Group stack

In algebraic geometry, a group stack is an algebraic stack whose categories of points have group structures or even groupoid structures in a compatible way. It generalizes a group scheme, which is a scheme whose sets of points have group structures in a compatible way.

Examples

• A group scheme is a group-\ stack. More generally, a group algebraic-space, an algebraic-space analog of a group scheme, is a group-stack.
• Over a field k, a vector bundle stack $𝒱$ on a Deligne–Mumford stack X is a group-stack such that there is a vector bundle V over k on X and a presentation $V\to 𝒱$. It has an action by the affine line ${𝔸}^1$ corresponding to scalar multiplication.
• A Picard stack is an example of a group-stack (or groupoid-stack).

Actions of group stacks

The definition of a group action of a group stack is a bit tricky. First, given an algebraic stack X and a group scheme G on a base scheme S, a right action of G on X consists of

1. a morphism $\sigma :X\times G\to X$,
2. (associativity) a natural isomorphism $\sigma \circ (m\times 1_X)\stackrel{\sim }{\to }\sigma \circ (1_X\times \sigma )$, where m is the multiplication on G,
3. (identity) a natural isomorphism $1_X\stackrel{\sim }{\to }\sigma \circ (1_X\times e)$, where $e:S\to G$ is the identity section of G,

that satisfy the typical compatibility conditions.

If, more generally, G is a group stack, one then extends the above using local presentations.