Upper semi-continuity of the Hilbert-Kunz multiplicity (Q2805049)

The paper under review answers affirmatively a question of \textit{K. Shimomoto} and the reviewer [J. Algebra 285, No. 1, 222--237 (2005; Zbl 1080.13011)] on the upper-semicontinuity of the Hilbert-Kunz multiplicity. More precisely, the author proves that the Hilbert-Kunz multiplicity is upper-semicontinuous in a locally equidimensional ring that is either F-finite or essentially of finite type over an excellent local ring.NEWLINENEWLINETo achieve this, the author builds upon work of \textit{K. Tucker} [Invent. Math. 190, No. 3, 743--765 (2012; Zbl 1271.13012)] to control the rate of convergence of the Hilbert-Kunz function on an open subset.NEWLINENEWLINEA similar result was obtained by \textit{T. Polstra} subsequently in [``Uniform bounds in F-finite rings and the lower-semicontinuity of the F-signature'', Preprint, \url{arXiv:1506.01073}] with different methods. It is noteworthy that it is still unknown whether the Hilbert-Kunz multiplicity is upper-semicontinuous on a locally equidimensional excellent ring, although, for most concrete applications, the results in this paper suffice.