Intersections of symbolic powers of prime ideals

Abstract

Let (R,m) be a local ring with prime ideals p and q such that p+q is an m-primary ideal. If R is regular and contains a field, and dim(R/p)+dim(R/q)=dim(R), we prove that p^{(r)}\cap q^{(n)}\subseteq m^{m+n} for all positive integers r and s. This is proved using a generalization of Serre's Intersection Theorem which we apply to a hypersurface R/fR. The generalization gives conditions that guarantee that Serre's bound on the intersection dimension dim(R/p)+dim(R/q) \leq dim(R) holds when R is nonregular.