Improving the bounds of the Multiplicity Conjecture: the codimension 3 level case

The Multiplicity Conjecture (MC) of Huneke and Srinivasan provides upper and lower bounds for the multiplicity of a Cohen-Macaulay algebra $A$ in terms of the shifts appearing in the modules of the minimal free resolution (MFR) of $A$. All the examples studied so far have lead to conjecture (see $[HZ]$ and $[MNR2]$) that, moreover, the bounds of the MC are sharp if and only if $A$ has a pure MFR. Therefore, it seems a reasonable - and useful - idea to seek better, if possibly {\it ad hoc}, bounds for particular classes of Cohen-Macaulay algebras. In this work we will only consider the codimension 3 case. In the first part we will stick to the bounds of the MC, and show that they hold for those algebras whose $h$-vector is that of a compressed algebra. In the second part, we will (mainly) focus on the level case: we will construct new conjectural upper and lower bounds for the multiplicity of a codimension 3 level algebra $A$, which can be expressed exclusively in terms of the $h$-vector of $A$, and which are better than (or equal to) those provided by the MC. Also, our bounds can be sharp even when the MFR of $A$ is not pure. Even though proving our bounds still appears too difficult a task in general, we are already able to show them for some interesting classes of codimension 3 level algebras $A$: namely, when $A$ is compressed, or when its $h$-vector $h(A)$ ends with $(...,3,2)$. Also, we will prove our lower bound when $h(A)$ begins with $(1,3,h_2,...)$, where $h_2\leq 4$, and our upper bound when $h(A)$ ends with $(...,h_{c-1},h_c)$, where $h_{c-1}\leq h_c+1$.Comment: 22 pages. A few (non-substantial) changes. To appear in J. of Pure and Appl. Algebr

Boundary quotients and ideals of Toeplitz C*-algebras of Artin groups

We study the quotients of the Toeplitz C*-algebra of a quasi-lattice ordered group (G,P), which we view as crossed products by a partial actions of G on closed invariant subsets of a totally disconnected compact Hausdorff space, the Nica spectrum of (G,P). Our original motivation and our main examples are drawn from right-angled Artin groups, but many of our results are valid for more general quasi-lattice ordered groups. We show that the Nica spectrum has a unique minimal closed invariant subset, which we call the boundary spectrum, and we define the boundary quotient to be the crossed product of the corresponding restricted partial action. The main technical tools used are the results of Exel, Laca, and Quigg on simplicity and ideal structure of partial crossed products, which depend on amenability and topological freeness of the partial action and its restriction to closed invariant subsets. When there exists a generalised length function, or controlled map, defined on G and taking values in an amenable group, we prove that the partial action is amenable on arbitrary closed invariant subsets. Our main results are obtained for right-angled Artin groups with trivial centre, that is, those with no cyclic direct factor; they include a presentation of the boundary quotient in terms of generators and relations that generalises Cuntz's presentation of O_n, a proof that the boundary quotient is purely infinite and simple, and a parametrisation of the ideals of the Toeplitz C*-algebra in terms of subsets of the standard generators of the Artin group.Comment: 26 page

Essential dimension of simple algebras with involutions

Let $1\leq m \leq n$ be integers with $m|n$ and \cat{Alg}_{n,m} the class of central simple algebras of degree $n$ and exponent dividing $m$. In this paper, we find new, improved upper bounds for the essential dimension and 2-dimension of \cat{Alg}_{n,2}. In particular, we show that \ed_{2}(\cat{Alg}_{16,2})=24 over a field $F$ of characteristic different from 2.Comment: Sections 1 and 3 are rewritte