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TheoremStatement: Literature-sourcedProof: AI-generatedprecheck passaudited 2026-08-30
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Short five lemma in an abelian category

Statement

Consider a morphism of short exact sequences in an abelian category

0ABC00A0B0C00ifpghi0p0

Then:

  1. if f and h are monic, then g is monic;
  2. if f and h are epic, then g is epic;
  3. if f and h are isomorphisms, then g is an isomorphism.

Facts & Assumptions

Given: The commutative diagram in the statement, with both rows short exact.

[L1]

Monicity is equivalent to cancellation on members (Monicity by member cancellation).

[L3]

Exactness at a node is equivalent to the member-lifting condition (Exactness is detected by members).

[L4]

Equivalent members admit representatives on a common epic domain. The pullback refinement used for transitivity puts any finite family of such witnesses on one common epic domain, where hom-sets are abelian groups (Equivalence of members, Member equivalence is transitive, Abelian category).

[L5]

The opposite of an abelian category is abelian, and an abelian category is balanced (The opposite of an abelian category is abelian, An abelian category is balanced).

Proof

technique · direct
1.1L1L3L4assume-hypchooseconstructalgebra

Assume that f and h are monic. Let y:Y→B and y′:Y′→B be members with gy≡gy′. By [L4], choose epimorphisms u:T→Y and v:T→Y′ such that gyu=gy′v, and define the member z:=yu−y′v:T→B. Then gz=0. Since hpz=p′gz=0 and h is monic, [L1] gives pz≡0. Exactness of the top row at B now gives a member x of A with ix≡z by [L3].

2.1L1L3L4step 1.1algebra

Since the bottom row is short exact, i′ is monic. From i′fx=gix≡gz=0 and the monicity of i′ and f, [L1] gives x≡0, hence z≡ix≡0. By [L4], after an epic refinement of T the equality z=yu−y′v=0 is literal, so the resulting common epic representatives witness y≡y′. Thus [L1] makes g monic.

3.1L5step 1.1step 2.1

If f and h are epic in the original diagram, then fop and hop are monic in the opposite abelian category. Applying steps 1.1 and 2.1 to the opposite morphism of short exact sequences makes gop monic, so g is epic.

4.1L5step 2.1step 3.1∎

If f and h are isomorphisms, they are in particular monic and epic. Steps 2.1 and 3.1 make g both monic and epic, so [L5] makes g an isomorphism.

Depends on

Used by

Dependency tree · two levels

25 results within two dependency steps of this one, each drawn at its shortest distance from it. An arrow runs from a result to what uses it, so the chart reads left to right and ends at this result, which carries a heavier outline. Every node is a link to that result. Click elsewhere on the chart to enlarge it.

Sources