The core of a module and the adjoint of an ideal over a two dimensional regular local ring

Abstract

The core of an module is the intersection of all its reductions. The main result asserts that the core of a finitely generated, torsion-free, integrally closed module over a two dimensional regular local ring is the product of the module and the adjoint of an ideal. This generalizes the fundamental formula for the core of an integrally closed ideal in a two-dimensional regular local ring due to Huneke and Swanson. As an application, we show that for integrally closed modules $M$ and $N$ over a two-dimensional regular local ring with $M\subset N$ and $M^{**}=N^{**}$, the core of $M$ is contained in the core of $N$.