In algebraic geometry, a relative cycle is a type of algebraic cycle on a scheme. In particular, let be a scheme of finite type over a Noetherian scheme , so that . Then a relative cycle is a cycle on which lies over the generic points of , such that the cycle has a well-defined specialization to any fiber of the projection .
The notion was introduced by Andrei Suslin and Vladimir Voevodsky in 2000; the authors were motivated to overcome some of the deficiencies of sheaves with transfers.