A characterization of seminormal schemes (Q965165)

The article studies seminormal schemes which were discussed earlier by \textit{C.~Traverso} [Ann. Sc. Norm. Sup. Pisa 24 585--595 (1970; Zbl 0205.50501), \textit{S. Greco} and \textit{C.~Traverso} [Compos. Math. 40, 325--365 (1980; Zbl 0412.14024)]. Following Greco-Traverso [loc. cit.], a ring \(A\) is said to be Mori if it is reduced and its integral closure \(A^\nu\) in \(Q(A)\) is finite over \(A\). In this case, the largest subring \(A^{sn}\) such that (1) \(A\subseteq A^{sn} \subseteq A^\nu\), (2) \({\text{ Spec}} A^{sn} \to {\text{ Spec}} A\) is bijective, (3) all maps on the residue fields are isomorphisms is said to be the semi-normalization of \(A\). The following is shown: Given a Noetherian and Mori ring \(A\), the semi-normalization of \(A\) is exactly the subring of \(\prod_{ {\mathbf p} \in {\text{ Spec}} A} \kappa({ p})\) consisting of pointwise functions which vary algebraically along DVRs. As a corollary, a characterization of morphisms of a seminormal scheme is deduced which relates them to certain compatible set maps of points over DVRs. Another application is a theorem on the \(a^2, a^3 \Rightarrow a\in A\) characterization. Furthermore, the article gives a direct proof of the equivalence of the pointwise property and the simplicial characterization of the semi-normalization, as described by \textit{M. Saito} [Math. Ann. 316, No. 2, 283--331 (2000; Zbl 0976.14011)]. The final section gives an application to characterize the Chow variety using the pointwise characterization of semi-normalization.