Finite morphism

In algebraic geometry, a finite morphism between two affine varieties ${\displaystyle X,Y}$ is a dense regular map which induces isomorphic inclusion ${\displaystyle k\left[Y\right]\hookrightarrow k\left[X\right]}$ between their coordinate rings, such that ${\displaystyle k\left[X\right]}$ is integral over ${\displaystyle k\left[Y\right]}$.^[1] This definition can be extended to the quasi-projective varieties, such that a regular map ${\displaystyle f\colon X\to Y}$ between quasiprojective varieties is finite if any point like ${\displaystyle y\in Y}$ has an affine neighbourhood V such that ${\displaystyle U=f^{-1}(V)}$ is affine and ${\displaystyle f\colon U\to V}$ is a finite map (in view of the previous definition, because it is between affine varieties).^[2]

Definition by Schemes[]

A morphism f: X → Y of schemes is a finite morphism if Y has an open cover by affine schemes

${\displaystyle V_{i}={\mbox{Spec}}\;B_{i}}$

such that for each i,

${\displaystyle f^{-1}(V_{i})=U_{i}}$

is an open affine subscheme Spec A_i, and the restriction of f to U_i, which induces a ring homomorphism

${\displaystyle B_{i}\rightarrow A_{i},}$

makes A_i a finitely generated module over B_i.^[3] One also says that X is finite over Y.

In fact, f is finite if and only if for every open affine open subscheme V = Spec B in Y, the inverse image of V in X is affine, of the form Spec A, with A a finitely generated B-module.^[4]

For example, for any field k, ${\displaystyle {\text{Spec}}(k[t,x]/(x^{n}-t))\to {\text{Spec}}(k[t])}$ is a finite morphism since ${\displaystyle k[t,x]/(x^{n}-t)\cong k[t]\oplus k[t]\cdot x\oplus \cdots \oplus k[t]\cdot x^{n-1}}$ as ${\displaystyle k[t]}$-modules. Geometrically, this is obviously finite since this is a ramified n-sheeted cover of the affine line which degenerates at the origin. By contrast, the inclusion of A¹ − 0 into A¹ is not finite. (Indeed, the Laurent polynomial ring k[y, y⁻¹] is not finitely generated as a module over k[y].) This restricts our geometric intuition to surjective families with finite fibers.

Properties of finite morphisms[]

• The composition of two finite morphisms is finite.
• Any base change of a finite morphism f: X → Y is finite. That is, if g: Z → Y is any morphism of schemes, then the resulting morphism X ×_Y Z → Z is finite. This corresponds to the following algebraic statement: if A and C are (commutative) B-algebras, and A is finitely generated as a B-module, then the tensor product A ⊗_B C is finitely generated as a C-module. Indeed, the generators can be taken to be the elements a_i ⊗ 1, where a_i are the given generators of A as a B-module.
• Closed immersions are finite, as they are locally given by A → A/I, where I is the ideal corresponding to the closed subscheme.
• Finite morphisms are closed, hence (because of their stability under base change) proper.^[5] This follows from the going up theorem of Cohen-Seidenberg in commutative algebra.
• Finite morphisms have finite fibers (that is, they are quasi-finite).^[6] This follows from the fact that for a field k, every finite k-algebra is an Artinian ring. A related statement is that for a finite surjective morphism f: X → Y, X and Y have the same dimension.
• By Deligne, a morphism of schemes is finite if and only if it is proper and quasi-finite.^[7] This had been shown by Grothendieck if the morphism f: X → Y is locally of finite presentation, which follows from the other assumptions if Y is Noetherian.^[8]
• Finite morphisms are both projective and affine.^[9]

Morphisms of finite type[]

It has been suggested that this section be split out into another article. (Discuss) (April 2018)

For a homomorphism A → B of commutative rings, B is called an A-algebra of finite type if B is a finitely generated as an A-algebra. It is much stronger for B to be a finite A-algebra, which means that B is finitely generated as an A-module. For example, for any commutative ring A and natural number n, the polynomial ring A[x₁, ..., x_n] is an A-algebra of finite type, but it is not a finite A-module unless A = 0 or n = 0. Another example of a finite-type morphism which is not finite is ${\displaystyle \mathbb {C} [t]\to \mathbb {C} [t][x,y]/(y^{2}-x^{3}-t)}$.

The analogous notion in terms of schemes is: a morphism f: X → Y of schemes is of finite type if Y has a covering by affine open subschemes V_i = Spec A_i such that f⁻¹(V_i) has a finite covering by affine open subschemes U_ij = Spec B_ij with B_ij an A_i-algebra of finite type. One also says that X is of finite type over Y.

For example, for any natural number n and field k, affine n-space and projective n-space over k are of finite type over k (that is, over Spec k), while they are not finite over k unless n = 0. More generally, any quasi-projective scheme over k is of finite type over k.

The Noether normalization lemma says, in geometric terms, that every affine scheme X of finite type over a field k has a finite surjective morphism to affine space Aⁿ over k, where n is the dimension of X. Likewise, every projective scheme X over a field has a finite surjective morphism to projective space Pⁿ, where n is the dimension of X.

See also[]

• Glossary of algebraic geometry
• Finite algebra

Notes[]

References[]

External links[]

• The Stacks Project Authors, The Stacks Project