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Artikel: Locally nilpotent derivation GudangMovies21 Rebahinxxi
In mathematics, a derivation
β
{\displaystyle \partial }
of a commutative ring
A
{\displaystyle A}
is called a locally nilpotent derivation (LND) if every element of
A
{\displaystyle A}
is annihilated by some power of
β
{\displaystyle \partial }
.
One motivation for the study of locally nilpotent derivations comes from the fact that some of the counterexamples to Hilbert's 14th problem are obtained as the kernels of a derivation on a polynomial ring.
Over a field
k
{\displaystyle k}
of characteristic zero, to give a locally nilpotent derivation on the integral domain
A
{\displaystyle A}
, finitely generated over the field, is equivalent to giving an action of the additive group
(
k
,
+
)
{\displaystyle (k,+)}
to the affine variety
X
=
Spec
β‘
(
A
)
{\displaystyle X=\operatorname {Spec} (A)}
. Roughly speaking, an affine variety admitting "plenty" of actions of the additive group is considered similar to an affine space.
Definition
Let
A
{\displaystyle A}
be a ring. Recall that a derivation of
A
{\displaystyle A}
is a map
β
:
A
β
A
{\displaystyle \partial \colon \,A\to A}
satisfying the Leibniz rule
β
(
a
b
)
=
(
β
a
)
b
+
a
(
β
b
)
{\displaystyle \partial (ab)=(\partial a)b+a(\partial b)}
for any
a
,
b
β
A
{\displaystyle a,b\in A}
. If
A
{\displaystyle A}
is an algebra over a field
k
{\displaystyle k}
, we additionally require
β
{\displaystyle \partial }
to be
k
{\displaystyle k}
-linear, so
k
β
ker
β‘
β
{\displaystyle k\subseteq \ker \partial }
.
A derivation
β
{\displaystyle \partial }
is called a locally nilpotent derivation (LND) if for every
a
β
A
{\displaystyle a\in A}
, there exists a positive integer
n
{\displaystyle n}
such that
β
n
(
a
)
=
0
{\displaystyle \partial ^{n}(a)=0}
.
If
A
{\displaystyle A}
is graded, we say that a locally nilpotent derivation
β
{\displaystyle \partial }
is homogeneous (of degree
d
{\displaystyle d}
) if
deg
β‘
β
a
=
deg
β‘
a
+
d
{\displaystyle \deg \partial a=\deg a+d}
for every
a
β
A
{\displaystyle a\in A}
.
The set of locally nilpotent derivations of a ring
A
{\displaystyle A}
is denoted by
LND
β‘
(
A
)
{\displaystyle \operatorname {LND} (A)}
. Note that this set has no obvious structure: it is neither closed under addition (e.g. if
β
1
=
y
β
β
x
{\displaystyle \partial _{1}=y{\tfrac {\partial }{\partial x}}}
,
β
2
=
x
β
β
y
{\displaystyle \partial _{2}=x{\tfrac {\partial }{\partial y}}}
then
β
1
,
β
2
β
LND
β‘
(
k
[
x
,
y
]
)
{\displaystyle \partial _{1},\partial _{2}\in \operatorname {LND} (k[x,y])}
but
(
β
1
+
β
2
)
2
(
x
)
=
x
{\displaystyle (\partial _{1}+\partial _{2})^{2}(x)=x}
, so
β
1
+
β
2
β
LND
β‘
(
k
[
x
,
y
]
)
{\displaystyle \partial _{1}+\partial _{2}\not \in \operatorname {LND} (k[x,y])}
) nor under multiplication by elements of
A
{\displaystyle A}
(e.g.
β
β
x
β
LND
β‘
(
k
[
x
]
)
{\displaystyle {\tfrac {\partial }{\partial x}}\in \operatorname {LND} (k[x])}
, but
x
β
β
x
β
LND
β‘
(
k
[
x
]
)
{\displaystyle x{\tfrac {\partial }{\partial x}}\not \in \operatorname {LND} (k[x])}
). However, if
[
β
1
,
β
2
]
=
0
{\displaystyle [\partial _{1},\partial _{2}]=0}
then
β
1
,
β
2
β
LND
β‘
(
A
)
{\displaystyle \partial _{1},\partial _{2}\in \operatorname {LND} (A)}
implies
β
1
+
β
2
β
LND
β‘
(
A
)
{\displaystyle \partial _{1}+\partial _{2}\in \operatorname {LND} (A)}
and if
β
β
LND
β‘
(
A
)
{\displaystyle \partial \in \operatorname {LND} (A)}
,
h
β
ker
β‘
β
{\displaystyle h\in \ker \partial }
then
h
β
β
LND
β‘
(
A
)
{\displaystyle h\partial \in \operatorname {LND} (A)}
.
Relation to Ga-actions
Let
A
{\displaystyle A}
be an algebra over a field
k
{\displaystyle k}
of characteristic zero (e.g.
k
=
C
{\displaystyle k=\mathbb {C} }
). Then there is a one-to-one correspondence between the locally nilpotent
k
{\displaystyle k}
-derivations on
A
{\displaystyle A}
and the actions of the additive group
G
a
{\displaystyle \mathbb {G} _{a}}
of
k
{\displaystyle k}
on the affine variety
Spec
β‘
A
{\displaystyle \operatorname {Spec} A}
, as follows.
A
G
a
{\displaystyle \mathbb {G} _{a}}
-action on
Spec
β‘
A
{\displaystyle \operatorname {Spec} A}
corresponds to a
k
{\displaystyle k}
-algebra homomorphism
Ο
:
A
β
A
[
t
]
{\displaystyle \rho \colon A\to A[t]}
. Any such
Ο
{\displaystyle \rho }
determines a locally nilpotent derivation
β
{\displaystyle \partial }
of
A
{\displaystyle A}
by taking its derivative at zero, namely
β
=
Ο΅
β
d
d
t
β
Ο
,
{\displaystyle \partial =\epsilon \circ {\tfrac {d}{dt}}\circ \rho ,}
where
Ο΅
{\displaystyle \epsilon }
denotes the evaluation at
t
=
0
{\displaystyle t=0}
.
Conversely, any locally nilpotent derivation
β
{\displaystyle \partial }
determines a homomorphism
Ο
:
A
β
A
[
t
]
{\displaystyle \rho \colon A\to A[t]}
by
Ο
=
exp
β‘
(
t
β
)
=
β
n
=
0
β
t
n
n
!
β
n
.
{\displaystyle \rho =\exp(t\partial )=\sum _{n=0}^{\infty }{\frac {t^{n}}{n!}}\partial ^{n}.}
It is easy to see that the conjugate actions correspond to conjugate derivations, i.e. if
Ξ±
β
Aut
β‘
A
{\displaystyle \alpha \in \operatorname {Aut} A}
and
β
β
LND
β‘
(
A
)
{\displaystyle \partial \in \operatorname {LND} (A)}
then
Ξ±
β
β
β
Ξ±
β
1
β
LND
β‘
(
A
)
{\displaystyle \alpha \circ \partial \circ \alpha ^{-1}\in \operatorname {LND} (A)}
and
exp
β‘
(
t
β
Ξ±
β
β
β
Ξ±
β
1
)
=
Ξ±
β
exp
β‘
(
t
β
)
β
Ξ±
β
1
{\displaystyle \exp(t\cdot \alpha \circ \partial \circ \alpha ^{-1})=\alpha \circ \exp(t\partial )\circ \alpha ^{-1}}
The kernel algorithm
The algebra
ker
β‘
β
{\displaystyle \ker \partial }
consists of the invariants of the corresponding
G
a
{\displaystyle \mathbb {G} _{a}}
-action. It is algebraically and factorially closed in
A
{\displaystyle A}
. A special case of Hilbert's 14th problem asks whether
ker
β‘
β
{\displaystyle \ker \partial }
is finitely generated, or, if
A
=
k
[
X
]
{\displaystyle A=k[X]}
, whether the quotient
X
/
/
G
a
{\displaystyle X/\!/\mathbb {G} _{a}}
is affine. By Zariski's finiteness theorem, it is true if
dim
β‘
X
β€
3
{\displaystyle \dim X\leq 3}
. On the other hand, this question is highly nontrivial even for
X
=
C
n
{\displaystyle X=\mathbb {C} ^{n}}
,
n
β₯
4
{\displaystyle n\geq 4}
. For
n
β₯
5
{\displaystyle n\geq 5}
the answer, in general, is negative. The case
n
=
4
{\displaystyle n=4}
is open.
However, in practice it often happens that
ker
β‘
β
{\displaystyle \ker \partial }
is known to be finitely generated: notably, by the MaurerβWeitzenbΓΆck theorem, it is the case for linear LND's of the polynomial algebra over a field of characteristic zero (by linear we mean homogeneous of degree zero with respect to the standard grading).
Assume
ker
β‘
β
{\displaystyle \ker \partial }
is finitely generated. If
A
=
k
[
g
1
,
β¦
,
g
n
]
{\displaystyle A=k[g_{1},\dots ,g_{n}]}
is a finitely generated algebra over a field of characteristic zero, then
ker
β‘
β
{\displaystyle \ker \partial }
can be computed using van den Essen's algorithm, as follows. Choose a local slice, i.e. an element
r
β
ker
β‘
β
2
β
ker
β‘
β
{\displaystyle r\in \ker \partial ^{2}\setminus \ker \partial }
and put
f
=
β
r
β
ker
β‘
β
{\displaystyle f=\partial r\in \ker \partial }
. Let
Ο
r
:
A
β
(
ker
β‘
β
)
f
{\displaystyle \pi _{r}\colon \,A\to (\ker \partial )_{f}}
be the Dixmier map given by
Ο
r
(
a
)
=
β
n
=
0
β
(
β
1
)
n
n
!
β
n
(
a
)
r
n
f
n
{\displaystyle \pi _{r}(a)=\sum _{n=0}^{\infty }{\frac {(-1)^{n}}{n!}}\partial ^{n}(a){\frac {r^{n}}{f^{n}}}}
. Now for every
i
=
1
,
β¦
,
n
{\displaystyle i=1,\dots ,n}
, chose a minimal integer
m
i
{\displaystyle m_{i}}
such that
h
i
:
=
f
m
i
Ο
r
(
g
i
)
β
ker
β‘
β
{\displaystyle h_{i}\colon =f^{m_{i}}\pi _{r}(g_{i})\in \ker \partial }
, put
B
0
=
k
[
h
1
,
β¦
,
h
n
,
f
]
β
ker
β‘
β
{\displaystyle B_{0}=k[h_{1},\dots ,h_{n},f]\subseteq \ker \partial }
, and define inductively
B
i
{\displaystyle B_{i}}
to be the subring of
A
{\displaystyle A}
generated by
{
h
β
A
:
f
h
β
B
i
β
1
}
{\displaystyle \{h\in A:fh\in B_{i-1}\}}
. By induction, one proves that
B
0
β
B
1
β
β―
β
ker
β‘
β
{\displaystyle B_{0}\subset B_{1}\subset \dots \subset \ker \partial }
are finitely generated and if
B
i
=
B
i
+
1
{\displaystyle B_{i}=B_{i+1}}
then
B
i
=
ker
β‘
β
{\displaystyle B_{i}=\ker \partial }
, so
B
N
=
ker
β‘
β
{\displaystyle B_{N}=\ker \partial }
for some
N
{\displaystyle N}
. Finding the generators of each
B
i
{\displaystyle B_{i}}
and checking whether
B
i
=
B
i
+
1
{\displaystyle B_{i}=B_{i+1}}
is a standard computation using GrΓΆbner bases.
Slice theorem
Assume that
β
β
LND
β‘
(
A
)
{\displaystyle \partial \in \operatorname {LND} (A)}
admits a slice, i.e.
s
β
A
{\displaystyle s\in A}
such that
β
s
=
1
{\displaystyle \partial s=1}
. The slice theorem asserts that
A
{\displaystyle A}
is a polynomial algebra
(
ker
β‘
β
)
[
s
]
{\displaystyle (\ker \partial )[s]}
and
β
=
d
d
s
{\displaystyle \partial ={\tfrac {d}{ds}}}
.
For any local slice
r
β
ker
β‘
β
β
ker
β‘
β
2
{\displaystyle r\in \ker \partial \setminus \ker \partial ^{2}}
we can apply the slice theorem to the localization
A
β
r
{\displaystyle A_{\partial r}}
, and thus obtain that
A
{\displaystyle A}
is locally a polynomial algebra with a standard derivation. In geometric terms, if a geometric quotient
Ο
:
X
β
X
/
/
G
a
{\displaystyle \pi \colon \,X\to X//\mathbb {G} _{a}}
is affine (e.g. when
dim
β‘
X
β€
3
{\displaystyle \dim X\leq 3}
by the Zariski theorem), then it has a Zariski-open subset
U
{\displaystyle U}
such that
Ο
β
1
(
U
)
{\displaystyle \pi ^{-1}(U)}
is isomorphic over
U
{\displaystyle U}
to
U
Γ
A
1
{\displaystyle U\times \mathbb {A} ^{1}}
, where
G
a
{\displaystyle \mathbb {G} _{a}}
acts by translation on the second factor.
However, in general it is not true that
X
β
X
/
/
G
a
{\displaystyle X\to X//\mathbb {G} _{a}}
is locally trivial. For example, let
β
=
u
β
β
x
+
v
β
β
y
+
(
1
+
u
y
2
)
β
β
z
β
LND
β‘
(
C
[
x
,
y
,
z
,
u
,
v
]
)
{\displaystyle \partial =u{\tfrac {\partial }{\partial x}}+v{\tfrac {\partial }{\partial y}}+(1+uy^{2}){\tfrac {\partial }{\partial z}}\in \operatorname {LND} (\mathbb {C} [x,y,z,u,v])}
. Then
ker
β‘
β
{\displaystyle \ker \partial }
is a coordinate ring of a singular variety, and the fibers of the quotient map over singular points are two-dimensional.
If
dim
β‘
X
=
3
{\displaystyle \dim X=3}
then
Ξ
=
X
β
U
{\displaystyle \Gamma =X\setminus U}
is a curve. To describe the
G
a
{\displaystyle \mathbb {G} _{a}}
-action, it is important to understand the geometry
Ξ
{\displaystyle \Gamma }
. Assume further that
k
=
C
{\displaystyle k=\mathbb {C} }
and that
X
{\displaystyle X}
is smooth and contractible (in which case
S
{\displaystyle S}
is smooth and contractible as well) and choose
Ξ
{\displaystyle \Gamma }
to be minimal (with respect to inclusion). Then Kaliman proved that each irreducible component of
Ξ
{\displaystyle \Gamma }
is a polynomial curve, i.e. its normalization is isomorphic to
C
1
{\displaystyle \mathbb {C} ^{1}}
. The curve
Ξ
{\displaystyle \Gamma }
for the action given by Freudenburg's (2,5)-derivation (see below) is a union of two lines in
C
2
{\displaystyle \mathbb {C} ^{2}}
, so
Ξ
{\displaystyle \Gamma }
may not be irreducible. However, it is conjectured that
Ξ
{\displaystyle \Gamma }
is always contractible.
Examples
= Example 1
=The standard coordinate derivations
β
β
x
i
{\displaystyle {\tfrac {\partial }{\partial x_{i}}}}
of a polynomial algebra
k
[
x
1
,
β¦
,
x
n
]
{\displaystyle k[x_{1},\dots ,x_{n}]}
are locally nilpotent. The corresponding
G
a
{\displaystyle \mathbb {G} _{a}}
-actions are translations:
t
β
x
i
=
x
i
+
t
{\displaystyle t\cdot x_{i}=x_{i}+t}
,
t
β
x
j
=
x
j
{\displaystyle t\cdot x_{j}=x_{j}}
for
j
β
i
{\displaystyle j\neq i}
.
= Example 2 (Freudenburg's (2,5)-homogeneous derivation)
=Let
f
1
=
x
1
x
3
β
x
2
2
{\displaystyle f_{1}=x_{1}x_{3}-x_{2}^{2}}
,
f
2
=
x
3
f
1
2
+
2
x
1
2
x
2
f
1
+
x
5
{\displaystyle f_{2}=x_{3}f_{1}^{2}+2x_{1}^{2}x_{2}f_{1}+x^{5}}
, and let
β
{\displaystyle \partial }
be the Jacobian derivation
β
(
f
3
)
=
det
[
β
f
i
β
x
j
]
i
,
j
=
1
,
2
,
3
{\textstyle \partial (f_{3})=\det \left[{\tfrac {\partial f_{i}}{\partial x_{j}}}\right]_{i,j=1,2,3}}
. Then
β
β
LND
β‘
(
k
[
x
1
,
x
2
,
x
3
]
)
{\displaystyle \partial \in \operatorname {LND} (k[x_{1},x_{2},x_{3}])}
and
rank
β‘
β
=
3
{\displaystyle \operatorname {rank} \partial =3}
(see below); that is,
β
{\displaystyle \partial }
annihilates no variable. The fixed point set of the corresponding
G
a
{\displaystyle \mathbb {G} _{a}}
-action equals
{
x
1
=
x
2
=
0
}
{\displaystyle \{x_{1}=x_{2}=0\}}
.
= Example 3
=Consider
S
l
2
(
k
)
=
{
a
d
β
b
c
=
1
}
β
k
4
{\displaystyle Sl_{2}(k)=\{ad-bc=1\}\subseteq k^{4}}
. The locally nilpotent derivation
a
β
β
b
+
c
β
β
d
{\displaystyle a{\tfrac {\partial }{\partial b}}+c{\tfrac {\partial }{\partial d}}}
of its coordinate ring corresponds to a natural action of
G
a
{\displaystyle \mathbb {G} _{a}}
on
S
l
2
(
k
)
{\displaystyle Sl_{2}(k)}
via right multiplication of upper triangular matrices. This action gives a nontrivial
G
a
{\displaystyle \mathbb {G} _{a}}
-bundle over
A
2
β
{
(
0
,
0
)
}
{\displaystyle \mathbb {A} ^{2}\setminus \{(0,0)\}}
. However, if
k
=
C
{\displaystyle k=\mathbb {C} }
then this bundle is trivial in the smooth category
LND's of the polynomial algebra
Let
k
{\displaystyle k}
be a field of characteristic zero (using Kambayashi's theorem one can reduce most results to the case
k
=
C
{\displaystyle k=\mathbb {C} }
) and let
A
=
k
[
x
1
,
β¦
,
x
n
]
{\displaystyle A=k[x_{1},\dots ,x_{n}]}
be a polynomial algebra.
= n = 2 (Ga-actions on an affine plane)
== n = 3 (Ga-actions on an affine 3-space)
== Triangular derivations
=Let
f
1
,
β¦
,
f
n
{\displaystyle f_{1},\dots ,f_{n}}
be any system of variables of
A
{\displaystyle A}
; that is,
A
=
k
[
f
1
,
β¦
,
f
n
]
{\displaystyle A=k[f_{1},\dots ,f_{n}]}
. A derivation of
A
{\displaystyle A}
is called triangular with respect to this system of variables, if
β
f
1
β
k
{\displaystyle \partial f_{1}\in k}
and
β
f
i
β
k
[
f
1
,
β¦
,
f
i
β
1
]
{\displaystyle \partial f_{i}\in k[f_{1},\dots ,f_{i-1}]}
for
i
=
2
,
β¦
,
n
{\displaystyle i=2,\dots ,n}
. A derivation is called triangulable if it is conjugate to a triangular one, or, equivalently, if it is triangular with respect to some system of variables. Every triangular derivation is locally nilpotent. The converse is true for
β€
2
{\displaystyle \leq 2}
by Rentschler's theorem above, but it is not true for
n
β₯
3
{\displaystyle n\geq 3}
.
Bass's example
The derivation of
k
[
x
1
,
x
2
,
x
3
]
{\displaystyle k[x_{1},x_{2},x_{3}]}
given by
x
1
β
β
x
2
+
2
x
2
x
1
β
β
x
3
{\displaystyle x_{1}{\tfrac {\partial }{\partial x_{2}}}+2x_{2}x_{1}{\tfrac {\partial }{\partial x_{3}}}}
is not triangulable. Indeed, the fixed-point set of the corresponding
G
a
{\displaystyle \mathbb {G} _{a}}
-action is a quadric cone
x
2
x
3
=
x
2
2
{\displaystyle x_{2}x_{3}=x_{2}^{2}}
, while by the result of Popov, a fixed point set of a triangulable
G
a
{\displaystyle \mathbb {G} _{a}}
-action is isomorphic to
Z
Γ
A
1
{\displaystyle Z\times \mathbb {A} ^{1}}
for some affine variety
Z
{\displaystyle Z}
; and thus cannot have an isolated singularity.
Makar-Limanov invariant
The intersection of the kernels of all locally nilpotent derivations of the coordinate ring, or, equivalently, the ring of invariants of all
G
a
{\displaystyle \mathbb {G} _{a}}
-actions, is called "Makar-Limanov invariant" and is an important algebraic invariant of an affine variety. For example, it is trivial for an affine space; but for the KorasβRussell cubic threefold, which is diffeomorphic to
C
3
{\displaystyle \mathbb {C} ^{3}}
, it is not.
References
Further reading
A Nowicki, the fourteenth problem of hilbert for polynomial derivations