arXiv subjects
Publications and source records attributed to Uwe Nagel.
We establish characteristic-free criteria for the componentwise linearity of graded ideals. As applications, we classify the componentwise linear ideals among the Gorenstein ideals, the standard determinantal ideals, and the ideals generated by the submaximal minors of a symmetric matrix.
An artinian graded algebra, $A$, is said to have the Weak Lefschetz property (WLP) if multiplication by a general linear form has maximal rank in every degree. A vast quantity of work has been done studying and applying this property, touching on numerous and diverse areas of algebraic geometry, commutative algebra, and combinatorics. Amazingly, though, much of this work has a "common ancestor" in a theorem originally due to Stanley, although subsequently reproved by others. In this expository paper we describe the different directions in which research has moved starting with this theorem, and we discuss some of the open questions that continue to motivate current research.
We establish restrictions on the Hilbert function of standard graded Gorenstein algebras with only quadratic relations. Furthermore, we pose some intriguing conjectures and provide evidence for them by proving them in some cases using a number of different techniques, including liaison theory and generic initial ideals.
We introduce a construction on a flag complex that, by means of modifying the associated graph, generates a new flag complex whose $h$-factor is the face vector of the original complex. This construction yields a vertex-decomposable, hence Cohen-Macaulay, complex. From this we get a (non-numerical) characterisation of the face vectors of flag complexes and deduce also that the face vector of a flag complex is the $h$-vector of some vertex-decomposable flag complex. We conjecture that the converse of the latter is true and prove this, by means of an explicit construction, for $h$-vectors of Cohen-Macaulay flag complexes arising from bipartite graphs. We also give several new characterisations of bipartite graphs with Cohen-Macaulay or Buchsbaum independence complexes.
In this paper, we give a sufficient condition for a set $\mathal G$ of polynomials to be a Gröbner basis with respect to a given term-order for the ideal $I$ that it generates. Our criterion depends on the linkage pattern of the ideal $I$ and of the ideal generated by the initial terms of the elements of $\mathcal G$. We then apply this criterion to ideals generated by minors and pfaffians. More precisely, we consider large families of ideals generated by minors or pfaffians in a matrix or a ladder, where the size of the minors or pfaffians is allowed to vary in different regions of the matrix or the ladder. We use the sufficient condition that we established to prove that the minors or pfaffians form a reduced Gröbner basis for the ideal that they generate, with respect to any diagonal or anti-diagonal term-order. We also show that the corresponding initial ideal is Cohen-Macaulay and squarefree, and that the simplicial complex associated to it is vertex decomposable, hence shellable. Our proof relies on known results in liaison theory, combined with a simple Hilbert function computation. In particular, our arguments are completely algebraic.
The weak and strong Lefschetz properties are two basic properties that Artinian algebras may have. Both Lefschetz properties may vary under small perturbations or changes of the characteristic. We study these subtleties by proposing a systematic way of deforming a monomial ideal failing the weak Lefschetz property to an ideal with the same Hilbert function and the weak Lefschetz property. In particular, we lift a family of Artinian monomial ideals to finite level sets of points in projective space with the property that a general hyperplane section has the weak Lefschetz property in almost all characteristics, whereas a special hyperplane section does not have this property in any characteristic.
In a recent paper, Schenck and Seceleanu showed that in three variables, any ideal generated by powers of linear forms has the Weak Lefschetz Property (WLP). This result contrasts with examples, in our previous work, of ideals in four variables generated by powers of linear forms which fail the WLP. Set $R:=k[x_1,\dots,x_r]$. Assume $1< a_1 \leq \dots \leq a_{r+1}$. In this paper, we concentrate our attention on almost complete intersection ideals $I = \langle L_1^{a_1}, \dots ,L_r^{a_r},L_{r+1}^{a_{r+1}} \rangle \subset R$ generated by powers of general linear forms $L_{i}$. Our approach is via the connection (thanks to Macaulay duality) to fat point ideals, together with a reduction to a smaller projective space. When $r=4$ we give an almost complete description of when such ideals have the WLP, leaving open only one case. When $r=5$ we solve the problem when $a_1 = \cdots = a_5 \leq a_6$. When $r \geq 6$ is even we solve the problem for uniform powers $a_1 = \cdots = a_{r+1} = d$; an asympotic version of this latter result was proven by Harbourne, Schenck and Seceleanu (see their simultaneous submission). As a special case, we prove half of their Conjecure 5.5.2, which deals with the case $d=2$. Other examples are analyzed, most notably when $r=7$, and we end up with a conjecture which says that if the number of variables $r \geq 9$ is odd and all powers have the same degree, say $d$, then the WLP fails for all $d>1$.
Stanley-Reisner rings of Buchsbaum* complexes are studied by means of their quotients modulo a linear system of parameters. The socle of these quotients is computed. Extending a recent result by Novik and Swartz for orientable homology manifolds without boundary, it is shown that modulo a part of their socle these quotients are level algebras. This provides new restrictions on the face vectors of Buchsbaum* complexes.
We study the weak Lefschetz property and the Hilbert function of level Artinian monomial almost complete intersections in three variables. Several such families are shown to have the weak Lefschetz property if the characteristic of the base field is zero or greater than the maximal degree of any minimal generator of the ideal. Two of the families have an interesting relation to tilings of hexagons by lozenges. This lends further evidence to a conjecture by Migliore, Miro-Roig, and the second author. Finally, using our results about the weak Lefschetz property, we show that the Hilbert function of each level Artinian monomial almost complete intersection in three variables is peaked strictly unimodal.
A cut ideal of a graph records the relations among the cuts of the graph. These toric ideals have been introduced by Sturmfels and Sullivant who also posed the problem of relating their properties to the combinatorial structure of the graph. We study the cut ideals of the family of ring graphs, which includes trees and cycles. We show that they have quadratic Gröbner bases and that their coordinate rings are Koszul, Hilbertian, and Cohen-Macaulay, but not Gorenstein in general.
Many algebras are expected to have the Weak Lefschetz property though this is often very difficult to establish. We illustrate the subtlety of the problem by studying monomial and some closely related ideals. Our results exemplify the intriguing dependence of the property on the characteristic of the ground field, and on arithmetic properties of the exponent vectors of the monomials.
We determine new bounds on the entries of Gorenstein Hilbert functions, both in any fixed codimension and asymptotically. Our first main theorem is a lower bound for the degree $i+1$ entry of a Gorenstein $h$-vector, in terms of its entry in degree $i$. This result carries interesting applications concerning unimodality: indeed, an important consequence is that, given $r$ and $i$, all Gorenstein $h$-vectors of codimension $r$ and socle degree $e\geq e_0=e_0(r,i)$ (this function being explicitly computed) are unimodal up to degree $i+1$. This immediately gives a new proof of a theorem of Stanley that all Gorenstein $h$-vectors in codimension three are unimodal. Our second main theorem is an asymptotic formula for the least value that the $i$-th entry of a Gorenstein $h$-vector may assume, in terms of codimension, $r$, and socle degree, $e$. This theorem broadly generalizes a recent result of ours, where we proved a conjecture of Stanley predicting that asymptotic value in the specific case $e=4$ and $i=2$, as well as a result of Kleinschmidt which concerned the logarithmic asymptotic behavior in degree $i= \lfloor \frac{e}{2} \rfloor $.
We investigate various module-theoretic properties of Koszul homology under mild conditions. These include their depth, $S_2$-property and their Bass numbers
If $V$ is an equidimensional codimension $c$ subscheme of an $n$-dimensional projective space, and $V$ is linked to $V'$ by a complete intersection $X$, then we say that $V$ is {\em minimally linked} to $V'$ if $X$ is a codimension $c$ complete intersection of smallest degree containing $V$. Gaeta showed that if $V$ is any arithmetically Cohen-Macaulay (ACM) subscheme of codimension two then there is a finite sequence of minimal links beginning with $V$ and arriving at a complete intersection. We extend this work in the following ways: 1) In the codimension 2 non-ACM case, we show that for any $n \geq 3$ there are examples of subschemes that are not minimal in their even liaison class, and cannot be minimally linked in any number of steps to a minimal subscheme. 2) Nevertheless, there are examples of non-ACM liaison classes of curves in projective 3-space where all elements are minimally linked in a finite number of steps to a minimal curve. 3) Extending previous work of the authors with Huneke and Ulrich (about the licci case), we show that also in the non-ACM case in any higher codimension there are non-minimal subschemes that are not minimally linked to a minimal subscheme in the even liaison class. 4) J. Watanabe had shown many years ago that codimension 3 graded Gorenstein ideals of any dimension are licci. Here we show that any such ideal is minimally linked in a finite number of steps to a complete intersection, and that it admits a sequence of strictly decreasing CI-biliaisons down to a complete intersection, extending work of Hartshorne, Sabadini and Schlesinger.
We present two new problems on lower bounds for resolution Betti numbers of monomial ideals generated in a fixed degree. The first concerns any such ideal and bounds the total Betti numbers, while the second concerns ideals that are quadratic and bihomogeneous with respect to two variable sets, but gives a more finely graded lower bound. These problems are solved for certain classes of ideals that generalize (in two different directions) the edge ideals of threshold graphs and Ferrers graphs. In the process, we produce particularly simple cellular linear resolutions for strongly stable and squarefree strongly stable ideals generated in a fixed degree, and combinatorial interpretations for the Betti numbers of other classes of ideals, all of which are independent of the coefficient field.
In this note we establish a (non-trivial) lower bound on the degree two entry $h_2$ of a Gorenstein $h$-vector of any given socle degree $e$ and any codimension $r$. In particular, when $e=4$, that is for Gorenstein $h$-vectors of the form $h=(1,r,h_2,r,1)$, our lower bound allows us to prove a conjecture of Stanley on the order of magnitude of the minimum value, say $f(r)$, that $h_2$ may assume. In fact, we show that $$\lim_{r\to \infty} {f(r)\over r^{2/3}}= 6^{2/3}.$$ In general, we wonder whether our lower bound is sharp for all integers $e\geq 4$ and $r\geq 2$.
We study the linkage classes of homogeneous ideals in polynomial rings. An ideal is said to be homogeneously licci if it can be linked to a complete intersection using only homogeneous regular sequences at each step. We ask a natural question: if $I$ is homogeneously licci, then can it be linked to a complete intersection by linking using regular sequences of forms of smallest possible degree at each step (we call such ideals minimally homogeneously licci)? In this paper we answer this question in the negative. In particular, for every $n\geq 28$ we construct a set of $n$ points in $\mathbb P^3$ which are homogeneously licci, but not minimally homogeneously licci. Moreover, we prove that one cannot distinguish between the classes of homogeneously licci and non-licci ideals based only on their Hilbert functions, nor distinguish between homogeneously licci and minimally homogeneously licci ideals based solely on the graded Betti numbers. Finally, by taking hypersurface sections, we show that the natural question has a negative answer whenever the height of the ideal is at least three.
The main goal of this paper is to characterize the Hilbert functions of all (artinian) codimension 4 Gorenstein algebras that have at least two independent relations of degree four. This includes all codimension 4 Gorenstein algebras whose initial relation is of degree at most 3. Our result shows that those Hilbert functions are exactly the so-called {\em SI-sequences} starting with (1,4,h_2,h_3,...), where $h_4 \leq 33$. In particular, these Hilbert functions are all unimodal. We also establish a more general unimodality result, which relies on the values of the Hilbert function not being too big, but is independent of the initial degree.