Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 ib Paper 4 11E a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
Work with the usual commutative unital Noetherian ring convention. First prove that every submodule of is a finitely generated module. For , a submodule is an ideal, hence finitely generated by Noetherianity. For the induction step, project a submodule onto its last coordinate. Its image is a finitely generated ideal; choose lifts in of its generators. The projection kernel lies in and is finitely generated by induction. The kernel generators together with the chosen lifts generate , since subtracting a combination of the lifts leaves an element of the kernel.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 ib Paper 4 11E c Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-06
If , take the empty filtration. Otherwise a nonzero quotient is a finitely generated module. Because has the ascending chain condition on ideals, the nonempty collection of annihilators of nonzero elements of has a maximal element. Part (b), applied to , supplies with a prime ideal .
The map , , is surjective with kernel . The first isomorphism theorem gives . Let be the inverse image of under . ThenRepeat whenever the quotient remains nonzero. An infinite repetition would give a strictly ascending chain of submodules of the Noetherian module , contradicting part (a). Thus the process stops after finitely many steps, necessarily at .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 iii Paper 101 1 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
The Laurent polynomial ring is a localization of a ring:The Hilbert basis theorem makes a Noetherian ring, and Localization of a Noetherian ring preserves this property. Thus .
For separating finite Laurent support by an integer weight, take a nonzero Laurent polynomial and let be its finite set of exponent pairs with nonzero coefficients. Choose an integer such thatwhere the maximum is zero if has only one member. Set . If , thenso and then . Consequently all powers of in are distinct. The linear independence of the Laurent monomials prevents cancellation, givingThe choice depends on the finite support of ; a single fixed substitution need not detect every nonzero element.
For Noetherianity of subalgebras of a one-variable Laurent polynomial ring, let be a unital -subalgebra of . If , it is already a Noetherian ring. Otherwise we find a nonconstant and an ambient ring containing such that is a finitely generated module over .
If , choose a nonconstant polynomial in , where . Then is an integral element over , since it satisfies the monic polynomial equationThus is a finitely generated module over , generated by . The case is identical after replacing by .
In the remaining case is contained in neither of these two polynomial rings. There is an element with a positive exponent and an element with a negative exponent. If either already has both, use it as . Otherwise their sum has both, since the positive powers of the first and the negative powers of the second cannot cancel. We obtainMultiplying this identity by gives a polynomial equation for with leading coefficient :Dividing by makes it monic. Similarly, multiplication by gives a monic equation for after division by . Both generators are therefore integral elements over , so is a finitely generated module over .
In all three cases is a Noetherian ring, as a quotient of a one-variable polynomial ring. The subalgebra is also a -submodule, so it is a Noetherian module. Every ideal of is a -submodule of and is therefore finitely generated over , hence over . This proves
For the final request, take the following subalgebra of the two-variable Laurent polynomial ring:Let , an ideal of . We haveas -vector spaces. In particular, the classes of , for , are linearly independent. If had finitely many generators as an -module, their classes would span over , contradicting its infinite dimension. Hence is not finitely generated and is not a Noetherian ring. This illustrates why the preceding result is special to one Laurent variable.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2016 iii Paper 101 5 Solution Created 2026-10-03 Updated 2026-10-06
The Artin-Rees lemma states that, for a Noetherian ring , an ideal , a finitely generated module , and a submodule , there is such thatThus the filtration on induced from the I-adic filtration of is eventually determined by one of its terms.
For the proof, form the Rees ring and its Rees module:Since is a Noetherian ring, write . Then , so it is a Noetherian ring by the Hilbert basis theorem. Generators of in degree zero generate as a module over , so this is a Noetherian module.
The graded submoduleis therefore finitely generated. Choose homogeneous generators with for some . For , taking degree- components givesThe same generators show that the final sum is exactly . This proves the Artin-Rees lemma. If , one may simply take .
Now letIt is a submodule of the Noetherian module , hence a finitely generated module. Apply the Artin-Rees lemma with and . Since is contained in every (including ), its conclusion reduces toWrite generators as . There is a matrix with entries in such that . Multiplication by the adjugate of shows thatThe determinant is congruent to modulo , so it is for some . This determinant trick produces a single such element annihilating all of , and in particular annihilating each . If , use .
Conversely, if with , then . Iterating gives for every . Hence the exact description isIn a local ring with contained in the maximal ideal, every is a unit, so this also yields the usual vanishing form of the Krull intersection theorem.
For a failure without the Noetherian ring hypothesis, let and use the semigroup algebraIts elements are finite sums of formal monomials , with multiplication . Each ring in the union is a polynomial ring and the inclusions are injective, so is an integral domain. It is not a Noetherian ring, sinceIndeed the generator on the left is the square of the next generator, while division in the opposite direction would require a negative exponent, which is unavailable in .
Let be the ideal of elements with zero constant term, equivalentlyIt is proper because taking the constant term gives . Every generator is , with , so . Thus this is a nonzero idempotent ideal, with for every . TakeFor every , the constant term of is , so . Since is an integral domain and , we have . This gives all three requested objects and proves that no element of the required form annihilates .
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2019 iii Paper 148 2 Solution 2026-10-03
The set is a multiplicative subset, since . The localization of a ring consists of fractions , whereSimilarly, the localization of a module consists of fractions , with the analogous equivalence relation. The canonical maps areThe Localization of a Noetherian ring is Noetherian. Since a finitely generated module over a Noetherian ring is a Noetherian module, localizing a finite generating set shows that is Noetherian over .
The prime ideal correspondence for localization identifies with the primes disjoint from . Hereso the spectrum of localization away from one plus an ideal is
An element maps to zero exactly when for some . Such an equation gives for every , proving one inclusion. Conversely, suppose . The Artin-Rees lemma applied to says that for some ,Taking gives , so for some . Then and . Thus
For failure without Noetherianity, takeThe strict chain shows that is not Noetherian. Since , one has , and hence . But is an integral domain, so its localization map into is injective. This is the non-Noetherian failure of the intersection formula for localization.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2021 iii Paper 101 1 a Solution 2026-09-28
Suppose every submodule of is finitely generated. For an ascending chain , its union is a submodule. Finitely many generators of all lie in one , so and the chain stabilizes. Thus the ascending chain condition holds.
If the ascending chain condition holds, any nonempty collection of submodules has a maximal member: otherwise, starting from one member and repeatedly choosing a strictly larger one constructs a nonstationary ascending chain.
Finally, assume the maximal condition. Among the finitely generated submodules of a given , choose a maximal one . If , then is a larger finitely generated submodule for any , a contradiction. Hence every is finitely generated. These are the three equivalent characterizations of a Noetherian module.
If is Noetherian, every submodule of is a submodule of , and submodules of correspond to submodules of containing ; hence both are Noetherian.
Conversely, suppose and are Noetherian. For any , the intersection is finitely generated and the image is finitely generated. Lifting generators of the image and applying part i toshows that is finitely generated. Thus is Noetherian.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2023 iii Paper 101 1 a iii Solution Created 2026-09-28 Updated 2026-10-03
False. The module over a ring over itself is Noetherian, because its submodules are the principal ideals , but the descending chainshows that it is not an Artinian module.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2023 iii Paper 101 1 a ii Solution Created 2026-09-28 Updated 2026-10-03
True. This is the Artinian commutative ring is Noetherian theorem. One proof uses the nilpotent nilradical of an Artinian ring . The quotient is a finite product of fields. Each quotient is an Artinian module over the semisimple ring , hence has finite length and is Noetherian. The finite filtrationthen makes a Noetherian module over itself, which is exactly the ascending chain condition on its ideals.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2024 iii Paper 101 1 ii a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
True. If is generated by , there is a surjection . The right exactness of the tensor product of modules gives a surjectionA finite direct sum of Noetherian modules is Noetherian, and a quotient of a Noetherian module is Noetherian. Hence is Noetherian.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2024 iii Paper 101 1 i Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
An -module is Noetherian when every submodule is finitely generated, equivalently when every ascending chain of submodules stabilizes.
A free module is an -module with a basis: every element has a unique expression as a finite linear combination of basis elements.
A flat module is one for which the tensor functor is exact. Since tensor products are always right exact, it is equivalent to require that tensoring with preserve injections.
A projective module has the lifting property: for every surjection and every map , there is a map making the resulting triangle commute. Equivalently, is a direct summand of a free module.
Prime filtration Created 2026-10-06 Updated 2026-10-14
A prime filtration of a module over a commutative ring is a finite increasing chain from zero to the module with each nonzero successive quotient module isomorphic to for a prime ideal . Every finitely generated module over a Noetherian ring has one. In each nonzero quotient, a maximal annihilator of a module element is prime supplies a cyclic submodule ; lift it and repeat. The ascending chain condition for a Noetherian module makes the process terminate. This is not necessarily a composition series: the prime ideals need not be maximal.