The direct sum is an operation between structures in abstract algebra, a branch of mathematics. It is defined differently but analogously for different kinds of structures. As an example, the direct sum of two abelian groups
and
is another abelian group
consisting of the ordered pairs
where
and
. To add ordered pairs, the sum is defined
to be
; in other words, addition is defined coordinate-wise. For example, the direct sum
, where
is real coordinate space, is the Cartesian plane,
. A similar process can be used to form the direct sum of two vector spaces or two modules.
Direct sums can also be formed with any finite number of summands; for example,
, provided
and
are the same kinds of algebraic structures (e.g., all abelian groups, or all vector spaces). That relies on the fact that the direct sum is associative up to isomorphism. That is,
for any algebraic structures
,
, and
of the same kind. The direct sum is also commutative up to isomorphism, i.e.
for any algebraic structures
and
of the same kind.
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