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TheoremStatement: Literature-sourcedProof: AI-adaptedPipeline-generatedprecheck passaudited 2026-09-30
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Etale morphisms are universally open and quasi-finite at every point

Statement

Assume the Axiom of Choice (The Axiom of Choice). Let f ⁣:X→S be 'etale (Étale morphism of schemes).

  1. f is flat and locally of finite presentation (Flat morphism of schemes, Locally finite presentation morphisms) and therefore universally open (Open and universally open morphisms of schemes).
  2. f is quasi-finite at every point x∈X in the pointwise sense of the definition of quasi-finiteness: with s=f(x) there are affine neighbourhoods U=Spec⁡B of x and V=Spec⁡A of s with f(U)⊆V and A→B of finite type such that the fibre algebra Bq/pBq is finite-dimensional over κ(p), q the prime of x and p=q∩A (Quasi-finite morphisms of schemes, Quasi-finiteness at a prime of a finite-type algebra); in fact Bq/pBq=κ(x), a finite separable extension of κ(s).
  3. If in addition f is quasi-compact, then f is of finite type and quasi-finite in the sense of Quasi-finite morphisms of schemes. The distinction between the local statement 2 and the global statement 3 is essential: 'etale by itself is a local condition and need not be of finite type.

Facts & Assumptions

Given: The data and hypotheses displayed in the Statement, with the conventions fixed there.

[F1]

'Etale at x means smooth at x of relative dimension 0, i.e. locally of finite presentation at x, flat at x, and geometrically regular fibres of local dimension 0 at the points over x; f is 'etale when this holds at every point, and a smooth morphism is flat and locally of finite presentation at each of its points (Étale morphism of schemes, Smooth morphism of schemes, Flat morphism of schemes, Locally finite presentation morphisms).

[F2]

Assume AC. A morphism that is flat and locally of finite presentation is universally open, hence open: every base change of f is an open map (Flat finite-presentation morphisms are open, Open and universally open morphisms of schemes).

[F3]

Assume AC. For f locally of finite presentation, f is 'etale at x if and only if f is flat at x and unramified at x; unramified at x means locally of finite type at x together with formal unramifiedness, equivalently ΩX/S,x=0 (Étale equals flat and unramified in finite presentation, Unramified morphism, Formal unramifiedness iff Omega vanishes).

[F4]

Assume AC. If f is locally of finite type at x and ΩX/S,x=0, then κ(x)/κ(s) is a finite separable extension and msOX,x=mx (Unramified residue extensions are finite separable).

[F5]

f is quasi-finite at a prime q of a finite type chart A→B when Bq/pBq is a finite-dimensional κ(p)-algebra, and this quotient is the local ring of the scheme-theoretic fibre Xf(x) at x; f is quasi-finite when it is of finite type and this holds at every point, while a morphism is of finite type exactly when it is locally of finite type and quasi-compact (Quasi-finite morphisms of schemes, Quasi-finiteness at a prime of a finite-type algebra, Scheme-theoretic fibre, Locally finite type and finite type morphisms).

[F6]

The Axiom of Choice states that every family of nonempty sets has a choice function (The Axiom of Choice).

Proof

technique · direct
1.1F1F2

Flatness, finite presentation and universal openness. Since f is 'etale it is smooth of relative dimension 0 at every point, hence flat and locally of finite presentation at every point by [F1], i.e. f is flat and locally of finite presentation. By [F2] (AC) f is universally open, so claim 1 holds.

1.2F1F3F4F5

Local quasi-finiteness at a point. Let x∈X and s=f(x). By [F1] f is locally of finite presentation at x; by [F3] (AC) in the forward direction, applied at x, the morphism is unramified at x, so ΩX/S,x=0. By [F4] the extension κ(x)/κ(s) is finite separable and msOX,x=mx. Choose a finite type affine chart U=Spec⁡B of x over V=Spec⁡A∋s with f(U)⊆V, with q the prime of x and p=q∩A; the fibre algebra is Bq/pBq=OX,x/msOX,x=OX,x/mx=κ(x) by [F5], a finite-dimensional κ(p)-vector space because κ(x)/κ(s) is finite and κ(p)=κ(s) for the affine chart. Hence f is quasi-finite at x in the pointwise sense of [F5].

2.1F1F5step 1.2

Global consequence under quasi-compactness. Assume in addition that f is quasi-compact. Since f is locally of finite presentation by [F1], it is locally of finite type, so by [F5] f is of finite type. By step 1.2 the pointwise quasi-finiteness condition holds at every point of X, so f is quasi-finite by [F5]. Claim 2 is step 1.2 and claim 3 is this step; the local statement 2 does not require quasi-compactness, which is exactly what the finite type hypothesis of the global notion adds.

3.1

Boundary and choice accounting. If X is empty then every pointwise condition is vacuous and claims 1, 2 and 3 hold vacuously, including the empty source case of quasi-finiteness recorded in [F5]; the Axiom of Choice [F6] is assumed in the Statement and used exactly through [F2] in step 1.1 and through [F3] and [F4] in step 1.2, while steps 2.1 and this step add no choice. [F2, F3, F4, F5, F6, step 1.1, step 1.2, step 2.1] □

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