Hochster and Huneke proved in \cite{HH5} fine behaviors of symbolic powers of ideals in regular rings, using the theory of tight closure. In this paper, we use generalized test ideals, which are a characteristic $p$ analogue of multiplier ideals, to give a slight generalization of Hochster-Huneke's results.
We survey classical and recent results on symbolic powers of ideals. We focus on properties and problems of symbolic powers over regular rings, on the comparison of symbolic and regular powers, and on the combinatorics of the symbolic powers of monomial ideals. In addition, we present some new results on these aspects of the subject.
Fermat ideals define planar point configurations that are closely related to the intersection locus of the members of a specific pencil of curves. These ideals have gained recent popularity as counterexamples to some proposed containments between symbolic and ordinary powers. We give a systematic treatment of the family of Fermat ideals, describing explicitly the minimal generators and the minimal free resolutions of all their ordinary powers as well as many symbolic powers. We use these to study the ordinary and the symbolic Rees algebra of Fermat ideals. Specifically, we show that the symbol…
The purpose of this note is twofold. We present first a vanishing theorem for families of linear series with base ideal being a fat points ideal. We apply then this result in order to give a partial proof of a conjecture raised by Bocci, Harbourne and Huneke concerning containment relations between ordinary and symbolic powers of planar point ideals.
We study the regularity of small symbolic powers and integral closure of small powers of edge ideals. We also prove that the regularity of integral closure of powers of edge ideals of graphs with at most two odd cycles is the same as the regularity of their powers.
Using perfectoid algebras, we introduce a mixed characteristic analog of the multiplier ideal, respectively test ideal, from characteristic zero, respectively $p > 0$, in the case of a regular ambient ring. We prove several properties about this ideal such as subadditivity. We then use these techniques to derive a uniform bound on the growth of symbolic powers of radical ideals in all excellent regular rings. The analogous result was shown in equal characteristic by Ein-Lazarsfeld-Smith and Hochster-Huneke.
This paper contributes to the study of the prime spectrum and dimension theory of symbolic Rees algebra over Noetherian domains. We first establish some general results on the prime ideal structure of subalgebras of affine domains, which actually arise, in the Noetherian context, as domains between a domain $A$ and $A[a^{-1}]$. We then examine closely the special context of symbolic Rees algebras (which yielded the first counter-example to the Zariski-Hilbert problem). One of the results states that if $A$ is a Noetherian domain and $p$ a maximal ideal of $A$, then the Rees algebra of $p$ inhe…
Recent work of Ein-Lazarsfeld-Smith and Hochster-Huneke raised the problem of which symbolic powers of an ideal are contained in a given ordinary power of the ideal. Bocci-Harbourne developed methods to address this problem, which involve asymptotic numerical characters of symbolic powers of the ideals. Most of the work done up to now has been done for ideals defining 0-dimensional subschemes of projective space. Here we focus on certain subschemes given by a union of lines in ${\bf P}^3$ which can also be viewed as points in ${\bf P}^1\times {\bf P}^1$. We also obtain results on the closely r…
B. Harbourne and C. Huneke conjectured that for any ideal $I$ of fat points in $P^N$ its $r$-th symbolic power $I^{(r)}$ should be contained in $M^{(N-1)r}I^r$, where $M$ denotes the homogeneous maximal ideal in the ring of coordinates of $P^N$. We show that this conjecture holds for the ideal of any number of simple (not fat) points in general position in $P^3$ and for at most $N+1$ simple points in general position in $P^N$. As a corollary we give a positive answer to Chudnovsky Conjecture in the case of generic points in $P^3$.
We show that the Conjecture of Harbourne and Huneke, $I^{(Nr-(N-1))} \subset M^{(r-1)(N-1)}I^{r}$ holds for ideals of generic (simple) points in $\PP^3$. As a result, for such ideals we prove the following bounds, which can be recognized as generalizations of Chudnovsky bounds: $α(I^{(3m-k)}) \geq mα(I)+2m-k$, for any $m \geq 1$ and $k=0,1,2$. Moreover, we obtain lower bounds for the Waldshmidt constant for such ideals.
We introduce the class of sparse symmetric shifted monomial ideals. These ideals have linear quotients and their Betti numbers are computed. Using this, we prove that the symbolic powers of the generalized star configuration ideal are sequentially Cohen--Macaulay under some mild genericness assumption. With respect to these symbolic powers, we also consider the Harbourne--Huneke containment problem and establish the Demailly-like bound.
Let $I$ be an ideal whose symbolic Rees algebra is Noetherian. For $m \geq 1$, the $m$-th symbolic defect, sdefect$(I,m)$, of $I$ is defined to be the minimal number of generators of the module $\frac{I^{(m)}}{I^m}$. We prove that sdefect$(I,m)$ is eventually quasi-polynomial as a function in $m$. We compute the symbolic defect explicitly for certain monomial ideals arising from graphs, termed cover ideals. We go on to give a formula for the Waldschmidt constant, an asymptotic invariant measuring the growth of the degrees of generators of symbolic powers, for ideals whose symbolic Rees algebra…
Star configurations are certain unions of linear subspaces of projective space that have been studied extensively. We develop a framework for studying a substantial generalization, which we call matroid configurations, whose ideals generalize Stanley-Reisner ideals of matroids. Such a matroid configuration is a union of complete intersections of a fixed codimension. Relating these to the Stanley-Reisner ideals of matroids and using methods of Liaison Theory allows us, in particular, to describe the Hilbert function and minimal generators of the ideal of, what we call, a hypersurface configurat…
We present criteria for the Cohen-Macaulayness of a monomial ideal in terms of its primary decomposition. These criteria allow us to use tools of graph theory and of linear programming to study the Cohen-Macaulayness of monomial ideals which are intersections of prime ideal powers. We can characterize the Cohen-Macaulayness of the second symbolic power or of all symbolic powers of a Stanley-Reisner ideal in terms of the simplicial complex. These characterizations show that the simplicial complex must be very compact if some symbolic power is Cohen-Macaulay. In particular, all symbolic powers a…
We revisit a bound on symbolic powers found by Ein-Lazarsfeld-Smith and subsequently improved by Takagi-Yoshida. We show that the original argument of Ein-Lazarsfeld-Smith actually gives the same improvement. On the other hand, we show by examples that any further improvement based on the same technique appears unlikely. This is primarily an exposition; only some examples and remarks might be new.
We survey old and new approaches to the study of symbolic powers of ideals. Our focus is on the symbolic Rees algebra of an ideal, viewed both as a tool to investigate its symbolic powers and as a source of challenging problems in its own right. We provide an invitation to this area of investigation by stating several open questions.
Given that symbolic and ordinary powers of an ideal do not always coincide, we look for conditions on the ideal such that equality holds for every natural number. This paper focuses on studying the equality for Derksen ideals defined by finite groups acting linearly on a polynomial ring.
We survey recent studies and results on the following problem: which numerical functions can be the depth function of powers and symbolic powers of homogeneous ideals.
Let $I$ and $J$ be nonzero ideals in two Noetherian algebras $A$ and $B$ over a field $k$. Let $I+J$ denote the ideal generated by $I$ and $J$ in $A\otimes_k B$. We prove the following expansion for the symbolic powers: $$(I+J)^{(n)} = \sum_{i+j = n} I^{(i)} J^{(j)}.$$ If $A$ and $B$ are polynomial rings and if chara$(k) = 0$ or if $I$ and $J$ are monomial ideals, we give exact formulas for the depth and the Castelnuovo-Mumford regularity of $(I+J)^{(n)}$, which depend on the interplay between the symbolic powers of $I$ and $J$. The proof involves a result of independent interest which states …
We establish a criterion for the (failure of) the containment $I^{(m)}\subset I^r$ for 3-generated ideals $I$ defining reduced sets of points in $\mathbb{P}^2$. Our criterion arises from studying the minimal free resolutions of the powers of $I$, specifically the minimal free resolutions for $I^m$ and $I^r$. We apply this criterion to two point configurations that have recently arisen as counterexamples to a question of B. Harbourne and C. Huneke: the Fermat configuration and the Klein configuration.
In this paper we study ideals of points lying on rational normal curves defined in projective plane and projective $ 3 $-space. We give an explicit formula for the value of Castelnuovo-Mumford regularity for their ordinary powers. Moreover, we compare the $ m $-th symbolic and ordinary powers for such ideals in order to show whenever the $ m $-th symbolic defect is non-zero.
We develop tools to study the problem of containment of symbolic powers $I^{(m)}$ in powers $I^r$ for a homogeneous ideal $I$ in a polynomial ring $k[{\bf P}^N]$ in $N+1$ variables over an algebraically closed field $k$. We obtain results on the structure of the set of pairs $(r,m)$ such that $I^{(m)}\subseteq I^r$. As corollaries, we show that $I^2$ contains $I^{(3)}$ whenever $S$ is a finite generic set of points in ${\bf P}^2$ (thereby giving a partial answer to a question of Huneke), and we show that the containment theorems of Ein-Lazarsfeld-Smith and Hochster-Huneke are optimal for every…
We show that under some conditions, if the initial ideal in$_<(I)$ of an ideal $I$ in a polynomial ring has the property that its symbolic and ordinary powers coincide, then the ideal $I$ shares the same property. We apply this result to prove the equality between symbolic and ordinary powers for binomial edge ideals with quadratic Gröbner basis.
In this paper, we compute the regularity and Hilbert series of symbolic powers of the cover ideal of a graph $G$ when $G$ is either a crown graph or a complete multipartite graph. We also compute the multiplicity of symbolic powers of cover ideals in terms of the number of edges.
We consider the following question concerning the equality of ordinary and symbolic powers of ideals. In a regular local ring, if the ordinary and symbolic powers of a one-dimensional prime ideal are the same up to its height, then are they the same for all powers? We provide supporting evidence of a positive answer for classes of prime ideals defining monomial curves or rings of low multiplicities.
In this article, we prove that for several classes of graphs, the Castelnuovo-Mumford regularity of symbolic powers of their edge ideals coincide with that of their ordinary powers.
The purpose of this paper is to prove that the symbolic Rees rings of ideals defining certain finite sets of points in the projective plane over an algebraically closed field are finitely generated using a ring theoretical criterion which is known as Huneke's criterion.
Let $G$ be a finite simple graph and $I(G)$ denote the corresponding edge ideal in a polynomial ring over a field $\mathbb{K}$. In this paper, we obtain upper bounds for the Castelnuovo-Mumford regularity of symbolic powers of certain classes of edge ideals. We also prove that for several classes of graphs, the regularity of symbolic powers of their edge ideals coincides with that of their ordinary powers.
In this paper we extend a result of Cowsik on set-theoretic complete intersection and a result Huneke, Morales and Goto and Nishida about Noetherian symbolic Rees algebras of ideals. As applications, we show that the symbolic Rees algebras of the following ideals are Noetherian and the ideals are set-theoretic complete intersections: (a) the edge ideal of a complete graph, (b) the Fermat ideal and (c) the Jacobian ideal of a certain hyperplane arrangement.
This work is about symbolic powers of codimension two perfect ideals in a standard polynomial ring over a field, where the entries of the corresponding presentation matrix are general linear forms. The main contribution of the present approach is the use of the birational theory underlying the nature of the ideal and the details of a deep interlacing between generators of its symbolic powers and the inversion factors stemming from the inverse map to the birational map defined by the linear system spanned by the generators of this ideal. A full description of the corresponding symbolic Rees alg…
In this paper we generalize the theorem of Ein-Lazarsfeld-Smith (concerning the behavior of symbolic powers of prime ideals in regular rings finitely generated over a field of characteristic 0) to arbitrary regular rings containing a field. The basic theorem states that in such rings, if P is a prime ideal of height c, then for all n, the symbolic (cn)th power of P is contained in the nth power of P. Results are also given in the non-regular case: one must correct by a power of the Jacobian ideal in rings where the Jacobian ideal is defined.
Let $G$ be a graph and $I=I(G)$ be its edge ideal. When $G$ is the clique sum of two different length odd cycles joined at single vertex then we give an explicit description of the symbolic powers of $I$ and compute the Waldschmidt constant. When $G$ is complete graph then we describe the generators of the symbolic powers of $I$ and compute the Waldschmidt constant and the resurgence of $I$. Moreover for complete graph we prove that the Castelnuvo-Mumford regularity of the symbolic powers and ordinary powers of the edge ideal coincide.
There are two different notions for symbolic powers of ideals existing in the literature, one defined in terms of associated primes, the other in terms of minimal primes. Elaborating on an idea known to Eisenbud, Herzog, Hibi, and Trung, we interpret both notions of symbolic powers as suitable saturations of the ordinary powers. We prove a binomial expansion formula for saturated powers of sums of ideals. This gives a uniform treatment to an array of existing and new results on both notions of symbolic powers of such sums: binomial expansion formulas, computations of depth and regularity, and …
We give explicit criteria that imply the resurgence of a self-radical ideal in a regular ring is strictly smaller than its codimension, which in turn implies that the stable version of Harbourne's conjecture holds for such ideals. This criterion is used to give several explicit families of such ideals, including the defining ideals of space monomial curves. Other results generalize known theorems concerning when the third symbolic power is in the square of an ideal, and a strong resurgence bound for some classes of space monomial curves.
Given a symbolic power of a homogeneous ideal in a polynomial ring, we study the problem of determining which powers of the ideal contain it. For ideals defining 0-dimensional subschemes of projective space, as an immediate corollary of our previous paper (arXiv:0706.3707) we give a complete solution in terms of the least degrees of nonzero elements of the symbolic powers, under the condition that the ideal is generated in a single degree and such that that degree is the regularity of the ideal (see Corollary 1.2). Using geometric methods, we also give complete solutions for ideals of points i…
We study the symbolic powers of determinantal ideals of generic, generic symmetric, and Hankel matrices of variables, and of Pfaffians of generic skew-symmetric matrices, in prime characteristic. Specifically, we show that the limit $\lim\limits_{n\to\infty} \frac{\textrm{reg}(I^{(n)})}{n}$ exists and that $\textrm{depth}(R/I^{(n)})$ stabilizes for $n\gg 0$. Furthermore, we give explicit formulas for the stable value of $\textrm{depth}(R/I^{(n)})$ in the generic and skew-symmetric cases. In order to show these results, we introduce the notion of symbolic $F$-purity of ideals which is satisfied…
We study the symbolic and regular powers of ideals I for a family of special configurations of lines in P^3. For this family, we show that I^(m) = I^m for all integers m if and only if I^(3) = I^3. We use these configurations to answer a question of Huneke that asks whether I^(m) = I^m for all m if equality holds when m equals the big height of the ideal I.
We show that attaching a whisker (or a pendant) at the vertices of a cycle cover of a graph results in a new graph with the following property: all symbolic powers of its cover ideal are Koszul or, equivalently, componentwise linear. This extends previous work where the whiskers were added to all vertices or to the vertices of a vertex cover of the graph.
The containment problem for symbolic and ordinary powers of ideals asks for what values of $a$ and $b$ we have $I^{(a)} \subseteq I^b$. Over a regular ring, a result by Ein-Lazarsfeld-Smith, Hochster-Huneke, and Ma-Schwede partially answers this question, but the containments it provides are not always best possible. In particular, a tighter containment conjectured by Harbourne has been shown to hold for interesting classes of ideals - although it does not hold in general. In this paper, we develop a Fedder (respectively, Glassbrenner) type criterion for $F$-purity (respectively, strong $F$-re…
Searching for structural reasons behind old results and conjectures of Chudnovksy regarding the least degree of a nonzero form in an ideal of fat points in projective N-space, we make conjectures which explain them, and we prove the conjectures in certain cases, including the case of general points in the projective plane. Our conjectures were also partly motivated by the Eisenbud-Mazur Conjecture on evolutions, which concerns symbolic squares of prime ideals in local rings, but in contrast we consider higher symbolic powers of homogeneous ideals in polynomial rings.
We give short, closure-theoretic proofs for uniform bounds on the growth of symbolic powers of ideals in regular rings. The author recently proved these bounds in mixed characteristic using various versions of perfectoid/big Cohen-Macaulay test ideals, with special cases obtained earlier by Ma and Schwede. In mixed characteristic, we instead use Heitmann's full extended plus (epf) closure, Jiang's weak epf (wepf) closure, and R.G.'s results on closure operations that induce big Cohen-Macaulay algebras. Our strategy also applies to any Dietz closure satisfying R.G.'s algebra axiom and a Brianço…
Let $G$ be a finite simple graph and $J(G)$ denote its cover ideal in a polynomial ring over a field $\mathbb{K}$. In this paper, we show that all symbolic powers of cover ideals of certain vertex decomposable graphs have linear quotients. Using these results, we give various conditions on a subset $S$ of the vertices of $G$ so that all symbolic powers of vertex cover ideals of $G \cup W(S)$, obtained from $G$ by adding a whisker to each vertex in $S$, have linear quotients. For instance, if $S$ is a vertex cover of $G$, then all symbolic powers of $J(G \cup W(S))$ have linear quotients. Moreo…
Inspired by recent work in the theory of central projections onto hypersurfaces, we characterize self-linked perfect ideals of grade 2 as those with a Hilbert--Burch matrix that has a maximal symmetric subblock. We also prove that every Gorenstein perfect algebra of grade 1 can be presented, as a module, by a symmetric matrix. Both results are derived from the same elementary lemma about symmetrizing a matrix that has, modulo a nonzerodivisor, a symmetric syzygy matrix. In addition, we establish a correspondence, roughly speaking, between Gorenstein perfect algebras of grade 1 that are biratio…
We introduce the concept of minimum edge cover for an induced subgraph in a graph. Let $G$ be a unicyclic graph with a unique odd cycle and $I=I(G)$ be its edge ideal. We compute the exact values of all symbolic defects of $I$ using the concept of minimum edge cover for an induced subgraph in a graph. We describe one method to find the quasi-polynomial associated with the symbolic defects of edge ideal $I$. We classify the class of unicyclic graphs when some power of maximal ideal annihilates $ I^{(s)}/I^s $ for any fixed $ s $. Also for those class of graphs, we compute the Hilbert function o…
In this paper we define and explore the analytic spread $\ell(\mathcal I)$ of a filtration in a local ring. We show that, especially for divisorial and symbolic filtrations, some basic properties of the analytic spread of an ideal extend to filtrations, even when the filtration is non Noetherian. We also illustrate some significant differences between the analytic spread of a filtration and the analytic spread of an ideal with examples. In the case of an ideal $I$, we have the classical bounds $\mbox{ht}(I)\le\ell(I)\le \dim R$. The upper bound $\ell(\mathcal I)\le \dim R$ is true for filtrati…