The co-Scarf resolution

Publication date 4 February 2002

co-Scarf complex cogeneric monomial ideal free resolution monomial ideals Scarf complex

Syzygies, resolutions, complexes and commutative rings (13D02) Polynomial rings and ideals; rings of integer-valued polynomials (13F20) Gröbner bases; other bases for ideals and modules (e.g., Janet and border bases) (13P10)

Review text

A monomial ideal \(M\) in a polynomial ring \(S=k[x_1, \dots,x_n]\) can be represented by a set of monomial generators \[ M=\langle x^{D_1}, \dots, x^{D_s} \rangle,\;x:=(x_1, \dots,x_n), \quad D_j\in \mathbb{N}^n \tag{1} \] or as an intersection of irreducible monomial ideals \[ M=M_1\cap M_2\cap \cdots\cap M_r, \tag{2} \] where each \(M_i\) is generated by powers of single variables \(M_i= \langle x_{i_1}^{d_1}, \dots,x_{i_s}^{d_s} \rangle\), \(d_j\in \mathbb{N}\). This paper discusses a method for computing the minimal free resolution of the \(S\)-module \(S/M\) directly from representation (2) and the subproblem of determining the minimal generators of \(M\) in representation (1). A monomial ideal \(M\) is called cogeneric if no two of its irreducible components \(M_i\) and \(M_j\) have a minimal generator in common. The minimal free resolution of any cogeneric monomial ideal \(M\) can be constructed using the notion of the Scarf complex, introduced by \textit{H. Scarf} [``The computation of economic equilibria, Cowles Foundation Monograph 24 (1973; Zbl 0311.90009)] and developed further by \textit{D. Bayer}, \textit{I. Peeva} and \textit{B. Sturmfels} [Math. Res. Lett. 5, 31-46 (1998; Zbl 0909.13010)]. This paper shows that cogeneric monomial ideals are resolved by (subcomplexes of) simple polytopes. The construction involves formal monomials \(x_i^\infty\) and \(x_i^\varepsilon\), where \(\infty\) and \(\varepsilon\) stand respectively for a very large and a very small positive real number. Enlarge each irreducible ideal \(M_j\) by adding a generator \(x_i^\infty\) for each missing variable \(x_i\) and introduce \(n\) additional monomial ideals \(M_{r+i}: =\langle x_1^\infty, \dots,x^\infty_{i-1}, x_i^\varepsilon, x_{i+1}^\infty, \dots,x_n^\infty \rangle\), \(i=1,2,\dots,n\). The degree of an irreducible monomial ideal is defined to be the multidegree of the product of its generators, with \(\varepsilon\) replaced by 0. Now define \(M_I:= \sum_{j\in I}M_j\), \(a_I:=\text{degree}(M_I)\) for all \(I\subseteq \{1,\dots, r+n\}\) and abbrevivate \(m_I:=x_1^{a_{I1}} x_2^{a_{I2}} \cdots x_n^{a_{In}}\) where \(a_I=(a_{I1}, a_{I2},\dots, a_{In})\). Then the co-Scarf complex of \(M\) is defined to be the simplicial complex \[ \Delta^*_M: =\{I\subseteq \{1,\dots, r+n\}\quad\text{for all }J:m_I=m_J \Rightarrow I=J\}. \] A face \(I\) of \(\Delta^*_M\) is called bounded if \(\infty\) does not appear among the coordinates of \(a_I\). Let \(T^*\) denote the free \(S\)-module \(S\oplus\bigoplus_I S(-a_I)\), where the sum is over all bounded non-empty faces \(I\) of \(\Delta^*_M\). The coboundary operator of \(\Delta^*_M\) defines a differential \(\partial: T^*\to T^*\). The following theorem is the main result of the paper: Theorem: If \(M\) is a cogeneric monomial ideal in \(S=k[x_1, \dots,x_n]\), then the complex \((T^*,\partial)\) is a minimal free resolution of \(S/M\) over \(S\). A proof and examples are given. The co-Scarf complex automatically yields the minimal generators of a monomial ideal. For the entire collection see [Zbl 0921.00043].

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