Blowups in tame monomial ideals (Q534000)

A closed subscheme \(C\) of a regular algebraic variety \(X\) (or its defining sheaf of ideals \(\mathcal I\)) is tame if \(X'\), the blowing-up of \(X\) with centre \(C\) (or \({\mathcal I}\)), is again regular. If \(C\) is regular then it is tame, but this is not always true if \(C\) is not regular (in particular, when \(C\) is non-reduced). The authors address the following question: when is \(C\) (or its ideal \({\mathcal I}\)) tame? They work over a base field \(K\) of characteristic zero, with \(X={\text{Spec}}(K[x_1, \dots, x_n])={\mathbf A}^n\) (affine \(n\)-space) and \(C\) defined by an ideal generated by monomials \(x_1 ^{a_1}, \dots, {x_n}^{a_n}\), \(a_i \geq 0\) an integer, for all \(i\). When the centre is a monomial ideal of this form, the blow-up variety \(X'\) can be covered by open affine sets isomorphic to toric varieties. This fact allows them to use special techniques, e.g., combinatorial ones. The main general result of the paper is a theorem giving (among other things) a criterion for smoothness of the blow-up of \({\mathbf A}^n\) with centre a monomial ideal as above, in terms of ideal tangent cones. The ideal tangent cone to \(\mathcal I\) at \({\mathbf a}=(a_1,\dots,a_n)\), where \(x_1^{a_1} \cdots x_n^{a_n} \in {\mathcal I}\) is a certain subset of \({\mathbb Z}^n\) that the authors had introduced earlier in the paper. This theorem is applied to obtain examples and tameness results involving specific types of monomial ideals. These include: (a) The case of products of coordinate ideals (i.e., defined by products \(x_{i_1} \cdots x_{i_q}\) of the variables, without repeated factors). (b) Building sets. These are certain finite collections of linear subspaces of \({\mathbf A}^n\), related to work on arrangements by De Concini, Procesi, Fulton, Mac Pherson, etc. The authors prove that the product of coordinate ideals for which the corresponding linear subspaces form a building set is tame. (c) The so-called permutohedral ideals are tame. These are monomial ideals which are not related to building sets.