Integral scheme 2026-09-28
An integral scheme is a nonempty scheme that is both reduced and irreducible. An affine scheme is integral exactly when is an integral domain.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2023 iii Paper 113 1 c Solution 2026-09-28
For a point , let be the image of in its residue field . The scheme-theoretic fiber isIf , then . The quadratic polynomial is irreducible. Indeed, after setting , any hypothetical linear factors must restrict, up to nonzero scalars, to and ; comparing the and coefficients then forces both coefficients to vanish, contradicting the nonzero coefficient. Hence its homogeneous coordinate ring is an integral domain, so is an integral scheme.
At the origin , the fiber is , the union of the two distinct projective lines and , and is therefore not irreducible. It is nevertheless a reduced scheme because the ideal equals its radical. Every other fiber is integral and hence reduced. Thus the fiber is integral exactly away from the origin, and it is reduced at every point of .