The Stacks project

Proof. Injectivity follows on combining Lemmas 78.11.2 and 78.19.6. To see surjectivity (see Sites, Section 7.11 for a characterization of surjective maps of sheaves) we argue as follows. Suppose that $T$ is a scheme and $\sigma \in U/R(T)$. There exists a covering $\{ T_ i \to T\} $ such that $\sigma |_{T_ i}$ is the image of some element $f_ i \in U(T_ i)$. Hence we may assume that $\sigma $ if the image of $f \in U(T)$. By the assumption that $h$ is a surjection of sheaves, we can find an fppf covering $\{ \varphi _ i : T_ i \to T\} $ and morphisms $f_ i : T_ i \to U' \times _{g, U, t} R$ such that $f \circ \varphi _ i = h \circ f_ i$. Denote $f'_ i = \text{pr}_0 \circ f_ i : T_ i \to U'$. Then we see that $f'_ i \in U'(T_ i)$ maps to $g \circ f'_ i \in U(T_ i)$ and that $g \circ f'_ i \sim _{T_ i} h \circ f_ i = f \circ \varphi _ i$ notation as in (78.19.0.1). Namely, the element of $R(T_ i)$ giving the relation is $\text{pr}_1 \circ f_ i$. This means that the restriction of $\sigma $ to $T_ i$ is in the image of $U'/R'(T_ i) \to U/R(T_ i)$ as desired.

If $\{ h\} $ is an fppf covering, then it induces a surjection of sheaves, see Topologies on Spaces, Lemma 73.7.5. If $U' \to U$ is surjective, then also $h$ is surjective as $s$ has a section (namely the neutral element $e$ of the groupoid scheme). $\square$