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28.10 Dimension

The dimension of a scheme is just the dimension of its underlying topological space.

Definition 28.10.1. Let X be a scheme.

  1. The dimension of X is just the dimension of X as a topological spaces, see Topology, Definition 5.10.1.

  2. For x \in X we denote \dim _ x(X) the dimension of the underlying topological space of X at x as in Topology, Definition 5.10.1. We say \dim _ x(X) is the dimension of X at x.

As a scheme has a sober underlying topological space (Schemes, Lemma 26.11.1) we may compute the dimension of X as the supremum of the lengths n of chains

T_0 \subset T_1 \subset \ldots \subset T_ n

of irreducible closed subsets of X, or as the supremum of the lengths n of chains of specializations

\xi _ n \leadsto \xi _{n - 1} \leadsto \ldots \leadsto \xi _0

of points of X.

Lemma 28.10.2. Let X be a scheme. The following are equal

  1. The dimension of X.

  2. The supremum of the dimensions of the local rings of X.

  3. The supremum of \dim _ x(X) for x \in X.

Proof. Note that given a chain of specializations

\xi _ n \leadsto \xi _{n - 1} \leadsto \ldots \leadsto \xi _0

of points of X all of the points \xi _ i correspond to prime ideals of the local ring of X at \xi _0 by Schemes, Lemma 26.13.2. Hence we see that the dimension of X is the supremum of the dimensions of its local rings. In particular \dim _ x(X) \geq \dim (\mathcal{O}_{X, x}) as \dim _ x(X) is the minimum of the dimensions of open neighbourhoods of x. Thus \sup _{x \in X} \dim _ x(X) \geq \dim (X). On the other hand, it is clear that \sup _{x \in X} \dim _ x(X) \leq \dim (X) as \dim (U) \leq \dim (X) for any open subset of X. \square

Lemma 28.10.3. Let X be a scheme. Let Y \subset X be an irreducible closed subset. Let \xi \in Y be the generic point. Then

\text{codim}(Y, X) = \dim (\mathcal{O}_{X, \xi })

where the codimension is as defined in Topology, Definition 5.11.1.

Proof. By Topology, Lemma 5.11.2 we may replace X by an affine open neighbourhood of \xi . In this case the result follows easily from Algebra, Lemma 10.26.3. \square

Lemma 28.10.4. Let X be a scheme. Let x \in X. Then x is a generic point of an irreducible component of X if and only if \dim (\mathcal{O}_{X, x}) = 0.

Proof. This follows from Lemma 28.10.3 for example. \square

Lemma 28.10.5. A locally Noetherian scheme of dimension 0 is a disjoint union of spectra of Artinian local rings.

Proof. A Noetherian ring of dimension 0 is a finite product of Artinian local rings, see Algebra, Proposition 10.60.7. Hence an affine open of a locally Noetherian scheme X of dimension 0 has discrete underlying topological space. This implies that the topology on X is discrete. The lemma follows easily from these remarks. \square

Lemma 28.10.6.reference Let X be a scheme of dimension zero. The following are equivalent

  1. X is quasi-separated,

  2. X is separated,

  3. X is Hausdorff,

  4. every affine open is closed.

In this case the connected components of X are points and every quasi-compact open of X is affine. In particular, if X is quasi-compact, then X is affine.

Proof. As the dimension of X is zero, we see that for any affine open U \subset X the space U is profinite and satisfies a bunch of other properties which we will use freely below, see Algebra, Lemma 10.26.5. We choose an affine open covering X = \bigcup U_ i.

If (4) holds, then U_ i \cap U_ j is a closed subset of U_ i, hence quasi-compact, hence X is quasi-separated, by Schemes, Lemma 26.21.6, hence (1) holds.

If (1) holds, then U_ i \cap U_ j is a quasi-compact open of U_ i hence closed in U_ i. Then U_ i \cap U_ j \to U_ i is an open immersion whose image is closed, hence it is a closed immersion. In particular U_ i \cap U_ j is affine and \mathcal{O}(U_ i) \to \mathcal{O}_ X(U_ i \cap U_ j) is surjective. Thus X is separated by Schemes, Lemma 26.21.7, hence (2) holds.

Assume (2) and let x, y \in X. Say x \in U_ i. If y \in U_ i too, then we can find disjoint open neighbourhoods of x and y because U_ i is Hausdorff. Say y \not\in U_ i and y \in U_ j. Then y \not\in U_ i \cap U_ j which is an affine open of U_ j and hence closed in U_ j. Thus we can find an open neighbourhood of y not meeting U_ i and we conclude that X is Hausdorff, hence (3) holds.

Assume (3). Let U \subset X be affine open. Then U is closed in X by Topology, Lemma 5.12.4. This proves (4) holds.

Assume X satisfies the equivalent conditions (1) – (4). We prove the final statements of the lemma. Say x, y \in X with x \not= y. Since y does not specialize to x we can choose U \subset X affine open with x \in U and y \not\in U. Then we see that X = U \amalg (X \setminus U) is a decomposistion into open and closed subsets which shows that x and y do not belong to the same connected component of X. Next, assume U \subset X is a quasi-compact open. Write U = U_1 \cup \ldots \cup U_ n as a union of affine opens. We will prove by induction on n that U is affine. This immediately reduces us to the case n = 2. In this case we have U = (U_1 \setminus U_2) \amalg (U_1 \cap U_2) \amalg (U_2 \setminus U_1) and the arguments above show that each of the pieces is affine. \square

Lemma 28.10.7. Let x be a point of a locally Noetherian scheme X. Then \dim _ x(X) = 0 if and only if x is an isolated point of X.

Proof. If x is an isolated point, then \{ x\} is an open subset of X (Topology, Definition 5.27.2) and hence \dim _ x(X) = \dim (\{ x\} ) = 0 by definition. Conversely, if \dim _ x(X) = 0, then there exists an open neighbourhood U \subset X of x such that \dim (U) = 0 (Topology, Definition 5.10.1). By Lemma 28.10.5 we see that the topology on U is discrete and hence x is an isolated point. \square


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