On the index of reducibility in Noetherian modules (Q2348120)

Let \(R\) be a Noetherian ring and \(M\) be a finitely generated \(R\)-module. Let \(N \subset M\) be a submodule of \(M\). In the article under review, the authors study about the index of reducibility, \(\mathrm{ir}_M(N)\), of \(N\) in \(M\). It is shown that \[ \mathrm{ir}_M(N)=\sum_{P\in\text{Ass}_R(M/N)} \text{dim}_{k(P)}\text{Soc}(M/N)_P. \] Furthermore, if \(N=Q_1\cap \cdots \cap Q_n\), where \(Q_i\) is \(P_i\)-primary, then \(\mathrm{ir}_M(N)=\mathrm{ir}_M(Q_1)+\cdots+\mathrm{ir}_M(Q_n)\) if and only if \(Q_i\) is a \(P_i\)-maximal embedded component of \(N\) for all embedded associated prime ideals \(P_i\) of \(N\). For an ideal \(I\) in \(R\), the authors show that \(\mathrm{ir}_M(I^nM)\) is a polynomial type function of \(n\) with rational coefficients. That is, there exists a polynomial \(\mathrm{ir}_{M,I}(n)\) with rational coefficients such that \(\mathrm{Ir}_{M,I}(n)=\mathrm{ir}_M(I^nM)\) for sufficiently large \(n\). Moreover, \(\text{bight}_M(I)-1 \leq \text{deg}(\mathrm{Ir}_{M,I}(n)) \leq \ell_M(I)-1\), for sufficiently large \(n\), where \(\ell_M(I)\) is defined as follows: if \(R\) is local, then \(\ell_M(I)=\dim_{G(I)}(G_M(I)/\mathfrak{m}G_M(I))\), where \(G(I)=\bigoplus_{n\geq 0}I^n/I^{n+1}\) and \(G_M(I)=\bigoplus_{n\geq 0} I^nM/I^{n+1}M\) are the associated graded ring and the associated graded \(G(I)\)-module respectively. If \(R\) is not local, then \(\ell_M(I)=\max \{\ell_{M_{\mathfrak{m}}}(IR_{\mathfrak{m}}) | \mathfrak{m}\) is a maximal ideal and there is a prime \(P\) in \( A_M(I)\) such that \(P\subseteq \mathfrak{m} \}\), where \(A_M(I)=\text{Ass}_R(M/I^nM)\) for sufficiently large \(n\).