Skip to main content

Abstract

Consider K to be an arbitrary field, and P(n1,…, nm) be the ideal of polynomials given by

P(n1,…, nm) = {f(x1, … , xm) : f(x1,…,xm) ∈ K[x1,…,xm], f(tn1, … ,tnm) = 0, where t is transcendental over K}.

In 1970, J. Herzog showed that the least upper bound on the number of generators of K, for m = 3, is 3. It can be lowered to two, if n1, n2, n3 satisfy a few symmetry conditions. Following that, Bresinsky in 1975, showed that the lowest upper bound on the number of generators of P(n1, …, nm), can be arbitrarily large if m is greater than or equal to 4. Recent work by Herzog and Stamate provides a closed form for the number of generators for the semigroup in Bresinsky’s example showing that this number is arbitrarily large but even (precisely 2k, where k is built into Bresinsky’s semigroup and can be any natural number).

Since then a lot of progress has been made in investigating and finding a closed form for the number of generators of the ideal of relations for m greater than or equal to 4. All established work in the field produced examples where this number is always an even number.

However, in 2017, Stamate considers a semigroup suggested by Backelin, which has the following structure.

H = (r(3n+2), r(3n+2)+3, r(3n+2)+3n+1, r(3n+2)+3n+2)

where n is greater than or equal to 2, and r is greater than or equal to 3n+2.

Stamate reports that computations using Singular and GAP indicate that the number of generators for this semigroup is 3n+4, which can be an odd number.

The purpose of this project is to theoretically verify that result. In doing so, the project not only answers a fundamental question in semigroup theory; but also fills the vacuum caused by the lack of any examples with an odd number of generators, thereby completing a 43-year-old question.

Files

File nameDate UploadedVisibilityFile size
UIC_math.pdf
19 Jul 2022
Public
73.9 kB

Metrics

Metadata

  • Event location
    • Nesbitt 3110

  • Event date
    • 3 November 2018

  • Date submitted

    19 July 2022