In algebra, given a ring homomorphism , there are three ways to change the coefficient ring of a module; namely, for a right R-module M and a right S-module N,
They are related as adjoint functors:
and
This is related to Shapiro's lemma.
Restriction of scalars changes S-modules into R-modules. In algebraic geometry, the term "restriction of scalars" is often used as a synonym for Weil restriction.
Let and be two rings (they may or may not be commutative, or contain an identity), and let be a homomorphism. Suppose that is a module over . Then it can be regarded as a module over , if the action of is given via for and .