Universal deformation rings need not be complete intersections (Q5901223)

Let \(k\) be a perfect field of characteristic \(2\). The authors prove that there is a profinite group \(\Gamma\) and a simple \(k\Gamma\)-module \(V\) such that the universal deformation ring \(R(\Gamma,V)\) is isomorphic to \(W[[t]]/(2t,t^2)\), where \(W=W(k)\) is the ring of infinite Witt vectors over \(k\). In particular, \(R(\Gamma,V)\) is not a complete intersection. There are infinitely many real quadratic fields \(F\) such that one can take the group \(\Gamma\) to be \(\text{Gal}(F^{\text{un}}/F)\), where \(F^{\text{un}}\) is the maximal everywhere unramified extension of \(F\).