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In abstract algebra, the direct sum is a construction which combines several modules into a new, larger module. The direct sum of modules is the smallest module which contains the given modules as submodules with no "unnecessary" constraints, making it an example of a coproduct. Contrast with the direct product, which is the dual notion.
For example, the coproduct in the category of groups, called the free product, is quite complicated. On the other hand, in the category of abelian groups (and equally for vector spaces), the coproduct, called the direct sum, consists of the elements of the direct product which have only finitely many nonzero terms. (It therefore coincides ...
The pushout of these maps is the direct sum of A and B. Generalizing to the case where f and g are arbitrary homomorphisms from a common domain Z, one obtains for the pushout a quotient group of the direct sum; namely, we mod out by the subgroup consisting of pairs (f(z), −g(z)). Thus we have "glued" along the images of Z under f and g.
The group operation in the external direct sum is pointwise multiplication, as in the usual direct product. This subset does indeed form a group, and for a finite set of groups {H i} the external direct sum is equal to the direct product. If G = ΣH i, then G is isomorphic to Σ E {H i}. Thus, in a sense, the direct sum is an "internal ...
Use of direct sum terminology and notation is especially problematic when dealing with infinite families of rings: If () is an infinite collection of nontrivial rings, then the direct sum of the underlying additive groups can be equipped with termwise multiplication, but this produces a rng, that is, a ring without a multiplicative identity.
In mathematics, more specifically in category theory, a universal property is a property that characterizes up to an isomorphism the result of some constructions. Thus, universal properties can be used for defining some objects independently from the method chosen for constructing them.
In category theory, the product of two (or more) objects in a category is a notion designed to capture the essence behind constructions in other areas of mathematics such as the Cartesian product of sets, the direct product of groups or rings, and the product of topological spaces.
In mathematics, specifically in group theory, the direct product is an operation that takes two groups G and H and constructs a new group, usually denoted G × H.This operation is the group-theoretic analogue of the Cartesian product of sets and is one of several important notions of direct product in mathematics.