Binomial edge ideals of bipartite graphs

Abstract

We classify the bipartite graphs $G$ whose binomial edge ideal $J_G$ is Cohen-Macaulay. The connected components of such graphs can be obtained by gluing a finite number of basic blocks with two operations. In this context we prove the converse of a well-known result due to Hartshorne, showing that the Cohen-Macaulayness of these ideals is equivalent to the connectedness of their dual graphs. We study interesting properties also for non-bipartite graphs and in the unmixed case, constructing classes of bipartite graphs with $J_G$ unmixed and not Cohen-Macaulay.