Algebraic torus Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-11-05
An algebraic torus over a field is an algebraic group whose base change to a separable closure is isomorphic to . Its dimension is . An algebraic torus already isomorphic to over is a split algebraic torus. Toric geometry described by an ordinary toric fan uses a split algebraic torus.
The real algebraic group , with multiplication inherited from complex multiplication, is a one-dimensional nonsplit example. Over the complex numbers, identifies its coordinate ring with . Complex conjugation acts on its geometric character lattice of an algebraic torus by , so it has no nontrivial real-defined algebraic torus character. Algebraic tori of dimension one therefore need not be the real multiplicative group.[ref]
Algebraic Groups, Lie Groups, and their Arithmetic Subgroups by James S. Milne. chapterI, section14, Definition14.24 and character modules of tori
Character lattice of an algebraic torus Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-11-05
For an algebraic torus over and a chosen separable closure , its geometric character lattice of an algebraic torus isIt is a free abelian group of rank , with its natural action of . Characters of an algebraic torus defined over form the fixed subgroup of this action; they need not constitute the full geometric toric lattice.
For a split algebraic torus , each algebraic torus character is a Laurent monomial , so . The real norm-one algebraic torus has geometric algebraic torus character toric lattice with complex conjugation acting by minus one, so its subgroup of real-defined characters of an algebraic torus is zero.[ref]
Algebraic Groups, Lie Groups, and their Arithmetic Subgroups by James S. Milne. chapterI, section14, groups of multiplicative type and tori
Cocharacter 2026-11-05
A -defined cocharacter of an algebraic torus is a homomorphism of algebraic groupsover . A geometric cocharacter is defined after passing to a separable closure; the cocharacter lattice of an algebraic torus uses these geometric maps with their Galois action. The -defined maps are the Galois-fixed elements.
For , an integer pair gives . Composing with the character yields , defining the integer character-cocharacter pairing. This makes the two geometric lattices dual.
Cocharacters describe algebraic one-parameter subgroups and the integral directions underlying toric cones. For instance, has primitive exponent vector ; Bézout recovers from the coordinates by . The distinction between geometric and ground-field-defined cocharacters matters for nonsplit tori.
Cone in toric geometry Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-11-05
In the toric fan construction, a toric cone is a rational polyhedral convex conewith in a toric lattice , satisfying . The last condition is strong convexity: the toric cone contains no nonzero linear subspace. The zero toric cone is allowed and corresponds to the dense algebraic torus chart.
A simplicial polyhedral cone has linearly independent primitive toric ray generators. For its affine toric variety to be smooth, those generators must extend to a lattice basis. The toric cone generated by in is simplicial but not smooth, because the determinant is two rather than . Thus real linear independence alone does not decide smoothness.[ref]
Cox construction Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-11-05
Let be a normal complex toric variety whose toric rays span , so it has no torus factor. Form the Cox ring , its toric irrelevant ideal , and the diagonalizable groupThe divisor class group grading defines the action of . The Cox construction recovers as the categorical quotient of by . It is a geometric quotient exactly when the toric fan is simplicial.
For the projective line, , and acts by simultaneous scaling, giving . The ray-span condition matters: a positive-dimensional algebraic torus has a zero toric fan and no toric ray variables, so its construction needs the omitted torus factor as well.[ref]
The Homogeneous Coordinate Ring of a Toric Variety by David A. Cox. sections1–2, ray-span assumption and quotient theorem
Cox ring Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-11-05
For a normal complex toric variety with no torus factor, its Cox ring isThere is one variable per toric ray, and the grading is by the divisor class group, rather than necessarily by ordinary integers. The degree- part corresponds to sections of the divisorial sheaf after choosing a representative toric divisor.
For , this is the usual polynomial ring with every variable in degree one. For a well-formed weighted projective space, the class group is and the variable degrees are its weights. When an algebraic torus factor is present, its invertible Laurent coordinates must be included separately; the ray-variable ring alone cannot recover a positive-dimensional algebraic torus.[ref]
The Homogeneous Coordinate Ring of a Toric Variety by David A. Cox. section1, grading and relation to divisor sections
Dense torus of an affine toric variety 2026-10-14
For a strongly convex rational cone , the group generated by is . Inverting its finitely many monomial generators gives , so is a dense open algebraic torus in . The map extends torus multiplication to the entire variety.
// Target: geometry-and-topology.bigb
Fan in toric geometry Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-11-05
Fix a toric lattice and . A toric fan is a finite collection of rational strongly convex cones in toric geometry such that every face of a polyhedral cone of a member belongs to , and the intersection of two members is a face of each.
The union of its toric cones is the support of the toric fan. A complete fan has support all of . Finiteness gives a finite-type toric variety; an infinite fan in toric geometry keeps the same intersection axioms but need not give a quasi-compact space.
For , the collection is the toric fan of the projective line. Its two affine charts glue by on the dense algebraic torus. The positive half-line with its zero face instead gives the affine line.[ref]
Toric Varieties by David A. Cox and others. chapter3, fan gluing and the projective-line example
Linearly reductive algebraic group Created 2026-10-14 Updated 2026-11-05
An affine algebraic group is linearly reductive when every finite-dimensional rational representation is completely reducible. Equivalently its invariants functor is exact. Over a field of characteristic zero, reductive algebraic groups are linearly reductive; in positive characteristic this stronger property fails for many reductive groups. An algebraic torus is linearly reductive in every characteristic because after extension to a separable closure its rational representations decompose into character spaces, and exactness of the invariants functor descends to the original field.
Maximal algebraic torus Created 2026-10-14 Updated 2026-11-05
A maximal algebraic torus is an algebraic torus not properly contained in another algebraic torus of the ambient algebraic group. Over an algebraically closed field, maximal algebraic tori in a connected reductive algebraic group are conjugate. A Borel subgroup contains one, and it splits as with its unipotent radical.
For , the invertible diagonal matrices form a maximal algebraic torus isomorphic to . Choosing a different basis conjugates this example. The dimension of a maximal algebraic torus is the absolute rank of the connected reductive group.
Over a general field, geometric conjugacy does not assert conjugacy by rational points. In , the split diagonal algebraic torus has noncompact real points, while the rotation norm-one algebraic torus has compact real points, so they cannot be conjugate by a real matrix. Both become maximal split algebraic tori after passing to the complex numbers.[ref]
Algebraic Groups, Lie Groups, and their Arithmetic Subgroups by James S. Milne. chapterV, Theorem3.22 and Remark3.23
Monomial support face of a toric point Created 2026-10-14 Updated 2026-11-05
Work with closed points over an algebraically closed field . For , the exponents for which form a semigroup face: a product is nonzero exactly when both factors are nonzero. In a saturated polyhedral monoid these exponents are precisely the toric lattice points of one face of .
The nonzero values define a homomorphism from the group generated by that face to . Extending it to the full toric lattice shows that points with the same support face differ by the action of the dense algebraic torus. They therefore form a single orbit.
For , the possibilities are both coordinates nonzero, one specified coordinate nonzero and the other zero, or both zero. These are the dense algebraic torus, the two punctured axes and the origin. The closed-point/field convention avoids confusing these geometric orbits with arbitrary scheme points or rational-point descent.[ref]
Toric Varieties by David A. Cox and others. chapter3, distinguished points and the orbit-cone correspondence
// Target: mathematical-optimization.bigb
Multiplicative group scheme 2026-10-14
The multiplicative group scheme represents units: its -points are . Multiplication is specified by on the coordinate ring. It is the principal open subset of the affine line and the one-dimensional split algebraic torus.
// Target: ringed-space.bigb
Norm-one algebraic torus 2026-11-05
For a finite separable extension of degree , the norm-one algebraic torus isHere is Weil restriction and the map extends the field norm. Its -points are . The finite separability hypothesis makes it an algebraic torus of dimension .
Indeed, after extending to a separable closure, splits into copies of the base field and the norm becomes . Its kernel is isomorphic to by choosing the first coordinates and taking the last as their inverse product.
For , the norm is , giving the real unit circle with complex multiplication. It becomes a split one-dimensional torus over , although it is nonsplit over . Surjectivity of the norm as an algebraic-group morphism does not assert surjectivity on real points: complex norms are positive real numbers.
Orbit-cone correspondence Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-11-05
For a normal split toric variety of dimension , the orbit-cone correspondence assigns an orbit of the algebraic torus to each toric cone , withThe zero toric cone gives the dense algebraic torus; a ray of a fan gives a codimension-one orbit. The torus-fixed points correspond exactly to full-dimensional toric cones. A maximal toric cone need not be full-dimensional: the toric fan containing only the zero toric cone gives the algebraic torus itself and has no fixed point when .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2002 iii Paper 12 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Write for the dual cone, , and for the affine toric variety. This is the variety denoted in the source; the subscripts there refer to the cone of exponents, whereas refers to the cone in .
For a face of a polyhedral cone , define . If is in the relative interior of , nonnegativity on shows that a functional in vanishes on exactly when it vanishes on all of . Hence is a face of . Conversely a face of gives . Every polyhedral face is exposed: the supporting functionals for its containing facets can be added, since they are nonnegative. If , then , soThe same argument applied to proves , using the closed-cone identity . That identity follows from separation of a point outside a closed convex cone. Finally, enlarging makes its annihilator smaller. Thus these maps are inverse order-reversing bijections, proving face duality for polyhedral cones even when is not full-dimensional.
For the given integral exposing functional , we claimOne inclusion is immediate since vanishes on . For the other, let be nonnegative on and test it on finitely many generating rays of . Where vanishes, those rays belong to , so is already nonnegative. On every other ray is positive, so choosing a sufficiently large integer makes nonnegative on all the rays. This proves the claim. The corresponding semigroup algebra identity isThus the face chart is an open subvariety.
For a face , the span of monomials with is an ideal: if with , the face property forces both into . Its quotient is , defining the closed subvariety . If , this subvariety lies in .
Conversely, at a point , the exponents with form a semigroup face: a product is nonzero exactly when both factors are. These exponents are precisely the point of the toric lattices of a face of . To see the geometric assertion, choose finitely many monoid generators by the Gordan lemma. The nonzero generators span a cone. If that cone were not a face, a rational nonnegative relation would express a sum of its generators using an omitted generator with a positive coefficient. Clearing denominators and evaluating the corresponding monomials would equate a nonzero product to zero. Conversely, any point of the toric lattice in their cone has a positive integral multiple expressible using them, so its monomial must also be nonzero. This proves the monomial support face of a toric point assertion. If , then and every monomial outside vanishes at , placing in . Therefore, as reduced closed subvarieties,The assertion concerns the closed set with its reduced structure; a monomial's principal zero subscheme can have multiplicities.
For the intersection assertion, choose integral exposing functionals for . Both are nonnegative on , so . Localization then givesThis uses the dual of the intersection, as printed in the PDF; the TeX's perpendicular symbol in that position is not the correct transcription.
For a general toric fan, the points with a fixed monomial support face form a torus orbit. The nonzero evaluations extend to a character of the lattice generated by that face, and restriction from the ambient algebraic torus is surjective over . Thus the affine calculation yields the orbit-cone correspondence: contains exactly the orbits for faces . The orbit associated to has character lattice , so it is the source's . The same monomial ideal calculation, chart by chart, shows that its closure isIndeed, inside a chart containing , the closure has exponent face , and its smaller support faces correspond exactly to cones containing .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2005 iii Paper 17 2 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Use the toric scheme over a base ring construction over . Take the cocharacter lattice of an algebraic torus and dual character lattice of an algebraic torus . For every , setThese cones in toric geometry, together with their rays and the zero cone, form an infinite fan in toric geometry. Adjacent two-dimensional cones meet in their common ray; all other pairs meet only at zero. Thus the face and intersection axioms hold even though there are infinitely many charts.
The consecutive vectors are a basis of , since their determinant is . The dual cone has integral generatorswith , , , . Its integral points form the free commutative monoid . Hence the associated semigroup algebra chart is simplyOn the dense algebraic torus, write and . The chart coordinates areAlthough these expressions use inverses on the torus, are regular on the indicated charts.
The common-ray chart of and is , identified with byThe inverse is , . Nonadjacent charts meet in the common dense torus, and all transition maps agree there with the same characters of an algebraic torus , so their cocycle identities follow. By gluing of schemes along open subschemes, these charts construct a scheme .
The lattice projection carries every into the nonnegative ray of the fan of the affine line. It therefore defines a toric morphismExplicitly its pullback on each chart sends to . The adjacent-chart formula preserves that product, so the local morphisms glue.
Compute its scheme-theoretic fibre over :This is the union of the two coordinate affine lines, each with multiplicity one. Let denote the toric divisor corresponding to . Its part in is , with coordinate ; its part in is , with coordinate . On the overlap these coordinates satisfy . Consequently these two affine lines glue toThe neighbouring components meet at the section , isomorphic to . No other components meet. Every special-fibre chart has exactly these two branches and no embedded or extra components. ThusThe union is an infinite chain, not a finite-type curve disguised as one: its infinitely many components account for the infinitely many toric charts.
Over the principal open subset , both and are units because their product is . Every chart then becomes the same torus chart:The transition maps identify the coordinate exactly, soThis is the generic region described in the question; over the actual generic point of its fibre is .
The construction is also flat. Indeed, each node chart has a free -module basisEvery monomial reduces uniquely by taking out , and the resulting monomials are independent. Thus the chart morphisms are flat morphisms. This verifies directly that the semistable infinite chain from a toric fan is a degeneration of the multiplicative group scheme rather than an unrelated special fibre.
The infinite toric fan, its chain of projective lines, and the period-three quotient fibre
. Details. Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2005 iii Paper 17 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Write . The formal completion of a scheme restricts on each chart toThus is a formal scheme over . The ordinary torus has disappeared from its underlying space: every point of lies on . In particular, only adjacent completed charts intersect, and their two possible branch overlaps inside any one chart are disjoint.
Construct the action using the integral lattice automorphismIt carries to and to , so induces a toric morphism that is an automorphism. It preserves the lattice projection to the second coordinate, hence preserves and . On the dense algebraic torus it isIn the local coordinates this sends to withThese identities show regularity on every chart without requiring to be invertible there. They also make the action continuous in the -adic topology, so it extends to . Its powers shift to ; no nonzero power is the identity or fixes a point of the formal support. Therefore is a nontrivial infinite cyclic group acting freely.
Construct the quotient explicitly, using three representative chartswith . Glue their branch opens cyclically, taking subscripts modulo three, byThese are genuine isomorphisms of formal schemes. For example, the completed localization of an adic ring on the first open iswhere . On the second it is , and the gluing sends to and to . Thus it preserves and is continuous, with a continuous inverse.
Inside we haveConsequently there are no triple-overlap conditions left to check: the two branch identifications in a chart have disjoint domains. By gluing of schemes along open subschemes in its formal version, the three charts produce a formal scheme over . Equivalently, reduce the same gluing modulo for every ; this constructs compatible schemes , all on the same underlying space, with . Their inverse system has precisely the displayed formal charts.
For every integer , map isomorphically to by identifying its coordinates with the corresponding capital-letter coordinates. The adjacent-chart formulas agree with the cyclic identifications, so these maps glue toThey are invariant under , and is the disjoint union of the translated opens , each mapping isomorphically onto . The group permutes these copies transitively. Thus the fibres of are exactly the -orbits, and invariant sections on this inverse image are exactly the sections on .
To verify the quotient property also for morphisms, take a -invariant morphism . Its restrictions to agree on the adjacent branch opens. On the closing overlap they agree because the translated chart has the same restriction as under . Hence they descend to a unique morphism . This proves that the gluing is the cyclic formal quotient of the infinite toric chain:Its fibre modulo is a triangle of three projective lines over , each meeting its two neighbours at its two boundary sections. More generally, a shift by any gives an -gon. Completion is important here: translates of a formal chart are disjoint, whereas all ordinary toric charts still share the generic torus.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2007 iii Paper 17 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Write , , and . The semigroup algebra has basis , , with . The vertex assumption means that is strongly convex, so its dual cone has full dimension. By the Gordan lemma, is finitely generated: choose integral toric cone generators and subtract integer parts of their nonnegative coefficients; the remainder lies in a bounded parallelepiped with only finitely many lattice points. This argument also applies when has lineality space, by including generators in both directions there.
Choose an integral interior point . For every , both and belong to for all sufficiently large integers . Thus . Inverting all monomial generators of gives the group algebra , which becomes after a basis of is chosen. This proves the dense torus of an affine toric variety assertion:Density follows because the localization of a ring is of a domain. The algebra map from to defines the extended algebraic torus action; on it is ordinary multiplication.
For a face of a polyhedral cone , set . The convex face property ensures that this is an ideal, and quotienting leaves . Hence is a closed subvariety of . Its open algebraic torus consists of points where precisely the monomials with exponent in are nonzero.
To see that these algebraic tori exhaust the points, let be a point of and put . Multiplicativity gives if and only if both . Thus is a semigroup face. It is for a unique polyhedral convex face : among a finite generating set of , take the toric cone spanned by generators nonzero at . A relation expressing a sum with a generator outside this toric cone as a combination of generators inside would, after clearing rational denominators, contradict the displayed multiplicativity property. Therefore the toric cone is a convex face. Conversely, if lies in that convex face, a positive multiple of is an integral sum of those generators, so is nonzero as well. This also proves uniqueness.
The point lies in exactly when its convex face is all of . ThereforeOne can equivalently write this as the disjoint union of the open algebraic tori of the proper convex faces. For , the same description shows that exactly when is not in the convex face supporting . On every with the monomial vanishes identically. Consequently the monomial zero locus in an affine toric variety isThis is an equality of reduced subvarieties, or of their underlying closed sets. The principal subscheme itself may have multiplicity, as already shows on .
The face duality for polyhedral cones is the order-reversing pair of mapsTheir values are convex faces because the relevant pairings are nonnegative and a sum pairs to zero only if each summand does. More explicitly, finitely many nonnegative exposing functionals can be summed to expose the indicated intersection. For a convex face , choose exposing it: . Then , so , while the reverse inclusion is immediate. Apply the same argument to a convex face of , using , to prove the other composite is the identity. Inclusion reversal follows directly from annihilators. This proves the bijection, not just the existence of the maps.
For , write and . An exposing functional for is strictly positive on every toric ray outside . Small perturbations of within preserve those finitely many strict inequalities, so has nonempty relative interior in and spans it. Therefore generates , by the interior-point argument used above within that subspace. Thus the open algebraic torus of is . Here uses the lattice in the whole annihilator, rather than the toric cone semigroup. The sublattice is a saturated sublattice of and consequently a direct summand; restriction is surjective. The extended algebraic torus action is multiplication on this open algebraic torus and hence transitive. All other monomials vanish there. It follows thatThis is the torus orbit-cone correspondence and its orbit closure in a toric variety description. Under convex face duality, .
Finally, choose integral exposing . Localizing at gives : for , adding a sufficiently large multiple of makes it nonnegative on every toric ray of outside , while preserving nonnegativity on . Hence is the usual affine open chart inside . An orbit belongs to it exactly when . The requested complement of an affine toric face chart is thereforeAll sets on the right are closed, and if is not contained in , neither is any convex face containing . This justifies replacing the excluded orbits by their whole closures.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2007 iii Paper 17 3 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
Let be the consecutive primitive toric ray vectors around the compact invariant curve . Smoothness gives oriented determinants , hence for an integer . Choose an algebraic torus character with and . The principal divisor on a toric variety has coefficient one at , coefficient at , and zero at . The other invariant curves do not meet , while each adjacent one meets it transversely once. Intersecting this principal divisor with the proper curve gives . This proves the self-intersection formula for a toric surface divisor even when the ambient surface is not complete.
If , then and . The vectors form a lattice basis since , and their toric cone is the union of the two toric cones adjacent to . Deleting is consequently a smooth toric fan coarsening. Its inverse is precisely the toric blowup at a torus-fixed point, obtained by inserting the sum of the two primitive basis vectors. Conversely, that insertion gives , and hence algebraic self-intersection . Thus the toric contraction of a minus-one curve satisfiesFor the cyclic quotient description, first take a strongly convex toric cone of dimension two. Write its primitive boundary vectors as and put , . Since is primitive, extend it to a basis of and write with . Thus is cyclic of order . In the lattice , the toric cone is smooth and its toric variety is . Passing to the larger lattice takes the finite quotient whose invariant monomials are precisely those in the smaller dual lattice . Relative to the two boundary coordinates, , so a generator acts with weights modulo . Replacing that generator by a suitable power makes the first weight one and the second some with and . Therefore, for the singular case,The cyclic quotient surface singularity can equivalently be described by the first-quadrant toric cone inIndeed its coordinate ring is . Characteristic zero ensures the stated ordinary finite-group quotient interpretation.
The restriction to singular toric cones of dimension two is necessary for . A smooth toric cone has and gives with the trivial quotient. A toric cone of dimension one gives , and the zero toric cone gives . These latter surfaces cannot be a quotient of the displayed kind, since they have nonconstant invertible regular functions, whereas has only constant units. Thus the blanket affine-surface wording requires these separate cases.
For the singular case, compute the negative continued fraction by the ceiling form of the Euclidean algorithm. Start with , , and, while , setThen , so the process terminates at . The gcd is unchanged at each step, hence . Since , every . Rearranging the recurrence givesNow define lattice vectorsTo verify this Hirzebruch–Jung resolution algorithm, write with , and . Induction gives , so . It also gives . Thus every adjacent pair has absolute determinant , the covolume of , and is a basis of . The increase strictly, while the decrease to zero, so these toric rays occur in order inside the first quadrant. At termination, and the determinant identity gives , hence . All boundary and inserted vectors are primitive because they occur in lattice bases.
Subdivide the quadrant by . Every resulting toric cone is smooth by the smoothness criterion for a toric variety, and the fan subdivision gives a proper birational toric morphism, hence a resolution. Each interior toric ray has a complete one-dimensional star, so its exceptional curve of a surface resolution is . The recurrence yieldsThis proves minimality: no exceptional curve of a surface resolution can be contracted to a smooth point by the Castelnuovo contraction criterion. There is also a direct toric fan check. For fixed , the determinants of with , measured in units of the lattice covolume, satisfy the same recurrence with coefficients at least two and initial values zero and one. They are at least . Omitting any intervening toric ray therefore leaves a toric cone of determinant at least two, so no nontrivial coarsening is smooth. Thus this is the minimal resolution of a cyclic quotient surface singularity.
If all exceptional algebraic self-intersections are , all and induction gives . Since are coprime, this forces , . Conversely has exactly coefficients equal to two. ThereforeFor the final toric fan, the minimal smooth fan subdivision of the toric cone from to inserts the toric rays for . Adjacent determinants have absolute value one, and , so its inserted curves have algebraic self-intersection and it is the minimal fan subdivision just described. The second original toric cone, from to , is already smooth.
Write and . In the resolved toric fan, the rightmost interior toric ray obeys , so its curve has algebraic self-intersection and can be blown down to a smooth point. After deleting it, the same relation applies to the new rightmost interior toric ray. Continue deleting in that order. Each deletion is the inverse of a toric blowup at a torus-fixed point. The last toric fan has only the quadrant toric cone and defines . ConsequentlyAll maps induce the identity on the dense algebraic torus, so this composite is the same morphism as . The intermediate smooth toric fans need not include the singular toric fan .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2007 iii Paper 17 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
The dense algebraic torus has coordinate ring , a Laurent polynomial ring and hence a unique factorization domain. Its divisor class group is therefore zero. Restrict an arbitrary Weil divisor to the algebraic torus and choose a rational function on an algebraic variety whose divisor there is . Then is supported on the algebraic torus boundary. The prime divisors in that boundary are precisely the corresponding to the toric rays, by the torus orbit-cone correspondence. ConsequentlySince the variety is smooth, every Weil divisor is Cartier. This gives invariant representatives for all divisor classes, without assuming that the original divisor was invariant.
Now use such a representative. The associated vector space isThe principal divisor on a toric variety formula gives . Define the lattice polytope of a toric divisorFor a maximal toric cone , its basic toric ray vectors are a basis of , so there is a unique integral with on its toric rays. The algebraic torus character is a local frame for on . Every global section restricts on the algebraic torus to a finite Laurent polynomial . Relative to this frame, regularity on means . Since distinct algebraic torus characters are independent, this holds exactly when each exponent with nonzero coefficient satisfies the inequalities for the toric rays of . Taking all charts provesCompleteness makes bounded when nonempty: a nonzero recession vector would be nonnegative on every toric ray of a complete toric fan, and therefore on all of , which is impossible. The displayed space is consequently finite-dimensional.
At the torus-fixed point in the smooth chart , a section has local monomial . Its value is nonzero exactly when this monomial is constant, namely when . Thus if the complete linear system of a divisor has no base point, some section is nonzero at , forcing . Conversely, if for every maximal toric cone, its algebraic torus character is a global section whose local expression on is one. It therefore vanishes nowhere on that whole chart, and these charts cover . This proves the toric basepoint-free criterion:The analogous toric ampleness criterion, stated without proof, replaces the inequalities off by strict ones:Equivalently, the normal fan of a polytope is exactly .
For the final fan subdivision, take so that is a new toric ray, as the construction requires. The vectors are a lattice basis, so their sum is primitive. Replacing any one basis vector by this sum gives another basis. Thus the star subdivision gives a smooth toric blowup at a torus-fixed point , with algebraic exceptional divisor . On the old chart, a local equation of is , whose order on the new toric ray is . All old toric ray coefficients are unchanged. ThereforeWe prove ampleness of directly by inequalities, giving the ample divisor after blowing up a torus-fixed point result.
Let be the basis of dual to . On the new maximal toric cone , which omits , the required local algebraic torus character isIndeed its pairings on , , are , while its pairing on is , exactly the negative of the new coefficient . Its inequality on the omitted old toric ray has strict gap one:For any toric ray outside the original toric cone, put . The original ampleness gives positive integers , and the new strict gaps arefor all sufficiently large .
For any unchanged maximal toric cone , the local algebraic torus character is . All strict inequalities on old toric rays follow from those for . Its inequality on the new toric ray has gapEach summand is nonnegative, and at least one is positive because cannot contain all its toric rays. Hence is a positive integer, making this gap positive for . There are only finitely many remaining inequalities. For example, any integer satisfyingworks, with the inner maximum omitted when its index set is empty. The toric ampleness criterion now givesThe new-ray assumption is essential to the printed construction. In dimension one, and the fan subdivision is unchanged, so the two purported distinct divisors coincide. If the displayed definition of is applied literally on with coefficients , , then has degree one but has degree , contradicting the conclusion. The argument above applies to the intended blowup in dimension at least two.
