Relative group cohomology and the Orbit category

Let G be a finite group and ℱ be a family of subgroups of G closed under conjugation and taking subgroups. We consider the question whether there exists a periodic relative ℱ-projective resolution for ℤ when ℱ is the family of all subgroups H ≤ G with rk H ≤ rkG - 1. We answer this question negatively by calculating the relative group cohomology ℱH*(G, F{double-struck}2) where G = ℤ/2 × ℤ/2 and ℱ is the family of cyclic subgroups of G. To do this calculation we first observe that the relative group cohomology ℱH*(G, M) can be calculated using the ext-groups over the orbit category of G restricted to the family ℱ. In second part of the paper, we discuss the construction of a spectral sequence that converges to the cohomology of a group G and whose horizontal line at E 2 page is isomorphic to the relative group cohomology of G. © 2014 Copyright Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.