Stanley-Reisner rings and the radicals of lattice ideals (Q2581284)

The authors consider the Stanley-Reisner ideal of a cone \(\sigma\) and describe its minimal generators. A simplicial complex \(\Delta_{\sigma}\) with vertices the minimal generators of the Stanley-Reisner ideal of the cone \(\sigma\) associated to a lattice ideal is considered. In the main theorem of the paper the authors give a necessary condition for a set of polynomials in \(k[x_{1},\ldots ,x_{n}]\) to generate the radical of a lattice ideal up to radical, where \(k\) is an algebraically closed field of any characteristic. This result provides lower bounds for the minimal number of generators, the binomial arithmetical rank and the \(A\)-homogeneous arithmetical rank of a lattice ideal. A family of examples shows that the given bounds are sharp. This is done by determining the exact values of the binomial arithmetical rank and the \(A\)-homogeneous arithmetical rank and proving that they are identical with the corresponding bounds for a certain class of lattice ideals.