The projective dimension of codimension two algebras presented by quadrics (Q2438391)

A famous question of M. Stillman asks if there is a bound, independent of \(N\), on the projective dimension of ideals in \(R = K[x_1,\dots,x_N]\) which are generated by \(n\) homogeneous polynomials of given degrees \(d_1,\dots,d_n\). Here \(K\) is a field. This question has generated a great deal of interest and partial results but is still open in general. The last two authors of this paper have written an expository paper [\textit{J. McCullough} and \textit{A. Seceleanu}, in: Commutative algebra. Expository papers dedicated to David Eisenbud on the occasion of his 65th birthday. Peeva, Irena (ed.), New York, NY: Springer 551--576 (2013; Zbl 1282.13029)] which contains most of what is known to date. Most of the known results give bounds that are not sharp. The main result of the present paper is that for any ideal \(I\) of height two generated by \(n\) homogeneous quadratic polynomials in a polynomial ring \(R\), the bound \(\mathrm{pd}(R/I) \leq 2n-2\) holds, and this bound is tight in the sense that for any \(n \geq 2\) an explicit ideal generated by \(n\) quadrics and having projective dimension \(2n-2\) is given. This paper is interesting not only because of this lovely result, but also because the authors pose a number of very natural and interesting questions that stem from this work. Two important tools used in the proofs are a study of ideals of maximal minors of various \(2 \times k\) matrices (for suitable \(k\)) of linear forms, and the use of residual intersections.