An application of liaison theory to the Eisenbud-Green-Harris conjecture (Q891459)

This paper is a study of the Eisenbud-Green-Harris (EGH) Conjecture which is a well-known open problem in Commutative Algebra and Algebraic Geometry. There are now a number of equivalent formulations of the conjecture (for example, see [\textit{B. Richert}, Commun. Algebra 43, No. 8, 3275--3281 (2015; Zbl 1337.13015)]. The version used in this paper uses the idea of an ideal minimally containing a regular sequence. Definition: A proper ideal \(I\) in a Noetherian ring \(R\) is said to \textit{minimally contain an \((a_1, \ldots, a_n)\)-regular sequence of forms} if \(I\) has depth \(r\), the minimum degree of the forms in \(I\) is \(a_1\), and for each \(2 \leq i \leq r\), the integer \(a_i\) is the least degree such that \(I\) contains an \(R\)-regular sequence \(f_1, \ldots, f_i\) of forms of degrees \(a_1, \ldots, a_i\). Working in the polynomial ring \(S:=k[x_1, \ldots, x_n]\), the EGH Conjecture compares the Hilbert functions of ideals which minimally contain regular sequences in fixed degrees. EGH Conjecture: Let \(2 \leq e_1 \leq \cdots \leq e_n\) be integers. If \(I \subsetneq S\) is a homogeneous ideal that minimally contains an \((e_1, \ldots, e_n)\)-regular sequence of forms, then there exists a homogeneous ideal \(J \subsetneq S\) containing \(x_1^{e_1}, \ldots, x_n^{e_n}\) such that \(I\) and \(J\) have the same Hilbert function. The Conjecture is known to be true in a number of cases, all nicely referenced within the introduction of this paper. The novelty of this paper is to use liaison theory to prove the EGH Conjecture for some homogeneous ideals in the linkage class of a complete intersection ideal. To precisely summarize the main result, we recall a number of definitions from liaison theory which are also given in the paper. First, recall that in a ring \(R\), a \textit{complete intersection ideal of type \((a_1, \ldots, a_r)\)} is an ideal that is generated by an \(R\)-regular sequence of forms \(F_1, \ldots, F_r\) where \(a_i = \deg(F_i)\) and \(a_1 \leq a_2 \leq \cdots \leq a_r\). Definitions: Let \(R\) be a Cohen-Macaulay ring and let \(I, I' \subset R\) be ideals of height \(r\). {\parindent=6mm \begin{itemize}\item[(1)] If there exists a complete intersection ideal \(J \subset R\) of height \(r\) such that \(J \subseteq I \cap I', I = J:I'\) and \(I'=J:I\), then we say that \(I\) and \(I'\) are \textit{algebraically directly linked}, denoted \(I \overset{J}{\sim} I'\), by the \textit{link} \(J\). \item[(2)] If there exists a finite sequence of ideals \(I_0, \ldots, I_s\) of height \(r\) such that \(I_0 = I, I_s = I'\) and \(I_0 \sim I_1 \sim \cdots \sim I_s\), then \(I_0 \sim I_1 \sim \cdots \sim I_s\) is called a \textit{sequence of links from \(I\) to \(I'\)}, \(s\) is the \textit{length} of the sequence, and \(I\) and \(I'\) are said to be \textit{linked}. \item[(3)] The binary relation that \(I\) and \(I'\) are linked is an equivalence relation called \textit{liaison} and each equivalence class is called a \textit{liaison class}. \item[(4)] An ideal of \(R\) which is in the liaison class of a complete intersection ideal is called \textit{licci}. \item[(5)] If \(I\) minimally contains an \((a_1, \ldots, a_r)\)-regular sequence of forms, and \(I\) and \(I'\) are directly linked by a complete intersection ideal \(J\) of type \((a_1, \ldots, a_r)\), then we call \(J\) a \textit{minimal link}. \item[(6)] If there exists a sequence of links from \(I\) to \(I'\) such that each link is minimal, then \(I\) is said to be \textit{minimally linked} to \(I'\). \item[(7)] An ideal of \(R\) that is minimally linked to a complete intersection ideal is said to be \textit{minimally licci}. \item[(8)] If \(I\) is licci and there exists a sequence of links \(I_0 \overset{J_1}{\sim} I_1 \overset{J_2}{\sim} \cdots \overset{J_s}{\sim} I_s\) where \(I_s\) is a complete intersection ideal and \(J_1, \ldots, J_s\) are complete intersection ideals of type \(\mathbf{a}^{(1)}, \ldots, \mathbf{a}^{(s)} \in \mathbb Z^r_+\), respectively, and \(\mathbf{a}^{(1)} \geq \cdots \geq \mathbf{a}^{(s)}\), then we say that \(I\) is a \textit{sequentially bounded} licci ideal. If in addition \(J_1\) is a minimal link then we say that \(I\) is a sequentially bounded licci ideal that \textit{admits a minimal first link}. \end{itemize}} The main result of this paper is the following: Theorem. Let \(2 \leq e_1 \leq \cdots \leq e_n\) be integers. If \(I \subsetneq S=k[x_1, \ldots, x_n]\) is a sequentially bounded licci ideal that admits a minimal first link and minimally contains an \((e_1, \ldots, e_n)\)-regular sequence of forms, then there exists a monomial ideal \(J \subsetneq S\) containing \(x_1^{e_1}, \ldots, x_n^{e_n}\) such that \(I\) and \(J\) have the same Hilbert function. The idea underlying the proof is to let \(J\) be the ideal spanned by the monomials in \(S\) which are not contained in a special multicomplex \(\Gamma\) which forms a \(k\)-basis for \(S/J\) such that \(H(S/I, t) = |\{q \in \Gamma \mid \deg(q) = t\}| = H(S/J)\). The assumption that \(I\) admits a minimal first link and the construction of \(\Gamma\) implies that \(J\) contains \(x_1^{e_1}, \ldots, x_n^{e_n}\). As a consequence, the author shows: Corollary: Let \(2 \leq e_1 \leq \cdots \leq e_n\) be integers. If \(I \subsetneq S\) is a minimally licci ideal that minimally contains an \((e_1, \ldots, e_n)\)-regular sequence of forms, then there exists a monomial ideal in \(S\) containing \(x_1^{e_1}, \ldots, x_n^{e_n}\) with the same Hilbert function as \(I\). Since every Gorenstein ideal of height three is minimally licci (see [\textit{J. Migliore} and \textit{U. Nagel}, Prog. Math. 280, 103--132 (2010; Zbl 1211.14054)]), we immediately have a proof of the EGH Conjecture for Gorenstein ideals in the polynomial ring with three variables. Corollary: Let \(2 \leq e_1 \leq e_2 \leq e_3\) be integers. If \(I \subsetneq k[x_1, x_2, x_3]\) is a homogeneous Gorenstein ideal that minimally contains an \((e_1, e_2, e_3)\)-regular sequence of forms, then there exists a monomial ideal \(J\) in \(k[x_1, x_2, x_3]\) containing \(x_1^{e_1}, x_2^{e_2}, x_3^{e_3}\) such that \(I\) and \(J\) have the same Hilbert function. The paper closes by considering two variations of the EGH Conjecture. Following a proof from [\textit{G. Caviglia} and \textit{D. Maclagan}, Math. Res. Lett. 15, No. 2--3, 427--433 (2008; Zbl 1154.13001)], the author shows that if \(r \in \{1, \ldots, n\}, 2 \leq e_1 \leq \cdots \leq e_r\) are integers and \(I \subsetneq S=k[x_1, \ldots, x_n]\) is an ideal that minimally contains an \((e_1, \ldots, e_r)\)-regular sequence of forms such that \(I\) is also a sequentially bounded licci ideal that admits a minimal first link, then there exists a monomial ideal \(J \subsetneq S\) containing \(x_1^{e_1}, \ldots, x_r^{e_r}\) such that \(I\) and \(J\) have the same Hilbert function.