Non-unique Factorisation: Part 2

Posted by Jason Polak on 15. April 2017 · Write a comment · Categories: commutative-algebra · Tags:

We are continuing the series on non-unique factorisation. For a handy table of contents, visit the Post Series directory.

In Part 1 of this series, we introduced for a commutative ring three types of relations:

1. Associaties: $a\sim b$ means that $(a) = (b)$
2. Strong associates: $a\approx b$ means that $a = ub$ for $u\in U(R)$
3. Very strong associates: $a\cong B$ means that $a\sim b$ and either $a = b=0$ or $a = rb$ implies that $r\in U(R)$

Here, $U(R)$ denotes the group of units of $R$. We have already seen in a ring with nontrivial idempotents like $\Z\times \Z$, a nontrivial idempotent $e$ will be satisfy $e\sim e$ and $e\approx e$, but $e\not\cong e$ because $e = ee$ and yet $e$ is not a unit and nonzero.

Therefore, $\cong$ is not an equivalence relation for all commutative rings. But it is symmetric:

Proof. Suppose $a\cong b$. Then $a\sim b$ and so $b\sim a$. If $a$ and $b$ are not both zero, write $a = sb, b = ta$. If $b = ra$ then $a = sra = s^2rb$. Since $a\cong b$, this implies that $s^2r$ is a unit and so $r$ is a unit. Hence $b\cong a$.

Guess what? The relation $\cong$ is also transitive. Since the proof is similarly short I’ll leave the proof to the reader. So, $\cong$ is just missing being reflexive for all rings to be an equivalence relation for all rings. If $\cong$ is an equivalence relation for a ring $R$, then we say that $R$ is presimplifiable. We introduced this type of ring last time.
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Non-unique Factorisation: Part 1

Posted by Jason Polak on 11. April 2017 · Write a comment · Categories: commutative-algebra · Tags:

If $F$ is a field then the polynomial ring $F[x]$ is a unique factorisation domain: that is, every nonunit can be written uniquely as a product of irreducible elements up to a unit multiple. So in $\Q[x]$ for example, you can be sure that the polynomial $x^2 – 2 = (x-2)(x+2)$ can’t be factored any other way, and thus the only zeros of $x^2 – 2$ really are $\pm 2$.

If $F$ is not a field, then a polynomial might have a bunch of different factorisations. For example, in the ring $\Z/4[x]$ we can write $x^2 = (x)(x) = (x+2)(x+2)$. How can we make sense of factorisations in rings that are not unique factorisation domains? In order to do so, we first should make sure we understand what irreducible means in this context.

In the next several posts we’ll look at non-unique factorisation more closely, following a paper of Anderson and Valdes-Leon [1], but keeping the posts self-contained. We’ll start by looking at the concept of associates. One can in fact look at several different variations of associates. Here are three:
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More about Ext Calculations with Regular Sequences

Posted by Jason Polak on 21. March 2017 · Write a comment · Categories: commutative-algebra · Tags:

This post is a continuation of this previous one, though I repeat the main definitions for convenience.

Let $R$ be a commutative ring and $A$ and $R$-module. We say that $x_1,\dots,x_n\in R$ is a regular sequence on $A$ if $(x_1,\dots,x_n)A\not = A$ and $x_i$ is not a zero divisor on $A/(x_1,\dots,x_{i-1})A$ for all $i$. Last time, we looked at the following theorem:

Theorem. Let $A$ and $B$ be $R$-modules and $x_1,\dots,x_n$ a regular sequence on $A$. If $(x_1,\dots,x_n)B = 0$ then
$${\rm Ext}_R^n(B,A) \cong {\rm Hom}_R(B,A/(x_1,\dots,x_n)A)$$

When $R$ is a Noetherian ring, $I$ a proper ideal of $R$, and $A$ a finitely-generated $R$-module, this theorem for $B = R/I$ says that the least integer $n$ such that ${\rm Ext}_R^n(R/I,A)\not= 0$ is exactly the length of a maximal regular sequence in $I$ on $A$.

The Noetherian and finitely generated hypotheses are crucial. Why is this? It’s because you need to have control over zero divisors. In fact you can see this by looking at the case $n = 0$:

Theorem. Let $R$ be a Noetherian ring, $I$ a proper ideal of $R$, and $A$ a finitely-generated $R$-module. Then every element of $I$ is a zero divisor on $A$ if and only if ${\rm Hom}_R(R/I,A)\not= 0$.
Proof. Since $A$ is a finitely generated $R$-module, that every element of $I$ is a zero divisor on $A$ is equivalent to $I$ being contained in the annihilator of a single nonzero element $a\in A$, which is in turn equivalent to every element of $I$ being sent to zero under the homomorphism
$$R\to A\\ 1\mapsto a.$$
Such homomorphisms are the same as nonzero homomorphisms $R/I\to A$. QED.

Here we are using this crucial fact:

Cool Theorem. For a finitely generated module $A$ over a Noetherian ring $R$, the zero divisors $Z(A)$ of $A$ in $R$ are a union of prime ideals of $R$, each of which are ideals maximal with respect to the property of being in $Z(A)$. Furthermore, each such prime is the annihilator of a single nonzero element of $A$.

In general, primes that are equal to the annihilator of a single element of a module $M$ are called the associated primes of $M$, and of course the theory of associated primes and primary decomposition is much more vast than this simple ‘Cool Theorem’, as is evident from Eisenbud’s 30-page treatment of them in his book Commutative Algebra. In practice however, I only ever seem to need this simple version of the ‘Cool Theorem’.

Paper Announcement: Separable Polynomials in Z/n[x]

Posted by Jason Polak on 05. March 2017 · Write a comment · Categories: commutative-algebra · Tags:

What is this paper about? It uses the theory of separable algebras to study separable polynomials in $\Z/n[x]$, which extends the usual definition of separability for polynomials over a field.

Let $d\geq 2$. A classical theorem of Leonard Carlitz says that for a prime $p$ with $q=p^k$, the number of monic separable polynomials of degree $d$ in $\F_q[x]$ is $q^d – q^{d-1}$. One can also define separable for polynomials in $\Z/n[x]$. In this case, since a polynomial cannot always be converted to a monic one by multiplying by a unit, it makes more sense count all separable polynomials. Deriving a formula for this number is exactly what my paper does.

Read the paper to see how it’s done! Although it talks about separable algebras, you can actually read it without knowing anything about this more advanced stuff as the interface between separable algebra theory and the concrete combinatorics is pretty clean. Or, you can just look at the final answer: the number of separable polynomials in $\Z/n[x]$ of degree at most $d$ for $d\geq 1$ is given by
$$\phi(n)n^d\prod_{i=1}^m(1 + p_i^d)$$
where $n = p_1^{k_1}\cdots p_m^{k_m}$ is the prime factorization of $n$ and $\phi(n) = |(\Z/n)^\times|$ is Euler’s phi function. The formulas in the paper have been checked mutliple times with Sage.

Regular Sequences and Ext Calculations

Posted by Jason Polak on 22. February 2017 · Write a comment · Categories: commutative-algebra, homological-algebra · Tags:

Let $R$ be a commutative ring and $A$ and $R$-module. We say that $x_1,\dots,x_n\in R$ is a regular sequence on $A$ if $(x_1,\dots,x_n)A\not = A$ and $x_i$ is not a zero divisor on $A/(x_1,\dots,x_{i-1})A$ for all $i$. Regular sequences are a central theme in commutative algebra. Here’s a particularly interesting theorem about them that allows you to figure out a whole bunch of Ext-groups:

Theorem. Let $A$ and $B$ be $R$-modules and $x_1,\dots,x_n$ a regular sequence on $A$. If $(x_1,\dots,x_n)B = 0$ then
$${\rm Ext}_R^n(B,A) \cong {\rm Hom}_R(B,A/(x_1,\dots,x_n)A)$$

This theorem tells us we can calculate the Ext-group ${\rm Ext}_R^n(B,A)$ simply by finding a regular sequence of length $n$, and calculating a group of homomorphisms. We get two cool things out of this theorem: first, a corollary of this theorem is that any two maximal regular sequences on $A$ have the same length if they are both contained in some ideal $I$ such that $IA\not= A$, and second, it enapsulates a whole range of Ext-calculations in an easy package.

For example, let’s say we wanted to calculate ${\rm Ext}_\Z^1(\Z/2,\Z)$. Well, $2\in\Z$ is a regular sequence, and so the above theorem tells us that this Ext-group is just ${\rm Hom}_\Z(\Z/2,\Z/2) \cong\Z/2$.

Another example: is ${\rm Ext}_{\Z[x]}^1(\Z,\Z[x])\cong\Z$.

Of course, the above theorem is really just a special case of a Koszul complex calculation. However, it can be derived without constructing the Koszul complex in general, and so offers an instructive and minimalist way of seeing that for Noetherian rings and finitely generated modules, the notion of length of a maximal regular sequence is well-defined.

An Abelian Group of Endoprojective Dimension One

Posted by Jason Polak on 25. January 2017 · Write a comment · Categories: commutative-algebra, homological-algebra

We already saw that an abelian group with a $\Z$-direct summand is projective over its endomorphism ring. Finitely generated abelian groups are also projective over their endomorphism rings by essentially the same argument. What’s an example of an abelian group that is not projective over its endomorphism ring?

Here’s one: the multiplicative group $Z(p^\infty)$ of all $p$-power roots of unity. Another way to define this group is $\Z[p^{-1}]/\Z$. What is the endomorphism ring of this group? In fact it is the $p$-adic integers $\Z_p$. Indeed, an endomorphism $Z(p^\infty)\to\Z(p^\infty)$ has to send $1/p$ to an element $a_1$ such that $pa_1 = 0$. So we have the choice of the elements $0/p, 1/p,\cdots, (p-1)/p$, which form the cyclic subgroup $\Z/p$.

Similarly, $1/p^2$ has to be sent to an element $a_2$ such that $p^2a_2 = 0$, but also $pa_2 = a_1$. So $a_2$ has to be of the form $n/p^2$ where $n\in \Z$; in other words, $a_2$ can be in the cyclic subgroup $\Z/p^2$ generated by $1/p^2$. Hence, an endomorphism of $Z(p^\infty)$ is specified by an element of the inverse system $\cdots\to \Z/p^3\to \Z/p^2\to \Z/p$ where the transition maps are multiplication by $p$: in other words the $p$-adic integers $\Z_p$.

Now, we see that $Z(p^\infty)$ cannot be a projective $\Z_p$-module. Indeed, $\Z_p$ is a local ring and hence any projective $\Z_p$-module is in fact free (Kaplansky’s theorem) and in particular torsionfree. However, $Z(p^\infty)$ has nothing but torsion! In fact we can say more: since $\Z_p$ is a principal ideal domain, it has global dimension one, so the projective dimension of $Z(p^\infty)$ as a $\Z_p$-module is one.

An abelian group projective over its endomorphism ring

Posted by Jason Polak on 16. January 2017 · Write a comment · Categories: commutative-algebra · Tags:

An abelian group $A$ is a left $E = {\rm End}(A)$-module via $f*a = f(a)$. If $B$ is a direct summand of $A$ as an abelian group, then ${\rm Hom}(B,A)$ is also a left $E$-module and is in fact a direct summand of $E$ as an $E$-module, so it is $E$-projective. In particular, if $B = \Z$, then ${\rm Hom}(B,A)\cong A$ as $E$-modules. Thus $A$ is a projective $E$-module whenever $A$ has $\Z$ as a direct-summand.

These observations allow us to construct projective modules that often aren’t free over interesting rings. Take the abelian group $A = \Z\oplus \Z$ for instance. Its endomorphism ring $E$ is the ring $M_2(\Z)$ of $2\times 2$ matrices with coefficients in $\Z$. As we have remarked, $\Z\oplus \Z$ must be projective as an $M_2(\Z)$-module.

Is $\Z\oplus\Z$ free as an $M_2(\Z)$-module? On the surface, it seems not to be, but of course we need proof. And here it is: for each element of $\Z\oplus \Z$, there exists an element of $M_2(\Z)$ annihilating it. Such a thing can’t happen for free modules.

One might wonder, is every $M_2(\Z)$-module projective? Or in other words, is $M_2(\Z)$ semisimple? Let’s hope not! But $M_2(\Z)$ is thankfully not semisimple: $\Z/2\oplus\Z/2$ is a $M_2(\Z)$-module that is not projective: any nonzero element of $M_2(\Z)$ spans a submodule of infinite order, and therefore so must any nonzero element of a nonzero projective.

Local Rings of Global Dimension at Most Two

Posted by Jason Polak on 11. January 2017 · Write a comment · Categories: commutative-algebra

Wolmer Vasconcelos [1] gave the following classification theorem about commutative local rings of global dimension two:

Theorem. Let $A$ be a commutative local ring of global dimension two with maximal ideal $M$. If $M$ is principal or not finitely generated, then $A$ is a valuation domain. Otherwise $M$ is generated by a regular sequence of two elements, and $A$ will be Noetherian if and only if it is completely integrally closed.

In this post we shall prove a small part of this theorem: that if $A$ is a commutative local ring of global dimension two and $M$ is a principal ideal, then $A$ is a valuation domain (i.e. for all $a,b\in A$ either $a | b$ or $b | a). As always, we use the term local ring to mean a commutative ring with a unique maximal ideal. More » Commutative von Neumann Regular Rings A ring of left global dimension zero is a ring$R$for which every left$R$-module is projective. These are also known as semisimple rings of the Wedderburn-Artin theory fame, which says that these rings are precisely the finite direct products of full matrix rings over division rings. Note the subtle detail that “semisimple” is used here instead of “left semisimple” because left semisimple is the same thing as right semsimple. In the commutative world, the story for Krull dimension zero is not so simple. For example, every finite commutative ring has Krull dimension zero. Indeed, if$R$is a ring with Krull dimension greater than zero, then there would exist two distinct primes$P\subset Q$so that$R/P$is an integral domain that is not a field. Thus,$R$is infinite, as every finite integral domain is a field. The story becomes simpler if we require$R$to have no nilpotent elements: i.e., that$R$is reduced. In this case, a commutative ring is reduced and of Krull dimension zero if and only if every principal ideal is idempotent. Every principal ideal being idempotent means that for every$x\in R$there is an$a\in R$such that$xax = x$. Rings, commutative or not, satisfying this latter condition are called von Neumann regular. So: Theorem. A commutative ring has Krull dimension zero and is reduced if and only if it is von Neumann regular. Book Review: deMeyer and Ingraham’s “Separable Algebras over Commutative Rings” Posted by Jason Polak on 29. December 2016 · Write a comment · Categories: commutative-algebra · Tags: Let$R$be a commutative ring. We say that an$R$-algebra$A$is separable if it is projective as an$A\otimes_R A^{\rm op}$-module. Examples include full matrix rings over$R$, finite separable field extensions, and$\Z[\tfrac 12,i]$as a$\Z[\tfrac 12]\$-algebra.

The 1970 classic Separable Algebras by deMeyer and Ingraham acquaints the reader with this important class of algebras from two viewpoints: the noncommutative one through structure theory and the Brauer group, and the commutative one through Galois theory.

This book accomplished the rare feat of keeping me interested; throughout its pages I found I could apply its results to familiar situations: Why are the only automorphisms of full matrix rings over fields inner? Why are such rings simple? What makes Galois theory tick? Separable Algebras explains with clarity how familiar algebra works through the lens of separable algebras.
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