In
algebraic geometry
Algebraic geometry is a branch of mathematics which uses abstract algebraic techniques, mainly from commutative algebra, to solve geometry, geometrical problems. Classically, it studies zero of a function, zeros of multivariate polynomials; th ...
, graded manifolds are extensions of the concept of
manifolds
In mathematics, a manifold is a topological space that locally resembles Euclidean space near each point. More precisely, an n-dimensional manifold, or ''n-manifold'' for short, is a topological space with the property that each point has a n ...
based on ideas coming from
supersymmetry
Supersymmetry is a Theory, theoretical framework in physics that suggests the existence of a symmetry between Particle physics, particles with integer Spin (physics), spin (''bosons'') and particles with half-integer spin (''fermions''). It propo ...
and
supercommutative algebra
In mathematics, a supercommutative (associative) algebra is a superalgebra (i.e. a Z2-graded algebra) such that for any two homogeneous elements ''x'', ''y'' we have
:yx = (-1)^xy ,
where , ''x'', denotes the grade of the element and is 0 or 1 ...
. Both graded manifolds and supermanifolds are phrased in terms of
sheaves of
graded commutative algebras. However, graded manifolds are characterized by sheaves on
smooth manifold
In mathematics, a differentiable manifold (also differential manifold) is a type of manifold that is locally similar enough to a vector space to allow one to apply calculus. Any manifold can be described by a collection of charts (atlas). One may ...
s, while supermanifolds are constructed by gluing of sheaves of
supervector spaces.
Graded manifolds
A graded manifold of dimension
is defined as a
locally ringed space
In mathematics, a ringed space is a family of (commutative) rings parametrized by open subsets of a topological space together with ring homomorphisms that play roles of restrictions. Precisely, it is a topological space equipped with a sheaf of ...
where
is an
-dimensional
smooth manifold
In mathematics, a differentiable manifold (also differential manifold) is a type of manifold that is locally similar enough to a vector space to allow one to apply calculus. Any manifold can be described by a collection of charts (atlas). One may ...
and
is a
-sheaf of
Grassmann algebras of rank
where
is the sheaf of smooth real functions on
. The sheaf
is called the structure sheaf of the graded manifold
, and the manifold
is said to be the body of
. Sections of the sheaf
are called graded functions on a graded manifold
. They make up a graded commutative
-ring
called the structure ring of
. The well-known Batchelor theorem and
Serre–Swan theorem characterize graded manifolds as follows.
Serre–Swan theorem for graded manifolds
Let
be a graded manifold. There exists a
vector bundle
In mathematics, a vector bundle is a topological construction that makes precise the idea of a family of vector spaces parameterized by another space X (for example X could be a topological space, a manifold, or an algebraic variety): to eve ...
with an
-dimensional typical fiber
such that the structure sheaf
of
is isomorphic to the structure sheaf of sections of the
exterior product
In mathematics, specifically in topology,
the interior of a subset of a topological space is the union of all subsets of that are open in .
A point that is in the interior of is an interior point of .
The interior of is the complement of ...
of
, whose typical fibre is the
Grassmann algebra .
Let
be a smooth manifold. A graded commutative
-algebra is isomorphic to the structure ring of a graded manifold with a body
if and only if it is the
exterior algebra
In mathematics, the exterior algebra or Grassmann algebra of a vector space V is an associative algebra that contains V, which has a product, called exterior product or wedge product and denoted with \wedge, such that v\wedge v=0 for every vector ...
of some projective
-module of finite rank.
Graded functions
Note that above mentioned Batchelor's isomorphism fails to be canonical, but it often is fixed from the beginning. In this case, every trivialization chart
of the vector bundle
yields a splitting domain
of a graded manifold
, where
is the fiber basis for
. Graded functions on such a chart are
-valued functions
:
,
where
are smooth real functions on
and
are odd generating elements of the Grassmann algebra
.
Graded vector fields
Given a graded manifold
,
graded derivations of the structure ring of graded functions
are called graded vector fields on
. They constitute a real
Lie superalgebra with respect to the
superbracket
:
,
where