Reverse mathematics, well-quasi-orders, and Noetherian spaces

A quasi-order Q induces two natural quasi-orders on P(Q) P(Q) , but if Q is a well-quasi-order, then these quasi-orders need not necessarily be well-quasi-orders. Nevertheless, Goubault-Larrecq (Proceedings of the 22nd Annual IEEE Symposium 4 on Logic in Computer Science (LICS’07), pp. 453–462, 2007) showed that moving from a well-quasi-order Q to the quasi-orders on P(Q) P(Q) preserves well-quasi-orderedness in a topological sense. Specifically, Goubault-Larrecq proved that the upper topologies of the induced quasi-orders on P(Q) P(Q) are Noetherian, which means that they contain no infinite strictly descending sequences of closed sets. We analyze various theorems of the form “if Q is a well-quasi-order then a certain topology on (a subset of) P(Q) P(Q) is Noetherian” in the style of reverse mathematics, proving that these theorems are equivalent to ACA0 over RCA0. To state these theorems in RCA0 we introduce a new framework for dealing with second-countable topological spaces

Gr\"obner methods for representations of combinatorial categories

Given a category C of a combinatorial nature, we study the following fundamental question: how does the combinatorial behavior of C affect the algebraic behavior of representations of C? We prove two general results. The first gives a combinatorial criterion for representations of C to admit a theory of Gr\"obner bases. From this, we obtain a criterion for noetherianity of representations. The second gives a combinatorial criterion for a general "rationality" result for Hilbert series of representations of C. This criterion connects to the theory of formal languages, and makes essential use of results on the generating functions of languages, such as the transfer-matrix method and the Chomsky-Sch\"utzenberger theorem. Our work is motivated by recent work in the literature on representations of various specific categories. Our general criteria recover many of the results on these categories that had been proved by ad hoc means, and often yield cleaner proofs and stronger statements. For example: we give a new, more robust, proof that FI-modules (originally introduced by Church-Ellenberg-Farb), and a family of natural generalizations, are noetherian; we give an easy proof of a generalization of the Lannes-Schwartz artinian conjecture from the study of generic representation theory of finite fields; we significantly improve the theory of $\Delta$-modules, introduced by Snowden in connection to syzygies of Segre embeddings; and we establish fundamental properties of twisted commutative algebras in positive characteristic.Comment: 41 pages; v2: Moved old Sections 3.4, 10, 11, 13.2 and connected text to arxiv:1410.6054v1, Section 13.1 removed and will appear elsewhere; v3: substantial revision and reorganization of section

The telescope conjecture for algebraic stacks

Using Balmer--Favi's generalized idempotents, we establish the telescope conjecture for many algebraic stacks. Along the way, we classify the thick tensor ideals of perfect complexes of stacks.Comment: 20 page

Markov random fields and iterated toric fibre products

We prove that iterated toric fibre products from a finite collection of toric varieties are defined by binomials of uniformly bounded degree. This implies that Markov random fields built up from a finite collection of finite graphs have uniformly bounded Markov degree.Comment: several improvements, final versio

Non-commutative crepant resolutions: scenes from categorical geometry

Non-commutative crepant resolutions are algebraic objects defined by Van den Bergh to realize an equivalence of derived categories in birational geometry. They are motivated by tilting theory, the McKay correspondence, and the minimal model program, and have applications to string theory and representation theory. In this expository article I situate Van den Bergh's definition within these contexts and describe some of the current research in the area.Comment: 57 pages; final version, to appear in "Progress in Commutative Algebra: Ring Theory, Homology, and Decompositions" (Sean Sather-Wagstaff, Christopher Francisco, Lee Klingler, and Janet Vassilev, eds.), De Gruyter. Incorporates many small bugfixes and adjustments addressing comments from the referee and other

Homological dimensions for co-rank one idempotent subalgebras

Let $k$ be an algebraically closed field and $A$ be a (left and right) Noetherian associative $k$-algebra. Assume further that $A$ is either positively graded or semiperfect (this includes the class of finite dimensional $k$-algebras, and $k$-algebras that are finitely generated modules over a Noetherian central Henselian ring). Let $e$ be a primitive idempotent of $A$, which we assume is of degree $0$ if $A$ is positively graded. We consider the idempotent subalgebra $\Gamma = (1-e)A(1-e)$ and $S_e$ the simple right $A$-module $S_e = eA/e{\rm rad}A$, where ${\rm rad}A$ is the Jacobson radical of $A$, or the graded Jacobson radical of $A$ if $A$ is positively graded. In this paper, we relate the homological dimensions of $A$ and $\Gamma$, using the homological properties of $S_e$. First, if $S_e$ has no self-extensions of any degree, then the global dimension of $A$ is finite if and only if that of $\Gamma$ is. On the other hand, if the global dimensions of both $A$ and $\Gamma$ are finite, then $S_e$ cannot have self-extensions of degree greater than one, provided $A/{\rm rad}A$ is finite dimensional.Comment: 24 page