Affine schemes and topological closures in the Zariski-Riemann space of valuation rings (Q2254331)

Let \(F\) be a field and \(D\) a subring of \(F\). Let \(\mathfrak{X}\) be the family of all valuation domains of \(F\) containing \(D\). Given a subset \(S\) of \(F\), let \(\mathfrak{X}_S\) be the set of valuation domains in \(\mathfrak{X}\) containing \(S\). The set \(\mathfrak{X}\) is usually endowed with the Zariski-Riemann topology, i.e., the topology whose basic open sets are the sets \(\mathfrak{X}_S\), where \(S\) ranges through the finite subsets of \(F\). In this article, besides this topology, the author considers also the inverse and patch topology on \(\mathfrak{X}\), in order to characterize the locally ringed subspaces of \(\mathfrak{X}\) that are affine schemes. As the author points out, \(\mathfrak{X}\) has been characterized in many different ways and enjoys different structures: 1) topologically, \(\mathfrak{X}\) is a spectral space in the sense of \textit{M. Hochster} [Trans. Am. Math. Soc. 142, 43--60 (1969; Zbl 0184.29401)], who showed that these are precisely the topological spaces which arise as the prime spectrum of a commutative ring (this result is due to \textit{D. E. Dobbs} and \textit{M. Fontana} [J. Algebra 99, 263--274 (1986; Zbl 0597.13004)]; 2) geometrically, \(\mathfrak{X}\) can be viewed as a locally ringed space with a structure sheaf defined by \(O_{\mathfrak{X}}(U)=\bigcap_{V\in U}V\), with \(U\subseteq \mathfrak{X}\) open; 3) \(\mathfrak{X}\) can also be represented as a projective limit of projective integral schemes. It is worth recalling that \(\mathfrak{X}\) is an affine scheme if and only if \(D\) is a Prüfer domain (see for example \textit{K. Sekiguchi} [Tokyo J. Math. 13, No. 2, 259--275 (1990; Zbl 0726.14001)]); this happens if and only if in \(\mathfrak{X}\) is isomorphic as a locally ringed space to \(\text{Spec}(D)\)). Motivated by this fact, the author introduces the following natural definition: given a subspace \(Z\) of \(\mathfrak{X}\), \(Z\) is called \textit{affine} if \(\bigcap_{V\in Z}V\) is a Prüfer domain. The second section is devoted to some properties regarding patch closure and inverse closure in a spectral space. In the third section, the notion of projective model of \(F/D\) is recalled and the representation of \(\mathfrak{X}\) as a projective limit of projective integral schemes in the sense of Zariski is discussed. In particular, when \(\text{Spec}(D)\) is a Noetherian space, the inverse and patch closure of a subspace of \(\mathfrak{X}\) are determined by the images of the domination maps from \(\mathfrak{X}\) to the approximating projective models. In the fourth section, by means of the Kronecker function ring construction from multiplicative ideal theory, it is exhibited an affine scheme that maps onto \(\mathfrak{X}\) via a morphism of locally ringed space which is a homeomorphism on the underlying spaces. In the fifth section, it is showed that inverse closed subspaces \(Z\) of \(\mathfrak{X}\) possess a locally ringed space structure and they are expressible as a projective limit of locally ringed inverse closed subspaces of projective models. If \(Z\) is affine, then \(Z\) is inverse closed if and only if \(Z=\mathfrak{X}_A\), where \(A=\bigcap_{V\in Z}V\). In the last section, the subspaces \(Z\) of \(\mathfrak{X}\) which are affine schemes are characterized: in particular, Proposition 6.1 shows that such a \(Z\) is an affine scheme if and only if \(Z\) is inverse closed and \(A=\bigcap_{V\in Z}V\) is Prüfer (with quotient field \(F\); note that \(A\) is the ring of global sections of \(Z\)). In particular, \(\mathfrak{X}\) is an affine scheme if and only if the integral closure of \(D\) in \(F\) is a Prüfer domain. Finally, in Theorem 6.6, given a subset \(Z\) of \(\mathfrak{X}\), the property for \(Z\) of being affine is characterized in terms of the locally ring structure that \(Z\) inherits from \(\mathfrak{X}\). In particular, a domain \(D\) with quotient field \(F\) is Prüfer if and only if every projective model of \(F/D\) is affine.