On the behavior of modules of \(m\)-integrable derivations in the sense of Hasse-Schmidt under base change (Q2189504)

The paper under review is concerned with the functoriality properties of the module of integrable derivations, namely those which can be extended to Hasse-Schmidt derivations in the sense recalled below. But first, what is a Hasse-Schmidt derivation? As is well known, the Leibniz rules holding for (higher order) derivatives of the product \(fg\) of two differentiable functions, such as \((fg)'=f'g +fg'\), \((fg)''=f''g+2f'g'+fg''\), and so on, are encoded all at once in the elegant equality \(T_z(fg)=T_z(f)T_z(g)\), where \(T_z(f)\) denotes the formal Taylor polynomial \(f+f'z +f''t^2/z^2+f'''z^3/3!+\cdots\). History tells us that to extend the notion of Taylor series in the realm of positive characteristic commutative algebra, where division by integers is not allowed, \textit{H. Hasse} and \textit{F. K. Schmidt} introduced in [J. Reine Angew. Math. 177, 215--237 (1937; Zbl 0017.10101)] the notion of \textit{higher derivations}, which is what nowadays is universally known as Hasse-Schmidt derivations (HS-derivation from now on). If \(A\) is a commutative algebra over a commutative ring \(\mathbf{k}\), a HS-derivation of length \(m\) is a \(\mathbf{k}\)-homomorphism \(D:A\rightarrow A[[t]]/(t^{m+1})\). Writing \(D=\sum D_it^i\), the equation \(D(ab)=Da \cdot Db\) is equivalent to \(D_j(ab)=\sum D_iaD_{j-i}b\) for all \(j\), the latter being the suitable replacement of Leibniz rule for the \(j\)-th order derivative of the product of two functions. A \(\mathbf{ k}\)-derivation of \(A\) is said to be \(m\)-integrable if there is a Hasse-Schmidt derivation of length \(m\) such that \(D_1=\delta\). It is easy to see that in characteristic zero all the derivations are \(\infty\)-integrable. So issues arise only in positive characteristic. Let \(\mathrm{IDer}_{\mathbf k}(A)\) be the module of integrable \({\mathbf k}\)-derivations. The important paper under review is concerned with studying the behavior of the modules of \(m\)-integrable derivations under base change, i.e., more precisely, to describe the features of the natural map \(\Phi^{L,A}_m:L\otimes_{\mathbf k}\mathrm{IDer}_{\mathbf k} (A,m)\rightarrow \mathrm{IDer}_{L}(A,m)\) which, in general, behaves in a quite nasty way. The author however proves, and this is one of the main outputs of the paper, that if \(A\) is finitely generated and \(L\) is a polynomial ring in an arbitrary number of variables, or a separable algebra over a field \(\mathbf{k}\) of positive characteristic, then \(\Phi^{L,A}_m\) is an isomorphism for all \(m\) (Theorem 3.27). The proof demands to overcome several subtle technical difficulties. They arise especially to prove. in the considered cases, the surjectivity of the base change map \(\Phi_m^{L,A}\). The way the author gets rid of the obstacles is by applying in its full force the theory of \textit{substitution maps}, systematically developed by \textit{L. Narvaez Macarro}, one of the worldwide most expert in the theory of Hasse-Schmidt derivations, as in [``On Hasse-Schmidt derivations: the action of substitution maps'', in: Singularities, algebraic geometry, commutative algebra, and related topics. Cham: Springer. 219--262 (2018; Zbl 1401.14005)]. The organization of the very well written and inspiring paper under review is as follows. Section 1 is devoted to recall the definition of HS-derivations alongwith some basic foundational results, while Section 2 is focused on the special, but important, case of HS derivations defined on polynomial rings \(R=\mathbf{k}[x_1,\ldots,x_d]\). If \(p,l\geq 1\), the notion of HS-derivation logarithmic with respect to an ideal \(J\subseteq R\) is introduced: it means that \(D_i(J)\subseteq J\) for all \(0\leq i\leq p^l\). The Corollary 2.10 proves that any \(p^l-1\) \(J\)-logarithmic HS-derivation \(D\) of \(R\) can be seen as the composition of two HS-derivation, one which is \(p^l-J\)-logarithmic and the other such that the \(m\)-components vanish for all \(m\) not multiple of \(p\). This result turns to be of crucial importance in the proof of the Main Theorem 3.26, which precisely describes the relationship between the group of Hasse-Schmidt derivations of \(L\otimes_{\mathbf k}R\) over \(L\) and the group of Hasse-Schmidt derivations of \(R\) over \(\mathbf{k}\). Section 3 is finally devoted to the statement and proof of the main Theorem 3.27 recalled above, preceeded of many other ancillary propositions and/or results which are nevertheless interesting in their own. The paper concludes itself with an essential but exhaustive references list.