data of the classical semisimple groups . . . . . . . . . 456
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 461

22 Representations of Reductive Groups 463

a The semisimple representations of a split reductive group . . . . 463
b Characters and Grothendieck groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 473
c Semisimplicity in characteristic zero . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 475
d Weyl’s character formula . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 479
e Relation to the representations of Lie.G/ . . . . . . . . . . . . . 481
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 482

23 The Isogeny and Existence Theorems 483

a Isogenies of groups and of root data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 483
b Proof of the isogeny theorem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 487
c Complements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 492
d Pinnings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 495
e Automorphisms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 497
f Quasi-split forms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 499
g Statement of the existence theorem; applications . . . . . . . . . 501
h Proof of the existence theorem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 503
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 511

24 Construction of the Semisimple Groups 512

a Deconstructing semisimple algebraic groups . . . . . . . . . . . 512
b Generalities on forms of semisimple groups . . . . . . . . . . . 514
c The centres of semisimple groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 516
d Semisimple algebras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 518
e Algebras with involution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 520
f The geometrically almost-simple groups of type A . . . . . . . 523
g The geometrically almost-simple groups of type C . . . . . . . 526
h Clifford algebras . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 527
i The spin groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 531
j The geometrically almost-simple group of types B and D . . . . 533
k The classical groups in terms of sesquilinear forms . . . . . . . 534
l The exceptional groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 538
m The trialitarian groups (groups of subtype 3D4 and 6D4 ) . . . . 542
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 542

25 Additional Topics 544

a Parabolic subgroups of reductive groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . 544
b The small root system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 548
c The Satake–Tits classification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 551
xiv Contents

d Representation theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 553

e Pseudo-reductive groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 557
f Nonreductive groups: Levi subgroups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 558
g Galois cohomology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 559
Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 565

Appendix A Review of Algebraic Geometry 566

a Affine algebraic schemes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 566
b Algebraic schemes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 569
c Subschemes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 571
d Algebraic schemes as functors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 572
e Fibred products of algebraic schemes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 574
f Algebraic varieties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 575
g The dimension of an algebraic scheme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 576
h Tangent spaces; smooth points; regular points . . . . . . . . . . 577
i Étale schemes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 579
j Galois descent for closed subschemes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 580
k Flat and smooth morphisms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 581
l The fibres of regular maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 582
m Complete schemes; proper maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 583
n The Picard group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 584
o Flat descent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 584

Appendix B Existence of Quotients of Algebraic Groups 586

a Equivalence relations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 586
b Existence of quotients in the finite affine case . . . . . . . . . . 591
c Existence of quotients in the finite case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 596
d Existence of quotients in the presence of quasi-sections . . . . . 599
e Existence generically of a quotient . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 602
f Existence of quotients of algebraic groups . . . . . . . . . . . . 604

Appendix C Root Data 607

a Preliminaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 607
b Reflection groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 608
c Root systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 610
d Root data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 613
e Duals of root data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 615
f Deconstructing root data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 620
g Classification of reduced root systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 621

References 627

Index 637
Preface

For one who attempts to unravel the story, the problems

are as perplexing as a mass of hemp with a thousand
loose ends.
Dream of the Red Chamber, Tsao Hsueh-Chin.

This book represents my attempt to write a modern successor to the three

standard works, all titled Linear Algebraic Groups, by Borel, Humphreys, and
Springer. More specifically, it is an exposition of the theory of group schemes of
finite type over a field, based on modern algebraic geometry, but with minimal
prerequisites.
It has been clear for fifty years that such a work has been needed.1 When
Borel, Chevalley, and others introduced algebraic geometry into the theory of
algebraic groups, the foundations they used were those of the period (e.g., Weil
1946), and most subsequent writers on algebraic groups have followed them.
Specifically, nilpotents are not allowed, and the terminology used conflicts with
that of modern algebraic geometry. For example, algebraic groups are usually
identified with their points in some large algebraically closed field K, and an
algebraic group over a subfield k of K is an algebraic group over K equipped
with a k-structure. The kernel of a k-homomorphism of algebraic k-groups is an
object over K (not k) which need not be defined over k.
In the modern approach, nilpotents are allowed,2 an algebraic k-group is
intrinsically defined over k, and the kernel of a homomorphism of algebraic
groups over k is (of course) defined over k. Instead of identifying an algebraic
group with its points in some “universal” field, it is more convenient to identify it
with the functor of k-algebras it defines.
The advantages of the modern approach are manifold. For example, the
infinitesimal theory is built into it from the start instead of entering only in an ad
hoc fashion through the Lie algebra. The Noether isomorphism theorems hold for
1 “Another remorse concerns the language adopted for the algebrogeometrical foundation of the

theory ... two such languages are briefly introduced ... the language of algebraic sets ... and the
Grothendieck language of schemes. Later on, the preference is given to the language of algebraic sets
... If things were to be done again, I would probably rather choose the scheme viewpoint ... which is
not only more general but also, in many respects, more satisfactory.” Tits 1968, p. 2.
2 To anyone who asked why we need to allow nilpotents, Grothendieck would say that they are

already there in nature; neglecting them obscures our vision.

xvi Preface

algebraic group schemes, and so the intuition from abstract group theory applies.
The kernels of infinitesimal homomorphisms become visible as algebraic group
schemes.
The first systematic exposition of the theory of group schemes was in SGA 3.
As was natural for its authors (Demazure, Grothendieck, . . . ), they worked over
an arbitrary base scheme and they used the full theory of schemes (EGA and
SGA). Most subsequent authors on group schemes have followed them. The
only books I know of that give an elementary treatment of group schemes are
Waterhouse 1979 and Demazure and Gabriel 1970. In writing this book, I have
relied heavily on both, but neither goes very far. For example, neither treats the
structure theory of reductive groups, which is a central part of the theory.
As noted, the modern theory is more general than the old theory. The extra
generality gives a richer and more attractive theory, but it does not come for free:
some proofs are more difficult (because they prove stronger statements). In this
work, I have avoided any appeal to advanced scheme theory. Unpleasantly tech-
nical arguments that I have not been able to avoid have been placed in separate
sections where they can be ignored by all but the most serious students. By con-
sidering only schemes algebraic over a field, we avoid many of the technicalities
that plague the general theory. Also, the theory over a field has many special
features that do not generalize to arbitrary bases.
Acknowledgements: The exposition incorporates simplifications to the general
theory from Iversen 1976, Luna 1999, Steinberg 1999, Springer 1998, and other
sources. In writing this book, the following works have been especially useful
to me: Demazure and Gabriel 1966; Demazure and Gabriel 1970; Waterhouse
1979; the expository writings of Springer, especially Springer 1994, 1998; online
notes of Casselman, Ngo, Perrin, and Pink, as well as the discussions, often
anonymous, on https://mathoverflow.net/. Also I wish to thank all those
who have commented on the various notes posted on my website.
Introduction

The book can be divided roughly into five parts.

A. Basic theory of general algebraic groups (Chapters 1–8)

The first eight chapters cover the general theory of algebraic group schemes (not
necessarily affine) over a field. After defining them and giving some examples,
we show that most of the basic theory of abstract groups (subgroups, normal
subgroups, normalizers, centralizers, Noether isomorphism theorems, subnormal
series, etc.) carries over with little change to algebraic group schemes. We
relate affine algebraic group schemes to Hopf algebras, and we prove that all
algebraic group schemes in characteristic zero are smooth. We study the linear
representations of algebraic group schemes and their actions on algebraic schemes.
We show that every algebraic group scheme is an extension of an étale group
scheme by a connected algebraic group scheme, and that every smooth connected
group scheme over a perfect field is an extension of an abelian variety by an affine
group scheme (Barsotti–Chevalley theorem).
Beginning with Chapter 9, all group schemes are affine.

B. Preliminaries on affine algebraic groups (Chapters 9–11)

The next three chapters are preliminary to the more detailed study of affine
algebraic group schemes in the later chapters. They cover basic Tannakian
theory, in which the category of representations of an algebraic group scheme
plays the role of the topological dual of a locally compact abelian group, Jordan
decompositions, the Lie algebra of an algebraic group, and the structure of finite
group schemes. Throughout this work we emphasize the Tannakian point of view
in which the group and its category of representations are placed on an equal
footing.

C. Solvable affine algebraic groups (Chapters 12–16)

The next five chapters study solvable algebraic group schemes. Among these are
the diagonalizable groups, the unipotent groups, and the trigonalizable groups.
2 Introduction

An algebraic group G is diagonalizable if every linear representation of G

is a direct sum of one-dimensional representations; in other words if, relative to
some basis, the image of G lies in the algebraic subgroup of diagonal matrices in
GLn . An algebraic group that becomes diagonalizable over an extension of the
base field is said to be of multiplicative type.
An algebraic group G is unipotent if every nonzero representation of G
contains a nonzero fixed vector. This implies that every representation has a
basis for which the image of G lies in the algebraic subgroup of strictly upper
triangular matrices in GLn .
An algebraic group G is trigonalizable if every simple representation has
dimension one. This implies that every representation has a basis for which
the image of G lies in the algebraic subgroup of upper triangular matrices in
GLn . The trigonalizable groups are exactly the extensions of diagonalizable
groups by unipotent groups. Trigonalizable groups are solvable, and the Lie–
Kolchin theorem says that all smooth connected solvable algebraic groups become
trigonalizable over a finite extension of the base field.

D. Reductive algebraic groups (Chapters 17–25)

This is the heart of the book, The first seven chapters develop in detail the structure
theory of split reductive groups and their representations in terms of their root
data. Chapter 24 exhibits all the almost-simple algebraic groups, and Chapter 25
explains how the theory of split groups extends to the nonsplit case.

E. Appendices
The first appendix reviews the definitions and statements from algebraic geometry
needed in the book. Experts need only note that, as we always work with schemes
of finite type over a base field k, it is natural to ignore the nonclosed points
(which we do).
The second appendix proves the existence of a quotient of an algebraic group
by an algebraic subgroup. This is an important result, but the existence of
nilpotents makes the proof difficult, and so most readers should simply accept
the statement.
The third appendix reviews the combinatorial objects, root systems and root
data, on which the theory of split reductive groups is based.

History
Apart from occasional brief remarks, we ignore the history of the subject, which
is quite complex. Many major results were discovered in one situation, and then
extended to other more general situations, sometimes easily and sometimes only
with difficulty. Without too much exaggeration, one can say that all the theory of
algebraic group schemes does is show that the theory of Killing and Cartan for
 Introduction 3

“local” objects over C extends in a natural way to “global” objects over arbitrary
fields.

Conventions and notation

Throughout, k is a field and R is a finitely generated k-algebra.1 All k-algebras
and R-algebras are required to be commutative and finitely generated unless it is
specified otherwise. Noncommutative algebras are referred to as “algebras over
k” rather than “k-algebras”. Unadorned tensor products are over k. An extension
of k is a field containing k, and a separable extension is a separable algebraic
extension. When V is a vector space over k, we often write VR for V ˝ R; for
v 2 V , we let vR D v ˝ 1 2 VR . The symbol k a denotes an algebraic closure of
k and k s (resp. k i ) denotes the separable (resp. perfect) closure of k in k a . The
characteristic exponent of k is p or 1 according as its characteristic is p or 0.
The group of invertible elements of a ring R is denoted by R . The symbol AlgR
denotes the category of finitely generated R-algebras.
An algebraic scheme over k (or algebraic k-scheme) is a scheme of finite
type over k. An algebraic scheme is an algebraic variety if it is geometrically
reduced and separated. By a “point” of an algebraic scheme or variety over k
we always mean a closed point. For an algebraic scheme .X; OX / over k, we
often let X denote the scheme and jXj the underlying topological space of closed
points. For a locally closed subset Z of jX j (resp. subscheme Z of X), the
reduced subscheme of X with underlying space Z (resp. jZj) is denoted by Zred .
The residue field at a point x of X is denoted by .x/. When the base field k is
understood, we omit it, and write “algebraic scheme” for “algebraic scheme over
k”. Unadorned products of algebraic k-schemes are over k. See Appendix A for
more details.
We let Z denote the ring of integers, R the field of real numbers, C the field
of complex numbers, and Fp the field of p elements (p prime).
A functor is said to be an equivalence of categories if it is fully faithful and
essentially surjective. A sufficiently strong version of the axiom of global choice
then implies that there exists a quasi-inverse to the functor. We sometimes loosely
refer to a natural transformation of functors as a map of functors.
All categories are locally small (i.e., the morphisms from one object to a
second are required to form a set). When the objects form a set, the category
is said to be small. A category is essentially small if it is equivalent to a small
subcategory.
Let P be a partially ordered set. A greatest element of P is a g 2 P such
that a  g for all a 2 P . An element m in P is maximal if m  a implies a D m.
A greatest element is a unique maximal element. Least and minimal elements
are defined similarly. When the partial order is inclusion, we replace least and
greatest with smallest and largest. We sometimes use Œx to denote the class of x
under an equivalence relation.
1 Except in Appendix C, where R is a set of roots.
4 Introduction

Following Bourbaki, we let N D f0; 1; 2; : : :g. An integer is positive if it lies

in N. A set with an associative binary operation is a semigroup. A monoid is a
semigroup with a neutral element.
By A ' B we mean that A and B are canonically isomorphic (or that there is
a given or unique isomorphism), and by A  B we mean simply that A and B
are isomorphic (there exists an isomorphism). The notation A  B means that A
is a subset of B (not necessarily proper). A diagram A ! B  C is exact if the
first arrow is the equalizer of the pair of arrows.
Suppose that p and q are statements depending on a field k and we wish
to prove that p.k/ implies q.k/. If p.k/ implies p.k a / and q.k a / implies q.k/,
then it suffices to prove that p.k a / implies q.k a /. In such a situation, we simply
say that “we may suppose that k is algebraically closed”.
We often omit “algebraic” from such expressions as “algebraic subgroup”,
“unipotent algebraic group”, and “semisimple algebraic group”. After p. 162, all
algebraic groups are affine.
We use the terminology of modern (post 1960) algebraic geometry; for
example, for algebraic groups over a field k; a homomorphism is automatically
defined over k, not over some large algebraically closed field.2
Throughout, “algebraic group scheme” is shortened to “algebraic group”. A
statement here may be stronger than a statement in Borel 1991 or Springer 1998
even when the two are word for word the same.3
All constructions are to be understood as being in the sense of schemes. For
example, fibres of maps of algebraic varieties need not be reduced, and the kernel
of a homomorphism of smooth algebraic groups need not be smooth.

Numbering
A reference “17.56” is to item 56 of Chapter 17. A reference “(112)” is to
the 112th numbered equation in the book (we include the page number where
necessary). Section 17c is Section c of Chapter 17 and Section Ac is Section c of
Appendix A. The exercises in Chapter 17 are numbered 17-1, 17-2, . . .

Foundations
We use the von Neumann–Bernays–Gödel (NBG) set theory with the axiom of
choice, which is a conservative extension of Zermelo–Fraenkel set theory with
the axiom of choice (ZFC). This means that a sentence that does not quantify
over a proper class is a theorem of NBG if and only if it is a theorem of ZFC. The
advantage of NBG is that it allows us to speak of classes.
It is not possible to define an “unlimited category theory” that includes the
category of all sets, the category of all groups, etc., and also the categories of
2 As much as possible, our statements make sense in a world without choice, where algebraic

closures need not exist.

3 An example is Chevalley’s theorem on representations; see 4.30.
 Introduction 5

functors from one of these categories to another. Instead, one must consider
only categories of functors from categories that are small in some sense. To
this end, we fix a family of symbols .Ti /i2N indexed by N,4 and let Alg0k denote
the category of k-algebras of the form kŒT0 ; : : : ; Tn =a for some n 2 N and ideal
a in kŒT0 ; : : : ; Tn . Thus the objects of Alg0k are indexed by the ideals in some
subring kŒT0 ; : : : ; Tn  of kŒT0 ; : : : – in particular, they form a set, and so Alg0k is
small. We call the objects of Alg0k small k-algebras. If R is a small k-algebra,
then the category Alg0R of small R-algebras has as objects pairs consisting of a
small k-algebra A and a homomorphism R ! A of k-algebras. Note that tensor
products exist in Alg0k – in fact, if we fix a bijection N $ N  N, then ˝ becomes
a well-defined bi-functor.
The inclusion functor Alg0k ,! Algk is an equivalence of categories. Choosing
a quasi-inverse amounts to choosing an ordered set of generators for each finitely
generated k-algebra. Once a quasi-inverse has been chosen, every functor on
Alg0k has a well-defined extension to Algk .
Alternatively, readers willing to assume additional axioms in set theory may
use Mac Lane’s “one-universe” solution to defining functor categories (Mac Lane
1969) or Grothendieck’s “multi-universe” solution, and define a small k-algebra
to be one that is small relative to the chosen universe.

Prerequisites
A first course in algebraic geometry (including basic commutative algebra). Since
these vary greatly, we review the definitions and statements that we need from
algebraic geometry in Appendix A. In a few proofs, which can be skipped, we
assume somewhat more.

References
The citations are author–year, except for the following abbreviations:
CA = Milne 2017 (A Primer of Commutative Algebra).
DG = Demazure and Gabriel 1970 (Groupes algébriques).
EGA = Grothendieck 1967 (Eléments de géometrie algébrique).
SGA 3 = Demazure and Grothendieck 2011 (Schémas en groupes, SGA 3).
SHS = Demazure and Gabriel 1966 (Séminaire Heidelberg–Strasbourg 1965–
66).

4 Better, use N itself as the set of symbols.

 C HAPTER 1
Definitions and Basic Properties

Recall that k is a field, and that an algebraic k-scheme is a scheme of finite type
over k. We let  D Spm.k/.

a. Definition
An algebraic group over k is a group object in the category of algebraic schemes
over k. In detail, this means the following.

D EFINITION 1.1. Let G be an algebraic scheme over k and let mW G  G ! G

be a regular map. The pair .G; m/ is an algebraic group over k if there exist
regular maps
eW  ! G; invW G ! G;
such that the following diagrams commute:

id m eid id e
G G G G G G G G G 
mid m m (1)
' '
m
G G G G

.inv;id/ .id;inv/
G G G G
m (2)
e e
 G 
When G is a variety, we call .G; m/ a group variety, and when G is an affine
scheme, we call .G; m/ an affine algebraic group.

For example,
def
SLn D Spm kŒT11 ; T12 ; : : : ; Tnn =.det.Tij /  1/
 a. Definition 7

becomes an affine group variety with the usual matrix multiplication on points.
For many more examples, see Chapter 2.
Similarly, an algebraic monoid over k is an algebraic scheme M over k
together with regular maps mW M M ! M and eW  ! M such that the diagrams
(1) commute.
D EFINITION 1.2. A homomorphism 'W .G; m/ ! .G 0 ; m0 / of algebraic groups
is a regular map 'W G ! G 0 such that ' ı m D m0 ı .'  '/.
An algebraic group G is trivial if eW  ! G is an isomorphism, and a homo-
morphism G ! G 0 is trivial if it factors through e 0 W  ! G 0 . We often write e for
the trivial algebraic group.
D EFINITION 1.3. An algebraic subgroup of an algebraic group .G; mG / over k
is an algebraic group .H; mH / over k such that H is a k-subscheme of G and the
inclusion map is a homomorphism of algebraic groups. An algebraic subgroup is
called a subgroup variety if its underlying scheme is a variety.
Let .G; mG / be an algebraic group and H a nonempty subscheme of G. If
mG jH  H and invG jH factor through H , then .H; mG jH  H / is an algebraic
subgroup of G.
Let .G; m/ be an algebraic group over k. For any field k 0 containing k, the
pair .Gk 0 ; mk 0 / is an algebraic group over k 0 , said to have been obtained from
.G; m/ by extension of scalars or extension of the base field.

Algebraic groups as functors

The K-points of an algebraic scheme X with K a field do not see the nilpotents in
the structure sheaf. Thus, we are led to consider the R-points with R a k-algebra.
Once we do that, the points capture all information about X.
1.4. An algebraic scheme X over k defines a functor
XQ W Alg0k ! Set; R X.R/:
For example, if X is affine, say, X D Spm.A/, then
X.R/ D Homk-algebra .A; R/:

The functor X XQ is fully faithful (Yoneda lemma, A.33); in particular, XQ

determines X uniquely up to a unique isomorphism. We say that a functor from
small k-algebras to sets is representable if it is of the form XQ for an algebraic
scheme X over k.
If .G; m/ is an algebraic group over k, then R .G.R/; m.R// is a functor
from small k-algebras to groups.
Let X be an algebraic scheme over k, and suppose that we are given a
factorization of XQ through the category of groups. Then the maps
x; y 7! xyW X.R/X.R/ !X.R/;  7! eW  !X.R/; x 7! x 1 W X.R/ ! X.R/
8 1. Definitions and Basic Properties

given by the group structures on the sets X.R/ define, by the Yoneda lemma,
morphisms
mW X  X ! X;  ! X; invW X ! X
making the diagrams (1) and (2) commute. Therefore, .X; m/ is an algebraic
group over k.
Combining these two statements, we see that to give an algebraic group over
k amounts to giving a functor Alg0k ! Grp whose underlying functor to sets is
representable by an algebraic scheme. We write GQ for G regarded as a functor to
groups.
From this perspective, SLn can be described as the algebraic group over k
sending R to the group SLn .R/ of n  n matrices with entries in R and determin-
ant 1.
The functor R .R; C/ is represented by Spm.kŒT /, and hence is an
algebraic group Ga . Similarly, the functor R .R ; / is represented by
1
Spm.kŒT; T /, and hence is an algebraic group Gm . See 2.1 and 2.2 below.
We often describe a homomorphism of algebraic groups by giving its action
on R-points. For example, when we say that invW G ! G is the map x 7! x 1 ,
we mean that, for all small k-algebras R and all x 2 G.R/, inv.x/ D x 1 .
1.5. If .H; mH / is an algebraic subgroup of .G; mG /, then H.R/ is a subgroup
of G.R/ for all k-algebras R. Conversely, if H is an algebraic subscheme of
G such that H.R/ is a subgroup of G.R/ for all small k-algebras R, then the
Yoneda lemma (A.33) shows that the maps
.h; h0 / 7! hh0 W H.R/  H.R/ ! H.R/
arise from a morphism mH W H  H ! H and that .H; mH / is an algebraic
subgroup of .G; mG /.
1.6. Consider the functor of k-algebras 3 W R fa 2 R j a3 D 1g. This is
represented by Spm.kŒT =.T  1//, and so it is an algebraic group. We consider
3

three cases.
(a) The field k is algebraically closed of characteristic ¤ 3. Then
kŒT =.T 3  1/ ' kŒT =.T  1/  kŒT =.T  /  kŒT =.T   2 /
where 1; ;  2 are the cube roots of 1 in k. Thus, 3 is a disjoint union of three
copies of Spm.k/ indexed by the cube roots of 1 in k.
(b) The field k is of characteristic ¤ 3 but does not contain a primitive cube
root of 1. Then
kŒT =.T 3  1/ ' kŒT =.T  1/  kŒT =.T 2 C T C 1/;
and so 3 is a disjoint union of Spm.k/ and Spm.kŒ/ where  is a primitive
cube root of 1 in k s .
(c) The field k is of characteristic 3. Then T 3  1 D .T  1/3 , and so 3 is
not reduced. Although 3 .K/ D 1 for all fields K containing k, the algebraic
group 3 is not trivial. Certainly, 3 .R/ may be nonzero if R has nilpotents.
 a. Definition 9

Homogeneity
Recall that, for an algebraic scheme X over k, we write jX j for the underlying
topological space of X, and .x/ for the residue field at a point x of jX j (it
is a finite extension of k). We can identify X.k/ with the set of points x of
jX j such that .x/ D k (CA 13.4). An algebraic scheme X over k is said to
be homogeneous if the group of automorphisms of X (as a k-scheme) acts
transitively on jX j. We shall see that an algebraic group is homogeneous when k
is algebraically closed

1.7. Let .G; m/ be an algebraic group over k. The map m.k/W G.k/  G.k/ !
G.k/ makes G.k/ into a group with neutral element e./ and inverse map inv.k).
When k is algebraically closed, G.k/ D jGj, and so mW G  G ! G makes
jGj into a group. The maps x 7! x 1 and x 7! ax (a 2 G.k/) are automorphisms
of jGj as a topological space.
In general, when k is not algebraically closed, m does not make jGj into
a group, and even when k is algebraically closed, it does not make jGj into a
topological group.

1.8. Let .G; m/ be an algebraic group over k. For each a 2 G.k/, there is a
translation map
m
la W G ' fag  G ! G; x 7! ax.
For a; b 2 G.k/,
la ı lb D lab
and le D id. Therefore la ı la1 D id D la1 ı la , and so la is an isomorphism
sending e to a. Hence G is homogeneous when k is algebraically closed (but not
in general otherwise; see 1.6(b)).

Density of points
Because we allow nilpotents in the structure sheaf, a morphism X ! Y of
algebraic schemes is not in general determined by its effect on X.k/, even when
k is algebraically closed. We introduce some terminology to handle this.

D EFINITION 1.9. Let X be an algebraic scheme over k and S a subset of X.k/.

We say that S is schematically dense (or just dense) in X if the only closed
subscheme Z of X such that S  Z.k/ is X itself.

Let X D Spm.A/, and let S be a subset of X.k/. Let Z D Spm.A=a/ be

a closed subscheme of X. Then S  Z.k/ if and onlyTif a  m for all m 2 S.
Therefore, S is schematically dense in X if and only if fm j m 2 S g D 0.

P ROPOSITION 1.10. Let X be an algebraic scheme over k and S a subset of

X.k/  jX j. The following conditions are equivalent:
(a) S is schematically dense in XI
10 1. Definitions and Basic Properties

(b) X is reduced and S is dense in jX j;

(c) the family of homomorphisms
f 7! f .s/W OX ! .s/ D k; s 2 S;
is injective.
P ROOF. (a))(b). Let SN denote the closure of S in jX j. There is a unique
reduced subscheme Z of X with underlying space S. N As S  jZj, the scheme
Z D X , and so X is reduced with underlying space S. N
(b))(c). Let U be an open affine subscheme of X, and let A D OX .U /. Let
f 2 A be such that f .s/ D 0 for all s 2 S \ jU j. Then f .u/ D 0 for all u 2 jU j
because S \ jU j is dense in jU j. This means that f lies in all maximal ideals of
A, and therefore lies in the radical of A, which is zero because X is reduced (CA
13.11).
(c))(a). Let Z be a closed subscheme of X such that S  Z.k/. Because Z
is closed in X, the homomorphism OX ! OZ is surjective. Because S  Z.k/,
the maps f 7! f .s/W OX ! .s/, s 2 S, factor through OZ , and so the map
OX ! OZ is injective. Hence the map OX ! OZ is an isomorphism, which
implies that Z D X. 2

P ROPOSITION 1.11. A schematically dense subset remains schematically dense

under extension of the base field.
P ROOF. Let k 0 be a field containing k, and let S  X.k/ be schematically dense.
We may suppose that X is affine, say, X D Spm.A/. Let s 0 W Ak 0 ! k 0 be the map
obtained from sW A ! .s/ D k by extension of scalars. The family s 0 , s 2 S, is
injective because the family s, s 2 S , is injective and k 0 is flat over k. 2

C OROLLARY 1.12. If X admits a schematically dense subset S  X.k/, then it

is geometrically reduced.
P ROOF. The set S remains schematically dense in X.k a /, and so Xk a is re-
duced. 2

P ROPOSITION 1.13. If S is schematically dense in X and u; vW X  Y are

regular maps from X to a separated algebraic scheme Y such that u.s/ D v.s/
for all s 2 S, then u D v.
P ROOF. Because Y is separated, the equalizer of the pair of maps is closed in X .
As its underlying space contains S , it equals X . 2

R EMARK 1.14. Some of the above discussion extends to base rings. For ex-
ample, let X be an algebraic scheme over a field k and let S be a schematically
dense subset of X.k/. Let R be a k-algebra and, for s 2 S , let
s 0 D s Spm.k/ Spm.R/  X 0 D X Spm.k/ .R/:
As in the proof of (1.11), the family of maps OX 0 ! Os 0 .s 0 / D R is injective.
It follows, as in the proof of (1.10), that the only closed R-subscheme of X 0
containing all s 0 is X 0 itself.
 a. Definition 11

D EFINITION 1.15. Let X be an algebraic scheme over a field k, and let k 0 be a

field containing k. We say that X.k 0 / is dense in X if the only closed subscheme
Z of X such that Z.k 0 / D X.k 0 / is X itself.
P ROPOSITION 1.16. If X.k 0 / is dense in X, then X is reduced. Conversely, if
X.k 0 / is dense in the topological space jXk 0 j and X is geometrically reduced,
then X.k 0 / is dense in X .
P ROOF. Recall that Xred is the (unique) reduced subscheme of X with underlying
space jX j. Moreover Xred .k 0 / D X.k 0 / because k 0 is reduced, and so Xred D X
if X.k 0 / is dense in X .
Conversely, suppose that X is geometrically reduced and X.k 0 / is dense
in jXk 0 j. Let Z be a closed subscheme of X such that Z.k 0 / D X.k 0 /. Then
jZk 0 j D jXk 0 j by the density condition. This implies that Zk 0 D Xk 0 because Xk 0
is reduced, which in turn implies that Z D X (see A.65). 2

C OROLLARY 1.17. If X is geometrically reduced, then X.k 0 / is dense in X for

every separably closed field k 0 containing k.
P ROOF. By a standard result (A.48), X.k 0 / is dense in jXk 0 j. 2
0
C OROLLARY 1.18. Let Z and Z be closed subvarieties of an algebraic scheme
X over k. If Z.k 0 / D Z 0 .k 0 / for some separably closed field k 0 containing k,
then Z D Z 0 .
P ROOF. The closed subscheme Z \ Z 0 of Z has the property that .Z \ Z 0 /.k 0 /
D Z.k 0 /, and so Z \ Z 0 D Z. Similarly, Z \ Z 0 D Z 0 . 2

Thus, a closed subvariety Z of X is determined by the subset Z.k s / of X.k s /.

More explicitly, if X D Spm.A/ and Z D Spm.A=a/, then a is the set of f 2 A
such that f .P / D 0 for all P 2 Z.k s /:

Algebraic groups over rings

Although we are only interested in algebraic groups over fields, occasionally we
shall need to consider them over more general base rings.
1.19. Let R be a (finitely generated) k-algebra. An algebraic scheme over R is
a scheme X equipped with a morphism X ! Spm.R/ of finite type. Equivalently,
X is an algebraic scheme over k such that OX is equipped with an R-algebra
structure compatible with its k-algebra structure. For example, affine algebraic
schemes over R are the max-spectra of finitely generated R-algebras. A morphism
of algebraic R-schemes 'W X ! Y is a morphism of k-schemes compatible with
the R-algebra structures, i.e., such that OY ! ' OX is a homomorphism of
sheaves of R-algebras. Let G be an algebraic scheme over R and let mW G  G !
G be a morphism of R-schemes. The pair .G; m/ is an algebraic group over R if
there exist R-morphisms eW Spm.R/ ! G and invW G ! G such that the diagrams
(1) and (2) commute. For example, an algebraic group .G; m/ over k gives rise
to an algebraic group .GR ; mR / over R by extension of scalars.
12 1. Definitions and Basic Properties

A SIDE 1.20. By definition an algebraic group and its multiplication map are described
by polynomials, but we rarely need to know what the polynomials are. Nevertheless, it is
of some interest that it is often possible to realize the coordinate ring of an affine algebraic
group as a quotient of a polynomial ring in a concrete natural way (Popov 2015).

N OTES . As noted elsewhere, in most of the literature, an algebraic group over a field k is
defined to be a group variety over some algebraically closed field K containing k together
with a k-structure (see, for example, Springer 1998 1.6.14, 2.1.1). In particular, nilpotents
are not allowed. An algebraic group over a field k in our sense is a group scheme of
finite type over k in the language of SGA 3. Our notion of an algebraic group over k is
essentially the same as that in DG.

b. Basic properties of algebraic groups

P ROPOSITION 1.21. If 'W .G; mG / ! .H; mH / is a homomorphism of algebraic
groups, then ' ı eG D eH and ' ı invG D invH ı'. In particular, the maps e and
inv in (1.1) are uniquely determined by .G; m/.

P ROOF. For every k-algebra R, the map '.R/ is a homomorphism of abstract

groups .G.R/; mG .R// ! .H.R/; mH .R//, and so it maps the neutral element
of G.R/ to that of H.R/ and the inversion map on G.R/ to that on H.R/. The
Yoneda lemma (A.33) now shows that the same is true for '. 2

We often write e for the image of eW  ! G in G.k/ or jGj. Recall (A.41)

that an algebraic scheme X is separated if its diagonal X is closed in X  X.

P ROPOSITION 1.22. Algebraic groups are separated (as algebraic schemes).

P ROOF. Let .G; m/ be an algebraic group. The diagonal in G  G is the inverse

image of the closed point e 2 G.k/ under the map m ı .id  inv/W G  G ! G
sending .g1 ; g2 / to g1 g21 , and so it is closed. 2

Therefore “group variety” = “geometrically reduced algebraic group”.

C OROLLARY 1.23. Let G be an algebraic group over k and let k 0 be an extension

of k. If G.k 0 / is dense in G, then a homomorphism G ! H of algebraic groups
is determined by its action on G.k 0 /.

P ROOF. Let '1 and '2 be homomorphisms G ! H such that '1 .a/ D '2 .a/ for
all a 2 G.k 0 /. Because H is separated, the equalizer Z of '1 and '2 is a closed
subscheme of G. As Z.k 0 / D G.k 0 /, we have Z D G. 2

D EFINITION 1.24. An algebraic group .G; m/ is commutative if m ı t D m,

where t is the transposition map .x; y/ 7! .y; x/W G  G ! G  G.

P ROPOSITION 1.25. An algebraic group G is commutative if and only if G.R/

is commutative for all k-algebras R. A group variety G is commutative if G.k s /
is commutative.
 b. Basic properties of algebraic groups 13

P ROOF. According to the Yoneda lemma (A.33), m ı t D m if and only if m.R/ ı

t.R/ D m.R/ for all k-algebras R, i.e., if and only if G.R/ is commutative for
all R. This proves the first statement. Let G be a group variety. If G.k s / is
commutative, then m ı t and m agree on .G  G/.k s /, which is dense in G  G
(see 1.17). 2

Smoothness
Let X be an algebraic scheme over k. For x 2 jXj, we have

dim.OX;x /  dim.mx =m2x /.

Here mx is the maximal ideal in the local ring OX;x , the “dim” at left is the Krull
dimension, and the “dim” at right is the dimension as a .x/-vector space (see
CA, 22). When equality holds, the point x is said to be regular. A scheme X is
said to be regular if x is regular for all x 2 jX j. It is possible for X to be regular
without Xk a being regular. To remedy this, we need another notion.
Let kŒ" be the k-algebra generated by an element " with "2 D 0. From the
homomorphism " 7! 0, we get a map X.kŒ"/ ! X.k/, and we define the tangent
space Tgtx .X / at a point x 2 X.k/ to be the fibre over x. Thus

Tgtx .X / ' Homk-linear .mx =m2x ; k/;

and so dim Tgtx .X /  dim.OX;x /. When equality holds, the point is said to be
smooth. The formation of the tangent space commutes with extension of the
base field, and so a point x 2 X.k/ is smooth on X if and only if it is smooth on
Xk a . An algebraic scheme X over an algebraically closed field k is said to be
smooth if all x 2 jX j are smooth, and an algebraic scheme X over an arbitrary
field k is said to be smooth if Xk a is smooth. Smooth schemes are regular, and
the converse is true when k is algebraically closed. See Section Ah.

P ROPOSITION 1.26. Let G be an algebraic group over k.

(a) If G is reduced and k is perfect, then G is geometrically reduced.
(b) If G is geometrically reduced, then it is smooth (and conversely).

P ROOF. (a) This is true for all algebraic schemes (A.43).

(b) We have to show that Gk a is smooth. But Gk a is an algebraic variety, and
so some point on it is smooth (A.55), which implies that every point is smooth by
homogeneity (1.8). 2

Therefore

“group variety” = “smooth algebraic group”.

In characteristic zero, all algebraic groups are smooth (3.23, 8.39 below).
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The Project Gutenberg eBook of Eduard Kerner
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Title: Eduard Kerner

Author: M. C. van Doorn

Illustrator: B. Midderigh-Bokhorst

Release date: December 22, 2023 [eBook #72481]

Language: Dutch

Original publication: Haarlem: Vincent Loosjes, 1907

Credits: R.G.P.M. van Giesen

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK EDUARD

KERNER ***
[Illustratie: kaft]

[Illustratie: rug]
EDUARD KERNER
Eduard Kerner

DOOR

M. C. VAN DOORN
 Met Teekeningen van J. B. Midderigh-Bokhorst

HAARLEM
VINCENT LOOSJES
1907

BOEK-, COURANT- EN STEENDRUKKERIJ G. J. THIEME,

NIJMEGEN.
 Inhoudsopgave

Hoofdstuk Blz.
I. 1.
II. 12.
III. 22.
IV. 32.
V. 41.
VI. 55.
VII. 71.
VIII. 85.
IX. 98.
X. 109.
XI. 129.
XII. 141.
XIII. 153.
XIV. 165.
XV. 181.
XVI. 194.
XVII. 208.
XVIII. 220.
XIX. 235.
XX. 249.
 [a24]

I.
"Edu, toe, laat me er nou uit!"

Maar Edu bleef kalm op de rand van de keukentafel zitten en liet

zijn beenen heen en weer bengelen.

"Maak toch alsjeblieft de deur open, Edu! Toe, moet ik het je nu

nóg vriendelijker vragen?"

Edu hield zich doof.

"Ben je er nog?" klonk het vol ontzetting uit de provisiekast.

Nu kon Eduard zich niet langer goedhouden, en hij barstte in

lachen uit. Jammer, want anders had Rika bepaald gedacht dat ze
tegen een leege keuken had staan praten, en 't zou heusch grappig
geweest zijn om haar dat nog even te laten denken!

Zijn vroolijke jongenslach had de arme, opgesloten Rika wat haar

laatste vraag betreft tenminste gerust gesteld.

"Maak dan toch open, ondeugende bengel!" begon ze weer.

Edu sprong van de tafel en ging voor de kast staan.

"Vind je het daar dan niet plezierig?"

[a26] "Plezierig? Och, zeur toch niet en laat me er uit, zoo meteen
brandt mijn eten aan!" klonk het huilerig.
 "Ik dacht 't zoo maar," zei Edu, die het goed vond om de kast nog
even dicht te laten. "Er zijn daar toch genoeg lekkere dingen!"

"Er zijn hier geen lekkere dingen. Doe open!"

"Niet?" vroeg Eduard, met de grootst mogelijke verbazing in zijn

stem. "Kom, je vergist je zeker! Ik laat je er niet uit als je niet wat
lekkers voor me meebrengt!"

"Ingemaakte snijboonen en augurken in 't zuur, anders is hier

niets!" En Rika morrelde van binnen aan de knop, want Edu had het
slot weer opengedraaid, en hield nu met al zijn twaalfjarige kracht de
knop aan de buitenkant in bedwang.

"Er is nog pruimengelei!"

Maar een gil van Rika maakte hem heusch even aan het schrikken.

"De appeltjes branden aan! Ik ruik het!" jammerde, ze.

Eduard snoof eens. "Maar niet heusch!" plaagde hij, en toen Rika's
wanhopige kreten niet ophielden: "Nou ja, dadelijk mag je er uit, zal
je dan niet boos op me zijn, beste Rika?"

"Nee, akelige jongen, gauw dan ook!"

"Daar dan!"

De deur vloog open en Edu stoof achteruit. — Bij de deur bleef hij
staan, buigingen makend en gezichten trekkend tegen de arme Rika,
die op een [a27] holletje naar de kachel liep om van de appeltjes te
redden wat er nog te redden viel.

Eduard was op een stoof gaan staan en had zijn armen uitgestrekt;
op plechtigen toon begon hij nu: "Gegroet, o schoone
keukenprinses".... Maar verder kwam hij niet, want hier werd hij in
zijn toespraak gestoord door het omdraaien van den huissleutel in
de voordeur. Op 't zelfde oogenblik stormde Edu de gang in, de
keukendeur met een harden slag achter zich dichtgooiend. — Het
dreunde nog even na in de ruime keuken. — "Hè, hè, dat lucht op,"
zuchtte Rika, en ze zette de stoof weer onder de tafel.

Eduard was terecht gekomen in de armen van zijn Vader, die hem
aan 't eind van de gang opving met een luid "Hallo!"

Een seconde lang was hij bijna geheel in Vaders donkere overjas
verdwenen, toen sprong hij achteruit en trok een vies gezicht. "Wat
bent u nat," zei hij, en hij wreef met zijn hand over zijn wang, waarop
Vaders baard een paar kleine druppeltjes had achtergelaten.

"Nat?" lachte Vader, "geen wonder, 't is nog altijd aan 't
motregenen! Help me maar eens gauw die natte overjas uittrekken!"

"En u bent zoo vreeselijk laat!"

"Heeft je maag je al gewaarschuwd dat 't etenstijd was? We zullen

gauw beginnen!"

Achter zijn Vader aan stapte Eduard de huiskamer binnen, waar

een prettige warmte de kilte van den [a28] regenachtigen Januaridag
buitensloot. De tafel was gedekt, en terwijl Vader de overgordijnen
dicht trok en de kachel opnieuw vulde, bij welke bezigheden Eduard
hem steeds in den weg liep, bracht Rika het eten binnen.

"En — wat heeft Pepi vanmiddag uitgevoerd?" vroeg Vader, toen

ze tegenover elkaar aan tafel zaten en een gedeelte van den inhoud
der schalen naar de twee borden verhuisd was.

"Pepi" wachtte even voor hij een hap appeltjes in zijn mond stak.

"Wel, eerst had ik vioolles, en dat duurde nogal lang, want mijnheer
heeft een paar stukjes voorgespeeld, een zoo'n leuk ding was er bij,
zoo heel gauw ging 't, maar 't is wel heel moeilijk."

"En kende je al de oude stukjes al?"

"Ja, zoowat. Dat laatste, dat menuet, dat ik gisterenavond speelde,

u weet wel, ging nog niet zoo heel mooi, maar dat heb ik er nu bij
gehouden en dan wat nieuws."

"En was mijnheer tevreden?"

"Mijnheer vond wel dat ik vooruit ging, leuk dat hij dat zei, maar hij
vond ook dat ik te haastig was, ik moet niet net doen of ik blij ben als
een stukje haast uit is, en .... enne ...." Eduard wachtte even, als was
hij vergeten wat hij verder had willen zeggen, en maakte toen
haastig zijn zin af: "en rustig spelen." — Bij de laatste woorden had
hij een kleur gekregen en strak keek hij op zijn bord, maar 't was
[a29] niet omdat hij aan de vioolles dacht. Hij had de aangebrande
appeltjes geproefd, en 't had hem er aan doen denken wat hij dien
middag nog meer had uitgevoerd.

Vader scheen er nog niets van gemerkt te hebben, hij at tenminste

kalm door; zeker dacht hij, dat Eduards vuurrood gezicht met de
vioolles in verband stond.

"En waarom doe je dat dan ook niet?"

"Wat, Vader?"

"Wel, rustig spelen!"

"O, ja ziet u, als ik iets goed ken dan speel ik graag vlug, en als er
dan weer een eindje komt dat niet zoo goed gaat dan doe ik dat
langzamer, en dan kom ik niet gelijk uit met mijnheer, die natuurlijk
precies in de maat er bij piano speelt. Kijk, 't was heel wat anders als
ik hier ook kon studeeren met de piano er bij, maar u speelt geen
piano en Rika natuurlijk ook niet." — Even lachte hij om het
denkbeeld, dat Rika piano zou spelen, maar toen hij zag dat Vader
opeens heel ernstig keek: "Och, maar dat is ook eigenlijk mijn eigen
schuld; ik zal voortaan maar heel goed tellen, want daar komt het
toch eigenlijk door! Denkt u ook niet dat het dan wel beter zal gaan,
Vader?"

Zijn Vader gaf geen antwoord. Hij dacht er aan, hoe het altijd een
van de liefste wenschen van zijn vrouw geweest was dat hun jongen
viool zou spelen, en hoeveel plezier zij er nu in gehad zou hebben
[a30] zijn stukjes op de piano te begeleiden. — In zijn verbeelding
zag hij haar weer op de rustbank in de zitkamer liggen, en daar
opeens klonken hem ook weer de luidruchtige stappen en de
bekende hooge jongensstem in de ooren, en hij zag Eduard, toen
een ventje van negen jaar, de kamer binnenstormen, met een kleur
van opgewondenheid, de vioolkist in de hand. 't Was zijn eerste
vioolles geweest, en druk pratend en vertellend had hij de viool te
voorschijn gehaald en aan zijn Vader en Moeder laten zien hoe hij
het instrument vast moest houden; toen had hij met den strijkstok de
snaren aangeraakt, en zij hadden geluisterd naar de eerste tonen
die hun jongen ten gehoore bracht; en tot slot had hij een soort
negerdans uitgevoerd, aldoor de viool vasthoudend en met den
strijkstok in het rond zwaaiend. Weer hoorde hij de stem van zijn
vrouw zeggen: "Voorzichtig, lieveling!", toen Eduard half tegen de
tafel aanviel, en weer hoorde hij zichzelf eindelijk zeggen: "Nu niet te
druk, vent, denk aan Moeder!" Toen had in minder dan geen tijd de
viool op een stoel gelegen, en een paar stevige jongensarmen
waren om Moeders hals geslagen. Weinig had hij toen vermoed, dat
zij nog geen jaar later haar stem nooit meer zouden kunnen hooren
...

Eduard, die zag dat Vader in gedachten verdiept was, durfde hem
niet meer te storen en at stil zijn bord leeg.

[a31] Toen, op een wenk van Vader, belde hij Rika, om de schalen
te komen verwisselen.

Half hoopte hij, dat Vader vergeten zou te vragen wat hij verder had
uitgevoerd, want hij begreep wel, dat hij dan over de plagerij in de
keuken moest beginnen, en het was hem ook heel duidelijk dat
Vader daar niet bizonder mee ingenomen zou zijn. En toen Rika
binnengekomen was en hij haar even aanzag kreeg hij opeens een
heel onplezierig gevoel, want Rika keek heelemaal niet vroolijk en
haar oogen waren rood. Haastig zag hij naar Vader, en haalde toen
verruimd adem, want Vader scheen nergens op te letten, en vroeg
heel gewoon: "Zoo Rika, druk gehad vanmiddag?"
 "Dat schikt wel meneer," zei Rika, maar haar stem klonk wat
vreemd, en toen Vader naar haar keek draaide ze zich haastig om
en verdween met de leege schalen door de openstaande deur.

Vader bleef haar verwonderd nakijken. Vanwaar die plotselinge

spoed? Een blik naar Eduard scheen hem wel eenige opheldering te
geven; de jongen keek zoo verlegen en zette zoo'n schuldig gezicht
dat hij heusch even moeite had heelemaal ernstig te blijven.
Bedaard wachtte hij tot Rika de schoone borden neergezet had en
de deur weer dicht was; toen liet hij Eduard rijst nemen, en vroeg:
"Wat heb je na de vioolles gedaan, Eduard?"

"Na de vioolles, Vader? Toen ben ik naar huis gegaan, en toen heb
ik mijn sommen gemaakt, en [a33] één som kwam niet uit, en toen
heb ik eerst mijn Fransche les geleerd, en toen ik die zoowat kende
heb ik die eene som nog eens geprobeerd. Ik heb er heusch een
heele tijd op gezeten, Vader, maar hij wóu niet uitkomen!"

Vader knikte heel ernstig. "Wel gek toch, gewoonlijk komt een som
toch dadelijk uit als je er maar eerst eens een poosje op bent gaan
zitten, hè Pepi?" Vader begon te lachen, en Eduard wist niet of hij
boos moest kijken of meelachen.

"Wat flauw," zei hij eindelijk. "Ik bedoel niet echt zitten!"

"Niet echt zitten? Wat bedoel je dan?" en Vader lachte nog maar.

"U begrijpt best wat ik meen," zei Eduard kwaad.

Zijn Vader was opeens weer ernstig geworden. "Nou vrindje,

bedaar maar! Je kunt toch nog wel tegen een grapje, is 't niet? Je
zet een gezicht als een oorwurm!"

Eenige oogenblikken bleef 't heel stil in de kamer. Toen begon

Vader weer, want hij was nog niet waar hij op aan stuurde: "Nu, en
verder, wat heb je na dat probeeren van die som gedaan?"
 "Toen? Ja, toen ben ik naar de keuken gegaan, en daar heb ik wat
op de tafel gezeten, enne ...."

"En toen heb ik wat kattekwaad uitgevoerd."

"Hè, Vader, hoe weet u dat?"

"Dat vertelt je arme zondaarsgezicht me," ant-[a34] woordde Vader

lachend. "Wat was 't? Biecht maar eens op!"

Eduard had het opeens erg warm gekregen. "Och," zei hij, "ja, ziet
u, 't kwam heelemaal vanzelf, want Rika wilde iets wegzetten, en
toen ging ze in de provisiekast."

"En toen?"

"Toen deed ik de deur dicht."

"Welke deur?"

"Van de kast."

"Op slot?"

"Ja, Vader."

"En hoe lang duurde dat?"

"Een paar minuten, denk ik."

"En wat zei Rika?"

"Rika zei eerst dat ik haar er uit moest laten," even kwam er een
ondeugende flikkering in Eduards oogen, "en toen zei ze dat de
appeltjes aanbrandden."

"Dat deden ze ook. En liet je haar er toen uit?"

"Ja, tenminste bijna dadelijk."

 Vader lachte nu heelemaal niet meer, en hij zweeg even.

Toen zei hij: "Kijk eens, ik vind dat nu eigenlijk niet zoo erg prettig.
Ik heb je nu al een keer of drie gevraagd om het Rika niet lastig te
maken, en telkens gebeurt het weer. Ik vind het heel goed dat je
gekheid maakt, maar dit is plagen."

Eduard keek heel sip. "Ik kon toch niet vooruit weten dat ze boos
zou worden," zei hij.

[a35] "Als je even nagedacht hadt, toen je die kast op slot deedt,
had je het wél geweten.
 Rika heeft het druk en ze is wat zenuwachtig, en je weet nu
eenmaal dat ze niet tegen die plagerijen van jou kan. Jij hadt plezier,
maar Rika heelemaal niet, en dat merkte je heel goed, en vind je het