Projectively simple rings

We introduce the notion of a projectively simple ring, which is an infinite-dimensional graded k-algebra A such that every 2-sided ideal has finite codimension in A (over the base field k). Under some (relatively mild) additional assumptions on A, we reduce the problem of classifying such rings (in the sense explained in the paper) to the following geometric question, which we believe to be of independent interest. Let X is a smooth irreducible projective variety. An automorphism f: X -> X is called wild if it X has no proper f-invariant subvarieties. We conjecture that if X admits a wild automorphism then X is an abelian variety. We prove several results in support of this conjecture; in particular, we show that the conjecture is true if X is a curve or a surface. In the case where X is an abelian variety, we describe all wild automorphisms of X. In the last two sections we show that if A is projectively simple and admits a balanced dualizing complex, then Proj(A) is Cohen-Macaulay and Gorenstein.Comment: Some new material has been added in Section 1; to appear in Advances in Mathematic

Noncommutative Blowups of Elliptic Algebras

We develop a ring-theoretic approach for blowing up many noncommutative projective surfaces. Let T be an elliptic algebra (meaning that, for some central element g of degree 1, T/gT is a twisted homogeneous coordinate ring of an elliptic curve E at an infinite order automorphism). Given an effective divisor d on E whose degree is not too big, we construct a blowup T(d) of T at d and show that it is also an elliptic algebra. Consequently it has many good properties: for example, it is strongly noetherian, Auslander-Gorenstein, and has a balanced dualizing complex. We also show that the ideal structure of T(d) is quite rigid. Our results generalise those of the first author. In the companion paper "Classifying Orders in the Sklyanin Algebra", we apply our results to classify orders in (a Veronese subalgebra of) a generic cubic or quadratic Sklyanin algebra.Comment: 39 pages. Minor changes from previous version. The final publication is available from Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10468-014-9506-

Skew Calabi-Yau triangulated categories and Frobenius Ext-algebras

We investigate the conditions that are sufficient to make the Ext-algebra of an object in a (triangulated) category into a Frobenius algebra and compute the corresponding Nakayama automorphism. As an application, we prove the conjecture that hdet($\mu_A$) = 1 for any noetherian Artin-Schelter regular (hence skew Calabi-Yau) algebra A.Comment: 31 page

Skew Calabi-Yau Algebras and Homological Identities

A skew Calabi-Yau algebra is a generalization of a Calabi-Yau algebra which allows for a non-trivial Nakayama automorphism. We prove three homological identities about the Nakayama automorphism and give several applications. The identities we prove show (i) how the Nakayama automorphism of a smash product algebra A # H is related to the Nakayama automorphisms of a graded skew Calabi-Yau algebra A and a finite-dimensional Hopf algebra H that acts on it; (ii) how the Nakayama automorphism of a graded twist of A is related to the Nakayama automorphism of A; and (iii) that Nakayama automorphism of a skew Calabi-Yau algebra A has trivial homological determinant in case A is noetherian, connected graded, and Koszul.Comment: 39 pages; minor changes, mostly in the Introductio

Naive Noncommutative Blowing Up

Let B(X,L,s) be the twisted homogeneous coordinate ring of an irreducible variety X over an algebraically closed field k with dim X > 1. Assume that c in X and s in Aut(X) are in sufficiently general position. We show that if one follows the commutative prescription for blowing up X at c, but in this noncommutative setting, one obtains a noncommutative ring R=R(X,c,L,s) with surprising properties. In particular: (1) R is always noetherian but never strongly noetherian. (2) If R is generated in degree one then the images of the R-point modules in qgr(R) are naturally in (1-1) correspondence with the closed points of X. However, both in qgr(R) and in gr(R), the R-point modules are not parametrized by a projective scheme. (3) qgr R has finite cohomological dimension yet H^1(R) is infinite dimensional. This gives a more geometric approach to results of the second author who proved similar results for X=P^n by algebraic methods.Comment: Latex, 42 page

Geometric algebras on projective surfaces

Let X be a projective surface, let \sigma be an automorphism of X, and let L be a \sigma-ample invertible sheaf on X. We study the properties of a family of subrings, parameterized by geometric data, of the twisted homogeneous coordinate ring B(X, L, \sigma). In particular, we find necessary and sufficient conditions for these subrings to be noetherian. We also study their homological properties, their associated noncommutative projective schemes, and when they are maximal orders. In the process, we produce new examples of maximal orders; these are graded and have the property that no Veronese subring is generated in degree 1. Our results are used in a companion paper to give defining data for a large class of noncommutative projective surfaces.Comment: 39 pages; v2 results largely unchanged, but notation describing algebras revised significantly. As a result details of many proofs have changed, and statements of some results. To appear in Journal of Algebr

Algebras in which every subalgebra is noetherian

We show that the twisted homogeneous coordinate rings of elliptic curves by infinite order automorphisms have the curious property that every subalgebra is both finitely generated and noetherian. As a consequence, we show that a localisation of a generic Skylanin algebra has the same property.Comment: 5 pages; comments welcome; v2 only minor changes, most suggested by refere