Topology (H) Lecture 23

Lecturer: Zuoqin Wang

Time: May 31, 2021

VAN KAMPEN’S THEOREM

Recall that in Lecture 19, we proved π1 (S n ) = {e} for n ≥ 2 by covering S n

with two simply-connected open sets whose intersection is path-connected, and then
represent each loop in S n (up to path homotopy) by a number of loops each of which
lies in one of the two simply-connected open sets.
Today we will extend this method to the case where we have more than two open
sets and that these open sets are no longer simply-connected.

1. Some group theory

¶ The fundamental groups of S 1 × S 1 and S 1 ∨ S 1 .
We have seen π1 (S 1 ) ' Z. As an immediate consequence, we have π1 (S 1 ×S 1 ) ' Z2 .
Note that the fundamental group of S 1 × S 1 is an abelian group with two generators.
Here is a picture showing why the two generators commutes:

Next we consider the following “figure 8” graph S 1 ∨ S 1 :

Geometrically it is quite obvious that π1 (S 1 ∨ S 1 ) is also generated by two elements,

namely [α] and [β] as shown in the picture. However, there is no reason that [α][β] =
[β][α] in this case, because, intuitively, there is no space to “move” one loop the other.
As a result, a product of like [α]3 [β]2 [α]−2 should be represented by the loop that
you first go along α for 3 cycles, then go along β for two cycles, and then go along
α but in the reverse direction for 2 cycles. It is different from the loop [α][β]2 . More

1
2 VAN KAMPEN’S THEOREM

generally, any (finite) word consisting of [α], [β], [α]−1 and [β]−1 should represents a loop
in the “figure 8” graph S 1 ∨ S 1 and different words should represent different (=non-
homotopic) loops. So the fundamental group π1 (S 1 ∨ S 1 ) is no longer the product
group Z × Z, instead it should be Z ∗ Z, the free product of two copies of Z, which we
will recall the definition and basic properties below.

¶ Free groups.
Definition 1.1. Given any set S (here we don’t assume S to be a finite set), we denote
S −1 = {c−1 : c ∈ S}. The free group with free generating set S is the group
hSi = {c1 c2 · · · cn | n ≥ 0, ci ∈ S ∪ S −1 }
in which the group multiplication is given by
c1 c2 · · · cn · cn+1 · · · cn+m = c1 c2 · · · cn cn+1 · · · cn+m
and group inverse is given by
(c1 c2 · · · cn )−1 = c−1 −1 −1 −1
n cn−1 · · · c2 c1 ,

where for each c ∈ S, we let (c−1 )−1 = c. The group identity element is defined to be
the empty word which is denoted by e or 1. Any element in hSi is called a word.
Example 1.2. If S = {a, b, c}, then the word
abbba−1 a−1 ccb−1 · aa−1 bbb = abbba−1 a−1 ccb−1 aa−1 bbb = ab3 (a−1 )2 c2 b2 ∈ hSi,
where we used the fact b−1 aa−1 b = b−1 b = e ∈ hSi.
Example 1.3. If S = {c}, then hSi ' Z since
hSi = {cn | n ∈ Z},
with the group multiplication cn · cm = cn+m .

A remarkable fact about the free group hSi is the following universal property:
Proposition 1.4 (The universal property). For any group G and
for any map f : S → G, there exists a unique group homomorphism
ϕ : hSi → G
such that
f =ϕ◦i
where i : S ,→ hSi is the inclusion map.
As a consequence, if G is any group and S is any set of generators of the group
G (you may take S = G if you want), then there exists a unique surjective group
homomorphism ϕ from hSi to G. As a consequence,
Proposition 1.5. Any group is isomorphic to a quotient group of a free group hSi,
G = hSi/ ker ϕ.
 VAN KAMPEN’S THEOREM 3

¶ Presentation of a group.
The kernel of ϕ is a subgroup of hSi. So the group G is obtained from the free
group hSi by setting all elements in ker(ϕ) to be the identity. Of course since ker(ϕ)
is a group, it is enough to set a set of generators of ker(ϕ) to be the identity. These
equations are called “relations”. So we can express any group via generators and
relations (called a presentation of G)
G = hS | Ri,
where S is a set of generators and R is a set of relations. Conversely, given any
presentation of a group G = hS|Ri with generators and relations, we can write G as a
quotient group
G = hSi/N,
where N is the smallest normal subgroup of hSi generated by all those elements s ∈ S
so that R is given by s = 1.
Example 1.6.
(1) Let G = Zn . Then G is generated by one element, which we denote by a. Let
hSi = hai ' Z. Then the surjective group homomorphism is given by
ϕ : hSi → G, ak 7→ [k],
with kernel
ker ϕ = {· · · , a−2n , a−n , 1, an , a2n , · · · }.
It follows Zn = ha | an = 1i.
(2) For G = Z2 = Z ⊕ Z, it is an abelian group with two generators, and we have
Z2 = ha, b | aba−1 b−1 = 1i.
¶ Free products of groups.
Next we define the free products of groups.
Definition 1.7. Let G, H be groups. We define a word to be a (formal) product
s = s1 s2 · · · sn
where si ∈ G or H and n ≥ 0. The set of all such words form a group
G ∗ H = {s1 s2 · · · sn | si ∈ G or H}
with the obvious group operations “connect two words” and “reverse a word” as before.
This is called the free product of G and H.
Similarly we can define the free product of a family of groups Gα to be
∗αGα = {s1s2 · · · sn | for each i, there exists α s.t. si ∈ Gα }.
In general, if Gα = hSα |Rα i, then
∗αGα = h∪αSα| ∪α Rαi.
4 VAN KAMPEN’S THEOREM

Example 1.8.
• Z ∗ Z = ha, bi. (So the free product of abelian groups could be non-abelian.)
• ha | a3 = 1i ∗ hb | b4 = 1i = ha, b | a3 = b4 = 1i. (so the free product of finite
groups could be infinite.)
• Z2 ∗ Z2 = ha, b | a2 = b2 = 1i = {1, a, b, ab, ba, aba, bab, abab, · · · }. (It is the
semidirect product Z o Z2 of the subgroups Z = habi and Z2 = ha|a2 = 1i.)
One of the most important property for free products ∗α Gα of groups Gα is the
following universal property:
Proposition 1.9 (The universal property). For any group H and
any collection of group homomorphisms ϕα : Gα → H, there exists a
unique “lifted” group homomorphism
ϕ : ∗β Gβ → H
which extends each ϕα , namely for gk ∈ Gαk , we have
(*) ϕ(g1 · · · gn ) = ϕα1 (g1 ) · · · ϕαn (gn ).
Note that one can use (*) to define the lifted group homomorphism ϕ : ∗β Gβ → H.
¶ Free product with amalgamation.
More generally, let F , G, H be groups, and let
ϕ : F → G, ψ:F →H
be group homomorphisms. Let N be the smallest normal subgroup of G ∗ H that
contains all elements of the form
ϕ(a)ψ(a)−1 , a ∈ F
Definition 1.10. The free product with amalgamation of G and H w.r.t. ϕ and ψ is
G ∗F H := G ∗ H/N
Equivalently, it is the free product G ∗ H modulo the relation ϕ(a)ψ(a)−1 = 1, ∀a ∈ F .
(Of course it is enough to take all a’s from a set of generators of F .)
Example 1.11. Suppose G = hai, H = hbi, F = hci. Then the amalgamated free product
of G and H with respect to
ϕ : F → G, c 7→ a3 , and ψ : F → H, c 7→ b4 ,
is G ∗F H = ha, b | a3 · b−4 = 1i
Example 1.12. We have
• G ∗G G = G (w.r.t the identity maps),
• {e} ∗F {e} = {e},
• G ∗{e} H = G ∗ H,
• G ∗F {e} = G/N , where N is the smallest normal subgroup generated by
Im(ϕ : F → G).
 VAN KAMPEN’S THEOREM 5

2. van Kampen’s Theorem

¶ van Kampen’s Theorem.
Now we are ready to state the main result of this lecture: van Kampen’s theorem.1
It is a powerful tool using which we can compute the fundamental group of a topological
space via the knowledge of the fundamental groups of some subsets.
Suppose X = U1 ∪ U2 where U1 , U2 are open in X.
Setting:
Suppose U1 , U2 and U1 ∩U2 are path connected, and x0 ∈ U1 ∩U2 .
Then the inclusion maps
U1 ∩ U2 ,→ U1 and U1 ∩ U2 ,→ U2
induce group homomorphisms
ϕ : π1 (U1 ∩ U2 , x0 ) → π1 (U1 , x0 ) and ψ : π1 (U1 ∩ U2 , x0 ) → π1 (U2 , x0 ).
The van Kampen’s theorem claim that the fundamental group of X is the amalgamated
free product of π1 (U1 ) and π1 (U2 ) with respect to the group homomorphisms ϕ and ψ:
Theorem 2.1 (van Kampen’s Theorem).
π1 (X, x0 ) ' π1 (U1 , x0 ) ∗π1 (U1 ∩U2 ,x0 ) π1 (U2 , x0 )

There are three very different proofs in literature. The first one is, very geometric
but also very lengthy, c.f. Munkres’s book Topology, or Hatcher’s book Algebraic
Topology. The second approach is due to Grothendieck, c.f. Fulton’s book Algebraic
Topology, a first course, which is short and elegant but with extra assumption that all
the spaces X, U, V and U ∩V have universal coverings. The third one is an extension of
the van Kampen theorem to fundamental groupoids due to Brown and Salleh2. In what
follows we will follows the proof in Hatcher’s book, namely the geometric approach, to
prove a slightly more general form of von Kampen’s theorem.

1The theorem is also known as the Seifert-van Kampen theorem. One should compare van Kam-
pen’s theorem with the Mayer–Vietoris sequence, a similar algebraic tool in computing homolo-
gy/cohomology groups, which will appear in some future course.
2C.f. R. Brown and R. Salleh, A van Kampen theorem for unions of non-connected spaces, Arch.
Math. 42(1984), 85-88. Note that one advantage of the groupoid approach is that one can use
the fundamental groupoid version of van Kampen theorem to compute π1 (S 1 ). We can’t apply usual
versions of van Kampen theorem to compute π1 (S 1 ): In fact if we let U1 = S 1 \{1} and U2 = S 1 \{−1},
then π1 (U1 ) = π1 (U2 ) = {e}, so the group homomorphism
Φ : π1 (U1 ) ∗ π1 (U2 ) → π1 (S 1 )
can’t be surjective. The reason is U1 ∩ U2 is not path connected.
6 VAN KAMPEN’S THEOREM

¶ van Kampen’s Theorem: a generalized version.

Van Kampen’s theorem has the following generalized version in which a covering of
X by arbitrarily many open sets is allowed. Since the proof of the original version is as
complicated as the general version, and since the general version is not a consequence
of the original version, we shall state the prove the general version.
Theorem 2.2 (Van Kampen’s theorem, generalized version). Suppose {Uα } is an open
covering of X such that each Uα is path-connected and there is a common base point
x0 sits in all Uα . Let
jα : π1 (Uα , x0 ) → π1 (X, x0 )
be the group homomorphism induced by the inclusion Uα ,→ X. Let
Φ : ∗α π1 (Uα , x0 ) → π1 (X, x0 )
be the lifted group homomorphism as described by the universal property.
(1) Suppose each intersection Uα ∩ Uβ is path connected. Then Φ is surjective.
(2) If in addition, each intersection Uα ∩ Uβ ∩ Uγ is path connected, then Ker(Φ) is
the normal subgroup N generated by all elements of the form ιαβ (ω)ιβα (ω)−1 ,
where ιαβ : π1 (Uα ∩ Uβ , x0 ) → π1 (Uα , x0 ) is the group homomorphism induced
by the inclusion Uα ∩ Uβ ,→ Uα . As a result, Φ induces a group isomorphism
∗απ1(Uα, x0)/N ' π1(X, x0).
We have seen in the previous footnote (namely from π1 (S 1 )) that the condition
“Uα ∩ Uβ are path-connected” is necessary for Φ to be surjective. Now we give an
example showing that the condition “Uα ∩ Uβ ∩ Uγ are path connected” is necessary
for the second assertion:
Example 2.3. Let X be the following graph:

Let U1 = X \ {a}, U2 = X \ {b} and U3 = X \ {c}. Then

π1 (Ui ) ' Z, 1 ≤ i ≤ 3.
By applying van Kampen’s theorem to the cover {U1 , U3 } of X, we get
π1 (X) ' Z ∗ Z.
But if we try to apply van Kampen’s theorem to the cover {U1 , U2 , U3 } (which does
not satisfy the condition of van Kampen’s theorem since the intersection is not path-
connected), we would get a wrong answer π1 (X) ' Z ∗ Z ∗ Z. [It is not obvious that
Z∗Z∗Z 6' Z∗Z. One way to see this is to prove that they have different abelianization.
See today’s pset.]
 VAN KAMPEN’S THEOREM 7

¶ The proof of van Kampen’s Theorem (the generalized version).

Proof.
Step 1. Φ is surjective.
Given any loop γ : [0, 1] → X with base point x0 , by Lebesgue number lemma,
there exists a partition 0 = s0 < s1 < · · · < sm = 1 such that each γ([si , si+1 ]) is
contained in a single Uα . Repeating the proof of Proposition 1.9 in Lecture 19 we get
γ∼
p
(γ1 ∗ λ̄1 )∗(λ1 ∗γ2 ∗ λ̄2 )∗· · ·∗(λm−1 ∗γm ),

where each λi ∗γi+1 ∗ λ̄i+1 is a loop in one Uα . So [γ] ∈ Image(Φ), i.e. Φ is surjective.
[Note: The above argument also shows that Φ is not injective in general,
since it may happen that f ([si , si+1 ]) is contained in both Uα and Uβ ,
so that the loop λi ∗ γi+1 ∗ λ̄i+1 lies in both Uα and Uβ , and thus can
be viewed either as a loop in Uα or as a loop in Uβ , which will give us
different representation in ∗α π1 (Uα , x0 ).]
Step 2. Reduce the problem.
Let [γ] ∈ π1 (X, x0 ). If γ ∼ γ1 ∗γ2 ∗· · ·∗γn , where each γi is a loop in some Uα with
base point x0 , then we write formally [γ] = [γ1 ]∗[γ2 ]∗· · ·∗[γn ] and call it a factorization
of [γ]. [One can regard a factorization of [γ] as a word which lies in the free product
∗απ1(Uα).] Note that the surjectivity of Φ implies that each class [γ] ∈ π1(X, x0)
admits a factorization.
As we have explained above, one class could have many different factorizations.
We say two factorizations of [γ] are equivalent if they are related by a finite number of
the following two moves and their inverses:
• If [γi ], [γi+1 ] are in the same π1 (Uα , x0 ), then replace [γi ]∗[γi+1 ] by [γi ∗γi+1 ].
• If γi is a loop in Uα ∩ Uβ , then identify [γi ] ∈ π1 (Uα , x0 ) with [γi ] ∈ π1 (Uβ , x0 ).
Note that the first move does not change the element of ∗α π1 (Uα ) defined by the
factorization, while the second move does not change the image of the element defined
by the factorization in the quotient group ∗α π1 (Uα )/N because N is normal. As a
result, equivalent factorizations give the same element in ∗α π1 (Uα )/N . We will prove
Reduced problem: Any two factorizations of [γ] are always equivalent.
This is enough for our purpose, since it implies that the map ∗α π1 (Uα )/N → π1 (X, x0 )
induced by Φ is injective.
Step 3. Decomposition of [0, 1] × [0, 1].
Now suppose we have two factorizations of [γ], namely,
[γ1 ]∗[γ2 ]∗· · · [γM ] = [γ] = [γ10 ]∗· · ·∗[γN
0
].
8 VAN KAMPEN’S THEOREM

By definition, we have
γ1 ∗· · ·∗γM ∼ γ ∼ γ10 ∗· · ·∗γN
0
.
Let F : [0, 1] × [0, 1] → X be a path homotopy connecting γ1 ∗· · ·∗γM and γ10 ∗· · ·∗γN 0
.
By Lebesgue number lemma, we can decompose [0, 1] × [0, 1] into finitely many small
rectangles Rij = [tij , tij+1 ] × [si , si+1 ], with 0 = s0 < s1 < · · · < sK < sK+1 = 1, s.t.
• F (Rij ) is contained in a single Uα , which we will denoted by Uij .
• F (t, 0)|[t0n ,t0n ] = γk (t) and F (t, 1)|[tK K
mk ,tmk+1 ]
= γk0 (t).
k k+1
• Each point in [0, 1] × [0, 1] lies in at most three rectangles Rij .
The decomposition3 might looks like the following:

For simplicity, we label these “bricks” be R1 , R2 , · · · , RL , say, from left to right,

from bottom to top.
Step 4. Equivalent factorizations from bottom to top.
Note: F maps the left edge and the right edge to x0 . So if λ is a path in [0, 1]×[0, 1]
from the left edge to the right edge, then F |λ is a loop with base point x0 .
Now for each r, we let λr be the path from left to right separating the first r
rectangles R1 , R2 , · · · , Rr form the remaining rectangles. For example, λ0 is the bottom
edge while λL is the top edge. For each vertex v of Rr with F (v) 6= x0 , then by
construction, F (v) belongs to the intersection of the two or three open sets Uα ’s that
contains the image of the two or three bricks having v as one of their vertices. Since any
non-empty intersection of two or three Uα ’s is path connected, there is a path µv from
x0 to F (v) which lies in the intersection of those (two or three) Ui ’s that corresponds
to the Rj ’s containing v. As in the proof of surjectivity we can insert into these µv ’s
and µ̄v ’s into F |λr to decompose the loop into a number of loops based at x0 , so that
each loop lies in a single Uα . By this way we obtain a factorization of [F |λr ]. Note:
• Different choices of Ui ’s will change the factorization of [F |λr ] to an equivalent
factorization.
• Furthermore, the factorization of [F |λr ] and the factorization of [F |λr+1 ] are
equivalent, since we may push the path λr across Rr+1 to the path λr+1 , which
relates F |λr to F |λr+1 by a homotopy within Ur .

3Thisis a “brick” decomposition. One can also use a hexagonal decomposition instead, to guarantee
that each point lies in at most three elements in the decomposition.
 VAN KAMPEN’S THEOREM 9

0
Step 5. The factorizations [γ1 ]∗[γ2 ]∗· · · [γM ] and [γ10 ]∗[γ2 ]∗· · · [γN ] are equivalent.
Finally we show that the factorization [F |γ0 ] is equivalent to [γ1 ]∗[γ2 ]∗· · · [γM ]. To
do so, for each vertex v in the bottom edge, we choose the path λv to lie not only in
the two Uk ’s corresponding to the two Rk ’s containing v, but also in the Uα for the γi .
[Note: If v is is the common end point of two consecutive γi ’s, then F (v) = x0 and
thus there is no need to choose λv .]
By the same way the factorization [F |γL ] is equivalent to [γ10 ]∗[γ2 ]∗· · · [γN 0
]. This
solves the reduced problem and thus finishes the proof of theorem.