54 CHAPTER 3. OPERATIONS ON STABLE IDEALSand we obtain I (2) = (x 0 , 1) = K[x 0 , x 1 , x 2 ] = sat x1 ,x 2(I).Example 3.20. Consider the ideal I := (x 0 , x 2 1, x 1 x 3 2) ⊂ K[x 0 , x 1 , x 2 , x 3 ]. Since the generatorsin I g := {x 0 , x 2 1, x 1 x 3 2} fulfill Theorem 2.7 and do not contain x 3 , I is a saturatedstable ideal. The double saturation sat xn−1 ,x n(I) is the ideal generated by the set <strong>of</strong> monomials{x 0 , x 1 }, since we have to set x 2 := 1. This provides the monomials x 0 , x 2 1, x 1 , wherewe may forget about x 2 1, since it is divisible by x 1 . Now we proceed with respect to thepro<strong>of</strong> <strong>of</strong> the lemma:• We have to choose the first monomial <strong>of</strong> I g containing the variable x n−1 = x 2 , i.e. x 1 x 3 2.In the terminology <strong>of</strong> the pro<strong>of</strong>, we get x A = x 1 x 2 2. Since x 1 x 2 2 is not contained in I gand L(x 1 x 2 2) = {x 0 x 2 2, x 2 1x 2 } ⊂ I, we can contract x 1 x 2 2 (Note that L(x 1 x 2 2) is not asubset <strong>of</strong> the set <strong>of</strong> minimal generators <strong>of</strong> I – if we had the condition L(x 1 x 2 2) ⊂ I g ,the monomial x 1 x 2 2 would not be contractible at all. Because <strong>of</strong> this, the definition<strong>of</strong> a contraction and the contractibility <strong>of</strong> a monomial differs from the definition <strong>of</strong>the contraction in [16]). We will denote the ideal, which we obtain after performingthe contraction, by I (1) . It is generated minimally byI (1)g = I g ∪ {x 1 x 2 2}\{x 1 x 3 2} = {x 0 , x 2 1, x 1 x 2 2}.• Next, we have to choose x 1 x 2 2. Again, the monomial x 1 x 2 is not contained in I g(1) andL(x 1 x 2 ) = {x 0 x 2 , x 2 1} ⊂ I (1) . Hence, x 1 x 2 is contractible in I g(1) and it provides theideal I (2) generated byI (2)g = I (1)g ∪ {x 1 x 2 }\{x 1 x 2 2} = {x 0 , x 2 1, x 1 x 2 }.• In the last step, we have to choose x 1 x 2 ∈ I g(2) with L(x 1 ) = {x 0 } ⊂ I (2) . Hence, theideal I (3) , which we obtain after performing the contraction <strong>of</strong> x 1 in I g(2) is generatedbyI g (3) = I g (2) ∪ {x 1 }\{x 2 1, x 1 x 2 } = {x 0 , x 1 },which shows I (3) = sat x2 ,x 3(I).In Example 3.16, we saw that a contraction followed by an expansion <strong>of</strong> the same monomialin some stable ideal I ⊂ R will not always give the same ideal I again. If we restrictourselves to the type <strong>of</strong> contractions, which have been used above to compute the doublesaturations, the lemma below shows that the contraction <strong>of</strong> such a monomial followed bythe expansion <strong>of</strong> the same monomial will always provide the same ideal.Lemma 3.21. Let I ⊂ R be a saturated stable ideal with I sat xn−1 ,x n(I) and m ∈ I thefirst minimal monomial generator <strong>of</strong> I with the last variable x n−1 . Then the contractionmfollowed by the expansion <strong>of</strong> provides (I con ) exp = I.x n−1
3.3. STABLE IDEALS WITH THE SAME DOUBLE SATURATION 55Pro<strong>of</strong>. Let m := x a 00 · . . . · x a n−1n−1 , a n−1 ≥ 1. By the pro<strong>of</strong> <strong>of</strong> Lemma 3.17, we know thatmis contractible in I. Hence, by the definition <strong>of</strong> contractions (see Definition 3.9), thex n−1mcontraction <strong>of</strong> = x a 00 ·. . .·x a n−1−1n−1 removes only the monomial x a 00 ·. . .·x a n−1−1n−1 ·x n−1 = mx n−1from the set <strong>of</strong> minimal generators <strong>of</strong> I and includes the monomial x a 00 ·. . .·x a n−1−1n−1 into theset <strong>of</strong> minimal generators. Since m is a minimal generator <strong>of</strong> I, the monomial x a 00 ·. . .·x a n−1−1n−1must also be a minimal generator <strong>of</strong> the ideal I con (otherwise we have a contradiction). Wehave to show that we can expand x a 00 · . . . · x a n−1−1n−1 in I con . Since x a 00 · . . . · x a n−1−1n−1 is aminimal generator <strong>of</strong> I con , the only other condition for an expansion is that none <strong>of</strong> theelements <strong>of</strong> R(x a 00 · . . . · x a n−1−1n−1 ) is contained in the set <strong>of</strong> minimal generators <strong>of</strong> I con .Assume that x a 00 · . . . · x at−1t · x a t+1+1t+1 · . . . · x a n−1−1n−1 ∈ R(x a 00 · . . . · x a n−1−1n−1 ) is contained in theset <strong>of</strong> minimal generators <strong>of</strong> I con . Then the monomial x a 00 · . . . · x at−1t · x a t+1+1t+1 · . . . · x a n−1−1n−1must have already been contained in the ideal I. Since I is stable, it followsx a 00 · . . . · x at−1t· x a t+1+1t+1 · . . . · x a n−1−1n−1· x t = x a 00 · . . . · x a n−1−1n−1 = m ∈ I,x t+1 x n−1mwhich contradicts the fact that is contractible in I and, hence, cannot be containedx n−1in I. It is clear by the definition <strong>of</strong> an expansion (see Definition 3.5) that the expansion <strong>of</strong>min I con indeed provides (I con ) exp = I.x n−1By the preceding lemma, now we can also view the sequence x 1 x 2 2, x 1 x 2 , x 1 <strong>of</strong> contractionstaking I to sat x2 ,x 3(I) <strong>of</strong> Example 3.20 in reversed order x 1 , x 1 x 2 , x 1 x 2 2 as a sequence <strong>of</strong>expansions taking sat x2 ,x 3(I) to I. Thus, the preceding lemma always provides a finitesequence <strong>of</strong> expansions, taking the double saturation <strong>of</strong> some saturated stable ideal to theideal itself.Corollary 3.22. Given two saturated stable ideals I, J ⊂ R with the same double saturation,there is a finite sequence <strong>of</strong> contractions and expansions taking I to J.Pro<strong>of</strong>. By Lemma 3.17, there is a finite sequence <strong>of</strong> contractions x A 1, . . . , x A k ∈ M takingI to sat xn−1 ,x n(I). Again by Lemma 3.17, there is a finite sequence <strong>of</strong> contractionsx B 1, . . . , x B l ∈ M taking J to satxn−1 ,x n(J). Since we can view x B l , . . . , xB 1as a sequence<strong>of</strong> expansions taking sat xn−1 ,x n(J) to J and sat xn−1 ,x n(J) = sat xn−1 ,x n(I), the sequence <strong>of</strong>contractions x A 1, . . . , x A k and the sequence <strong>of</strong> expansions xB l, . . . , xB 1takes I to J.The question, which will be <strong>of</strong> interest to us in the following, is: What effect do expansionsand contractions have on the Hilbert polynomial <strong>of</strong> R/I for I ⊂ R a saturated stable ideal?This question is important, since we will later use contractions and expansions to computeall saturated stable ideals to a given Hilbert polynomial. The proposition below characterizesthose expansions and contractions, which do not change the Hilbert polynomial. Asa corollary, we will see that an expansion or a contraction <strong>of</strong> a monomial can only changethe Hilbert polynomial by adding or subtracting 1.