Schmitt-Vogel type lemma for reductions (Q719671)

The lemma given by \textit{T. Schmitt} and \textit{W. Vogel} [Math. Ann. 245, 247--253 (1979; Zbl 0399.14032)] is an important tool in the study of arithmetic rank of square-free monomial ideals. In this paper, the authors prove the following analogous result, referred to as Schmitt-Vogel type lemma for reductions: Let \(R\) be a commutative Noetherian ring, \(\mathcal{P}\) a finite subset of \(R\) and \(I\) the ideal generated by \(P\). Assume that there exist subsets \(\mathcal{P}_0, \mathcal{P}_1,\ldots,\mathcal{P}_r\) of \(\mathcal{P}\) such that the following conditions are satisfied: (i) \(\mathcal{P}=\mathcal{P}_0\cup\mathcal{P}_1\cup\cdots\cup \mathcal{P}_r\) (ii) \(\sharp{P}_0=1\) (iii) For each \(\ell \,(0<\ell\leq r)\) and for every \(a, a''\in \mathcal{P}_{\ell}\) with \(a\neq a''\), there exist an integer \(\ell' \,(0\leq \ell'<\ell)\) and elements \(a'\in \mathcal{P}_{\ell'}, b\in I\) such that \(aa''=a'b\). If we set \[ g_{\ell}=\sum_{a\in\mathcal{P}_{\ell}} a,\,\,\,\, \ell=0,1,\ldots,r, \] then \(J=(g_0,g_1,\ldots,g_r)\) is a reduction of \(I\). This result is then used to construct minimal reductions of square-free monomial ideals.