Betti numbers under small perturbations (Q2068131)

The study of properties of ideals of a local ring that are preserved under small perturbations has been the focus of significant effort in the recent literature. Specifically, given an ideal \(I\) of a Noetherian local ring \((R,\mathfrak{m})\), one asks for conditions under which certain properties of \(I\) are shared by any ideal \(J\) of \(R\) with \(I\equiv J \bmod \mathfrak{m}^N\) for \(N\) sufficiently large. The article under review contributes to this effort, showing that for every \(i\in \mathbb{N}\) there exists \(N\in \mathbb{N}\) with the following property: For any ideal \(J\) of \(R\) with \(I\equiv J \bmod \mathfrak{m}^N\) and such that \(I\) and \(J\) have the same Hilbert function, the Betti numbers \(\beta_i^R(R/I)\) and \(\beta_i^R(R/J)\) agree. Moreover, the number \(N\) is explicitly described in terms of numerical invariants associated with a minimal free resolution of \(R/I\). The article points out that [\textit{V.\ Srinivas} and \textit{V.\ Trivedi}, J.\ Algebra 186, No.~1, 1--19 (1996; Zbl 0870.13008)] and [\textit{L.\ Ma} et al., Math.\ Ann.~378, No.\ 1--2, 243--254 (2020; Zbl 1451.13058)] provide conditions under which ideals \(I\) and \(J\) satisfying \(I\equiv J \bmod \mathfrak{m}^N\) are forced to have the same Hilbert function. This gives cases in which the main result of the paper under review can be applied to conclude the equality of the Betti numbers of \(R/I\) and \(R/J\). Some new such situations are presented, as well as examples showing the necessity of the hypothesis that \(I\) and \(J\) have the same Hilbert function.