Numerical characterizations for integral dependence of graded ideals

Abstract

Let $R=\oplus_{m\geq 0}R_m$ be a standard graded equidimensional ring over a field $R_0$, and $I\subseteq J$ be two non-nilpotent graded ideals in $R$. Then we give a set of numerical characterizations of the integral dependence of $I$ and $J$ in terms of certain multiplicities. A novelty of this approach is that it does not involve localization and only requires checking computable and well-studied invariants. In particular, we show the following: let $S=R[y]$, $\mathsf{I} = IS$ and $\mathsf{J} = JS$ and $\bf d$ be the maximum of the generating degrees of both $I$ and $J$. Let $c>{\bf d}$ be any given integer. Then $$\overline{I} = \overline{J}\iff e\big(S[\mathsf{I}t]_{\Delta_{(c,1)}}\big) = e\big(S[\mathsf{J}t]_{\Delta_{(c,1)}}\big),$$ where $e\big(S[\mathsf{I}t]_{\Delta_{(c,1)}}\big)$ denotes the Hilbert-Samuel multiplicity of the standard graded domain $S[\mathsf{I}t]_{\Delta_{(c,1)}} = \oplus_{n\geq 0}(\mathsf{I}^n)_{cn}t^n$. Further, if $I$ is of finite colength in $R$ then $e\big(S[\mathsf{I}t]_{\Delta_{(c,1)}}\big) = c^de(R) - e(I,R)$. If $R$ is also a domain, then other numerical criteria are the following: \begin{align*} \overline{I} = \overline{J} & \iff \varepsilon(I)=\varepsilon(J)\;\;\mbox{and}\;\; e_i(R[It]) = e_i(R[Jt])\;\;\mbox{for all}\;\; 0\leq i <\dim(R/I), \end{align*} where $\varepsilon(I)$ denotes the epsilon multiplicity of $I$, and $e_i(R[It])$'s are the mixed multiplicities of the Rees algebra $R[It]$. The relation between $e_i(S[\mathsf{I}t])$ and the polar multiplicities of $\mathsf{I}_{\geq {\bf d}}$ provides another criterion in terms of polar multiplicities of $\mathsf{I}_{\geq {\bf d}}$. The first two characterizations generalize Rees's classical result for ideals of finite colengths. Apart from several well-established results, the proofs of these results use the theory of density functions, which was developed in arXiv:2311.17679.