The MultiplicitySequence package for Macaulay2 computes the multiplicity sequence of a graded ideal in a standard graded ring over a field, as well as several invariants of monomial ideals related to integral dependence. We discuss two strategies implemented for computing multiplicity sequences: one via the bivariate Hilbert polynomial, and the other via the technique of general elements.
A linear ball is a simplicial complex whose geometric realization is homeomorphic to a ball and whose Stanley--Reisner ring has a linear resolution. It turns out that the Stanley--Reisner ring of the sphere which is the boundary complex of a linear ball satisfies the multiplicity conjecture. A class of shellable spheres arising naturally from commutative algebra whose Stanley--Reisner rings satisfy the multiplicity conjecture will be presented.
We prove a characterization of the j-multiplicity of a monomial ideal as the normalized volume of a polytopal complex. Our result is an extension of Teissiers volume-theoretic interpretation of the Hilbert-Samuel multiplicity for m-primary monomial ideals. We also give a description of the epsilon-multiplicity of a monomial ideal in terms of the volume of a region.
Denote by p_k the k-th power sum symmetric polynomial n variables. The interpretation of the q-analogue of the binomial coefficient as Hilbert function leads us to discover that n consecutive power sums in n variables form a regular sequence. We consider then the following problem: describe the subsets n powersums forming a regular sequence. A necessary condition is that n! divides the product of the degrees of the elements. To find an easily verifiable sufficient condition turns out to be surprisingly difficult already in 3 variables. Given positive integers a<b<c with GCD(a,b,c)=1, we conjecture that p_a, p_b, p_c is a regular sequence for n=3 if and only if 6 divides abc. We provide evidence for the conjecture by proving it in several special instances.
We prove upper bounds for the Hilbert-Samuel multiplicity of standard graded Gorenstein algebras. The main tool that we use is Boij-Soderberg theory to obtain a decomposition of the Betti table of a Gorenstein algebra as the sum of rational multiples of symmetrized pure tables. Our bound agrees with the one in the quasi-pure case obtained by Srinivasan [J. Algebra, vol.~208, no.~2, (1998)].
We show that the Hilbert-Kunz multiplicities of the reductions to positive characteristics of an irreducible projective curve in characteristic 0 have a well-defined limit as the characteristic tends to infinity.