Combinatorics of binomial primary decomposition (Q2268152)

Binomial ideals are ideals generated by binomials, i.e. polynomials with at most two terms. \textit{D. Eisenbud} and \textit{B. Sturmfels} began the systematic study of binomial ideals in [Duke Math. J. 84, No.1, 1--45 (1996; Zbl 0873.13021)], where the ubiquity of binomial ideal was also presented. In the paper under review the authors provide explicit lattice-point combinatorial realizations of the primary components of an arbitrary binomial ideal in a polynomial ring over an algebraically closed field of characteristic zero. This decomposition is derived from a characteristic-free combinatorial description of certain primary components of binomial ideals in affine semigroup rings, namely those that are associated to faces of the semigroup.