Grade (ring theory)

From HandWiki
Short description: An invariant for finitely generated modules over a Noetherian rings

In commutative and homological algebra, the grade of a finitely generated module [math]\displaystyle{ M }[/math] over a Noetherian ring [math]\displaystyle{ R }[/math] is a cohomological invariant defined by vanishing of Ext-modules[1]

[math]\displaystyle{ \textrm{grade}\,M=\textrm{grade}_R\,M=\inf\left\{i\in\mathbb{N}_0:\textrm{Ext}_R^i(M,R)\neq 0\right\}. }[/math]

For an ideal [math]\displaystyle{ I\triangleleft R }[/math] the grade is defined via the quotient ring viewed as a module over [math]\displaystyle{ R }[/math]

[math]\displaystyle{ \textrm{grade}\,I=\textrm{grade}_R\,I=\textrm{grade}_R\,R/I=\inf\left\{i\in\mathbb{N}_0:\textrm{Ext}_R^i(R/I,R)\neq 0\right\}. }[/math]

The grade is used to define perfect ideals. In general we have the inequality

[math]\displaystyle{ \textrm{grade}_R\,I\leq\textrm{proj}\dim(R/I) }[/math]

where the projective dimension is another cohomological invariant.

The grade is tightly related to the depth, since

[math]\displaystyle{ \textrm{grade}_R\,I=\textrm{depth}_{I}(R). }[/math]

References