Squarefree powers of edge ideals of forests (Q2030756)

Let \(S=K[x_1,\ldots,x_n]\) be a polynomial ring over a field \(K\). There is a natural correspondence between quadratic square-free monomial ideals of \(S\) and finite simple graphs with \(n\) vertices. Indeed, to any finite simple graph \(G\), one associates its edge ideal \(I(G)\) which is generated by quadratic square-free monomials corresponding to edges of \(G\). A subset \(M\) of \(E(G)\) (the set of edges of \(G\)) is called a matching for \(G\) if any two edges in \(M\) are disjoint. The matching number of \(G\) is the maximum size of a matching in \(G\) and we denote it by \(\operatorname{mat}(G)\). A matching \(M=\{e_1,\ldots,e_k\}\) of \(G\) is called an induced matching of \(G\) if the induced subgraph of \(G\) on \(\bigcup_{i=1}^k e_i\) consists of the edges \(e_1,\ldots,e_k\). The induced matching number of G, denoted by \(\operatorname{indm}(G)\), is the maximum size of an induced matching of \(G\). An induced matching of size \(2\) is called a gap. For any positive integers \(k\) and \(n\), we call a sequence \((a_1,\ldots,a_n)\) of integers a \(k\)-admissable sequence if \(a_i\geq 1\) for each \(i=1,\ldots,n\), and \(a_1+\cdots+a_n\leq n+k-1\) In this article, the authors introduce the concept of \(k\)-admissable matching of a graph. \textbf{Definition:} Let \(M\) be a matching of graph \(G\). For any \(1\leq k\leq\operatorname{mat}(G)\), we say \(M\) is \(k\)-admissable matching if there exists a sequence \(M_1,\ldots,M_r\) of non-empty subsets of \(M\) such that \begin{itemize} \item[(1)] \(M=M_1\cup\cdots\cup M_r\), \item[(2)] \(M_i\cap M_j=\emptyset\) for all \(i\neq j\), \item[(3)] for all \(i\neq j\), if \(e_i\in M_i\) and \(e_j\in M_j\), then \(\{e_i,e_j\}\) is a gap in \(G\), \item[(4)] the sequence \((|M_1|,\ldots,|M_r|)\) is \(k\)-admissable, and \item[(5)] the induced subgraph of \(G\) on \(\bigcup_{e\in M_i}e\) is a forest for all \(i\in[r]\). \end{itemize} In such case, we say \(M=M_1\cup\cdots\cup M_r\) is a \(k\)-admissable partition of \(M\) for \(G\). The \(k\)-admissable matching number of a graph \(G\), denoted by \(\operatorname{aim}(G,k)\), is defined by \[\operatorname{aim}(G,k)=\max\{|M|: M \text{ is a } k\text{-admissable matching of} \;G\}\] for \(1\leq k\leq\operatorname{mat}(G)\). We define \(\operatorname{aim}(G,k)=0\) if \(G\) has no \(k\)-admissable matching. The regularity of \(M\) is an important invariant in commutative algebra and algebraic geometry. In the paper under review, the authors study the regularity of \(I(G)^{[k]}\), which is generated by the squarefree monomials in the \(k\)th ordinary power \(I(G)^k\). Some main results of this paper are as follows: \textbf{Theorem:} If \(G\) is a forest, then \(\operatorname{reg}(I(G)^{[k]})\leq\operatorname{aim}(G,k)+k\) for every \(1\leq k\leq\operatorname{mat}(G)\). \textbf{Theorem:} If \(G\) is a forest with \(\operatorname{mat}(G)\geq 2\), then \(\operatorname{reg}(I(G)^{[2]})=\operatorname{aim}(G,2)+2\). \textbf{Theorem:} Let \(k\) be a positive integer and let \(G\) be a forest with \(\operatorname{mat}(G)\geq k\). Then \(\operatorname{reg}(I(G)^{[k]})=2k\) if and only if \(\operatorname{aim}(G,k)=k\). The above result gives a complete classification of forests \(G\) for which \(I(G)^{[k]}\) has linear resolution. We recall that a monomial ideal \(I\) generated in degree \(d\) has linear resolution, if \(\operatorname{reg}(I)=d\).