Exact couples and their spectral sequences

Abstract

Given a bigraded exact couple of modules over some ring, we determine the meaning of the $E^{\infty}$-terms of its associated spectral sequence: Let $L^{\ast}$ and $L_{\ast}$ denote the limit and colimit abutting objects of the exact couple, filtered by the kernel and image objects to the associated cone and cocone diagrams. Then the unstable E-infinite extension theorem states how adjacent filtration quotients of the colimit filtration are extended by $E^{\infty}$ objects over corresponding adjacent filtration quotients of the kernel filtration. The stable E-infinity extension theorem is based on the fact that the derivation process of the exact couple admits a transfinite recursion which is beyond the scope of the traditional spectral sequence perspective. The transfinite recursion always stabilizes at some ordinal. The resulting stable $E$-objects are (a) always subobjects of $E^{\infty}$ and (b) extend adjacent filtration quotients of the colimit filtration over corresponding adjacent filtration quotients of the kernel filtration {\em without} the need for lim-1 corrective terms. The E-infinity extension theorems enable conclusions about the filtered limit/colimit abutments even in cases where the spectral sequence is far from converging in any traditional sense. We develop such results in the context of 'comparing' the spectral sequences via the morphism that is induced by a morphism of underlying exact couples. We also contribute to 'reverse comparison' in a spectral sequence; that is using information about the universal abutment(s) of the underlying exact couple to extract information about one or more pages of the spectral sequence. These results overlap with Zeeman's comparison theorems in a generalizing fashion.