Equations defining the multi-Rees algebras of powers of an ideal (Q1703602)

The Rees algebra of an ideal is an important object of study in algebraic geometry and commutative algebra. In particular, because the projective scheme of Rees algebra \(R[It]\) is the blow-up of the scheme Spec\((R)\) along \(V(I),\) this plays an important role in resolution of singularities. On the other hand, since the Rees algebra encodes the behavior of powers of the ideal, it is an extremely useful tool to study asymptotic behavior of \(I.\) One of the central problem in this theory is to describe \(R[It]\) in terms of the generators and relations. More precisely, if \(s_1,\ldots,s_n\) is a generating set of the ideal \(I\) and \(\phi:R[X_1,\ldots,X_n] \to R[It]\) is the \(R\)-algebra epimorphism defined by \(\phi(X_i)=s_i t,\) then the problem is to find the kernel of \(\phi.\) This is a challenging problem and is open for most classes of ideals. The generators of the kernel of \(\phi\) are called equations of the Rees algebra. In the paper under review, the author gives an explicit description of the equations of the multi-Rees algebra \(R[I^{a_1}t_1,\ldots,I_r^{a_r}t_r]\) where \(I\) is an ideal of linear type in a Noetherian ring \(R\) and \(a_i\) are positive integers. This generalizes a result of \textit{J. Ribbe} [Commun. Algebra 27, No. 3, 1393--1402 (1999; Zbl 0957.13002)], \textit{K.-N. Lin} and \textit{C. Polini} [J. Algebra 410, 36--52 (2014; Zbl 1304.13006)] and \textit{G. Sosa} [``On the koszulness of multi-Rees algebras of certain strongly stable ideals'', Preprint, \url{arxiv:1406.2188}].