Chain

In ordered sets[edit]

The same as a totally ordered set: in a general partially ordered set, a subset which is totally ordered with respect to the induced order. The rank of a partially ordered set is the maximal cardinality of a chain.

In algebraic topology[edit]

A formal linear combination of simplices (of a triangulation, of a simplicial set and, in particular, of singular simplices of a topological space) or of cells. In the most general sense it is an element of the group of chains of an arbitrary (as a rule, free) chain complex. A chain with coefficients in a group $G$ is an element of the tensor product of a chain complex by the group $G$.

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