## Student Algebra & Combinatorics

•  Ioannis Zachos, Michigan State
•  Gröbner basis and the Ideal Membership problem
•  09/09/2019
•  4:30 PM - 5:30 PM
•  C304 Wells Hall

We know from the Hilbert Basis Theorem that any ideal in a polynomial ring over a field is finitely generated. However, there remains question as to the best generators to choose to describe the ideal. Are there generators for a polynomial ideal $I$ that make it easy to see if a given polynomial $f$ belongs to $I$? For instance, does $2x^2z^2+2xyz^2+2xz^3+z^3-1$ belong to $I=(x+y+z, xy+xz+yz, xyz−1)$? Deciding if a polynomial is in an ideal is called the Ideal Membership Problem. In polynomial rings of one variable, we use long division of polynomials to solve this problem. There is a corresponding algorithm for $K[x_1,\ldots, x_n]$, but because there are multiple variables and multiple divisors, the remainder of the division is not unique. Hence a remainder of $0$ is a sufficient condition, but not a necessary condition, to determine ideal membership. However, if we choose the correct divisors, then the remainder is unique regardless of the order of the divisors. These divisors are called a Gröbner basis. In our talk we will define the Gröbner basis and see how it solves the Ideal Membership Problem.

## Contact

Department of Mathematics
Michigan State University