COFINITENESS OF LOCAL COHOMOLOGY MODULES FOR IDEALS OF
DIMENSION ONE

arXiv:1308.6040v1 [] 28 Aug 2013

KAMAL BAHMANPOUR, REZA NAGHIPOUR∗ AND MONIREH SEDGHI
Abstract. Let R denote a commutative Noetherian (not necessarily local) ring, M an arbitrary
R-module and I an ideal of R of dimension one. It is shown that the R-module ExtiR (R/I, M )
is finitely generated (resp. weakly Laskerian) for all i ≤ cd(I, M ) + 1 if and only if the local
cohomology module HIi (M ) is I-cofinite (resp. I-weakly cofinite) for all i. Also, we show that
when I is an arbitrary ideal and M is finitely generated module such that the R-module HIi (M ) is
weakly Laskerian for all i ≤ t − 1, then HIi (M ) is I-cofinite for all i ≤ t − 1 and for any minimax
submodule K of HIt (M ), the R-modules HomR (R/I, HIt (M )/K) and Ext1R (R/I, HIt (M )/K)
are finitely generated, where t is a non-negative integer. This generalizes the main result of
Bahmanpour-Naghipour [2] and Brodmann and Lashgari [7].

1. Introduction
Let R denote a commutative Noetherian ring (with identity) and I an ideal of R. For an
R-module M , the ith local cohomology module of M with respect to I is defined as
HIi (M ) = lim ExtiR (R/I n , M ).
−→
n≥1

We refer the reader to [15] or [8] for more details about local cohomology.
In [16] Grothendieck conjectured that for any ideal I of R and any finitely generated Rmodule M , the module HomR (R/I, HIi (M )) is finitely generated, but soon Hartshorne was
able to present a counterexample to Grothendieck’s conjecture (see [17] for details and proof).
However, he defined an R-module M to be I-cofinite if Supp M ⊆ V (I) and ExtjR (R/I, M ) is
finitely generated for all j and asked:
For which rings R and ideals I are the modules HIi (M ) I-cofinite for all i and all finitely
generated modules M ?
With respect to this question, Hartshorne in [17] and later Chiriacescu in [9] showed that if R
is a complete regular local ring and I is a prime ideal such that dim R/I = 1, then HIi (M ) is
I-cofinite for any finitely generated R-module M (see [17, Corollary 7.7]).
Also, Delfino and Marley [10, Theorem 1] and Yoshida [22, Theorem 1.1] have eliminated the
complete hypothesis entirely. Finally, more recently Bahmanpour and Naghipour [3, Theorem
2.6], with completely different methods and relying primarily on induction, removed the local
condition on the ring.
On the other hand, in [13], Divaani-Aazar and Mafi introduced the class of weakly Laskerian
modules. An R-module M is said to be a weakly Laskerian, if the set of associated primes of
Key words and phrases. Cofinite, Cominimax, local cohomology, minimax, Serre category, weakly Laskerian.
2000 Mathematics Subject Classification: 13D45, 14B15, 13E05.
This research was in part supported by a grant from IPM (No. 900130057 and 900130061).
∗
Corresponding author: e-mail: naghipour@ipm.ir (Reza Naghipour).
1

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KAMAL BAHMANPOUR, REZA NAGHIPOUR∗ AND MONIREH SEDGHI

any quotient module M is finite. Also, they in [14] defined an R-module M is I-weakly cofinite
if Supp M ⊆ V (I) and ExtjR (R/I, M ) is weakly Laskerian for all j.
One of the aims of the present paper is to prove some new results concerning cofiniteness of
local cohomology modules HIi (M ) for any R-module M and any ideal I of dimension one in a
commutative Noetherian ring R. More precisely, as a first main result we prove the following:
Theorem 1.1. Let R be a commutative Noetherian ring, M an arbitrary R-module and I an
ideal of R, such that dim R/I = 1. Then the following conditions are equivalent:
(i) ExtiR (R/I, M ) is finitely generated (rep. weakly Laskerian) for all i ≤ cd(I, M ) + 1.
(ii) HIi (M ) is I-cofinite (resp. I-weakly cofinite) for all i.
(iii) ExtiR (R/I, M ) is finitely generated (resp. weakly Laskerian) for all i.
(iv) ExtiR (N, M ) is finitely generated (resp. weakly Laskerian) for all i ≤ cd(I, M ) + 1 and
for any finitely generated R-module N with Supp N ⊆ V (I).
(v) ExtiR (N, M ) is finitely generated (resp. weakly Laskerian) for all i ≤ cd(I, M ) + 1 and for
some finitely generated R-module N with Supp N = V (I).
Pursuing this point of view further we derive the following consequence of Theorem 1.1.
Corollary 1.2. Let R be a commutative Noetherian ring and let I, J be two ideals of R such
that J ⊆ Rad(I). Let M be a J-cofinite (resp. J-weakly cofinite) R-module.
(i) If dim R/I = 1, then HIi (M ) is I-cofinite (resp. I-weakly cofinite) for all i.
(ii) If dim R/J = 1, then HJi (M ) is I-cofinite (resp. I-weakly cofinite) for all i.
We say that an R-module N is minimax module, if there is a finitely generated submodule
L of N , such that N/L is Artinian (see [23]). As the second main result, we shall prove the
following:
Theorem 1.3. Let R be a commutative Noetherian ring, I an ideal of R and M a finitely
generated R-module such that for a non-negative integer t, the R-modules HIi (M ) are weakly
Laskerian for all i ≤ t. Then the R-modules HI0 (M ), . . . , HIt (M ) are I-cofinite and for any
minimax submodule K of HIt+1 (M ) and for any finitely generated R-module L with Supp L ⊆
V (I), the R-modules HomR (L, HIt+1 (M )/K) and Ext1R (L, HIt+1 (M )/K) are finitely generated.
Throughout this paper, R will always be a commutative Noetherian ring with non-zero identity and I will be an ideal of R. For any ideal a of R, we denote {p ∈ Spec R : p ⊇ a} by V (a).
Also, the radical of a, denoted by Rad(a), is defined to be the set {x ∈ R : xn ∈ a for some
n ∈ N}. For any unexplained notation and terminology we refer the reader to [8] and [19].

2. The Results
The main goal of this section are Theorems 2.4 and 2.9. The following lemmas are needed in
the proof of the main results. Before bringing them, let us recall that a class S of R-modules
is a Serre subcategory of the category of R-modules, when it is closed under taking submodules,
quotients and extensions. One can easily check that the subcategories of, finitely generated,
minimax, weakly Laskerian, and Matlis reflexive modules are examples of Serre subcategory.
In the case S is the Serre subcategory of all finitely generated modules, the following lemmas
were proved by Dibaei and Yassemi. The proofs given in [11, 12] can be easily carried over to
an arbitrary Serre subcategory S of the category of R-modules.

COFINITENESS OF LOCAL COHOMOLOGY

3

Lemma 2.1. (cf. [11, Theorem 2.1].) Let R be a Noetherian ring and I an ideal of R.
Let s be a non-negative integer and let M be an R-module such that ExtsR (R/I, M ) ∈ S. If
ExtjR (R/I, HIi (M )) ∈ S for all i < s and all j ≥ 0, then HomR (R/I, HIs (M )) ∈ S.
Lemma 2.2. (cf. [12, Theorem A].) Let R be a Noetherian ring and I an ideal of R. Let
s be a non-negative integer and let M be an R-module such that Exts+1
R (R/I, M ) ∈ S. If
j
1
i
s
ExtR (R/I, HI (M )) ∈ S for all i < s and all j ≥ 0, then ExtR (R/I, HI (M )) ∈ S.
Lemma 2.3. Let I be an ideal of a Noetherian ring R and M a non-zero R-module, such that
dim M ≤ 1 and Supp M ⊆ V (I). Then the following statements are equivalent:
(i) M is I-cofinite (resp. I-weakly cofinite).
(ii) The R-modules HomR (R/I, M ) and Ext1R (R/I, M ) are finitely generated (resp. weakly
Laskerian).
Proof. See [4, Proposition 2.6] (resp. [5, Proposition 2.7]).



Now we are prepared to state and prove the first main theorem of this section. Before we state
the Theorem 2.4, let us recall the important concept cohomological dimension of an R-module
N with respect to an ideal a of R. For an R-module N , the cohomological dimension of N with
respect to an ideal a of R, denoted by cd(a, N ), is defined as
cd(a, N ) := sup{i ∈ N0 | Hai (N ) 6= 0}.
Theorem 2.4. Let R be a Noetherian ring, M an R-module and I an ideal of R such that
dim R/I = 1. Then the following conditions are equivalent:
(i) ExtiR (R/I, M ) is finitely generated (resp. weakly Laskerian) for all i ≤ cd(I, M ) + 1.
(ii) HIi (M ) is I-cofinite (resp. I-weakly cofinite) for all i.
(iii) ExtiR (R/I, M ) is finitely generated (resp. weakly Laskerian) for all i.
(iv) ExtiR (N, M ) is finitely generated (resp. weakly Laskerian) for all i ≤ cd(I, M ) + 1 and
for any finitely generated R-module N with Supp N ⊆ V (I).
(v) ExtiR (N, M ) is finitely generated (resp. weakly Laskerian) for all i ≤ cd(I, M ) + 1 and for
some finitely generated R-module N with Supp N = V (I).
(vi) ExtiR (N, M ) is finitely generated (resp. weakly Laskerian) for all i and for any finitely
generated R-module N with Supp N ⊆ V (I).
(vii) ExtiR (N, M ) is finitely generated (resp. weakly Laskerian) for all i and for some finitely
generated R-module N with Supp N = V (I).
Proof. We prove theorem for the weakly Laskerian case and by using same proof, the finitely
generated case follows.
In order to prove (i) =⇒ (ii) we use induction on i. When i = 0, then the exact sequence
0 −→ ΓI (M ) −→ M −→ M/ΓI (M ) −→ 0,
induces the exact sequence
0 −→ HomR (R/I, ΓI (M )) −→ HomR (R/I, M ) −→ HomR (R/I, M/ΓI (M ))
−→ Ext1R (R/I, ΓI (M )) −→ Ext1R (R/I, M ).
As HomR (R/I, M/ΓI (M )) = 0 and ExtiR (R/I, M ), for j = 0, 1, is weakly Laskerian, it follows
that HomR (R/I, M ) and Ext1R (R/I, ΓI (M )) are weakly Laskerian. It now follows from Lemma
2.3 that ΓI (M ) is I-weakly cofinite.

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KAMAL BAHMANPOUR, REZA NAGHIPOUR∗ AND MONIREH SEDGHI

Assume, inductively, that i > 0 and that the result has been proved for i − 1. Then
HI0 (M ), HI1 (M ), . . . , HIi−1 (M ) are I-weakly cofinite, and so by Lemmas 2.1 and 2.2, the Rmodules HomR (R/I, HIi (M )) and Ext1R (R/I, HIi (M )) are weakly Laskerian. Now, it follows
again from Lemma 2.3 that HIi (M ) is I-weakly cofinite. The implication (ii) =⇒ (iii) follows
immediately from [20, Proposition 3.9], and the conclusion (iii) =⇒ (i) is obviously true. Also
the implications (vi) =⇒ (iv) and (iv) =⇒ (i) are obviously true. For prove (iii) =⇒ (vi) see [14,
Lemma 2.2], and the implications (vii) =⇒ (v) and (vi) =⇒ (vii) are obviously true. Finally, in
order to complete the proof, we have to show the implication (v) =⇒ (iv). To this end, let L be
a finitely generated R-module with Supp L ⊆ V (I) and N a finitely generated R-module such
that Supp N = V (I).
As Supp L ⊆ Supp N , according to Gruson’s Theorem [21, Theorem 4.1], there exists a chain
0 = L0 ⊂ L1 ⊂ · · · ⊂ Lk = L,
such that the factors Lj /Lj−1 are homomorphic images of a direct sum of finitely many copies
of N (note that we may assume that N is faithful). Now consider the exact sequences
0 −→ K −→ N n −→ L1 −→ 0
0 −→ L1 −→ L2 −→ L2 /L1 −→ 0
..
.
0 −→ Lk−1 −→ Lk −→ Lk /Lk−1 −→ 0,
for some positive integer n. Now, from the long exact sequence
i
i
i
· · · → Exti−1
R (Lj−1 , N ) → ExtR (Lj /Lj−1 , N ) → ExtR (Lj , N ) → ExtR (Lj−1 , N ) → · · · ,

and an easy induction on k, it suffices to prove the case when k = 1.
Thus there is an exact sequence
0 −→ K −→ N n −→ L −→ 0

(∗)

for some n ∈ N and some finitely generated R-module K.
Now, we use induction on i. First, HomR (L, M ) is a submodule of HomR (N n , M ); hence
in view of assumption and [14, Lemma 2.2], Ext0R (L, M ) is weakly Laskerian. So assume that
i > 0 and that ExtjR (L′ , N ) is weakly Laskerian for every finitely generated R-module L′ with
Supp L′ ⊆ Supp N and all j ≤ i−1. Now, the exact sequence (∗) induces the long exact sequence
i
i
n
· · · −→ Exti−1
R (K, M ) −→ ExtR (L, M ) −→ ExtR (N , M ) −→ · · · ,

so that, by the inductive hypothesis, Exti−1
R (K, M ) is weakly Laskerian. On the other hand, acn
i
n
cording to [14, Lemma 2.2], ExtR (N , M ) ∼
=⊕ ExtiR (L, M ) is weakly Laskerian. Thus, it follows
from [14, Lemma 2.2] that ExtiR (L, M ) is weakly Laskerian, the inductive step is complete. 
Corollary 2.5. Let R be a commutative Noetherian ring and let I, J be two ideals of R such
that J ⊆ Rad(I). Let M be a J-weakly cofinite R-module.
(i) If dim R/I = 1, then the R-module HIi (M ) is I-weakly cofinite for all i.
(ii) If dim R/J = 1, then the R-module HJi (M ) is I-weakly cofinite for all i.

COFINITENESS OF LOCAL COHOMOLOGY

5

Proof. In order to show that (i), since J ⊆ Rad(I), it follows that Supp R/I ⊆ Supp R/J. On
the other hand, since M is J-weakly cofinite it follows from [14, Lemma 2.8] that M is also
I-weakly cofinite. Now as dim R/I = 1, the result follows from Theorem 2.4.
Also, to prove (ii), since dim R/J = 1 and M is J-weakly cofinite it follows from Theorem
2.4 that HJi (M ) is J-weakly cofinite for all i. Now as Supp R/I ⊆ Supp R/J it follows from [6,
Lemma 2.10] that HJi (M ) is I-cominimax for all i.

Corollary 2.6. Let R be a commutative Noetherian ring and let I, J be two ideals of R such
that J ⊆ Rad(I). Let M be a J-cofinite R-module.
(i) If dim R/I = 1, then the R-module HIi (M ) is J-cofinite for all i.
(ii) If dim R/J = 1, then the R-module HJi (M ) is J-cofinite for all i.
Proof. The result follows from the proof of Theorem 2.4, Lemma 2.3 and [18, Lemma 1].



Before proving the next main theorem, we need the following lemma and proposition.
Lemma 2.7. Let R be a Noetherian ring and M an R-module. Then M is weakly Laskerian if
and only if there exists a finitely generated submodule N of M such that Supp M/N is finite.
Proof. See [1, Theorem 3.3].



The following proposition, which is a generalization the main result of Brodmann and Lashgari, will serve to shorten the proof of the main theorem.
Proposition 2.8. Let R be a Noetherian ring, I an ideal of R and M a finitely generated Rmodule such that the R-modules HIi (M ) are weakly Laskerian for all i ≤ t. Then the R-modules
HI0 (M ), . . . , HIt (M )
are I-cofinite and the R-modules HomR (R/I, HIt+1 (M )) and Ext1R (R/I, HIt+1 (M )) are finitely
generated. In particular, the set AssR HIt+1 (M )/K is finite.
Proof. We use induction on t. The case t = 0 easily follows from Lemmas 2.1 and 2.2. Let t ≥ 1
and the case t − 1 is settled. Then by inductive hypothesis the R-modules
HI0 (M ), . . . , HIt−1 (M )
are I-cofinite and the R-modules HomR (R/I, HIt (M )) and Ext1R (R/I, HIt (M )) are finitely generated. Now since by assumption the R-module HIt (M ) is weakly Laskerian, it follows from Lemma
2.7 that there is a finitely generated submodule N of HIt (M ) such that Supp(HIt (M )/N ) is finite
set, and so dim HIt (M )/N ≤ 1. Now from the exact sequence
0 −→ N −→ HIt (M ) −→ HIt (M )/N −→ 0,
it follows that the R-modules
HomR (R/I, HIt (M )/N ) and

Ext1R (R/I, HIt (M )/N ),

are finitely generated. Therefore it follows from Lemma 2.3 that the R-module HIt (M )/N is
I-cofinite. Hence it follows from the exact sequence
0 −→ N −→ HIt (M ) −→ HIt (M )/N −→ 0,

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KAMAL BAHMANPOUR, REZA NAGHIPOUR∗ AND MONIREH SEDGHI

that the R-module HIt (M ) is I-cofinite. Also, it follows from Lemmas 2.1 and 2.2 that the
R-modules HomR (R/I, HIt+1 (M )) and Ext1R (R/I, HIt+1 (M )) are finitely generated. This completes the induction step.

Now, we are ready to state and prove the second main theorem of this paper, which is a
generalization the main result of Bahmanpour and Naghipour [2].
Theorem 2.9. Let R be a commutative Noetherian ring, I an ideal of R and M a finitely
generated R-module such that for a non-negative integer t, the R-modules HIi (M ) are weakly
Laskerian for all i ≤ t. Then the R-modules HI0 (M ), . . . , HIt (M ) are I-cofinite and for any
minimax submodule K of HIt+1 (M ) and for any finitely generated R-module L with Supp L ⊆
V (I), the R-modules HomR (L, HIt+1 (M )/K) and Ext1R (L, HIt+1 (M )/K) are finitely generated.
Proof. By virtue of Proposition 2.8 the R-module HIi (M ) is I-cofinite for all i ≤ t and the
R-module HomR (R/I, HIt+1 (M )) is finitely generated. Hence the R-module HomR (R/I, K) is
also finitely generated, and so in view of [20, Proposition 4.3], K is I-cofinite. Thus, [18, Lemma
1] implies that ExtiR (L, K) is finitely generated for all i.
Next, the exact sequence
0 −→ K −→ HIt (M ) −→ HIt+1 (M )/K −→ 0
provides the following exact sequence,
t+1
1
HomR (L, Ht+1
I (M )) −→ HomR (L, HI (M )/K) −→ ExtR (L, K)

−→ Ext1R (L, H t+1 (M )) −→ Ext1R (L, H t+1 (M )/K) −→ Ext2R (L, K).
Now, since ExtiR (L, K) is finitely generated, so it is thus sufficient for us to show that the
R-modules HomR (L, HIt+1 (M )) and Ext1R (L, H t+1 (M )) are finitely generated. This follows from
Proposition 2.8 and [18, Lemma 1].

Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Professor Hossein Zakeri for his reading of the first draft and
valuable discussions. Also, we would like to thank from School of Mathematics, Institute for
Research in Fundamental Sciences (IPM), for its financial support.
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Department of Mathematics, Ardabil branch Islamic Azad University, P.O. Box 5614633167,
Ardabil, Iran.
E-mail address: bahmanpour@tabrizu.ac.ir
Department of Mathematics, University of Tabriz, Tabriz, Iran; and School of Mathematics,
Institute for Research in Fundamental Sciences (IPM), P.O. Box. 19395-5746, Tehran, Iran.
E-mail address: naghipour@ipm.ir
E-mail address: naghipour@tabrizu.ac.ir
Department of Mathematics, Azarbaijan University of Tarbiat Moallem, Tabriz, Iran.
E-mail address: sedghi@azaruniv.edu

