Toric rings, inseparability and rigidity (Q1627499)

Assume that $K$ is a field with zero characteristic, $S=K[x_1,\ldots, x_n]$, $I$ is a graded ideal of $S$ and $R=S/I$. The paper starts with a review of infinitesimal deformations of $R$, definition of the first cotangent module of $R$ (denoted by $T^1(R)$) and a proof of the fact that $R$ has no non-trivial infinitesimal deformation if and only if $T^1(R)=0$. When $T^1(R)=0$, the ring $R$ is called rigid. \par Now let $H$ be an affine semigroup, that is, a finitely generated subsemigroup of ${\mathbb{Z}}^m$ for some positive integer $m$, generated minimally by $h_1, \ldots, h_n$. If $t=\{t_1,\ldots, t_m\}$ is a family of indeterminates, the $K$-algebra $R=K[t^{h_1}, \ldots, t^{h_n}]$ is called the toric ring associated with $H$ and is denoted by $K[H]$, where $t^{h_i}=t_1^{h_i(1)}t_2^{h_i(2)}\cdots t_m^{h_i(m)}$. Also the kernel of the $K$-algebra epimorphism $S\to R$ with $x_i\mapsto t^{h_i}$ is called the toric ideal attached to $H$ and is denoted by $I_H$. The authors study $T^1(R)$ which is a ${\mathbb{Z}} H$-graded module ($\mathbb{Z} H$ means the subgroup generated by $H$). Indeed, they present a method to compute $\dim T^1(R)_a$ for every $a\in {\mathbb{Z}} H$. Here $T^1(R)_a$ means the $a$-degree component of $T^1(R)$. \par Suppose that $1\leq i\leq n$ and $\pi_i$ is the evaluation map $S[x_{n+1}]\to S$ with $\pi_i(x_{n+1})=x_i$. The toric ring $K[H]$ (or $H$ itself) is called $i$-separable, if there exists an affine semigroup $H'$ generated minimally by $n+1$ elements, such that $\mathrm{ht}\,I_H=\mathrm{ht}\,I_{H'}$, $\pi_i(I_{H'})=I_H$ and $I_{H'}$ satisfies another technical condition. This last technical condition guarantees ``non-triviality'' of this $i$-separation. In this paper, it is proved that, under certain conditions, an $i$-separation of $R=K[H]$ induces a non-trivial infinitesimal deformation of $R$ and if such a separation exists, then $T^1(R)_{-h_i}\neq 0$. \par After studying separations of toric rings in general, the authors focus on edge rings of bipartite graphs. Assume that $G$ is a bipartite graph with $m$ vertices and $n$ edges. The edge ring $K[G]$ of $G$ is the toric ring $K[t_it_j|\{i,j\} \text{ is an edge of } G]$. The authors use the aforementioned results on toric rings, to present a combinatorial condition equivalent to $i$-inseparability of $K[G]$. \par The authors say that $R$ is semi-rigid if $T^1(R)_a=0$ for all $a\in {\mathbb{Z}} H$ with $-a\in H$ and present a combinatorial condition on $G$ which is equivalent to semi-rigidity of $K[G]$. Finally, the authors assume that $G$ is the graph obtained by removing one edge from the complete bipartite graph $K_{r,s}$. They show that if $r,s\geq 4$, then $K[G]$ is rigid and if $r=s=3$, then $K[G]$ is inseparable but not rigid. For the entire collection see [Zbl 1400.13003].