Dimension theorem for Noetherian local rings Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-24
For a Noetherian local ring , the Krull dimension of , the Krull dimension of the associated graded ring , and the order of the pole at of its Hilbert series are equal.
Graded shift 2026-10-06
The graded shift is the same underlying module with . Thus has a free generator in degree . Its Hilbert series is , and multiplication by a homogeneous element of degree becomes a degree-preserving map .
Hilbert function 2026-09-24
The Hilbert function of a graded module over a field is . Its generating function is the Hilbert series.
Hilbert–Samuel growth dimension 2026-10-06
For a Noetherian local ring , let . Its eventual Hilbert-Samuel polynomial has degree , equivalently the pole order at of the Hilbert series of . This is the local length-growth invariant, not the embedding dimension. The prime-chain lower bound for local length proves ; the full local dimension theorem gives equality.
Hilbert series and Hilbert polynomial 2026-10-14
For a finitely generated graded module over a standard graded algebra over a field, with finite-dimensional graded pieces, the Hilbert function is eventually a polynomial in . Its generating series is the Hilbert series. Thus the polynomial describes eventual graded growth, while the series records all graded pieces.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2003 iii Paper 2 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
A precise version of the Hilbert-Serre theorem is as follows. Let be a commutative graded ring, generated over an Artinian degree-zero ring by homogeneous elements of positive degrees . Let be a finitely generated graded module, bounded below. Each component has finite module length over . Its Poincare series of a graded module, or Hilbert series, isWhen is a field, these lengths are dimensions. The theorem assertsFor a nonnegatively graded module the numerator can be taken in . The finite-generation and finite-length hypotheses specify the meaning of the series; they are part of the theorem's statement.
We prove it by induction on . Regard as a finite graded module over , with , acting through the specified generators of . This polynomial ring is Noetherian by the Hilbert basis theorem and Question 1. When , finitely many homogeneous generators over mean that only finitely many components are nonzero, so the series is a Laurent polynomial. For the induction step, put , , and . Both and are finite graded modules; annihilates them, so they are modules over . The finite generation of uses Noetherianity of .
The exact sequence of graded modulesgives, by additivity of component lengths,Here the shift is defined so that . By induction both series on the right have denominator . Dividing by proves the result. The annihilator term cannot be omitted unless multiplication by is injective.
In the standard grading , the coefficients of are . Multiplying by the finite numerator shows that the component dimensions agree with a polynomial for sufficiently large . Cumulative dimensions have generating function and are also eventually polynomial. This consequence supplies the dimension used for Weyl algebra modules.
Use the Bernstein filtration , in which both coordinate generators and differentiation generators have degree one. The ordered monomial basis of a Weyl algebra givesChoose a finite-dimensional generating subspace of a nonzero finitely generated left module and set . This is a good filtration of a module: the symbols of the generators generate its associated graded module over the displayed polynomial ring. The Hilbert-Serre theorem makes an eventual polynomial. Define the Bernstein growth dimension of a Weyl algebra module byThe dimension is independent of the chosen finite generating subspace. Each of two finite generating sets is contained in a fixed filtration step for the other, giving and . Such fixed shifts preserve the degree of growth. The same argument applies to any good Bernstein filtration. This dimension agrees with the Gelfand–Kirillov dimension of a module; one may set .
Let the nonconstant element have Bernstein degree . Since is a domain, the product of two nonzero symbols cannot vanish. HenceRight multiplication by is injective, using the domain property of . Thus the quotient filtration on has cumulative dimensionsThe leading terms of degree cancel, and the leading surviving term isIt is nonzero, because . ThereforeEquivalently the Hilbert series of the associated graded quotient is . Here is Bernstein degree, not differential order: multiplication by has differential order zero but Bernstein degree one. Using the order filtration in this dimension argument would lose the finite-dimensional filtration pieces.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2014 iii Paper 1 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Use the following finite-length version of the Hilbert-Serre theorem. Let be a graded algebra generated over an Artinian ring by finitely many homogeneous elements of positive degrees . For a finitely generated nonnegatively graded -module , define its Poincare series of a graded module byEvery component has finite length, and the theorem saysFor a module whose grading is merely bounded below, the same statement holds with a Laurent-polynomial numerator. When the generators all have degree one, the denominator is .
Here is an induction proof. An Artinian ring is Noetherian by question 1, so the Hilbert basis theorem makes Noetherian. If there are no positive-degree generators, and a finite homogeneous generating set for occupies only finitely many degrees. Each component is a finite module over the Artinian ring , hence has finite length of a module, and is a polynomial.
For , put , , and . Both are finitely generated graded modules annihilated by , hence modules over , which is generated by the first homogeneous elements. Their multiplication exact sequence isHere . Additivity of length degree by degree givesThis is the Hilbert series multiplication exact sequence. By induction, the right-hand side has denominator . Division by completes the proof of the Hilbert-Serre theorem. The finite-component and finite-generation claims also follow from the finite set of positive-degree algebra and module generators; no analytic convergence of a series is involved.
For the local invariant, use the usual Noetherian local ring hypothesis of Hilbert–Samuel growth dimension. Locality alone does not guarantee finite lengths or polynomial growth; the printed question leaves this finiteness assumption implicit. For instance, in the localization at a prime ideal of the polynomial ring at , the vector space has the infinitely many independent classes of the variables, so its length is not finite. Write and . Its associated graded ringis generated over in degree one, because is finitely generated. Thus its Hilbert series is rational with a denominator that is a power of . After cancelling factors, writeDefine , the pole order at , with when is a polynomial.
Equivalently, the Hilbert–Samuel functionhas generating series and eventually agrees with a polynomial of degree . Indeed, coefficients of are , and multiplication by leaves leading term . Consequently is the degree of the cumulative Hilbert-Samuel polynomial, rather than the degree of the individual graded-component function; the latter has degree when . This pole/growth invariant also equals Krull dimension by the local dimension theorem, although that theorem is not required to define it here.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2015 iii Paper 1 5 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
A local ring is a nonzero ring with one maximal ideal . Write for its residue field. Its Krull dimension is the supremum of lengths of strict chains of prime ideals; in a local ring chains may be extended to end at .
For the local Hilbert-function convention, define the Hilbert–Samuel growth dimensionEquivalently it is the order of the pole at of the Hilbert series of the associated graded ringThis finite standard graded -algebra is generated by . The Hilbert-Serre theorem makes the cumulative Hilbert function eventually polynomial, which establishes the definition. For an Artinian local ring, the polynomial is constant and nonzero, so .
For every prime chain of length , the prime-chain lower bound for local length proved in Question 4 gives . A polynomial of degree cannot satisfy this when . Thus the requested inequality isFor clarity, the embedding dimension is the different invariantThe equality follows from the Nakayama lemma. Applying Question 4 to gives , while the polynomial-algebra surjection below also gives . In particular, growth dimension and embedding dimension should be kept distinct.
A regular local ring is a Noetherian local ring with . Let this common value be and choose a minimal generating set of . The initial forms give a surjective graded ring homomorphismFor , the Nakayama lemma gives , so is a field. Assume . If the kernel contained a nonzero homogeneous polynomial of degree , the cumulative Hilbert function of the target would be bounded by that of . Multiplication by is injective in the polynomial integral domain, so this bound isBut provides a prime chain of length , and Question 4 gives . This is a contradiction. Hence the associated graded ring of a regular local ring isan integral domain.
Finally the Krull intersection theorem gives . One can see the needed separatedness directly: for the finitely generated ideal , the Artin-Rees lemma gives , and the Nakayama lemma gives . Therefore each nonzero has finite -adic order , with nonzero initial form in . For nonzero , their initial forms have nonzero product in the graded integral domain. It follows that , and indeed its order is the sum of their orders. Thus is an integral domain.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 iii Paper 101 6 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-14
For a finitely generated module over the graded ring , with each of degree one, its Poincare series of a graded module isThis is also its Hilbert series. One usually takes ; allowing an integer grading also permits finitely many negative degrees. Homogeneous generators of degrees give a surjection , where the graded shift is defined by . Consequently every is a finite-dimensional vector space and for all sufficiently negative .
The Hilbert-Serre theorem in the standard grading saysFor a nonnegatively graded , the numerator is in . Equivalently, the only possible pole of this rational expression is at , with order at most .
We prove the Hilbert-Serre theorem by induction on the number of variables. For , and is a finite-dimensional graded module; thus is a Laurent polynomial. Suppose and putThe Hilbert basis theorem makes a Noetherian ring, so is a finitely generated module, as is . Both are graded modules killed by , hence finitely generated over .
The graded exact sequenceidentifies the kernel and cokernel of multiplication by . Taking the alternating sum of the finite-dimensional degree components yieldssoBy induction the right side has denominator , which proves the required denominator . Since has no negative powers when is nonnegatively graded, its Laurent polynomial numerator is an ordinary polynomial in that case.
For , this also implies the usual Hilbert polynomial consequence. Writing and usinggives, for all sufficiently large ,a polynomial in of degree at most . For , the graded pieces are eventually zero.
For the final request, a free resolution of is an exact sequencewith each a free module. In the graded setting we take finite direct sums of shifts and maps preserving degree. The resolution has length at most if for every . The syzygy modules are the successive kernels which record the relations among generators, then relations among those relations, and so on.
Put , the homogeneous maximal ideal with . Choose a homogeneous -basis of and lift it to . These lifts generate by the graded Nakayama lemma: a bounded-below graded module satisfying must be zero, since a nonzero homogeneous element of least degree could not be a sum of variables times elements of lower degrees. Apply this to the quotient by the submodule generated by the chosen lifts. This gives a surjection inducing an isomorphism modulo .
Its kernel is finitely generated because is a Noetherian ring. Repeat the construction for that kernel, then for each subsequent kernel. We obtain a minimal graded free resolution, meaningIndeed, at each stage the free cover induces an isomorphism modulo , so its kernel lies in times its source. The sequence is exact by construction, though it may at first appear infinite.
The Koszul complex on iswith basis vectors given degree one, and differentialThe hat means omission of that factor. Every pair of terms in cancels with opposite signs, so this is a chain complex. The sequence is a regular sequence: after quotienting by the first variables, the next variable is a non-zero-divisor in the remaining polynomial ring.
The Koszul complex is consequently exact in positive degrees and has , so it is a Koszul resolution of of length . For completeness, one proves this by induction: for one variable it is . Appending constructs the mapping cone of multiplication by on the previous chain complex. Its homology is zero in positive degrees because acts injectively on ; its degree-zero homology is the further quotient. Here a mapping cone combines a chain complex with a shifted copy and adds the given multiplication map to the differential, thereby measuring its kernel and cokernel on homology.
The Tor functor is defined as the degree- homology of for a free resolution of . It can equally be computed as the homology of , using the Koszul resolution of . To see the equality, form the double complex . Taking homology first along leaves , since each is a free module; taking homology first along leaves , since each is free. The finite sums along each total degree identify both with the homology of the total complex. This also explains the symmetry used in computing the Tor functor.
Since for , we have for . On the other hand, all differentials of the minimal graded free resolution become zero after tensoring with , soThus for , and the graded Nakayama lemma implies for those . We have proved the required Hilbert syzygy theorem:where some initial may be zero. The argument supplies finitely generated graded free modules, which is stronger than merely giving an ungraded free resolution.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 iii Paper 113 5 iii Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
Eliminate using the linear equation. The homogeneous coordinate ring becomesThe cubic is a nonzero element of a polynomial integral domain, hence a non-zero-divisor. It gives the exact sequence of graded modulesThus for . Equivalently, use the Hilbert series , or the sheafified exact sequence on . The Hilbert polynomial of the plane cubic isIts degree is three and its arithmetic genus is one, although the curve is singular: its affine equation near is the cusp . The Hilbert polynomial records the arithmetic genus, rather than the genus of the normalization.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2017 iii Paper 128 4 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-05
Choose a finite-dimensional generating vector subspace containing , and write for the linear span of products of elements of . The Gelfand–Kirillov dimension isFor a nonzero finitely generated module considered as a right module, choose a finite-dimensional generating vector subspace and define the Gelfand–Kirillov dimension of a module byFor left modules, replace by . These values are independent of the choices: two algebra-generating vector subspaces satisfy and for some positive integers , and two module-generating vector subspaces are contained in bounded-degree translates of one another. The corresponding growth bounds differ only by a constant rescaling and shift of , which do not change the limit superior.
Let be a nonzero standard graded algebra, generated by elements of degree one. It is a homogeneous quotient ring of the polynomial ring . By the Hilbert-Serre theorem, its Hilbert series is a rational function whose only possible pole is at . After canceling, write it as with , where . The cumulative dimensions are the coefficients of and are eventually a polynomial in of degree , with positive leading coefficient. With , these cumulative dimensions equal . ConsequentlyFor the algebra is finite-dimensional and nonzero, so the cumulative dimension is eventually a positive constant. If the zero algebra is allowed, the common convention is an exception to the printed assertion; the integer conclusion concerns nonzero unital algebras.
For the Weyl algebra , the total-degree filtered algebra structure has associated graded ring . Its ordered monomials form a basis. Every finitely generated module has a good filtration of a module, and its associated graded module is finitely generated over . The Hilbert-Serre theorem therefore shows that its Gelfand–Kirillov dimension is an integer in .
A nonzero module of Gelfand–Kirillov dimension zero here would have eventually constant cumulative dimension, hence be finite-dimensional. This is impossible in characteristic zero: taking the trace of the endomorphisms representing gives . For right modules the right-action operators reverse composition and give the negative identity instead, with the same contradiction. ThusBoth occur. The regular module has , hence Gelfand–Kirillov dimension two. For a right module of Gelfand–Kirillov dimension one, take with and . These actions satisfy the defining relation because . The module is a cyclic module generated by , and . This also gives the lower bound for this particular Weyl algebra without invoking a general inequality for higher Weyl algebras.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2019 iii Paper 148 6 Solution 2026-10-03
Choose homogeneous algebra generators of positive degrees for ; they exist because is Noetherian. For a finitely generated graded module , its Poincare series of a graded module isThe Hilbert-Serre theorem states thatfor a Laurent polynomial .
We prove this by induction on . For , and is finite-dimensional, so its series is a Laurent polynomial. For of degree , multiplication gives the exact sequence of graded modulesAdditivity of the Hilbert series yieldsBoth modules on the right are finitely generated over , so the induction hypothesis proves the formula.
For the finitely generated commutative algebra , let be the stated degree filtration. Its associated graded ringis a standard graded algebra generated by the initial forms of . SinceHilbert–Serre shows that the quantity agrees with a polynomial for all sufficiently large . The growth of a finitely generated commutative algebra has polynomial degree , independently of the chosen finite generating set.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2024 iii Paper 101 5 ii Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
Let with positive degrees , and let be a finitely generated graded -module whose graded pieces are finite-dimensional over . The Hilbert-Serre theorem states thatfor some Laurent polynomial . For the standard grading, the Hilbert function consequently agrees for all sufficiently large with a polynomial in .
For the proof, induct on . When , is finite-dimensional and its Hilbert series is a Laurent polynomial. For , multiplication by gives an exact sequence of graded modulesBoth and are annihilated by , so they are finitely generated graded modules over . Additivity of the Hilbert series yieldsThe induction hypothesis supplies the required denominator for the right side and proves the rational formula. When all , expanding shows that its coefficients are binomial polynomials in , which proves eventual polynomiality.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2025 iii Paper 101 4 ii a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
For the maximal ideal of , the associated graded ring isIf and are homogeneous classes, their product isIt is a graded algebra over the residue field .
The Hilbert series isThe Hilbert-Serre theorem makes this rational. The number is the order of its pole at , as recorded by the pole dimension of an associated graded ring.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2026 iii Paper 101 5 b Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
The weighted Hilbert series of isThe homogeneous polynomial has degree and is a non-zero-divisor, so quotienting by it multiplies the series by . Therefore the requested Poincare series of a graded module is