Skip to main content

All Questions

Filter by
Sorted by
Tagged with
11 votes
3 answers
1k views

Existence of non-commutative desingularizations

Let $R$ be normal, local ring of dimension at least $2$. Let $M$ be a reflexive $R$-module and let $A=Hom_R(M,M)$. Suppose $A$ has finite global dimension. Then one can view $A$ as a weak non-...
Hailong Dao's user avatar
  • 30.5k
52 votes
7 answers
8k views

"Algebraic" topologies like the Zariski topology?

The fact that a commutative ring has a natural topological space associated with it is still a really interesting coincidence. The entire subject of Algebraic geometry is based on this simple fact. ...
3 votes
1 answer
590 views

Adjunction for underlying reduced subschemes

Let $k$ be a perfect field (so reduced = geometrically reduced) and $f:X\rightarrow \mathrm{Spec}(k)$ a Cohen-Macaulay morphism. Denote by $i:X_{red}\rightarrow X$ the underlying reduced subscheme ...
B. Cais's user avatar
  • 1,609
13 votes
2 answers
1k views

When does a quasicoherent sheaf vanish?

Let $F$ be a quasi-coherent sheaf on a scheme $X$. To check that $F$ vanishes it suffices to check that all the stalks of $F$ vanish. I would like to know whether it suffices to check that all the ...
David Treumann's user avatar
30 votes
6 answers
8k views

Algebraic stacks from scratch [closed]

I have a pretty good understanding of stacks, sheaves, descent, Grothendieck topologies, and I have a decent understanding of commutative algebra (I know enough about smooth, unramified, étale, and ...
42 votes
4 answers
8k views

Serre intersection formula and derived algebraic geometry?

Let $X$ be a regular scheme (all local rings are regular). Let $Y,Z$ be two closed subschemes defined by ideals sheaves $\mathcal I,\mathcal J$. Serre gave a beautiful formula to count the ...
Hailong Dao's user avatar
  • 30.5k
4 votes
1 answer
412 views

F_q-structures on schemes

Let $k|\mathbb{F}_q$ be a field extension. An $\mathbb{F}_q$-structure on a $k$-algebra $A$ is an $\mathbb{F}_q$-subalgebra $A _0$ of $A$ such that $A _0 \otimes _{\mathbb{F}_q} k \cong A$ via the ...
user717's user avatar
  • 5,243
9 votes
1 answer
884 views

Isolated hypersurface singularities, Chow groups and D-branes

Say a ring $R$ is an isolated hypersurface singularity if $R = k[x_1, \ldots, x_n]_{(x_1, \ldots, x_n)}/(W)$, where $k$ is a field and $W \in k[x_1, \ldots, x_n]$ is such that the ideal $(\partial_1 W,...
Jesse Burke's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
734 views

Parametric polynomial solution of a single polynomial equation

Let $P$ be a polynomial in $n$ variables with rational coefficients, $P \in {\mathbb Q}[Z_1,Z_2, \ldots ,Z_n]$, and consider the algebraic set $Z=\lbrace (z_1,z_2,z_3, \ldots ,z_n) \in {\mathbb Q}^n |...
Ewan Delanoy's user avatar
  • 3,595
11 votes
1 answer
1k views

Flat cohomology and Picard groups

Let $(R,m)$ be a local complete intersection of dimension $3$. Let $X=Spec(R)$ and $U=Spec(R) -\{m\}$ be the punctured spectrum of $R$. I am trying to understand the following comment by Gabber (see ...
Hailong Dao's user avatar
  • 30.5k
6 votes
0 answers
379 views

ring-valued points of locally ringed spaces

of course, one should expect that the concept of ring-valued points is not well-behaved for locally ringed spaces (LRS). I want to see examples for this. so consider $LRS \to Set^{Ring}, X \mapsto X(-...
Martin Brandenburg's user avatar
35 votes
3 answers
5k views

Matrix factorizations and physics

I have heard during some seminar talks that there are applications of the theory of matrix factorizations in string theory. A quick search shows mostly papers written by physicists. Are there any ...
Hailong Dao's user avatar
  • 30.5k
10 votes
3 answers
2k views

Rings of integers of function fields

This might be a somewhat silly and inconsequential question, but it's aroused my curiosity. One has the theorem in commutative algebra that the integral closure of a domain $A$ in its field of ...
Saul Glasman's user avatar
  • 2,168
12 votes
5 answers
5k views

reduced ⊗ reduced = reduced; what about connected?

Several questions actually. All rings and algebras are supposed to be commutative and with $1$ here. (1) Let $k$ be a field, and let $A$ and $B$ be two $k$-algebras. I need a proof that if $A$ and $...
darij grinberg's user avatar
15 votes
5 answers
3k views

Two-dimensional quotient singularities are rational: why?

I've read that quotient singularities (that is, spectra of invariant subrings of finite groups acting linearly on polynomial rings) have rational singularities. Is there an elementary proof of this ...
Graham Leuschke's user avatar
12 votes
4 answers
7k views

Definition of étale for rings

Let $A \to B$ be a ring extension. What is the definition of $B/A$ étale ? When $A$ is a field, do we get a nice characterization ?
user2330's user avatar
  • 1,320
46 votes
4 answers
8k views

What does "linearly disjoint" mean for abstract field extensions?

All definitions I've seen for the statement "$E,F$ are linearly disjoint extensions of $k$" are only meaningful when $E,F$ are given as subfields of a larger field, say $K$. I am happy with the ...
Andrew Critch's user avatar
6 votes
4 answers
409 views

Is tensoring with a module representable iff it is locally free of finite rank?

Motivation: It's nice when you can think of the elements of an $A$-module $M$ as sections some $A$-scheme $Y\to Spec(A)$. That is, maps $Spec(A)\to Y$ such that $Spec(A)\to Y \to Spec(A)$ is the ...
Andrew Critch's user avatar
23 votes
1 answer
966 views

Do DG-algebras have any sensible notion of integral closure?

Suppose R → S is a map of commutative differential graded algebras over a field of characteristic zero. Under what conditions can we say that there is a factorization R → R' → S ...
Tyler Lawson's user avatar
  • 52.6k
19 votes
4 answers
4k views

Trace map attached to a finite homomorphism of noetherian rings

Let $f:A\rightarrow B$ be a homomorphism of noetherian rings which makes $B$ into a finite $A$-module. Under what conditions on $f$, $A$, $B$ can one associate to this map a canonical "trace map" $$\...
B. Cais's user avatar
  • 1,609
16 votes
2 answers
899 views

When is a commutative ring the limit of its local rings?

Let $A$ be a commutative ring. Then we get local rings $A_p$ by localizing at each prime ideal $p$. Moreover, we get $A_p \rightarrow A_q$ when $p$ contains $q$. So we get a big diagram indexed by the ...
Dinakar Muthiah's user avatar
9 votes
1 answer
857 views

Some examples of depth

This is related to the question I asked last time. This sounds a bit too specific, I hope this question is still acceptable on MO. I am still not quite comfortable with the concept of depth, and ...
user avatar
21 votes
1 answer
2k views

Two conjectures by Gabber on Brauer and Picard groups

In a paper I need to make reference to two conjectures by Gabber, from Ofer Gabber, On purity for the Brauer group, in: Arithmetic Algebraic Geometry, MFO Report No. 37/2004, doi:10.14760/OWR-2004-37 ...
Hailong Dao's user avatar
  • 30.5k
5 votes
3 answers
839 views

Is (relatively) algebraically closed stable under finite field extensions?

Let $F\subset F'$ be a field extension such that $F$ is algebraically closed inside $F'$, i.e. if $x\in F'$ is algebraic over $F$ then $x$ belongs to $F$ itself. Let now $F\subset L$ be a finite field ...
Jason's user avatar
  • 51
15 votes
5 answers
4k views

Generalizing miracle flatness (Matsumura 23.1) via finite Tor-dimension

Let $(A,m_A)$ and $(B,m_B)$ be noetherian local rings and $f:A\rightarrow B$ a local homomorphism. Let $F = B/m_AB$ be the fiber ring and assume that $$\mathrm{dim}(B) = \mathrm{dim}(A) + \mathrm{dim}...
B. Cais's user avatar
  • 1,609
18 votes
2 answers
2k views

What does primary decomposition of (sub) modules mean geometrically?

I want to know how I should visualize modules in algebraic geometry. The way we visualize rings, via their spectra, automatically (or by the beauty of its design) depicts primary decomposition of ...
Andrew Critch's user avatar
11 votes
2 answers
1k views

Class groups of normal domains over finite fields

Let R be a local, normal domain of dimension 2. Suppose that R contains a finite field. I am interested in knowing when the class group of R is torsion. In characteristic 0, this is known to be ...
Hailong Dao's user avatar
  • 30.5k
10 votes
2 answers
610 views

When is tensoring with a module representable by a scheme?

Consider the following: Let $A$ be a commutative ring, let $M$ be an $A$-module. When is the functor from $A$-algebras to Sets given by $R \mapsto R \otimes M$ representable by an $A$-scheme? Unless ...
Dinakar Muthiah's user avatar
23 votes
6 answers
4k views

Is projectiveness a Zariski-local property of modules? (Answered: Yes!)

I know that for a finitely presented $A$-module $M$ ($A$ a commutative ring), TFAE: $M$ is projective; $M$ is max-locally free, meaning that $M_{\mathfrak m}$ is free for every maximal ideal $\...
Andrew Critch's user avatar
45 votes
5 answers
4k views

How to think about CM rings?

There are a few questions about CM rings and depth. Why would one consider the concept of depth? Is there any geometric meaning associated to that? The consideration of regular sequence is okay to me....
user avatar
11 votes
3 answers
612 views

Can different modules have the same symmetric algebra? (answered: no)

Algebraic geometry allows one to think of an $A$-module $M$ geometrically as a module of functions on the $A$-scheme $\mathrm{Spec}(\mathrm{Sym}(M))$. I'm wondering if anything is lost in just ...
Andrew Critch's user avatar
-3 votes
3 answers
400 views

Dense section of sheaves of modules

Here is something that isn't yet very clear to me. Say, I've got a commutative ring A. I consider the affine scheme from A, so it's a sheaf of rings over Spec A. EDIT: And additionally let's say ...
Jose Capco's user avatar
  • 2,275
3 votes
1 answer
457 views

Intuition for Nagata's altitude formula?

This is theorem 14.C on p.84 of Matsumura's commutative algebra. Let $A$ be a noetherian domain, and let $B$ be a finitely generated overdomain of $A$. Let $P \in Spec(B)$ and $p = P \cap A$. Then ...
user avatar
8 votes
2 answers
759 views

Can any countably generated k-algebra occur as the ring of global sections of some variety?

In the answer to this question we saw that there exists a nonsingular quasi-projective threefold over a field with non-finitely generated global sections. I was talking about this previous ...
Greg Stevenson's user avatar
15 votes
7 answers
4k views

Different definitions of the dimension of an algebra

I know of three ways to define the dimension of a finitely-generated commutative algebra A over a field F: The Gelfand-Kirillov (GK) dimension, based on the growth of the Hilbert function. The Krull ...
Qiaochu Yuan's user avatar
4 votes
1 answer
310 views

Solvable subgroups of groups of polynomial automorphisms

Does every finitely generated free solvable group embed into the group of polynomial automorphisms of some C^n?
anon's user avatar
  • 41
52 votes
7 answers
5k views

What does a projective resolution mean geometrically?

For R a commutative ring and M an R-module, we can always find a projective resolution of M which replaces M by a sequence of projective R-modules. But as R is commutative, we can consider the affine ...
Justin DeVries's user avatar
4 votes
2 answers
758 views

What is the homology of the real coordinate ring of SO(n,R)? Other compact matrix groups?

As someone whose knowledge of cohomology is patchy and picked up on a need-to-know basis, and whose algebraic geometry is even worse, I wondered if someone could help with this question. (I ran into ...
Yemon Choi's user avatar
  • 25.8k
12 votes
2 answers
1k views

Graded or stacky Serre duality

I am considering the following situation. $A$ is a finitely generated ring over a field $K$ with non-negative grading and $A_0=K$ of Krull dimension n+1, but I don't necessarily assume A is generated ...
Chris Brav's user avatar
34 votes
2 answers
7k views

What is the geometric meaning of integral closure?

More precisely, how does one characterize integrally closed finitely generated domains (say, over C) based on geometric properties of their varieties? Given a finitely generated domain A and its ...
Qiaochu Yuan's user avatar
6 votes
3 answers
1k views

Is there a software package that does Schubert Calculus computations?

Is there a good software package for doing computations in the cohomology ring of Grassmannians? Things like, I can write down a polynomial in, in fact, special Schubert classes, but it's one where ...
Charles Siegel's user avatar
17 votes
3 answers
1k views

R2 and S3 for rings.

For a noetherian ring R, Serre's criterion for normality states that R is normal if and only if R satisfies conditions R1 and S2, where R1 is regularity in codimension one, and S2 is Serre's condition ...
Morgan Brown's user avatar
8 votes
3 answers
921 views

Generic Noether normalisation

Suppose that $M$ is a finitely generated module over $A=k[X_1,\ldots,X_n]$ of Krull dimension $m$ with $k$ an infinite field. Then one version of Noether normalisation says there is an $m$-dimensional ...
Simon Wadsley's user avatar
28 votes
5 answers
9k views

Can a quotient ring R/J ever be flat over R?

If $R$ is a ring and $J\subset R$ is an ideal, can $R/J$ ever be a flat $R$-module? For algebraic geometers, the question is "can a closed immersion ever be flat?" The answer is yes: take $J=...
Anton Geraschenko's user avatar
20 votes
10 answers
7k views

Resources on invariant theory

What are resources on invariant theory? Basically I've run into a need to teach myself some of the basics of invariant theory and was looking for a good place to start. I'd prefer online / freeish ...
6 votes
2 answers
673 views

are deformations of torsion modules always torsion?

Let's say I have a field $\mathbb{K}$ and a flat family of $\mathbb{K}[t]$-modules $M$ over the formal disk $Spec \mathbb{K}[[h]]$. Now, assume that $M/hM$ is torsion as a $\mathbb{K}[t]$-module (...
Ben Webster's user avatar
  • 44.7k
20 votes
4 answers
4k views

What is interesting/useful about Castelnuovo-Mumford regularity?

What is interesting/useful about Castelnuovo-Mumford regularity?
David Zureick-Brown's user avatar
32 votes
6 answers
9k views

What is the universal property of normalization?

What is the universal property of normalization? I'm looking for an answer something like If X is a scheme and Y→X is its normalization, then the morphism Y→X has property P and any ...
Anton Geraschenko's user avatar

1
38 39 40 41
42