Rees algebras of square-free monomial ideals (Q2259540)

In the paper under review, the main problem of interest is the question of determining the defining equations of the Rees algebra of a squarefree monomial ideal. The authors construct a graph associated to monomial ideals, which is also known as the line graph of the corresponding hypergraph. The monomial generators are the vertices for this graph, and the edges are determined by the greatest common divisor among the generators. In one of the the main results, the authors show that when \(I\) is a squarefree monomial ideal such that the line graph of the corresponding hypergraph is the disjoint union of graphs with at most \(5\) vertices, then one can describe the defining equations of the Rees algebra \(\mathcal{R}(I)\) of \(I\). Furthermore, it is shown that the non-linear part of the defining equations of \(\mathcal{R}(I)\) arises from even closed walks of the line graph of the corresponding hypergraph. The authors also give a description of the defining ideal of the toric ring when \(I\) is generated by squarefree monomials of the same degree. In the third section, the authors concentrate on the special class of ideals of linear type. \textit{R. H. Villarreal} [Commun. Algebra 23, No. 9, 3513--3524 (1995; Zbl 0836.13014)] had characterized the squarefree monomial ideals generated in degree \(2\) which are of linear type. More precisely, he had shown that such an ideal \(I\) is of linear type if and only if the graph of \(I\) is the disjoint union of graphs of trees and graphs that have a unique odd cycle. Inspired by this result, the authors prove that when \(I\) is an ideal generated by squarefree monomials and the line graph of the hypergraph corresponding to \(I\) is a disjoint union of graphs of trees and graphs with a unique odd cycle, then \(I\) is an ideal of linear type.