3SUM

In commutative algebra, a regular local ring is a Noetherian local ring having the property that the minimal number of generators of its maximal ideal is equal to its Krull dimension. In symbols, let A be a Noetherian local ring with maximal ideal m, and suppose a₁, ..., a_n is a minimal set of generators of m. Then by Krull's principal ideal theorem n ≥ dim A, and A is defined to be regular if n = dim A.

The appellation regular is justified by the geometric meaning. A point x on an algebraic variety X is nonsingular if and only if the local ring ${\mathcal{𝒪}}_{X,x}$ of germs at x is regular. Regular local rings are not related to von Neumann regular rings.

Characterizations

There are a number of useful definitions of a regular local ring, one of which is mentioned above. In particular, if $A$ is a Noetherian local ring with maximal ideal $\mathfrak{m}$, then the following are equivalent definitions

• Let $\mathfrak{m}=(a_1,\dots ,a_n)$ where $n$ is chosen as small as possible. Then $A$ is regular if

$\text{dim }A=n$,

where the dimension is the Krull dimension. The minimal set of generators of $a_1,\dots ,a_n$ are then called a regular system of parameters.

• Let $k=A/\mathfrak{m}$ be the residue field of $A$. Then $A$ is regular if

${\dim }_k\mathfrak{m}/{\mathfrak{m}}^2=\dim A$,

where the second dimension is the Krull dimension.

• Let $\text{gl dim }A:=\sup \{\text{pd }M|M\text{ is an A-module}\}$ be the global dimension of $A$ (i.e., the supremum of the projective dimensions of all $A$-modules.) Then $A$ is regular if

$\text{gl dim }A<\mathrm{\infty }$,

in which case, $\text{gl dim }A=\dim A$.

Examples

1. Every field is a regular local ring. These have (Krull) dimension 0. In fact, the fields are exactly the regular local rings of dimension 0.
2. Any discrete valuation ring is a regular local ring of dimension 1 and the regular local rings of dimension 1 are exactly the discrete valuation rings. Specifically, if k is a field and X is an indeterminate, then the ring of formal power series k[[X]] is a regular local ring having (Krull) dimension 1.
3. If p is an ordinary prime number, the ring of p-adic integers is an example of a discrete valuation ring, and consequently a regular local ring, which does not contain a field.
4. More generally, if k is a field and X₁, X₂, ..., X_d are indeterminates, then the ring of formal power series k[[X₁, X₂, ..., X_d]] is a regular local ring having (Krull) dimension d.
5. If A is a local ring, then it follows that the formal power series ring A[[x]] is regular local.
6. If Z is the ring of integers and X is an indeterminate, the ring Z[X]_{(2, X)} is an example of a 2-dimensional regular local ring which does not contain a field.

Basic properties

The Auslander–Buchsbaum theorem states that every regular local ring is a unique factorization domain.

Every localization of a regular local ring is regular.

The completion of a regular local ring is regular.

If $(A,\mathfrak{m})$ is a complete regular local ring that contains a field, then

$A\cong k[[x_1,\dots ,x_d]]$,

where $k=A/\mathfrak{m}$ is the residue field, and $d=\dim A$, the Krull dimension.

Origin of basic notions

Regular local rings were originally defined by Wolfgang Krull in 1937, but they first became prominent in the work of Oscar Zariski a few years later, who showed that geometrically, a regular local ring corresponds to a smooth point on an algebraic variety. Let Y be an algebraic variety contained in affine n-space over a perfect field, and suppose that Y is the vanishing locus of the polynomials f₁,...,f_m. Y is nonsingular at P if Y satisfies a Jacobian condition: If M = (∂f_i/∂x_j) is the matrix of partial derivatives of the defining equations of the variety, then the rank of the matrix found by evaluating M at P is n − dim Y. Zariski proved that Y is nonsingular at P if and only if the local ring of Y at P is regular. (Zariski observed that this can fail over non-perfect fields.) This implies that smoothness is an intrinsic property of the variety, in other words it does not depend on where or how the variety is embedded in affine space. It also suggests that regular local rings should have good properties, but before the introduction of techniques from homological algebra very little was known in this direction. Once such techniques were introduced in the 1950s, Auslander and Buchsbaum proved that every regular local ring is a unique factorization domain.

Another property suggested by geometric intuition is that the localization of a regular local ring should again be regular. Again, this lay unsolved until the introduction of homological techniques. However, Jean-Pierre Serre found a homological characterization of regular local rings: A local ring A is regular if and only if A has finite global dimension. It is easy to show that the property of having finite global dimension is preserved under localization, and consequently that localizations of regular local rings at prime ideals are again regular. This allows us to define regularity for all rings, not just local ones: A ring A is said to be a regular ring if its localizations at all of its prime ideals are regular local rings. It is equivalent to say that A has finite global dimension.

References

• Jean-Pierre Serre, Local algebra, Springer-Verlag, 2000, ISBN 3-540-66641-9. Chap.IV.D.