Arithmetic degree and associated graded modules (Q706164)

For a finitely generated graded algebra \(A\) and a finitely generated \(A\)-module \(M\), the arithmetic degree of \(M\) was defined by \textit{W. Vasconcelos} [in: Six lectures on commutative algebra, Bellaterra 1996, Prog. Math. 166, 345--392 (1998; Zbl 0931.13016)] as \[ \text{arith\,deg}_i(M)= \sum_{\dim(A/{\mathfrak p})= 1}\ell(H^0_{\mathfrak p}(M_{\mathfrak p}))\cdot e_i(A/{\mathfrak p}). \] The author extends this definition to the bigraded case and proves that the arithmetic degree of the graded module \(\text{gr}_I(M)\) is greater than or equal to the arithmetic degree of \(M\). This extends and refines the results of \textit{W. M. Ruppert} [see Arch. Math. 65, No. 6, 501--504 (1995; Zbl 0881.13002)] who showed that \(A\) has no embedded associated primes if \(\text{gr}_M(A)\) does not have embedded associated primes. The proofs rely on a careful study of the arithmetic degree of bigraded modules.