Semi-steady non-commutative crepant resolutions via regular dimer models (Q1740602)

Non-commutative crepant resolutions (NCCRs) were introduced in [\textit{M. Van den Bergh}, in: The legacy of Niels Henrik Abel. Papers from the Abel bicentennial conference, University of Oslo, Oslo, Norway, June 3--8, 2002. Berlin: Springer. 749--770 (2004; Zbl 1082.14005)]. Given a Cohen-Macaulay normal domain $R$, an NCCR is the endomorphism ring $\Lambda = \mathrm{End}_R(M)$ of a reflexive $R$-module $M$, with $\Lambda$ satisfying some non-singularity conditions. Many NCCRs can be realized as path algebras of quivers. The paper under review investigates NCCRs where $M$ is called \textit{semi-steady}, showing an equivalence to path algebras from square dimer models. This paper is a sequel to [\textit{O. Iyama} and \textit{Y. Nakajima}, J. Noncommut. Geom. 12, No. 2, 457--471 (2018; Zbl 1419.16012)]. That previous work studied \textit{steady} modules. A reflexive module $M$ is steady if $M$ is a generator (that is, $R \in \mathrm{add}_R(M)$) and $\mathrm{End}_R(M) \in \mathrm{add}_R(M)$. An NCCR is steady if $M$ is. Here $\mathrm{add}_R(M)$ is the full subcategory consisting of direct summands of finite direct sums of some copies of $M$. The authors found that a dimer model $\Gamma$ was homotopy equivalent to a dimer model of regular hexagons if and only if $\Gamma$ gives a steady NCCR. The paper under review generalizes to semi-steady $M$. That is, when $M$ is again a generator, and given a decomposition $M = \oplus M_i$ into non-isomorphic summands, $\mathrm{Hom}_R(M_i, M) \in \mathrm{add}_R(M)$ or $\mathrm{Hom}_R(M_i, M) \in \mathrm{add}_R(M^*)$. It is shown that $M$ is steady if and only if $M$ is semi-steady and $\mathrm{add}_R(M) = \mathrm{add}_R(M^*)$. The main result is that a dimer model $\Gamma$ is homotopy equivalent to a dimer model of squares if and only if $\Gamma$ gives a semi-steady, but not steady, NCCR. A tiling of equilateral triangles cannot be realized as a dimer model. This leads to a satisfying conclusion, that a dimer model of regular polygons is in some sense equivalent to semi-steady NCCRs, with regular hexagons and squares corresponding to steady and non-steady NCCRs, respectively.