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Simplicial group

Mathematical concept in topology

Wikipedia contributorsAdapted for Fathomly · View authors
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Source updated May 21, 2026

In mathematics, more precisely, in the theory of simplicial sets, a simplicial group is a simplicial object in the category of groups. Similarly, a simplicial abelian group is a simplicial object in the category of abelian groups. A simplicial group is a Kan complex (in particular, its homotopy groups make sense). The Dold-Kan correspondence says that a simplicial abelian group may be identified with a chain complex. In fact it can be shown that any simplicial abelian group A is non-canonically homotopy equivalent to a product of Eilenberg-MacLane spaces, \prod _{i\geq 0}K(\pi _{i}A,i).

A commutative monoid in the category of simplicial abelian groups is a simplicial commutative ring.

Eckmann (1945) discusses a simplicial analogue of the fact that a cohomology class on a Kähler manifold has a unique harmonic representative and deduces Kirchhoff's circuit laws from these observations.

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This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Simplicial group”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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Simplicial commutative ring

In algebra, a simplicial commutative ring is a commutative monoid in the category of simplicial abelian groups, or, equivalently, a simplicial object in the category of commutative rings. If A is a simplicial commutative ring, then it can be shown that π 0 A {\displaystyle \pi _{0}A} is a ring and π i A {\displaystyle \pi _{i}A} are modules over that ring A topology-counterpart of this notion is a commutative ring spectrum.