This paper has two aims. The first is to study ideals of minors of matrices whose entries are among the variables of a polynomial ring. Specifically, we describe matrices whose ideals of minors of a given size are prime. The main result in the first part of this paper is a theorem which gives sufficient conditions for the ideal of minors of a matrix to be prime. This theorem is general enough to include interesting examples, such as the ideal of maximal minors of catalecticant matrices and their generalisations discussed in the second part of the paper.
The second aim of this paper is to settle a specific problem raised by David Eisenbud and Frank-Olaf Schreyer on the primary decomposition of an ideal of maximal minors. We solve this problem by applying the theorem above together with some ad-hoc techniques.
Let $K$ be a field and $X$, $Y$ denote matrices such that, the entries of $X$ are either indeterminates over $K$ or $0$ and the entries of $Y$ are indeterminates over $K$ which are different from those appearing in $X$. We consider ideals of the form $I_{1}(XY)$, which is the ideal generated by the $1\times 1$ minors of the matrix $XY$. We prove that the quotient ring $K[X, Y]/I_{1}(XY)$ admits an ASL structure for certain $X$ and $Y$.
In this paper we propose a model for computing a minimal free resolution for ideals of the form $I_{1}(X_{n}Y_{n})$, where $X_{n}$ is an $n\times n$ skew-symmetric matrix with indeterminate entries $x_{ij}$ and $Y_{n}$ is a generic column matrix with indeterminate entries $y_{j}$. We verify that the model works for $n=3$ and $n=4$ and pose some statements as conjectures. Answering the conjectures in affirmative would enable us to compute a minimal free resolution for general $n$.
Let $K$ be a field and $X$, $Y$ denote matrices such that, the entries of $X$ are either indeterminates over $K$ or $0$ and the entries of $Y$ are indeterminates over $K$ which are different from those appearing in $X$. We consider ideals of the form $I_{1}(XY)$, which is the ideal generated by the homogeneous polynomials of degree $2$ given by the $1\times 1$ minors of the matrix $XY$. We prove that $d$-sequences and regular sequences arise naturally as part of generators of $I_{1}(XY)$ for some special cases. We use this information to calculate the equations defining the Rees algebra of $I_…
Suppose that k is a field of characteristic zero, X is an r by s matrix of indeterminates, where r \leq s, and R = k[X] is the polynomial ring over k in the entries of X. We study the local cohomology modules H^i_I(R), where I is the ideal of R generated by the maximal minors of X. We identify the indices i for which these modules vanish, compute H^i_I(R) at the highest nonvanishing index, i = r(s-r)+1, and characterize all nonzero ones as submodules of certain indecomposable injective modules. These results are consequences of more general theorems regarding linearly reductive groups acting o…
Let G be a finite graph on [n] = {1,2,3,...,n}, X a 2 times n matrix of indeterminates over a field K, and S = K[X] a polynomial ring over K. In this paper, we study about ideals I_G of S generated by 2-minors [i,j] of X which correspond to edges {i,j} of G. In particular, we construct a Groebner basis of I_G as a set of paths of G and compute a primary decomposition.
In this paper we study ideals generated by quite general sets of 2-minors of an $m \times n$-matrix of indeterminates. The sets of 2-minors are defined by collections of cells and include 2-sided ladders. For convex collections of cells it is shown that the attached ideal of 2-minors is a Cohen--Macaulay prime ideal. Primality is also shown for collections of cells whose connected components are row or column convex. Finally the class group of the ring attached to a stack polyomino and its canonical class is computed, and a classification of the Gorenstein stack polyominoes is given.
Let R be a standard graded polynomial ring in f variables over a field and Psi be an f by g matrix of linear forms from R, where g is positive and less than f. Assume that the row vector of variables annihilates Psi and that the ideal I generated by the g by g minors of Psi has grade exactly one short of the maximum possible grade. We resolve R/I, prove that I has a g-linear resolution, record explicit formulas for the h-vector and multiplicity of R/I, and prove that if f-g is even, then the ideal I is unmixed. Furthermore, if f-g is odd, then we identify an explicit generating set for the unm…
Let $X$ be an $n\times m$ matrix of indeterminates over a field $K$ (of sufficiently large characteristic) and $M_t$ the set of $m$-minors of $X$. We consider two objects: (1) the Ress algebra of the polynomial ring $K[X]$ with respect to the ideal $I_t$ generated by $M_t$, and (2) the $A_t$ subalgebra of $K[X]$ generated by $M_t$. Note that $A_t$ is tHE coordinate ring of a Grassmannian if $t=\min(m,n)$; also the cases $t=1$ and $t=m-1=n-1$ are easily understood, since $A_t$ is a polynomial ring over $K$ in these cases. For both objects we compute the divisor class group and the canonical cla…
In this paper we compute Gröbner bases for determinantal ideals of the form $I_{1}(XY)$, where $X$ and $Y$ are both matrices whose entries are indeterminates over a field $K$. We use the Gröbner basis structure to determine Betti numbers for such ideals.
An ideal I in a polynomial ring S has linear powers if all the powers I^k of I have a linear free resolution. We show that the ideal of maximal minors of a sufficiently general matrix with linear entries has linear powers. The required genericity is expressed in terms of the heights of the ideals of lower order minors. In particular we prove that every rational normal scroll has linear powers.
We consider ideals generated by general sets of $m$-minors of an $m\times n$-matrix of indeterminates. The generators are identified with the facets of an $(m-1)$-dimensional pure simplicial complex. The ideal generated by the minors corresponding to the facets of such a complex is called a determinantal facet ideal. Given a pure simplicial complex $Δ$, we discuss the question when the generating minors of its determinantal facet ideal $J_Δ$ form a Gröbner basis and when $J_Δ$ is a prime ideal.
We study algebraic and homological properties of the ideal of submaximal minors of a sparse generic symmetric matrix. This ideal is generated by all $(n-1)$-minors of a symmetric $n \times n$ matrix whose entries in the upper triangle are distinct variables or zeros and the zeros are only allowed at off-diagonal places. The surviving off-diagonal entries are encoded as a simple graph $G$ with $n$ vertices. We prove that the minimal free resolution of this ideal is obtained from the case without any zeros via a simple pruning procedure, extending methods of Boocher. This allows us to compute al…
We generalize Gaeta's Theorem to the family of determinantal schemes. In other words, we show that the schemes defined by minors of a fixed size of a matrix with polynomial entries belong to the same G-biliaison class of a complete intersection whenever they have maximal possible codimension, given the size of the matrix and of the minors that define them.
We introduce a class of ideals generated by a set of 2-minors of $m\times n$-matrix of indeterminates indexed by a pair of graphs. This class of ideals is a natural common generalization of binomial edge ideals and ideals generated by adjacent minors. We determine the minimal prime ideals of such ideals and give a lower bound for their degree of nilpotency. In some special cases we compute their Gröbner basis and characterize unmixedness and Cohen--Macaulayness.
Let Phi be an f by g matrix with entries from a commutative Noetherian ring R, with g at most f. Recall the family of generalized Eagon-Northcott complexes {C^{i}} associated to Phi. (See, for example, Appendix A2 in "Commutative Algebra with a view toward Algebraic Geometry" by David Eisenbud.) For each integer i, C^i is a complex of free R-modules. For example, C^{0} is the original "Eagon-Northcott" complex with zero-th homology equal to the ring defined by the maximal order minors of Phi; and C^{1} is the "Buchsbaum-Rim" complex with zero-th homology equal to the cokernel of the transpose …
We present new identities for determinants of matrices $(A_{i,j})$ with entries $A_{i,j}$ equal to $a_{i,j}$ or $a_{i,0}a_{0,j}-a_{i,j}$, where the $a_{i,j}$'s are indeterminates. We show that these identities are behind trace identities for $SL(2,\Bbb C)$ matrices found earlier by Magnus in his study of trace algebras.
All matrices we consider have entries in a fixed algebraically closed field $K$. A minor of a square matrix is principal means it is defined by the same row and column indices. We study the ideal generated by size $t$ principal minors of a generic matrix, and restrict our attention to locally closed subsets of its vanishing set, given by matrices of a fixed rank. The main result is a computation of the dimension of the locally closed set of $n\times n$ rank $n-2$ matrices whose size $n-2$ principal minors vanish; this set has dimension $n^2-n-4$.
Let $R$ be a Noetherian local ring and $m$ a positive integer. Let $I$ be the ideal of $R$ generated by the maximal minors of an $m \times (m + 1)$ matrix $M$ with entries in $R$. Assuming that the grade of the ideal generated by the $k$-minors of $M$ is at least $m - k + 2$ for $1 \leq \forall k \leq m$, we will study the associated primes of $I^n$ for $\forall n > 0$. Moreover, we compute the saturation of $I^n$ for $1 \leq \forall n \leq m$ in the case where $R$ is a Cohen-Macaulay ring and the entries of $M$ are powers of elements that form an sop for $R$.
A minor is principal means it is defined by the same row and column indices. Let $X$ be a square generic matrix, $K[X]$ the polynomial ring in entries of $X$, over an algebraically closed field, $K$. For fixed $t\leq n$, let $\mathfrak P_t$ denote the ideal generated by the size $t$ principal minors of $X$. When $t=2$ the resulting quotient ring $K[X]/\mathfrak P_2$ is a normal complete intersection domain. When $t>2$ we break the problem into cases depending on a fixed rank, $r$, of $X$. We show when $r=n$ for any $t$, the respective images of $\mathfrak P_t$ and $\mathfrak P_{n-t}$ in the lo…
Let $X$ be a matrix with entries in a polynomial ring over an algebraically closed field $K$. We prove that, if the entries of $X$ outside some $(t \times t)$-submatrix are algebraically dependent over $K$, the arithmetical rank of the ideal $I_t(X)$ of $t$-minors of $X$ drops at least by one with respect to the generic case; under suitable assumptions, it drops at least by $k$ if $X$ has $k$ zero entries. This upper bound turns out to be sharp if $\mathrm{char}\, K=0$, since it then coincides with the lower bound provided by the local cohomological dimension.
Generalized diagonal matrices are matrices that have two ladders of entries that are zero in the upper right and bottom left corners. The minors of generic generalized diagonal matrices have square-free initial ideals. We give a description of the facets of their Stanley-Reisner complex. With this description, we characterize the configuration of ladders that yield Cohen-Macaulay ideals. In the special case where both ladders are triangles, we show that the corresponding complex is vertex decomposable. Also in this case, we compute the height and multiplicity of the ideals.
This paper takes a new look at ideals generated by 2x2 minors of 2x3 matrices whose entries are powers of three elements not necessarily forming a regular sequence. A special case of this are the ideals determining monomial curves in three dimensional space, which were already studied by Herzog. In the broader context studied here, these ideals are identified as Northcott ideals in the sense of Vasconcelos, and so their liaison properties are displayed. It is shown that they are set-theoretically complete intersections, revisiting the work of Bresinsky and of Valla. Even when the three element…
