The existence of Ulrich modules for (complete) local domains has been a difficult and elusive open question. For over thirty years, it was unknown whether complete local domains always have Ulrich modules. In this paper, we answer the question of existence for both Ulrich modules and weakly lim Ulrich sequences – a weaker notion recently introduced by Ma – in the negative. We construct many local domains in all dimensions $d \geq 2$ that do not have any Ulrich modules. Moreover, we show that when $d = 2$, these local domains do not have weakly lim Ulrich sequences.

Let k be a field of characteristic zero and let $\Omega_{A/k}$ be the universally finite differential module of a k-algebra A, which is the local ring of a closed point of an algebraic or algebroid curve over k. A notorious open problem, known as Berger’s Conjecture, predicts that A must be regular if $\Omega_{A/k}$ is torsion-free. In this paper, assuming the hypotheses of the conjecture and observing that the module ${\rm Hom}_A(\Omega_{A/k}, \Omega_{A/k})$ is then isomorphic to an ideal of A, say $\mathfrak{h}$, we show that A is regular whenever the ring $A/a\mathfrak{h}$ is Gorenstein for some parameter a (and conversely). In addition, we provide various characterizations for the regularity of A in the context of the conjecture.

Hilbert–Kunz multiplicity and F-signature are numerical invariants of commutative rings in positive characteristic that measure severity of singularities: for a regular ring both invariants are equal to one and the converse holds under mild assumptions. A natural question is for what singular rings these invariants are closest to one. For Hilbert–Kunz multiplicity this question was first considered by the last two authors and attracted significant attention. In this paper, we study this question, i.e., an upper bound, for F-signature and revisit lower bounds on Hilbert–Kunz multiplicity.

Let R be a Cohen–Macaulay local K-algebra or a standard graded K-algebra over a field K with a canonical module $\omega _R$ . The trace of $\omega _R$ is the ideal $\operatorname {tr}(\omega _R)$ of R which is the sum of those ideals $\varphi (\omega _R)$ with ${\varphi \in \operatorname {Hom}_R(\omega _R,R)}$ . The smallest number s for which there exist $\varphi _1, \ldots , \varphi _s \in \operatorname {Hom}_R(\omega _R,R)$ with $\operatorname {tr}(\omega _R)=\varphi _1(\omega _R) + \cdots + \varphi _s(\omega _R)$ is called the Teter number of R. We say that R is of Teter type if $s = 1$ . It is shown that R is not of Teter type if R is generically Gorenstein. In the present paper, we focus especially on zero-dimensional graded and monomial K-algebras and present various classes of such algebras which are of Teter type.

Let $(A,\mathfrak m)$ be an excellent two-dimensional normal local domain. In this paper, we study the elliptic and the strongly elliptic ideals of A with the aim to characterize elliptic and strongly elliptic singularities, according to the definitions given by Wagreich and Yau. In analogy with the rational singularities, in the main result, we characterize a strongly elliptic singularity in terms of the normal Hilbert coefficients of the integrally closed $\mathfrak m$ -primary ideals of A. Unlike $p_g$ -ideals, elliptic ideals and strongly elliptic ideals are not necessarily normal and necessary, and sufficient conditions for being normal are given. In the last section, we discuss the existence (and the effective construction) of strongly elliptic ideals in any two-dimensional normal local ring.

Let $f\colon Y \to X$ be a proper flat morphism of locally noetherian schemes. Then the locus in $X$ over which $f$ is smooth is stable under generization. We prove that, under suitable assumptions on the formal fibers of $X$, the same property holds for other local properties of morphisms, even if $f$ is only closed and flat. Our proof of this statement reduces to a purely local question known as Grothendieck's localization problem. To answer Grothendieck's problem, we provide a general framework that gives a uniform treatment of previously known cases of this problem, and also solves this problem in new cases, namely for weak normality, seminormality, $F$-rationality, and the ‘Cohen–Macaulay and $F$-injective’ property. For the weak normality statement, we prove that weak normality always lifts from Cartier divisors. We also solve Grothendieck's localization problem for terminal, canonical, and rational singularities in equal characteristic zero.

A local ring R is regular if and only if every finitely generated R-module has finite projective dimension. Moreover, the residue field k is a test module: R is regular if and only if k has finite projective dimension. This characterization can be extended to the bounded derived category $\mathsf {D}^{\mathsf f}(R)$ , which contains only small objects if and only if R is regular. Recent results of Pollitz, completing work initiated by Dwyer–Greenlees–Iyengar, yield an analogous characterization for complete intersections: R is a complete intersection if and only if every object in $\mathsf {D}^{\mathsf f}(R)$ is proxy small. In this paper, we study a return to the world of R-modules, and search for finitely generated R-modules that are not proxy small whenever R is not a complete intersection. We give an algorithm to construct such modules in certain settings, including over equipresented rings and Stanley–Reisner rings.

We relate the analytic spread of a module expressed as the direct sum of two submodules with the analytic spread of its components. We also study a class of submodules whose integral closure can be expressed in terms of the integral closure of its row ideals, and therefore can be obtained by means of a simple computer algebra procedure. In particular, we analyze a class of modules, not necessarily of maximal rank, whose integral closure is determined by the family of Newton polyhedra of their row ideals.

Unfortunately, there is a mistake in [PS, Lemma 3.10] which invalidates [PS, Theorem 3.12]. We show that the theorem still holds if the ring is assumed to be Gorenstein.

The purpose of this paper is, as part of the stratification of Cohen–Macaulay rings, to investigate the question of when the fiber products are almost Gorenstein rings. We show that the fiber product $R \times _T S$ of Cohen–Macaulay local rings R, S of the same dimension $d>0$ over a regular local ring T with $\dim T=d-1$ is an almost Gorenstein ring if and only if so are R and S. In addition, the other generalizations of Gorenstein properties are also explored.

The symbolic analytic spread of an ideal $I$ is defined in terms of the rate of growth of the minimal number of generators of its symbolic powers. In this article, we find upper bounds for the symbolic analytic spread under certain conditions in terms of other invariants of $I$. Our methods also work for more general systems of ideals. As applications, we provide bounds for the (local) Kodaira dimension of divisors, the arithmetic rank, and the Frobenius complexity. We also show sufficient conditions for an ideal to be a set-theoretic complete intersection.

Let $K$ be a compact Lie group with complexification $G$, and let $V$ be a unitary $K$-module. We consider the real symplectic quotient $M_{0}$ at level zero of the homogeneous quadratic moment map as well as the complex symplectic quotient, defined here as the complexification of $M_{0}$. We show that if $(V,G)$ is $3$-large, a condition that holds generically, then the complex symplectic quotient has symplectic singularities and is graded Gorenstein. This implies in particular that the real symplectic quotient is graded Gorenstein. In case $K$ is a torus or $\operatorname{SU}_{2}$, we show that these results hold without the hypothesis that $(V,G)$ is $3$-large.

We prove that each positive power of the maximal ideal of a commutative Noetherian local ring is Tor-rigid and strongly rigid. This gives new characterizations of regularity and, in particular, shows that such ideals satisfy the torsion condition of a long-standing conjecture of Huneke and Wiegand.

In this short note, we confirm a conjecture of Vasconcelos which states that the Rees algebra of any Artinian almost complete intersection monomial ideal is almost Cohen–Macaulay.

We describe generators of disguised residual intersections in any commutative Noetherian ring. It is shown that, over Cohen–Macaulay rings, the disguised residual intersections and algebraic residual intersections are the same, for ideals with sliding depth. This coincidence provides structural results for algebraic residual intersections in a quite general setting. It is shown how the DG-algebra structure of Koszul homologies affects the determination of generators of residual intersections. It is shown that the Buchsbaum–Eisenbud family of complexes can be derived from the Koszul–Čech spectral sequence. This interpretation of Buchsbaum–Eisenbud families has a crucial rule to establish the above results.

Let (R, ) be an analytically unramified local ring of positive prime characteristic p. For an ideal I, let I* denote its tight closure. We introduce the tight Hilbert function $$H_I^*\left( n \right) = \Im \left( {R/\left( {{I^n}} \right)*} \right)$$ and the corresponding tight Hilbert polynomial $$P_I^*\left( n \right)$$, where I is an m-primary ideal. It is proved that F-rationality can be detected by the vanishing of the first coefficient of $$P_I^*\left( n \right)$$. We find the tight Hilbert polynomial of certain parameter ideals in hypersurface rings and Stanley-Reisner rings of simplicial complexes.

We prove results concerning the multiplicity as well as the Cohen–Macaulay and Gorenstein properties of the special fiber ring $\mathscr{F}(E)$ of a finitely generated $R$-module $E\subsetneq R^{e}$ over a Noetherian local ring $R$ with infinite residue field. Assuming that $R$ is Cohen–Macaulay of dimension 1 and that $E$ has finite colength in $R^{e}$, our main result establishes an asymptotic length formula for the multiplicity of $\mathscr{F}(E)$, which, in addition to being of independent interest, allows us to derive a Cohen–Macaulayness criterion and to detect a curious relation to the Buchsbaum–Rim multiplicity of $E$ in this setting. Further, we provide a Gorensteinness characterization for $\mathscr{F}(E)$ in the more general situation where $R$ is Cohen–Macaulay of arbitrary dimension and $E$ is not necessarily of finite colength, and we notice a constraint in terms of the second analytic deviation of the module $E$ if its reduction number is at least three.

We establish the continuity of Hilbert–Kunz multiplicity and F-signature as functions from a Cohen–Macaulay local ring $(R,\mathfrak{m},k)$ of prime characteristic to the real numbers at reduced parameter elements with respect to the $\mathfrak{m}$-adic topology.

Let R be a d-dimensional Cohen–Macaulay (CM) local ring of minimal multiplicity. Set S := R/(f), where f := f1,. . .,fc is an R-regular sequence. Suppose M and N are maximal CM S-modules. It is shown that if ExtSi(M, N) = 0 for some (d + c + 1) consecutive values of i ⩾ 2, then ExtSi(M, N) = 0 for all i ⩾ 1. Moreover, if this holds true, then either projdimR(M) or injdimR(N) is finite. In addition, a counterpart of this result for Tor-modules is provided. Furthermore, we give a number of necessary and sufficient conditions for a CM local ring of minimal multiplicity to be regular or Gorenstein. These conditions are based on vanishing of certain Exts or Tors involving homomorphic images of syzygy modules of the residue field.

We compute Betti numbers for a Cohen–Macaulay tangent cone of a monomial curve in the affine $4$-space corresponding to a pseudo-symmetric numerical semigroup. As a byproduct, we also show that for these semigroups, being of homogeneous type and homogeneous are equivalent properties.