In this article we overview those aspects of the theory of affine semigroups and their algebras that have been relevant for our own research, and pose several open problems. Answers to these problems would contribute substantially to the further development of the theory.
The paper treats two main topics: (1) affine semigroups and several covering properties for them and (2) algebraic properties for the corresponding rings (Koszul, Cohen-Macaulay, different ``sizes'' of the defining binomial ideals). We emphasize the special case when the initial data are encoded into lattice polytopes. The related objects -- polytopal semigroups and algebras -- provide a link with the classical theme of triangulations into unimodular simplices.
We have also included an algorithm for checking the semigroup covering property in the most general setting. Our counterexample to certain covering conjectures was found by the application of a small part of this algorithm. The general algorithm could be used for a deeper study of affine semigroups.
We provide a generalization of pseudo-Frobenius numbers of numerical semigroups to the context of the simplicial affine semigroups. In this way, we characterize the Cohen-Macaulay type of the simplicial affine semigroup ring $\mathbb{K}[S]$. We define the type of $S$, $\operatorname{type}$, in terms of some Apéry sets of $S$ and show that it coincides with the Cohen-Macaulay type of the semigroup ring, when $\mathbb{K}[S]$ is Cohen-Macaulay. If $\mathbb{K}[S]$ is a $d$-dimensional Cohen-Macaulay ring of embedding dimension at most $d+2$, then $\operatorname{type}\leq 2$. Otherwise, $\operatorn…
In this note we characterize the affine semigroup rings K[S] over an arbitrary field K that satisfy condition R_l of Serre. Our characterization is in terms of the face lattice of the positive cone pos(S) of S. We start by reviewing some basic facts about the faces of pos(S) and consequences for the monomial primes of K[S]. After proving our characterization we turn our attention to the Rees algebras of a special class of monomial ideals in a polynomial ring over a field. In this special case, some of the characterizing criteria are always satisfied. We give examples of nonnormal affine semigr…
We study the Cox realization of an affine variety, i.e., a canonical representation of a normal affine variety with finitely generated divisor class group as a quotient of a factorially graded affine variety by an action of the Neron-Severi quasitorus. The realization is described explicitly for the quotient space of a linear action of a finite group. A universal property of this realization is proved, and some results on the divisor theory of an abstract semigroup emerging in this context are given. We show that each automorphism of an affine variety can be lifted to an automorphism of the Co…
In this work, new families of Buchsbaum rings, developed by mean of convex body semigroups, are presented. We characterize Buchsbaum circle and convex polygonal semigroups and describe algorithmic methods to check these characterizations.
We characterize the seminormality of an affine semigroup ring in terms of the dualizing complex, and the normality of a Cohen-Macaulay semigroup ring by the "shape" of the canonical module. We also characterize the seminormality of a toric face ring in terms of the dualizing complex. A toric face ring is a simultaneous generalization of Stanley-Reisner rings and affine semigroups.
In this paper we present a new kind of semigroups called convex body semigroups which are generated by convex bodies of R^k. They generalize to arbitrary dimension the concept of proportionally modular numerical semigroup of [7]. Several properties of these semigroups are proven. Affine convex body semigroups obtained from circles and polygons of R^2 are characterized. The algorithms for computing minimal system of generators of these semigroups are given. We provide the implementation of some of them.
We generalize the notion of symmetric semigroups, pseudo symmetric semigroups, and row factorization matrices for pseudo Frobenius elements of numerical semigroups to the case of semigroups with maximal projective dimension (MPD semigroups).
We show that the Eisenbud-Goto conjecture holds for (homogeneous) seminormal simplicial affine semigroup rings. Moreover, we prove an upper bound for the Castelnuovo-Mumford regularity in terms of the dimension, which is similar as in the normal case. Finally, we compute explicitly the regularity of full Veronese rings.
We characterize when the monomial maximal ideal of a simplicial affine semigroup ring has a monomial minimal reduction. When this is the case, we study the Cohen-Macaulay and Gorenstein properties of the associated graded ring and provide several bounds for the reduction number with respect to the monomial minimal reduction.
Through examples, we illustrate how to compute differential operators on a quotient of an affine semigroup ring by a radical monomial ideal, when working over an algebraically closed field of characteristic 0.
Let $K$ be a field, $B$ a simplicial affine semigroup, and $C(B)$ the corresponding cone. We will present a decomposition of $K[B]$ into a direct sum of certain monomial ideals, which generalizes a construction by Hoa and Stückrad. We will use this decomposition to construct a semigroup $\tilde B$ with $B \subseteq \tilde B \subseteq C(B)$ such that $K[\tilde B]$ is Cohen-Macaulay with the property: $\tilde B \subseteq \hat B$ for every affine semigroup $\hat B$ with $B \subseteq \hat B \subseteq C(B)$ such that $K[\hat B]$ is Cohen-Macaulay.
We prove that the F-signature of an affine semigroup ring of positive characteristic is always a rational number, and describe a method for computing this number. We use this method to determine the F-signature of Segre products of polynomial rings, and of Veronese subrings of polynomial rings. Our technique involves expressing the F-signature of an affine semigroup ring as the difference of the Hilbert-Kunz multiplicities of two monomial ideals, and then using Watanabe's result that these Hilbert-Kunz multiplicities are rational numbers.
A proportionally modular affine semigroup is the set of nonnegative integer solutions of a modular Diophantine inequality $f_1x_1+\cdots +f_nx_n \mod b \le g_1x_1+\cdots +g_nx_n$ where $g_1,\dots,g_n,$ $f_1,\ldots ,f_n\in \mathbb{Z}$ and $b\in\mathbb{N}$. In this work, a geometrical characterization of these semigroups is given. Moreover, some algorithms to check if a semigroup $S$ in $\mathbb{N}^n$, with $\mathbb{N}^n\setminus S$ a finite set, is a proportionally modular affine semigroup are provided by means of that geometrical approach.
An affine semigroup is a finitely generated subsemigroup of $(\mathbb Z_{\ge 0}^d, +)$, and a numerical semigroup is an affine semigroup with $d = 1$. A growing body of recent work examines shifted families of numerical semigroups, that is, families of numerical semigroups of the form $M_n = \langle n + r_1, \ldots, n + r_k \rangle$ for fixed $r_1, \ldots, r_k$, with one semigroup for each value of the shift parameter $n$. It has been shown that within any shifted family of numerical semigroups, the size of any minimal presentation is bounded (in fact, this size is eventually periodic in $n$).…
This work introduces a new kind of semigroup of $\N^p$ called proportionally modular affine semigroup. These semigroups are defined by modular Diophantine inequalities and they are a generalization of proportionally modular numerical semigroups. We prove they are finitely generated and we give an algorithm to compute their minimal generating sets. We also specialise on the case $p=2$. For this case, we provide a faster algorithm to compute their minimal system of generators and we prove they are Cohen-Macaulay and Buchsbaum. Besides, the Gorenstein property is charactized, and their (minimal) …
We characterize affine semigroups having one Betti element and we compute some relevant non-unique factorization invariants for these semigroups. As an example, we particularize our description to numerical semigroups.
In this paper, we give the necessary and sufficient conditions for the Cohen-Macaulayness of the associated graded ring of a simplicial affine semigroups using Gröbner basis. We generalize the concept of homogeneous numerical semigroup for the simplicial affine semigroup and show that the Betti numbers of the corresponding semigroup ring matches with the Betti numbers of the associated graded ring. We also define the nice extension for simplicial affine semigroups, motivated by the notion of a nice extension of the numerical semigroups.
A simple way of computing the Apéry set of a numerical semigroup (or monoid) with respect to a generator, using Groebner bases, is presented, together with a generalization for affine semigroups. This computation allows us to calculate the type set and, henceforth, to check the Gorenstein condition which characterizes the symmetric numerical subgroups.
For numerical semigroups with a specified list of (not necessarily minimal) generators, we describe the asymptotic distribution of factorization lengths with respect to an arbitrary modulus. In particular, we prove that the factorization lengths are equidistributed across all congruence classes that are not trivially ruled out by modular considerations.
Most factorization invariants in the literature extract extremal factorization behavior, such as the maximum and minimum factorization lengths. Invariants of intermediate size, such as the mean, median, and mode factorization lengths are more subtle. We use techniques from analysis and probability to describe the asymptotic behavior of these invariants. Surprisingly, the asymptotic median factorization length is described by a number that is usually irrational.
Let $C \subset {\bf N}^d$ be an affine semigroup, and $R=K[C]$ its semigroup ring. This paper is a collection of various results on "$C$-graded" $R$-modules, especially, monomial ideals. For example, we show the following: If $R$ is normal and $I$ is a radical monomial ideal (i.e., $R/I$ is a generalization of Stanley-Reisner rings), then the sequentially Cohen-Macaulay property of $R/I$ is a topological property of the "geometric realization" of the cell complex associated with $I$. Moreover, we can give a squarefree modules/constructible sheaves version of this result.
Let $\mathcal C \subset \mathbb N^p$ be a finitely generated integer cone and $S\subset \mathcal C$ be an affine semigroup such that the real cones generated by $\mathcal C$ and by $S$ are equal. The semigroup $S$ is called $\mathcal C$-semigroup if $\mathcal C\setminus S$ is a finite set. In this paper, we characterize the $\mathcal C$-semigroups from their minimal generating sets, and we give an algorithm to check if $S$ is a $\mathcal C$-semigroup and to compute its set of gaps. We also study the embedding dimension of $\mathcal C$-semigroups obtaining a lower bound for it, and introduce so…
We introduce the concept of isolated factorizations of an element of a commutative monoid and study its properties. We give several bounds for the number of isolated factorizations of simplicial affine semigroups and numerical semigroups. We also generalize $α$-rectangular numerical semigroups to the context of simplicial affine semigroups and study their isolated factorizations. As a consequence of our results, we characterize those complete intersection simplicial affine semigroups with only one Betti minimal element in several ways. Moreover, we define Betti sorted and Betti divisible simpl…
In this paper, we study the Cohen-Macaulayness of non-affine normal semigroups in $\mathbb{Z}^n$. We do this by establishing the following four statements each of independent interest: 1) a Lazard type result on $I$-supported elements of $\prod_{\mathbb{N}}\mathbb{Q}_{\geq0}$ for an index set $I\subset\mathbb{N}$; 2) a criterion of regularity of sequences of elements of the ring via projective dimension; 3) a direct limit of polynomial rings with toric maps; 4) any direct summand of rings of the third item is Cohen-Macaulay. To illustrate the idea, we give many examples.
We present stdPairs.spyx, a SageMath library to compute standard pairs of a monomial ideal over a pointed (non-normal) affine semigroup ring. Moreover, stdPairs.spyx provides the associated prime ideals, the corresponding multiplicities, and an irredundant irreducible primary decomposition of a monomial ideal. The library expands on the standardPairs function on Macaulay2 over polynomial rings, and is based on algorithms from arXiv:2005.10968v2 [math.AC]. We also provide methods that allow the outputs from this library to be compatible with the Normaliz package of Macaulay2 and SageMath.
Let $a$ and $d$ be two linearly independent vectors in $\mathbb{N}^2$, over the field of rational numbers. For a positive integer $k \geq 2$, consider the sequence $a, a+d, \ldots, a+kd$ such that the affine semigroup $S_{a,d,k} = \langle a, a+d, \ldots, a+kd \rangle$ is minimally generated by this sequence. We study the properties of affine semigroup algebra $k[S_{a,d,k}]$ associated to this semigroup. We prove that $k[S_{a,d,k}]$ is always Cohen-Macaulay and it is Gorenstein if and only if $k=2$. For $k=2,3,4$, we explicitly compute the syzygies, minimal graded free resolution and Hilbert se…
We prove a theorem unifying three results from combinatorial homological and commutative algebra, characterizing the Koszul property for incidence algebras of posets and affine semigroup rings, and characterizing linear resolutions of squarefree monomial ideals. The characterization in the graded setting is via the Cohen-Macaulay property of certain posets or simplicial complexes, and in the more general nongraded setting, via the sequential Cohen-Macaulay property.
The trace of the canonical module of a Cohen-Macaulay ring describes its non-Gorenstein locus. We study the trace of the canonical module of a Segre product of algebras, and we apply our results to compute the non-Gorenstein locus of toric rings. We provide several sufficient and necessary conditions for Hibi rings and normal semigroup rings to be Gorenstein on the punctured spectrum.
For numerical semigroups with a specified list of (not necessarily minimal) generators, we obtain explicit asymptotic expressions, and in some cases quasipolynomial/quasirational representations, for all major factorization length statistics. This involves a variety of tools that are not standard in the subject, such as algebraic combinatorics (Schur polynomials), probability theory (weak convergence of measures, characteristic functions), and harmonic analysis (Fourier transforms of distributions). We provide instructive examples which demonstrate the power and generality of our techniques. W…
A common tool in the theory of numerical semigroups is to interpret a desired class of semigroups as the integer lattice points in a rational polyhedron in order to leverage computational and enumerative techniques from polyhedral geometry. Most arguments of this type make use of a parametrization of numerical semigroups with fixed multiplicity $m$ in terms of their $m$-Apéry sets, giving a representation called Kunz coordinates which obey a collection of inequalities defining the Kunz polyhedron. In this work, we introduce a new class of polyhedra describing numerical semigroups in terms of a…
Let $k$ be a field and $x,y$ indeterminates over $k$. Let $R=k[x^a,x^{p_1}y^{s_1},\ldots,x^{p_t}y^{s_t},y^b] \subseteq k[x,y]$. We calculate the Hilbert polynomial of $(x^a,y^b)$. The multiplicity of this ideal provides part of a criterion for the ring to be Cohen-Macaulay. Next, we prove a simple numerical criterion for $R$ to be Cohen-Macaulay in the case when $t=2$. We also provide a simple algorithm which identifies the monomial $k$-basis of $R/(x^a,y^b)$. Finally, these simple results are specialized to the case of projective monomial curves in $\mathbb{P}^3$.
Let $H\subseteq \mathbb{N}^d$ be a normal affine semigroup, $R=K[H]$ its semigroup ring over the field $K$ and $ω_R$ its canonical module. The Ulrich elements for $H$ are those $h$ in $H$ such that for the multiplication map by $\mathbf{x}^h$ from $R$ into $ω_R$, the cokernel is an Ulrich module. We say that the ring $R$ is almost Gorenstein if Ulrich elements exist in $H$. For the class of slim semigroups that we introduce, we provide an algebraic criterion for testing the Ulrich propery. When $d=2$, all normal affine semigroups are slim. Here we have a simpler combinatorial description of th…
In this paper we study those submonoids of $\mathbb{N}^d$ which a non-trivial pseudo-Frobenius set. In the affine case, we prove that they are the affine semigroups whose associated algebra over a field has maximal projective dimension possible. We prove that these semigroups are a natural generalization of numerical semigroups and, consequently, most of their invariants can be generalized. In the last section we introduce a new family of submonoids of $\mathbb{N}^d$ and using its pseudo-Frobenius elements we prove that the elements in the family are direct limits of affine semigroups.
Let $\mathbb{N} \mathcal{A}$ be the monoid generated by $\mathcal{A} = {\mathbf{a}_1, ..., \mathbf{a}_n} \subseteq \mathbb{Z}^d.$ We introduce the homogeneous catenary degree of $\mathbb{N} \mathcal{A}$ as the smallest $N \in \mathbb N$ with the following property: for each $\mathbf{a} \in \mathbb{N} \mathcal{A}$ and any two factorizations $\mathbf{u}, \mathbf{v}$ of $\mathbf{a}$, there exists factorizations $\mathbf{u} = \mathbf{w}_1, ..., \mathbf{w}_t = \mathbf{v} $ of $\mathbf{a}$ such that, for every $k, \mathrm{d}(\mathbf{w}_k, \mathbf{w}_{k+1}) \leq N,$ where $\mathrm{d}$ is the usual di…
The package numericalsgps performs computations with and for numerical semigroups. Recently also affine semigroups are admitted as objects for calculations. This manuscript is a survey of what the package does, and at the same time of the trending topics on numerical semigroups.
Given a morphism from an affine semigroup Q to an arbitrary commutative monoid, it is shown that every fiber possesses an affine stratification: a partition into a finite disjoint union of translates of normal affine semigroups. The proof rests on mesoprimary decomposition of monoid congruences [arXiv:1107.4699] and a novel list of equivalent conditions characterizing the existence of an affine stratification. The motivating consequence of the main result is a special case of a conjecture due to Guo and the author [arXiv:0908.3473, arXiv:1105.5420] on the existence of affine stratifications fo…
Let $S_1$ and $S_2$ be two affine semigroups and let $S$ be the gluing of $S_1$ and $S_2$. Several invariants of $S$ are then related to those of $S_1$ and $S_2$; we review some of the most important properties preserved under gluings. The aim of this paper is to prove that this is the case for the Frobenius vector and the Hilbert series. Applications to complete intersection affine semigroups are also given.
Let Q be an affine semigroup generating Z^d, and fix a finitely generated Z^d-graded module M over the semigroup algebra k[Q] for a field k. We provide an algorithm to compute a minimal Z^d-graded injective resolution of M up to any desired cohomological degree. As an application, we derive an algorithm computing the local cohomology modules H^i_I(M) supported on any monomial (that is, Z^d-graded) ideal I. Since these local cohomology modules are neither finitely generated nor finitely cogenerated, part of this task is defining a finite data structure to encode them.
