On monomial Golod ideals (Q2126129)

A homogeneous ideal \(I\subseteq \mathfrak{m}^2\) of the ring \(Q=k[x_1,\dots,x_n]\), where \(\mathfrak{m}=(x_1,\dots,x_n)\), is said to be Golod if the following bound for the Poincare series of \(R=Q/I\) (due to J.P. Serre) is an equality: \[ P_k^R(t):=\sum_{i\geq0}\dim_k \mathrm{Tor}_{i}^R(k,k)t^i\ll\frac{(1+t)^n}{1-\sum_{i>0}\dim_k \mathrm{Tor}_{i}^Q(k,R)t^{i+1}}. \] The present paper gives a set of neccessary conditions for the Golodness of general homogeneous ideals in any number of variables, and a full characterization of monomial Golod ideals in three variables (Theorem 1.1). As a consequence, the authors prove that if \(J\) and \(K\) are proper monomial ideals in three variables, then their product is Golod.