In algebraic geometry, the dimension of a scheme is a generalization of a
dimension of an algebraic variety
In mathematics and specifically in algebraic geometry, the dimension of an algebraic variety may be defined in various equivalent ways.
Some of these definitions are of geometric nature, while some other are purely algebraic and rely on commutati ...
.
Scheme theory
In mathematics, a scheme is a mathematical structure that enlarges the notion of algebraic variety in several ways, such as taking account of multiplicities (the equations ''x'' = 0 and ''x''2 = 0 define the same algebraic variety but different sc ...
emphasizes the
relative point of view and, accordingly, the relative dimension of a
morphism of schemes is also important.
Definition
By definition, the dimension of a scheme ''X'' is the dimension of the underlying topological space: the supremum of the lengths ''â„“'' of chains of irreducible closed subsets:
:
In particular, if
is an affine scheme, then such chains correspond to chains of prime ideals (inclusion reversed) and so the dimension of ''X'' is precisely the
Krull dimension of ''A''.
If ''Y'' is an irreducible closed subset of a scheme ''X'', then the codimension of ''Y'' in ''X'' is the supremum of the lengths ''â„“'' of chains of irreducible closed subsets:
:
An irreducible subset of ''X'' is an
irreducible component of ''X'' if and only if the codimension of it in ''X'' is zero. If
is affine, then the codimension of ''Y'' in ''X'' is precisely the height of the prime ideal defining ''Y'' in ''X''.
Examples
*If a finite-dimensional vector space ''V'' over a field is viewed as a scheme over the field,
[The Spec of the symmetric algebra of the dual vector space of ''V'' is the scheme structure on .] then the dimension of the scheme ''V'' is the same as the vector-space dimension of ''V''.
*Let
, ''k'' a field. Then it has dimension 2 (since it contains the hyperplane
as an irreducible component). If ''x'' is a closed point of ''X'', then
is 2 if ''x'' lies in ''H'' and is 1 if it is in
. Thus,
for closed points ''x'' can vary.
*Let
be an algebraic pre-variety; i.e., an integral scheme of finite type over a field
. Then the dimension of
is the
transcendence degree of the function field
of
over
. Also, if
is a nonempty open subset of
, then
.
*Let ''R'' be a discrete valuation ring and
the affine line over it. Let
be the projection.
consists of 2 points,
corresponding to the maximal ideal and closed and
the zero ideal and open. Then the fibers
are closed and open, respectively. We note that
has dimension one,
[In fact, by definition, is the fiber product of and and so it is the Spec of ] while
has dimension
and
is dense in
. Thus, the dimension of the closure of an open subset can be strictly bigger than that of the open set.
*Continuing the same example, let
be the maximal ideal of ''R'' and
a generator. We note that