Alphabeta Math
CorollaryStatement: Literature-sourcedProof: Literature-sourcedverified 2026-09-24 (gpt-6-sol)
How statement and proof provenance work

The first chip identifies the source of the statement or construction; the second identifies the source of its local proof or verification.

  • Literature-sourced: the exact statement appears in a cited source; only wording and notation differ.
  • AI-adapted: a semantically identical restatement of literature-sourced material, modulo indexing, notation, and boundary cases adopted by the library.
  • AI-generated: a genuinely novel statement formulated by AI, with no source for the claim itself.

These labels describe origin, not correctness: citations and verification chips remain separate evidence.

A minimal prime over a principal nonzerodivisor has height one

Statement

Assume the Axiom of Choice (The Axiom of Choice). Let R be a Noetherian commutative ring, let x∈R be a nonzerodivisor, and let p be a prime ideal minimal over (x). Then ht⁡(p)=1.

Facts & Assumptions

Given: The Axiom of Choice, a Noetherian commutative ring R, a nonzerodivisor x∈R, and a prime ideal p minimal over (x).

[L1]

Every prime minimal over a principal ideal has height at most 1 (Krull's principal ideal theorem).

[L2]

The principal-ideal reduction passes to a Noetherian local domain whose maximal ideal is minimal over the image of x (Reduce the principal ideal theorem to a Noetherian local domain).

[L3]

A Noetherian local domain has dimension zero exactly when it is a field (A Noetherian local domain has dimension zero exactly when it is a field).

[L4]

Under AC, the nilradical of a Noetherian ring is the finite intersection of its minimal primes, and the nilradical of a Noetherian localization is nilpotent (A radical ideal in a Noetherian ring is a finite intersection of minimal primes, The nilradical of a Noetherian ring is nilpotent, Every quotient and every localisation of a Noetherian ring is Noetherian).

Proof

technique · direct
1.1L1given

By [L1], ht⁡(p)≤1.

1.2L4givenchoose

By [L4], the nilradical is a finite intersection of minimal primes. Since p contains that intersection, it contains one of those primes; choose q⊆p. The localization Rq is a nonzero Noetherian local ring with only one prime, qRq. Its nilradical is therefore that maximal ideal and is nilpotent by [L4]. If x∈q, the image x/1 would be nilpotent in Rq, contradicting that multiplication by the nonzerodivisor x remains injective after localization. Thus x∉q and q≠p.

2.1L2L3step 1.2

Apply [L2] to this q. In the resulting Noetherian local domain A=(R/q)p/q, the image of x is nonzero and lies in the maximal ideal. If that maximal ideal had height 0, then [L3] would make A a field, forcing x/1 to be a unit, contradiction. Hence the maximal ideal of A has height at least 1, so p has height at least 1.

3.1step 1.1step 2.1∎

Steps 1.1 and 2.1 give ht⁡(p)=1.

Depends on

Used by

Dependency tree · two levels

32 results within two dependency steps of this one, each drawn at its shortest distance from it. An arrow runs from a result to what uses it, so the chart reads left to right and ends at this result, which carries a heavier outline. Every node is a link to that result. Click elsewhere on the chart to enlarge it.

Sources