Characterizations of taut semi-local rings

Summary It is proved that the following statements are equivalent for semi-local domain R:1) R is taut (i.e., for each non-maximal prime ideal P in R, height P+depth P=altitude R).2) Every integral domain which contains and is integral over R is taut.3) R[1/b]. satisfies the second chain condition for prime ideals (s.c.c.), for each non-zero b in the Jacobson radical J of R.4) R[1/b] satisfies the first chain condition for prime ideals (f.c.c.), for some non-zero b in J.5) For each depth one prime ideal P in R, R_P satisfies the s.c.c. and height P=altitude R−1.6) R(X) is taut, where X is an indeterminate.7) For each pair of analytically independent elements b, c in R, R(c/b) is taut and altitude R(c/b)=altitude R−1.8) Each maximal set of analytically independent elements in R contains either one element or altitude R elements. Much of the theorem is then generalized (with suitable modifications) to rings which contain and are integral over a taut semi-local ring. Entrata in Redazione il 5 dicembre 1975. Research on this paper was supported in part by the National Science Foundation grant NSF GP-28939-1.     

THREE NOTES ON NICE EXTENSION DOMAINS

The first note shows that the integral closure L′ of certain localities L over a local domain R are unmixed and analytically unramified, even when it is not assumed that R has these properties. The second note considers a separably generated extension domain B of a regular domain A, and a sufficient condition is given for a prime ideal p in A to be unramified with respect to B (that is, p B is an intersection of prime ideals and B/P is separably generated over A/p for all P ∈ Ass (B/p B)). Then, assuming that p satisfies this condition, a sufficient condition is given in order that all but finitely many q ∈ S = {q ∈ Spec(A), p ? q and height(q/p) = 1} are unramified with respect to B, and a form of the converse is also considered. The third note shows that if R′ is the integral closure of a semi-local domain R, then I(R) = ∩{R′ _p′ ;p′ ∈ Spec(R′) and altitude(R′/p′) = altitude(R′) ? 1} is a quasi-semi-local Krull domain such that: (a) height(N ^*) = altitude(R) for each maximal ideal N ^* in I(R); and, (b) I(R) is an H-domain (that is, altitude(I(R)/p ^*) = altitude(I(R)) ? 1 for all height one p ^* ∈ Spec(I(R))). Also, K = ∩{R _p ; p ∈ Spec(R) and altitude(R/p) = altitude(R) ? 1} is a quasi-semi-local H-domain such that height (N) = altitude(R) for all maximal ideals N in K.     

On Finite Maximal Chains of Weak Baer Going-Down Rings

Some recent results of Ayache on going-down domains and extensions of domains that either are residually algebraic or have DCC on intermediate rings are generalized to the context of extensions of commutative rings. Given a finite maximal chain 𝒞 of R-subalgebras of a weak Baer ring T, it is shown how a “min morphism” hypothesis can be used to transfer the “going-down ring” property from R to each member of 𝒞. The integral minimal ring extensions which are min morphisms are classified. The ring extensions satisfying FCP (i.e., for which each chain of intermediate rings is finite) are characterized as the strongly affine extensions with DCC on intermediate rings. In the relatively integrally closed case, such extensions R ? T induce open immersions Spec(S) → Spec(R) for each R-subalgebra S of T.     

THE REGULARITY DEGREE AND EPIMORPHISMS IN THE CATEGORY OF COMMUTATIVE RINGS

Elements of the universal (von Neumann) regular ring T(R) of a commutative semiprime ring R can be expressed as a sum of products of elements of R and quasi-inverses of elements of R. The maximum number of terms required is called the regularity degree, an invariant for R measuring how R sits in T(R). It is bounded below by 1 plus the Krull dimension of R. For rings with finitely many primes and integral extensions of noetherian rings of dimension 1, this number is precisely the regularity degree.

For each n ≥ 1, one can find a ring of regularity degree n + 1. This shows that an infinite product of epimorphisms in the category of commutative rings need not be an epimorphism.

Finite upper bounds for the regularity degree are found for noetherian rings R of finite dimension using the Wiegand dimension theory for Patch R. These bounds apply to integral extensions of such rings as well.     

On questions related to saturated chains of primes in polynomial rings

We propose to give positive answers to the open questions: is R(X,Y) strong S when R(X) is strong S? is R stably strong S (resp., universally catenary) when R[X] is strong S (resp., catenary)? in case R is obtained by a (T,I,D) construction. The importance of these results is due to the fact that this type of ring is the principal source of counterexamples. Moreover, we give an answer to the open questions: is R〈X₁,…,X_n〉 residually Jaffard (resp., totally Jaffard) when R(X₁,…,X_n) is ? We construct a three-dimensional local ring R such that R(X₁,…,X_n) is totally Jaffard (and hence, residually Jaffard) whereas R〈X₁,…,X_n〉 is not residually Jaffard (and hence, not totally Jaffard).     

On the FIP Property for Extensions of Commutative Rings

ABSTRACT

A (unital) extension R ? T of (commutative) rings is said to have FIP (respectively be a minimal extension) if there are only finitely many (respectively no) rings S such that R ? S ? T. Transfer results for the FIP property for extensions of Nagata rings are obtained, including the following fact: if R ? T is a (module-) finite minimal ring extension, then R(X)?T(X) also is a (module-) finite minimal ring extension. The assertion obtained by replacing “is a (module-) finite minimal ring extension” with “has FIP” is valid if R is an infinite field but invalid if R is a finite field. A generalization of the Primitive Element Theorem is obtained by characterizing, for any field (more generally, any artinian reduced ring) R, the ring extensions R ? T which have FIP; and, if R is any field K, by describing all possible structures of the (necessarily minimal) ring extensions appearing in any maximal chain of intermediate rings between K and any such T. Transfer of the FIP and “minimal extension” properties is given for certain pullbacks, with applications to constructions such as CPI-extensions. Various sufficient conditions are given for a ring extension of the form R ? R[u], with u a nilpotent element, to have or not have FIP. One such result states that if R is a residually finite integral domain that is not a field and u is a nilpotent element belonging to some ring extension of R, then R ? R[u] has FIP if and only if (0 : u) ≠ 0. The rings R having only finitely many unital subrings are studied, with complete characterizations being obtained in the following cases: char(R)>0; R an integral domain of characteristic 0; and R a (module-)finite extension of ? which is not an integral domain. In particular, a ring of the last-mentioned type has only finitely many unital subrings if and only if (?:R)≠0. Some results are also given for the residually FIP property.     

Power series extensions of half-factorial domains

An integral domain is said to be a half-factorial domain (HFD) if every non-zero element a that is not a unit may be factored into a finite product of irreducible elements, while any other such factorization of a has the same number of irreducible factors. While it is known that a power series extension of a factorial domain need not be factorial, the corresponding question for HFD has been open. In this paper we show that the answer is also negative. In the process we answer in the negative, for HFD, an open question of Samuel for factorial domains by showing that for certain quadratic domains R, and independent variables, Y and T, R[[Y]][[T]] is not HFD even when R[[Y]] is HFD. The proof hinges on Samuel’s theorem to the effect that a power series, in finitely many variables, over a regular factorial domain is factorial.     

Rings with divisibility on chains of ideals

We present a generalization of the ascending and descending chain condition on one-sided ideals by means of divisibility on chains. We say that a ring R satisfies ACC_d on right ideals if in every ascending chain of right ideals of R, each right ideal in the chain, except for a finite number of right ideals, is a left multiple of the following one; that is, each right ideal in the chain, except for a finite number, is divisible by the following one. We study these rings and prove some results about them. Dually, we say that a ring R satisfies DCC_d on right ideals if in every descending chain of right ideals of R, each right ideal in the chain, except for a finite number of right ideals, is divisible by the previous one. We study these conditions on rings, in general and in special cases.     

TW-domains and Strong Mori domains

In this paper we are mainly concerned with TW-domains, i.e., domains in which the w- and t-operations coincide. Precisely, we investigate possible connections with related well-known classes. We characterize the TW-property in terms of divisoriality for Mori domains and Noetherian domains. Specifically, we prove that a Mori domain R is a TW-domain if and only if R_M is a divisorial domain for each t-maximal ideal M of R. It turns out that a Mori domain which is a TW-domain is a Strong Mori domain. The last section examines the transfer of the “TW-domain” and “Strong Mori” properties to pullbacks, in order to provide some original examples.     

On finiteness of chains of intermediate rings

An extension of integral domains is said to have the “finite length of intermediate chains of domains” property (for short FICP) if each chain of intermediate rings between R and S is finite. The main purpose of this paper is to characterize when has FICP in case R ^* (the integral closure of R in S) is a finite dimensional semilocal domain. This generalizes a theorem due to Gilmer, in which S is the quotient field of R. Examples illustrating the sharpness and the limits of our results are settled.      

A going-up theorem for arbitrary chains of prime ideals

We prove that if an extension R ? T of commutative rings satisfies the going-up property (for instance, if T is an integral extension of R), then any increasing chain of prime ideals of R (indexed by an arbitrary linearly ordered set) is covered by some corresponding chain of prime ideals of T. As a corollary, we recover the recent result of Kang and Oh that any such chain of prime ideals of an integral domain D is covered by a corresponding chain in some valuation overring of D.     

Unique representation domains, II

Given a star operation ∗ of finite type, we call a domain R a ∗-unique representation domain (∗-URD) if each ∗-invertible ∗-ideal of R can be uniquely expressed as a ∗-product of pairwise ∗-comaximal ideals with prime radical. When ∗ is the t-operation we call the ∗-URD simply a URD. Any unique factorization domain is a URD. Generalizing and unifying results due to Zafrullah [M. Zafrullah, On unique representation domains, J. Nat. Sci. Math. 18 (1978) 19-29] and Brewer-Heinzer [J.W. Brewer, W.J. Heinzer, On decomposing ideals into products of comaximal ideals, Comm. Algebra 30 (2002) 5999-6010], we give conditions for a ∗-ideal to be a unique ∗-product of pairwise ∗-comaximal ideals with prime radical and characterize ∗-URD’s. We show that the class of URD’s includes rings of Krull type, the generalized Krull domains introduced by El Baghdadi and weakly Matlis domains whose t-spectrum is treed. We also study when the property of being a URD extends to some classes of overrings, such as polynomial extensions, rings of fractions and rings obtained by the D+XD_S[X] construction.     

Hereditary atomicity in integral domains

If every subring of an integral domain is atomic, we say that the latter is hereditarily atomic. In this paper, we study hereditarily atomic domains. First, we characterize when certain direct limits of Dedekind domains are Dedekind domains in terms of atomic overrings. Then we use this characterization to determine the fields that are hereditarily atomic. On the other hand, we investigate hereditary atomicity in the context of rings of polynomials and rings of Laurent polynomials, characterizing the fields and rings whose rings of polynomials and rings of Laurent polynomials, respectively, are hereditarily atomic. As a result, we obtain two classes of hereditarily atomic domains that cannot be embedded into any hereditarily atomic field. By contrast, we show that rings of power series are never hereditarily atomic. Finally, we make some progress on the still open question of whether every subring of a hereditarily atomic domain satisfies ACCP.     

Divisibility classes are seldom closed under flat covers

We show that the class of all divisible modules over an integral domain R is closed under flat covers if and only if R is almost perfect. Also, we show that if the class of all s-divisible modules, where s is a regular element of a commutative ring R, is closed under flat covers then the quotient ring $R/sR$ satisfies some rather restrictive properties. The question is motivated by the recent classification [11] of tilting classes over commutative rings.     

On sums and products of primitive elements

Let R be a (commutative integral) domain, with K its quotient field and R^′ its integral closure (in K). Let 𝒫 be the set of elements u∈K such that u is primitive over R; i.e., such that u is the root of a polynomial over R having a unit coe?cient. Then, 𝒫 is a ring (necessarily K) ? 𝒫 is closed under products ? R^′ is a Prüfer domain. In general, 𝒫 is closed under powers. For u,v∈𝒫, necessary and su?cient conditions are given for u+v (resp., uv) to belong to 𝒫. Also, 𝒫 is used to characterize when R is a quasi-local integrally closed domain and when R is a pseudo-valuation domain. If R is quasi-local, each element of K is expressible as the sum of two (possibly equal) elements of 𝒫. The set of primitive elements is determined for lying-over pairs and for extensions of domains with the same sets of prime ideals. In this study of the 𝒫 construction, R and K are replaced, whenever possible, by an arbitrary commutative ring and its total quotient ring or, more generally, by any inclusion of commutative rings.     

Ore Extensions of Ore Domains

Let R be a right Ore domain and φ a derivation or an automorphism of R. We determine the right Martindale quotient ring of the Ore extension R[t; φ] (Theorem 1.1). As an attempt to generalize both the Weyl algebra and the quantum plane, we apply this to rings R such that k[x] ? R ? k(x), where k is a field and x is a commuting variable. The Martindale Quotient quotient ring of R[t; φ] and its automorphisms are computed. In this way, we obtain a family of non-isomorphic infinite dimensional simple domains with all their automorphisms explicitly described.     

Dynamic feedback over principal ideal domains and quotient rings

Let R be a principal ideal domain. In this paper we prove that, for a large class of linear systems, dynamic feedback over R is equivalent to static feedback over a quotient ring of R. In particular, when R is the ring of integers Z one has that the static feedback classification problem over finite rings is equivalent to the dynamic feedback classification problem over Z restricted to a special type of system.     

Almost slender rings and compact rings

Classical results concerning slenderness for commutative integral domains are generalized to commutative rings with zero divisors. This is done by extending the methods from the domain case and bringing them in connection with results on the linear topologies associated to non-discrete Hausdorff filtrations. In many cases a weakened notion “almost slenderness” of slenderness is appropriate for rings with zero divisors. Special results for countable rings are extended to rings said to be of “bounded type” (including countable rings, ‘small’ rings, and, for instance, rings that are countably generated as algebras over an Artinian ring).More precisely, for a ring R of bounded type it is proved that R is slender if R is reduced and has no simple ideals, or if R is Noetherian and has no simple ideals; moreover, R is almost slender if R is not perfect (in the sense of H. Bass). We use our methods to study various special classes of rings, for instance von Neumann regular rings and valuation rings. Among other results we show that the following two rings are slender: the ring of Puiseux series over a field and the von Neumann regular ring $k^{\mathbb{N}}/k^{(\mathbb{N})}$ over a von Neumann regular ring k.For a Noetherian ring R we prove that R is a finite product of local complete rings iff R satisfies one of several (equivalent) conditions of algebraic compactness. A 1-dimensional Noetherian ring is outside this ‘compact’ class precisely when it is almost slender. For the rings of classical algebraic geometry we prove that a localization of an algebra finitely generated over a field is either Artinian or almost slender. Finally, we show that a Noetherian ring R is a finite product of local complete rings with finite residue fields exactly when there exists a map of R-algebras $R^{\mathbb{N}}\to R$ vanishing on $R^{(\mathbb{N})}$.