Ratliff-Rush closures and coefficient modules (Q1270366)

Let \(R\) be a Noetherian ring and \(I\) an ideal of \(R\) containing a regular element. Then it is known that \(\widetilde{I}= \bigcup_k (I^{k+1}: I^k)\) is the unique biggest ideal of \(R\) with the property that \(I^n= \widetilde{I}^n\) for \(n\) big enough. The ideal \(\widetilde{I}\) is referred to as the Ratliff-Rush closure of \(I\). -- In the present paper, the authors introduce and study an analogous concept for finitely generated torsionfree modules over a Noetherian domain \(R\), i.e., if \(F\) is a free \(R\)-module containing \(M\), then one may introduce the so-called Ratliff-Rush closure \(\widetilde{M}^F\) of \(M\) in \(F\), which reduces to the usual notion, if \(M\) is an \(R\)-ideal and \(F=R\). Assume that \((R,{\mathfrak m})\) is a \(d\)-dimensional local Noetherian domain and let \(I\) be an \({\mathfrak m}\)-primary ideal of \(R\). If \(M\) is a finitely generated torsionfree \(R\) module contained in a free \(R\)-module \(F\) such that \(F/M\) has finite length \((=:\lambda_R)\) as an \(R\)-module, then there exists a polynomial \(P_M^F\), which is called the Buchsbaum-Rim polynomial and which generalizes the usual Hilbert polynomial for ideals, with the property that for \(n\) large enough, we have \(P_M^F(n)= \lambda_R(S_n(F)/ S_n(M))\), where \(S_n(F)\) is the \(n\)-th homogeneous component of the symmetric algebra \(S(F)\) of \(F\) and \(S_n(M)\) that of the image \(S(M)\) of the symmetric algebra of \(M\) in \(S(F)\). The polynomial \(P_M^F\) has degree \(r+d-1\), where \(r\) is the rank of \(M\) and \(d\) the dimension of \(R\). We may write the Buchsbaum-Rim polynomial in terms of binomial coefficients: \(P_M^F(n)= \sum_{i=0}^{r+d-1} (-1)^i e_i^F(M) \binom{n+r+d-2-i} {r+d-1-i}\). Assume \((R,{\mathfrak m})\) to be quasi-unmixed and normal, then there exists, for any positive integer \(k\leq d+r-1\), a largest submodule \(M_k^F\) of \(F\) with the property that \(e_i^F(M)= e_i^F (M_k^F)\). In particular, \(M_0^F= M\), the integral closure of \(M\) and \(M_{d+r-1}^F= \widetilde{M}^F\). Generalizing the unicity of the Ratliff-Rush closure, it is shown that these ``coefficient modules'' are also essentially unique.