Robust graph ideals (Q891950)

Let \(I\) be a toric ideal. \(I\) is said robust if its universal Gröbner basis is a minimal generating set. In this paper the authors prove that ``any robust toric ideal \(I_G\) arising from a graph \(G\) is also minimally generated by its Graver Basis''. In other words, the minimality of the universal Gröbner basis of \(I_G\) implies that of the Graver basis of \(I_G\). This is an open question for general toric ideals. The main result of the paper is a complete characterization of all graphs which give rise to robust ideals. Such a characterization ``shows that robustness can be determined solely in terms of graph-theoretic conditions on the set of circuits of \(G\)''. A relevant result in such a context is a graph theoretic characterization of circuits [\textit{R. H. Villarreal}, Commun. Algebra 23, No. 9, 3513--3524 (1995; Zbl 0836.13014)].