Algebraic geometry is a branch of mathematics which uses abstract algebraic techniques, mainly from commutative algebra, to solve geometrical problems. Classically, it studies zeros of multivariate polynomials; the modern approach generalizes this in a few different aspects.
In mathematics, a commutative ring is a ring in which the multiplication operation is commutative. The study of commutative rings is called commutative algebra. Complementarily, noncommutative algebra is the study of ring properties that are not specific to commutative rings. This distinction results from the high number of fundamental properties of commutative rings that do not extend to noncommutative rings.
In algebraic geometry and commutative algebra, the Zariski topology is a topology defined on geometric objects called varieties. It is very different from topologies that are commonly used in real or complex analysis; in particular, it is not Hausdorff. This topology was introduced primarily by Oscar Zariski and later generalized for making the set of prime ideals of a commutative ring a topological space.
Commutative algebra, first known as ideal theory, is the branch of algebra that studies commutative rings, their ideals, and modules over such rings. Both algebraic geometry and algebraic number theory build on commutative algebra. Prominent examples of commutative rings include polynomial rings; rings of algebraic integers, including the ordinary integers ; and p-adic integers.
In mathematics, an algebraic group is an algebraic variety endowed with a group structure that is compatible with its structure as an algebraic variety. Thus the study of algebraic groups belongs both to algebraic geometry and group theory.
In mathematics, specifically algebraic geometry, a scheme is a structure that enlarges the notion of algebraic variety in several ways, such as taking account of multiplicities and allowing "varieties" defined over any commutative ring.
In mathematics, a linear algebraic group is a subgroup of the group of invertible matrices that is defined by polynomial equations. An example is the orthogonal group, defined by the relation where is the transpose of .
In mathematics, a Cohen–Macaulay ring is a commutative ring with some of the algebro-geometric properties of a smooth variety, such as local equidimensionality. Under mild assumptions, a local ring is Cohen–Macaulay exactly when it is a finitely generated free module over a regular local subring. Cohen–Macaulay rings play a central role in commutative algebra: they form a very broad class, and yet they are well understood in many ways.
In commutative algebra, a regular local ring is a Noetherian local ring having the property that the minimal number of generators of its maximal ideal is equal to its Krull dimension. In symbols, let A be any Noetherian local ring with unique maximal ideal m, and suppose a1, ..., an is a minimal set of generators of m. Then Krull's principal ideal theorem implies that n ≥ dim A, and A is regular whenever n = dim A.
In algebraic geometry, the Zariski tangent space is a construction that defines a tangent space at a point P on an algebraic variety V. It does not use differential calculus, being based directly on abstract algebra, and in the most concrete cases just the theory of a system of linear equations.
In algebraic geometry, a proper morphism between schemes is an analog of a proper map between complex analytic spaces.
In algebraic geometry, an algebraic variety or scheme X is normal if it is normal at every point, meaning that the local ring at the point is an integrally closed domain. An affine variety X (understood to be irreducible) is normal if and only if the ring O(X) of regular functions on X is an integrally closed domain. A variety X over a field is normal if and only if every finite birational morphism from any variety Y to X is an isomorphism.
In algebraic geometry, a Noetherian scheme is a scheme that admits a finite covering by open affine subsets , where each is a Noetherian ring. More generally, a scheme is locally Noetherian if it is covered by spectra of Noetherian rings. Thus, a scheme is Noetherian if and only if it is locally Noetherian and compact. As with Noetherian rings, the concept is named after Emmy Noether.
In commutative algebra, a quasi-excellent ring is a Noetherian commutative ring that behaves well with respect to the operation of completion, and is called an excellent ring if it is also universally catenary. Excellent rings are one answer to the problem of finding a natural class of "well-behaved" rings containing most of the rings that occur in number theory and algebraic geometry. At one time it seemed that the class of Noetherian rings might be an answer to this problem, but Masayoshi Nagata and others found several strange counterexamples showing that in general Noetherian rings need not be well-behaved: for example, a normal Noetherian local ring need not be analytically normal.
In algebraic geometry, Zariski's main theorem, proved by Oscar Zariski, is a statement about the structure of birational morphisms stating roughly that there is only one branch at any normal point of a variety. It is the special case of Zariski's connectedness theorem when the two varieties are birational.
In algebraic geometry, a Zariski–Riemann space or Zariski space of a subring k of a field K is a locally ringed space whose points are valuation rings containing k and contained in K. They generalize the Riemann surface of a complex curve.
In algebraic geometry, a smooth scheme over a field is a scheme which is well approximated by affine space near any point. Smoothness is one way of making precise the notion of a scheme with no singular points. A special case is the notion of a smooth variety over a field. Smooth schemes play the role in algebraic geometry of manifolds in topology.
This is a glossary of algebraic geometry.
This is a glossary of commutative algebra.
In algebra, an analytically unramified ring is a local ring whose completion is reduced.
