Betti numbers of monomial ideals via facet covers (Q899571)

Let \(I\) be a monomial ideal in a polynomial ring \(S\). The well-known Taylor complex gives a graded free resolution for \(I\), which is not necessarily minimal. In [\textit{D. Bayer} et al., Math. Res. Lett. 5, No. 1--2, 31--46 (1998; Zbl 0909.13010)], a method to see nonzero Betti numbers of \(I\) from its Taylor complex was introduced. This is the motivation for the work of the paper under review. The main result of this paper gives a combinatorial condition (via the notion of \textit{well ordered facet covers}) for multigraded Betti numbers of \(I\) to be nonzero. The notion of well ordered facet covers is a generalization of that of \textit{strongly disjoint bouquets} introduced by \textit{K. Kimura} [in: Harmony of Gröbner bases and the modern industrial society. Hackensack, NJ: World Scientific Publishers. 153--168 (2012; Zbl 1338.13040)]. In particular, the authors show that if \(I\) is a squarefree monomial ideal that is realized as the facet ideal of a simplicial complex \(\Delta\) then {\parindent=0.7cm\begin{itemize}\item[(i)] the existence of a well ordered facet cover of cardinality \(\geq i\) implies that the \(i\)-th Betti number of \(S/I\) is nonzero; \item[(ii)] if \(\Delta\) is a simplicial forest then the above condition is an ``if and only if''; \item[(iii)] if \(\Delta\) is a simplicial forest then the regularity and the projective dimension of \(I\) can be described combinatorially. \end{itemize}}