The Stacks project

Proof. We prove this lemma by induction on the number of generators of $I$. Say $I = (a_1, \ldots , a_ t)$. If $t = 0$, then $I = 0$ and there is nothing to prove. If $t = 1$, then the lemma follows from Lemma 88.10.1. Assume $t > 1$.

For any $m \geq 1$ set $\bar A_ m = A/(a_ t^ m)$. Consider the ideal $\bar I_ m = (\bar a_1, \ldots , \bar a_{t - 1})$ in $\bar A_ m$. Observe that $V(I \bar A_ m) = V(\bar I_ m)$. Let $B_ m = B/(a_ t^ m)$ be the base change of $B$ for the map $(A, I) \to (\bar A_ m, \bar I_ m)$, see Remark 88.2.4. By Lemma 88.8.6 we find that $B_ m$ is rig-étale over $(\bar A_ m, \bar I_ m)$.

By induction hypothesis (on $t$) we can find a finite type $\bar A_ m$-algebra $C_ m$ and a map $C_ m \to B_ m$ which induces an isomorphism $C_ m^\wedge \cong B_ m$ where the completion is with respect to $\bar I_ m$. By Lemma 88.8.4 we may assume that $\mathop{\mathrm{Spec}}(C_ m) \to \mathop{\mathrm{Spec}}(\bar A_ m)$ is étale over $\mathop{\mathrm{Spec}}(\bar A_ m) \setminus V(\bar I_ m)$.

We claim that we may choose $A_ m \to C_ m \to B_ m$ as in the previous paragraph such that moreover there are isomorphisms $C_ m/(a_ t^{m - 1}) \to C_{m - 1}$ compatible with the given $A$-algebra structure and the maps to $B_{m - 1} = B_ m/(a_ t^{m - 1})$. Namely, first fix a choice of $A_1 \to C_1 \to B_1$. Suppose we have found $C_{m - 1} \to C_{m - 2} \to \ldots \to C_1$ with the desired properties. Note that $C_ m/(a_ t^{m - 1})$ is étale over $\mathop{\mathrm{Spec}}(\bar A_{m - 1}) \setminus V(\bar I_{m - 1})$. Hence by Lemma 88.8.7 there exists an étale extension $C_{m - 1} \to C'_{m - 1}$ which induces an isomorphism modulo $\bar I_{m - 1}$ and an $\bar A_{m - 1}$-algebra map $C_ m/(a_ t^{m - 1}) \to C'_{m - 1}$ inducing the isomorphism $B_ m/(a_ t^{m - 1}) \to B_{m - 1}$ on completions. Note that $C_ m/(a_ t^{m - 1}) \to C'_{m - 1}$ is étale over the complement of $V(\bar I_{m - 1})$ by Morphisms, Lemma 29.36.18 and over $V(\bar I_{m - 1})$ induces an isomorphism on completions hence is étale there too (for example by More on Morphisms, Lemma 37.12.3). Thus $C_ m/(a_ t^{m - 1}) \to C'_{m - 1}$ is étale. By the topological invariance of étale morphisms (Étale Morphisms, Theorem 41.15.2) there exists an étale ring map $C_ m \to C'_ m$ such that $C_ m/(a_ t^{m - 1}) \to C'_{m - 1}$ is isomorphic to $C_ m/(a_ t^{m - 1}) \to C'_ m/(a_ t^{m - 1})$. Observe that the $\bar I_ m$-adic completion of $C'_ m$ is equal to the $\bar I_ m$-adic completion of $C_ m$, i.e., to $B_ m$ (details omitted). We apply Lemma 88.9.1 to the diagram

to see that there exists a “lift” of $C''_ m$ of $C_{m - 1}$ to an algebra over $\bar A_ m$ with all the desired properties.

By construction $(C_ m)$ is an object of the category (88.2.0.1) for the principal ideal $(a_ t)$. Thus the inverse limit $B' = \mathop{\mathrm{lim}}\nolimits C_ m$ is an $(a_ t)$-adically complete $A$-algebra such that $B'/a_ t B'$ is of finite type over $A/(a_ t)$, see Lemma 88.2.1. By construction the $I$-adic completion of $B'$ is isomorphic to $B$ (details omitted). Consider the complex $\mathop{N\! L}\nolimits _{B'/A}^\wedge $ constructed using the $(a_ t)$-adic topology. Choosing a presentation for $B'$ (which induces a similar presentation for $B$) the reader immediately sees that $\mathop{N\! L}\nolimits _{B'/A}^\wedge \otimes _{B'} B = \mathop{N\! L}\nolimits _{B/A}^\wedge $. Since $a_ t \in I$ and since the cohomology modules of $\mathop{N\! L}\nolimits _{B'/A}^\wedge $ are finite $B'$-modules (hence complete for the $a_ t$-adic topology), we conclude that $a_ t^ c$ acts as zero on these cohomologies as the same thing is true by assumption for $\mathop{N\! L}\nolimits _{B/A}^\wedge $. Thus $B'$ is rig-étale over $(A, (a_ t))$ by Lemma 88.8.2. Hence finally, we may apply Lemma 88.10.1 to $B'$ over $(A, (a_ t))$ to finish the proof. $\square$