Diane Maclagan

Multigraded Castelnuovo-Mumford regularity

We develop a multigraded variant of Castelnuovo-Mumford regularity. Motivated by toric geometry, we work with modules over a polynomial ring graded by a finitely generated abelian group. As in the standard graded case, our definition of multigraded regularity involves the vanishing of graded components of local cohomology. We establish the key properties of regularity: its connection with the minimal generators of a module and its behavior in exact sequences. For an ideal sheaf on a simplicial toric variety X, we prove that its multigraded regularity bounds the equations that cut out the associated subvariety. We also provide a criterion for testing if an ample line bundle on X gives a projectively normal embedding.

Uniform bounds on multigraded regularity

We give an effective uniform bound on the multigraded regularity of a subscheme of a smooth projective toric variety X with a given multigraded Hilbert polynomial. To establish this bound, we introduce a new combinatorial tool, called a Stanley filtration, for studying monomial ideals in the homogeneous coordinate ring of X. As a special case, we obtain a new proof of Gotzmann’s regularity theorem. We also discuss applications of this bound to the construction of multigraded Hilbert

The card game set

This column is a place for those bits of contagious mathematics that travel from person to person in the community, because they are so elegant, suprising, or appealing that one has an urge to pass them on.Contributions are most welcome.

Antichains of monomial ideals are finite

The main result of this paper is that all antichains are finite in the poset of monomial ideals in a polynomial ring, ordered by inclusion. We present several corollaries of this result, both simpler proofs of results already in the literature and new results. One natural generalization to more abstract posets is shown to be false.

Combinatorics of the Toric Hilbert Scheme

The toric Hilbert scheme is a parameter space for all ideals with the same multigraded Hilbert function as a given toric ideal. Unlike the classical Hilbert scheme, it is unknown whether toric Hilbert schemes are connected. We construct a graph on all the monomial ideals on the scheme, called the flip graph, and prove that the toric Hilbert scheme is connected if and only if the flip graph is connected. These graphs are used to exhibit curves in P4 whose associated toric Hilbert schemes have arbitrary dimension. We show that the flip graph maps into the Baues graph of all triangulations of the point configuration defining the toric ideal. Inspired by the recent discovery of a disconnected Baues graph, we close with results that suggest the existence of a disconnected flip graph and hence a disconnected toric Hilbert scheme.

Equivalent Methods for Global Optimization

The envelope used by the algorithm of Breiman and Cutler [4] can be smoothed to create a better algorithm. This is equivalent to an accelerated algorithm developed by the third author and Cutler in [3] which uses apparently poor envelopes. Explaining this anomaly lead to a general result concerning the equivalence of methods which use information from more than one point at each stage and those that only use the most recent evaluated point. Smoothing is appropriate for many algorithms, and we show it is an optimal strategy.

Smooth and irreducible multigraded Hilbert schemes

Abstract The multigraded Hilbert scheme parametrizes all homogeneous ideals in a polynomial ring graded by an abelian group with a fixed Hilbert function. We prove that any multigraded Hilbert scheme is smooth and irreducible when the polynomial ring is Z [ x , y ] , which establishes a conjecture of Haiman and Sturmfels.

Fiber Fans and Toric Quotients

The GIT chamber decomposition arising from a subtorus action on a polarized quasiprojective toric variety is a polyhedral complex. Denote by Σ the fan that is the cone over the polyhedral complex. In this paper we show that the toric variety defined by the fan Σ is the normalization of the toric Chow quotient of a closely related affine toric variety by a complementary torus.

The toric Hilbert scheme of a rank two lattice is smooth and irreducible

The toric Hilbert scheme of a lattice L ⊆Zn is the multigraded Hilbert scheme parameterizing all homogeneous ideals I in S = k[x1,...,xn] such that the Hilbert function of the quotient S/I has value one for every g in the grading monoid G+ = Nn/ L. In this paper we show that if L is two-dimensional, then the toric Hilbert scheme of L is smooth and irreducible. This result is false for lattices of dimension three and higher as the toric Hilbert scheme of a rank three lattice can be reducible.

Gröbner bases over fields with valuations

Let K be a field with a valuation and let S be the polynomial ring S:= K[x_1,..., x_n]. We discuss the extension of Groebner theory to ideals in S, taking the valuations of coefficients into account, and describe the Buchberger algorithm in this context. In addition we discuss some implementation and complexity issues. The main motivation comes from tropical geometry, as tropical varieties can be defined using these Groebner bases, but we also give examples showing that the resulting Groebner bases can be substantially smaller than traditional Groebner bases. In the case K = Q with the p-adic valuation the algorithms have been implemented in a Macaulay 2 package.