Jet graphs (Q2668134)

The jet schemes of a scheme \(X\) contain information about the singularities of \(X\) and have connections to motivic integration and birational geometry. If \(X\) is an affine scheme then so are its jet schemes and one can speak of the jet ideals of a given ideal. Specifically, but without giving too much detail, If \(I\subset k[x_1,\ldots,x_n]=R\) is an ideal in the polynomial ring \(R\) (over any field \(k\)), and \(s\in \mathbb{N}\) is a non-negative integer, then the ideal of \(s\)-jets \(\mathcal{J}_s(I)\) is an ideal in the larger polynomial ring \(\mathcal{J}_s(R)= k[x_{i,j} \ | \ 1\leq i\leq n, \ 0\leq j\leq s]\). If \(I\) is a square-free monomial ideal, then \(\mathcal{J}_s(I)\) is not necessarily monomial, but a result of \textit{R. A. Goward} and \textit{K. E. Smith} [Commun. Algebra 34, No. 5, 1591--1598 (2006; Zbl 1120.14055)] says that its radical \(\sqrt{\mathcal{J}_s(I)}\) is also a square-free monomial ideal. Moreover, if \(I\) is a square-free monomial ideal generated by quadrics, then so are the radicals of its jet ideals \(\sqrt{\mathcal{J}_s(I)}\) for all \(s\in\mathbb{N}\). In this case, one can interpret the ideal \(I\) as the edge ideal of a graph \(G\), and then interpret the radicals of its jet ideals \(\sqrt{\mathcal{J}_s(I)}\) as edge ideals of the so-called jet graphs of \(G\), \(\mathcal{J}_s(G)\). This is the starting point for the paper under review. In this exceptionally well written paper (evidently coauthored by undergraduates Helmick and Walsh as part of a summer research project), the authors relate various properties of a graph with properties of its jet graphs. Among their main results, they prove that the chromatic number of a graph \(G\) is the same for all its jet graphs, and they show that if \(G\) has diameter at least three, then its higher jet graphs \(\mathcal{J}_s(G)\) (\(s\geq 1)\) are not cochordal. The authors also discuss vertex covers and give a method of constructing minimal vertex covers of jet graphs \(\mathcal{J}_s(G)\) from minimal vertex covers of \(G\). The paper contains several helpful examples with accompanying figures which make it especially easy to read.