A new characterization of discrete valuation rings (Q2112852)

From Hensel's theory of \(p\)-adic numbers onwards, valuation theory has been a fundamental tool in number theory and the theory of function fields in one variable. In contrast, Krull defined and studied valuation rings from a more ring-theoretic point of view which was used by Zariski in algebraic geometry. This paper gives a new characterization of discrete valuation domains, i.e. valuation domains whose value group is isomorphic to \(\mathbb{Z}\). More specifically, the authors prove that if \((R,\mathfrak{m})\) is a noetherian local ring such that \(\mathrm{depth}(\mathfrak{m},R)> 0\) and \(\mathfrak{m}^{k}\) is a principal ideal for some \(k\geq 1\), then \(R\) is a discrete valuation domain as well as a Gorenstein ring of Krull dimension one.