REVIEW 2 major objections 5 minor 22 references
On an example concerning the second rigidity theorem
T0 review · 2 major / 5 minor · reviewed 2026-08-14 · deepseek-v4-flash
Pith's one-line read This paper proves that, for a hypersurface ring, reflexivity of a tensor product forces both factors to be reflexive once the second factor is locally free in codimension one.
desk verdict A solid, honest paper that sharpens the boundary of Huneke–Wiegand's Second Rigidity Theorem, with only a fixable typo in the graph-connectedness proof. read the letter →
The pith
A machine-rendered reading of the paper's core claim, the machinery that carries it, and where it could break.
The reading
What carries the argument
The load-bearing object is the graph $G(R)$ whose vertices are the minimal prime ideals of $R$, with an edge between $\mathfrak p$ and $\mathfrak q$ exactly when $\operatorname{height}(\mathfrak p+\mathfrak q) \leq 1$. Under condition $(S_2)$, this graph is connected, and connectedness is used to show that a module which is free at every prime of height at most one has constant rank across all minimal primes. That rank, combined with the depth formula for modules of finite complete intersection dimension, lets the authors upgrade local freeness to the Serre-type condition on both modules. The other mechanical ingredient is Tor-rigidity: if $M$ is Tor-rigid, meaning that vanishing of $\operatorname{Tor}_1^R(M,N)$ forces vanishing of $\operatorname{Tor}_2^R(M,N)$, then vanishing of $\operatorname{Ext}^1_R(\operatorname{Tr}N,M)$ propagates to vanishing of all positive Tor groups through the exact sequences of section 2.2; this converts reflexivity of the tensor product into a rank statement.
What would settle it
Localize the known counterexample at the height-one prime $\mathfrak q=(x,y)$ and resolve $N_{\mathfrak q}$: the minimal free resolution alternates multiplication by $x$ and $y$ forever, so $\operatorname{pd}_{R_{\mathfrak q}}(N_{\mathfrak q})=\infty$, verifying that this is precisely where the added hypothesis excludes the example. A single example satisfying all hypotheses of Theorem 1.2 with $M$ not reflexive would refute the claim; a computational search over small hypersurface presentations, checking the biduality map $M \to M^{**}$ explicitly, could be used to look for one.
Extended reading notes
Core claim
Theorem 1.2 asserts: let $R$ be a hypersurface ring, that is, a quotient of an unramified regular local ring by a regular element, and let $M$ and $N$ be nonzero finitely generated modules with $\operatorname{pd}_R(M)<\infty$ and $\operatorname{pd}_{R_{\mathfrak p}}(N_{\mathfrak p})<\infty$ for every prime $\mathfrak p$ of height at most one. If $M \otimes_R N$ is reflexive, then both $M$ and $N$ are reflexive. The main Theorem 3.1 is more general: for a Noetherian local ring, if $M$ is Tor-rigid, $N$ has finite complete intersection dimension, $M \otimes_R N$ satisfies $(\tilde S_n)$, and $\operatorname{Tor}_i^R(M,N)$ is torsion for all sufficiently large $i$, then $\operatorname{Tor}_i^R(M,N)=0$ for all $i \geq 1$ and $N$ satisfies $(\tilde S_n)$. The known counterexample with reflexive tensor product but non-reflexive $M$ fails the height-one local finiteness hypothesis, so Theorem 1.2 removes precisely that escape.
Load-bearing premise
The argument depends on the graph of minimal primes being connected under condition $(S_2)$; if that graph were disconnected, a module locally free in height one would not have to have constant rank, and the step forcing $M$ to be reflexive would break.
Editorial extensions
If this is right
- The known counterexample cannot be adjusted to satisfy the height-one local finiteness condition; the height-one prime with infinite projective dimension is essential to the counterexample.
- Under the hypotheses of Theorem 3.1, the tensor product being an $n$-th syzygy forces $N$ to be an $n$-th syzygy and kills all positive Tor groups, so the conclusion applies not only to reflexivity but to higher syzygy behavior.
- In Corollary 4.4, the same hypotheses plus local freeness on $Y_1(R)$ upgrade the conclusion to both $M$ and $N$ satisfying $(\tilde S_n)$; in the case $n=2$, both modules are reflexive.
- The sharpness remark shows that the torsion hypothesis on high Tor groups alone cannot replace Tor-rigidity: a 2-Tor-rigid example with torsion high Tor has a non-reflexive conclusion.
- The paper leaves open whether, with only torsion of high Tor assumed and no Tor-rigidity, a reflexive tensor product forces at least one factor to be reflexive; it notes that for domains of dimension at least two the answer is affirmative.
Reading between the lines
- The connectedness-of-graph argument is not tied to reflexivity: the same graph should govern other statements where local freeness in codimension one is promoted to global rank, such as questions about higher syzygies of tensor products.
- A natural extension is to replace the height-one condition by a higher-codimensional analogue: if $N$ is locally free outside a closed set of codimension at least $c$, one might expect reflexivity of $M \otimes_R N$ to force both factors to satisfy higher $(\tilde S_n)$ conditions.
- The explicit presentation of the tensor product in the counterexample could be used to search for similar examples in higher dimensions where the local finiteness condition holds; the paper's method predicts that none exist over $(S_2)$ hypersurfaces.
Signed reviews
Editorial analysis
A structured set of objections, weighed in public.
Referee Report
Summary. The paper revisits an example of Celikbas and Takahashi concerning the failure of both modules in a tensor product to be reflexive in the Second Rigidity Theorem of Huneke and Wiegand. The authors prove a general result, Theorem 3.1, stating that if M is Tor-rigid, N has finite complete intersection dimension, M⊗N satisfies the condition (~S_n), and Tor_i(M,N) is torsion for all i≫0, then all positive Tor modules vanish and N satisfies (~S_n). Under the additional hypotheses that R satisfies (S2) and N is locally free on Y_1(R), Corollary 4.4 strengthens the conclusion to both M and N satisfying (~S_n). This yields Theorem 1.2 for hypersurface rings: if M has finite projective dimension and N has finite projective dimension after localization at every prime of height at most one, then reflexivity of M⊗N forces both M and N to be reflexive. The paper also analyzes the Hochster–Huneke graph and proves connectedness without a completeness assumption, and it revisits the Celikbas–Takahashi example to demonstrate sharpness.
Significance. If correct, the paper gives a clean positive result that rules out the known counterexample to the Second Rigidity Theorem under a mild local finiteness condition on N. The main theorem is more general than the hypersurface setting, working with complete intersection dimension and the (~S_n) conditions, and the proof is largely self-contained, with useful preliminary lemmas on transposes, pushforwards, and Tor-rigidity. The paper also supplies a proof of connectedness of the Hochster–Huneke graph in the non-complete case, and it provides an explicit presentation of the tensor product in the Celikbas–Takahashi example. These are genuine contributions to the homological algebra of tensor products and rigidity.
major comments (2)
- [§2.1 and proof of Theorem 3.1] The definition of Tor-rigidity in §2.1 is the weak one: Tor^R_1(M,N)=0 implies Tor^R_2(M,N)=0. However, the proof of Theorem 3.1 uses the standard strong form of Tor-rigidity: after showing Tor^R_1(M,N_1)=0, the text concludes 'As M is Tor-rigid, we have Tor^R_i(M,N)=0 for each i≥1.' This inference requires the strong property Tor^R_i=0 ⇒ Tor^R_{i+1}=0 for all i≥1, not merely the i=1 case stated in §2.1. Since the examples cited in §2.1 (Lichtenbaum, Huneke–Wiegand) do satisfy the strong form, the gap is easily fixed by amending the definition, but as written the proof is not valid under the stated definition.
- [§4, Proposition 4.3(i)] In the final paragraph of the proof, after assuming that a is a unit, the element that is shown to be regular is v=a(u+v), not u. The sentence 'Then u is R-regular, and the equality uJ=0 shows that J=0' is therefore not literally correct. The contradiction still follows because v is R-regular and v∈J, so for every u∈I the relation uv=0 forces u=0, giving I=0. This is a typographical slip rather than a substantive gap, but it should be fixed.
minor comments (5)
- [§4, Proposition 4.3(ii)] In the proof of part (ii), the module is N, but several occurrences read 'M_{p_i}', 'M_{q_{i+1}}', and 'rank_{R_p}(M_p)'. These should be N throughout to avoid confusion.
- [Example 4.5] The displayed exact sequence is hard to parse because the matrices and the module M⊗N are not clearly connected by arrows, and the phrase 'rightmost matrix' is ambiguous. Please rewrite the sequence with labeled maps and indicate explicitly which cokernel is M⊗R N. Also, since the verification relies on unpublished Macaulay2 code [21], it would be helpful to include the code or a reproducible computation.
- [Lemma 3.3] The reduction to CI-dim_{R_p}(N_p)=0 for p∈Y_0(R) uses the fact that finite CI-dimension satisfies the Auslander–Buchsbaum type formula CI-dim(N_p)=depth(R_p)-depth(N_p). This is standard, but it would be good to cite it explicitly, since the argument in that lemma depends on it.
- [§2.1] The examples of Tor-rigid modules listed in §2.1 should state explicitly that they satisfy the strong Tor-rigidity property used in Theorem 3.1, not merely the weak form given in the definition.
- [General] There are a few typographical issues: 'syzgy' should be 'syzygy' in the text after 2.2, 'The inequality in (3.1.5) are due to' should be 'is due to', and 'enviroment' in the acknowledgments should be 'environment'.
Circularity Check
No significant circularity; the main theorem is proved from independent homological results and a self-contained graph-connectedness argument.
full rationale
The derivation of Theorem 1.2 runs through Corollary 4.4, which relies on Theorem 3.1 and Proposition 4.3. Theorem 3.1 is proved from Lemmas 3.2–3.4 using standard Ext–Tor exact sequences, Tor-rigidity, finite CI-dimension, the depth formula, and pushforwards; none of these steps is equivalent to the conclusion by definition, and no parameter is fitted to the target result. Proposition 4.3, whose connectedness of the Hochster–Huneke graph is the load-bearing geometric input, is proved in the paper rather than merely assumed. The cited example of Celikbas and Takahashi is used only in Example 4.5 and Remark 4.6 to test sharpness, not to prove Theorem 1.2. Several references are by overlapping authors (e.g., [8], [9], [10], [12]), but they are distinct published theorems with independent hypotheses and do not contain the paper's conclusion; they therefore do not make the central derivation circular. The typographical slip in Proposition 4.3(i), where the regular element is printed as u rather than v, affects the wording of a contradiction argument but does not change the fact that the proof is independent of the result being established. Overall, the central claim is self-contained against standard background results, so there is no circularity.
Assumptions & free parameters
assumptions (8)
- domain assumption R is a commutative Noetherian local ring with maximal ideal m; all modules are finitely generated.
- standard math Auslander-Bridger exact sequence (2.2): 0 to Ext^1(Tr Omega^n M, -) to Tor_n^R(M, -) to Hom(Ext^n(M,R), -) to Ext^2(Tr Omega^n M, -).
- standard math Depth formula (2.7): if CI-dim(M) is finite or CI-dim(N) is finite and Tor_i(M,N)=0 for all i at least 1, then depth(M)+depth(N)=depth(R)+depth(M tensor_R N).
- standard math Ext-Tor duality (2.8): if CI-dim(N)=0 then Ext^i(TrN,M)=0 for all i at least 1 iff Tor_i(M,N)=0 for all i at least 1.
- standard math Equivalence of Serre-type condition (~S_n), n-torsion-freeness, and n-th syzygy under finite G-dimension (2.6).
- standard math Every finitely generated module over a complete intersection (in particular a hypersurface) has finite CI-dimension.
- standard math Lichtenbaum's theorem: over a hypersurface that is a quotient of an unramified regular local ring, every module of finite projective dimension is Tor-rigid.
- standard math Hochster-Huneke graph connectedness (Theorem 4.3, proven in the paper) for rings satisfying (S2).
Cite this review
Pith. "Pith review of On an example concerning the second rigidity theorem." pith.science (2026). https://pith.science/paper/DO5YVBP5
@misc{pith2026190802167,
author = {Pith},
title = {Pith review of: On an example concerning the second rigidity theorem},
year = {2026},
howpublished = {\url{https://pith.science/paper/DO5YVBP5}},
note = {Machine review of arXiv:1908.02167}
}
read the original abstract
In this paper we revisit an example of Celikbas and Takahashi concerning the reflexivity of tensor products of modules. We study Tor-rigidity and the Hochster--Huneke graph with vertices consisting of minimal prime ideals, and determine a condition with which the aforementioned example cannot occur. Our result, in particular, corroborates the Second Rigidity Theorem of Huneke and Wiegand.
Reference graph
Works this paper leans on
-
[10]
Olgur Celikbas and Ryo Takahashi, On the second rigidity theorem of Huneke and Wiegand , Proc. Amer. Math. Soc. (2019)
work page 2019
-
[21]
W. Frank Moore, Macaulay2 code to compute the biduality map and the pushforw ard module, unpublished (2015)
work page 2015
-
[1]
Tokuji Araya and Y uji Y oshino, Remarks on a depth formula, a grade inequality and a conjectu re of Auslan- der, Comm. Algebra 26 (1998), no. 11, 3793–3806. MR MR1647079 (99h:13010)
work page 1998
-
[2]
94, American Mathematical Society, Providence, R.I., 1 969
Maurice Auslander and Mark Bridger, Stable module theory, Memoirs of the American Mathematical Society, No. 94, American Mathematical Society, Providence, R.I., 1 969
-
[3]
Maurice Auslander and Idun Reiten, Applications of contravariantly finite subcategories , Adv. Math. 86 (1991), 111–152
work page 1991
-
[4]
Avramov, Infinite free resolutions , six lectures on commutative algebra (Bellaterra, 1996), P rogr
Luchezar L. Avramov, Infinite free resolutions , six lectures on commutative algebra (Bellaterra, 1996), P rogr. Math., vol. 166, Birkh¨ auser, Basel, 1998, pp. 1–118
work page 1996
-
[5]
Luchezar L. Avramov and Ragnar-Olaf Buchweitz, Support varieties and cohomology over complete inter- sections, Invent. Math. 142 (2000), no. 2, 285–318. MR MR1794064 (2001j:13017)
work page 2000
-
[6]
39, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1993
Winfried Bruns and J¨ urgen Herzog, Cohen-Macaulay rings , Cambridge Studies in Advanced Mathematics, vol. 39, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1993
work page 1993
Show all 22 references
-
[7]
Iyengar, Greg Piepmeyer, an d Roger Wiegand, Criteria for vanishing of tor over complete intersections, Pacific J
Olgur Celikbas, Srikanth B. Iyengar, Greg Piepmeyer, an d Roger Wiegand, Criteria for vanishing of tor over complete intersections, Pacific J. Math. 276 (2015), no. 1, 93–115. 8 O. CELIKBAS, H. MA TSUI, AND A. SADEGHI
2015
-
[8]
Olgur Celikbas and Greg Piepmeyer, Syzygies and tensor product of modules , Math. Z. 276 (2014), no. 1-2, 457–468
2014
-
[9]
5, 1670–1684
Olgur Celikbas, Arash Sadeghi, and Ryo Takahashi, Bounds on depth of tensor products of modules , Journal of Pure and Applied Algebra 219 (2015), no. 5, 1670–1684
2015
-
[11]
, Powers of the maximal ideal and vanishing of (co)homology, preprint; posted at arXiv:1901.04108v1 (2019)
2019 arXiv
-
[12]
Dibaei and Arash Sadeghi, Linkage of modules and the Serre conditions, J
Mohammad T. Dibaei and Arash Sadeghi, Linkage of modules and the Serre conditions, J. Pure Appl. Algebra 219 (2015), no. 10, 4458–4478
2015
-
[13]
Graham Evans and Phillip Griffith, Syzygies, London Mathematical Society Lecture Note Series, vol
E. Graham Evans and Phillip Griffith, Syzygies, London Mathematical Society Lecture Note Series, vol. 106 , Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1985
1985
-
[14]
Grayson and Michael E
Daniel R. Grayson and Michael E. Stillman, Macaulay2, a software system for research in algebraic geometry, Available at https://faculty.math.illinois.edu/Macaulay2/
-
[15]
(1994), no
Melvin Hochster and Craig Huneke, Indecomposable canonical modules and connectedness , Contemporary Math. (1994), no. 159, 197–208
1994
-
[16]
Craig Huneke and Roger Wiegand, Tensor products of modules and the rigidity of Tor, Math. Ann. 299 (1994), no. 3, 449–476
1994
-
[17]
, Tensor products of modules, rigidity and local cohomology, Math. Scand. 81 (1997), no. 2, 161–183
1997
-
[18]
Tensor products of modules and the rigidity o f Tor
, Correction to “Tensor products of modules and the rigidity o f Tor”, Math. Annalen, 299 (1994), 449–476 , Mathematische Annalen 338 (2007), no. 2, 291–293
1994
-
[19]
Stephen Lichtenbaum, On the vanishing of Tor in regular local rings , Illinois J. Math. 10 (1966), 220–226
1966
-
[20]
Algebra 28 (2000), no
Vladimir Mas ¸ek, Gorenstein dimension and torsion of modules over commutati ve Noetherian rings , Comm. Algebra 28 (2000), no. 12, 5783–5811, Special issue in honor of Robin Ha rtshorne
2000
-
[22]
Pavaman Murthy, Modules over regular local rings , Illinois J
M. Pavaman Murthy, Modules over regular local rings , Illinois J. Math. 7 (1963), 558–565. OLGUR CELIKBAS , DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICS , WEST VIRGINIA UNIVERSITY , MORGANTOWN , WV 26506-6310, U.S.A E-mail address: olgur.celikbas@math.wvu.edu HIROKI MATSUI , G RADUATE SCHOOL OF ...
1963
Reviewed August 14, 2026 · model on record in the stance chip above.
Discussion (0). Continue with ORCID to comment.