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The space of $n \times m$ complex matrices can be regarded as an algebraic variety on which the group ${\bf GL}_n \times {\bf GL}_m$ acts. There is a rich interaction between geometry and representation theory in this example. In an important paper, de Concini, Eisenbud, and Procesi classified the equivariant ideals in the coordinate ring. More recently, we proved a noetherian result for families of equivariant modules as $n$ and $m$ vary. In this paper, we establish analogs of these results for the space of $(n|n) \times (m|m)$ isomeric matrices with respect to the action of ${\bf Q}_n \times {\bf Q}_m$, where ${\bf Q}_n$ is the automorphism group of the isomeric structure (commonly known as the "queer supergroup"). Our work is motivated by connections to the Brauer category and the theory of twisted commutative algebras., 27 pages

We extend the theory of Koszul modules to the bi-graded case, and prove a vanishing theorem that allows us to show that the Canonical Ribbon Conjecture of Bayer and Eisenbud holds over a field of characteristic zero or at least equal to the Clifford index. Our results confirm a conjecture of Eisenbud and Schreyer regarding the characteristics where the generic statement of Green's conjecture holds. They also recover and extend to positive characteristics results due to Aprodu and Voisin asserting that Green's Conjecture holds for generic curves of each gonality., Comment: 23 pages

We study the category of Sp-equivariant modules over the infinite variable polynomial ring, where Sp denotes the infinite symplectic group. We establish a number of results about this category: for instance, we show that every finitely generated module M fits into an exact triangle $T \to M \to F \to$ where T is a finite length complex of torsion modules and F is a finite length complex of "free" modules; we determine the Grothendieck group; and we (partially) determine the structure of injective modules. We apply these results to show that the twisted commutative algebras ${\rm Sym}({\bf C}^{\infty} \oplus \bigwedge^2{\bf C}^{\infty})$ and ${\rm Sym}({\bf C}^{\infty} \oplus {\rm Sym}^2{\bf C}^{\infty})$ are noetherian, which are the strongest results to date of this kind. We also show that the free 2-step nilpotent twisted Lie algebra and Lie superalgebra are noetherian., Comment: 29 pages

Let $M$ be a finitely generated module over a free twisted commutative algebra $A$ that is finitely generated in degree one. We show that the projective dimension of $M({\bf C}^n)$ as an $A({\bf C}^n)$-module is eventually linear as a function of $n$. This confirms a conjecture of Le, Nagel, Nguyen, and R\"omer for a special class of modules., Comment: 7 pages

We study the coherent cohomology of generalized flag supervarieties. Our main observation is that these groups are closely related to the free resolutions of (certain generalizations of) determinantal ideals. In the case of super Grassmannians, we completely compute the cohomology of the structure sheaf: it is composed of the singular cohomology of a Grassmannian and the syzygies of a determinantal variety. The majority of the work involves studying the geometry of an analog of the Grothendieck-Springer resolution associated to the super Grassmannian; this takes place in the world of ordinary (non-super) algebraic geometry. Our work gives a conceptual explanation of the result of Pragacz-Weyman that the syzygies of determinantal ideals admit an action of the general linear supergroup. In a subsequent paper, we will treat other flag supervarieties in detail., 33 pages

Hermite reciprocity refers to a series of natural isomorphisms involving compositions of symmetric, exterior, and divided powers of the standard $SL_2$-representation. We survey several equivalent constructions of these isomorphisms, as well as their recent applications to Green's Conjecture on syzygies of canonical curves. The most geometric approach to Hermite reciprocity is based on an idea of Voisin to realize certain multilinear constructions cohomologically by working on a Hilbert scheme of points. We explain how in the case of ${\bf P}^1$ this can be reformulated in terms of cohomological properties of Schwarzenberger bundles. We then proceed to study these bundles from several perspectives: We show that their exterior powers have supernatural cohomology, arising as special cases of a construction of Eisenbud and Schreyer. We recover basic properties of secant varieties $\Sigma$ of rational normal curves (normality, Cohen-Macaulayness, rational singularities) by considering their desingularizations via Schwarzenberger bundles, and applying the Kempf-Weyman geometric technique. We show that Hermite reciprocity is equivalent to the self-duality of the unique rank one Ulrich module on the affine cone $\widehat{\Sigma}$ of some secant variety, and we explain how for a Schwarzenberger bundle of rank $k$ and degree $d\ge k$, Hermite reciprocity can be viewed as the unique (up to scaling) non-zero section of $(Sym^k\mathcal{E})(-d+k-1)$., Comment: 26 pages

We analyze the vanishing and non-vanishing behavior of the graded Betti numbers for Segre embeddings of products of projective spaces. We give lower bounds for when each of the rows of the Betti table becomes non-zero, and prove that our bounds are tight for Segre embeddings of products of P^1. This generalizes results of Rubei concerning the Green-Lazarsfeld property N_p for Segre embeddings. Our methods combine the Kempf-Weyman geometric technique for computing syzygies, the Ein-Erman-Lazarsfeld approach to proving non-vanishing of Betti numbers, and the theory of algebras with straightening laws.

Given r elements in an integral domain over an algebraically closed field such that any two are linearly independent, we show that there is an integer e between 1 and r! such the eth powers of these elements are linearly independent., Comment: 2 pages

We characterize the cone of GL-equivariant Betti tables of Cohen-Macaulay modules of codimension 1, up to rational multiple, over the coordinate ring of square matrices. This result serves as the base case for `Boij-S��derberg theory for Grassmannians', with the goal of characterizing the cones of GL_k-equivariant Betti tables of modules over the coordinate ring of k x n matrices, and, dually, cohomology tables of vector bundles on the Grassmannian Gr(k, C^n). The proof uses Hall's Theorem on perfect matchings in bipartite graphs to compute the extremal rays of the cone, and constructs the corresponding equivariant free resolutions by applying Weyman's geometric technique to certain graded pure complexes of Eisenbud-Fl��ystad-Weyman., 17 pages, v2: Section 4 rewritten

Boij-S��derberg theory focuses on the properties and duality relationship between two types of numerical invariants. One side involves the Betti table of a graded free resolution over the polynomial ring. The other side involves the cohomology table of a coherent sheaf on projective space. We discuss open questions and problems in Boij-S��derberg theory., 18 pages

Given a category C of a combinatorial nature, we study the following fundamental question: how does the combinatorial behavior of C affect the algebraic behavior of representations of C? We prove two general results. The first gives a combinatorial criterion for representations of C to admit a theory of Gr��bner bases. From this, we obtain a criterion for noetherianity of representations. The second gives a combinatorial criterion for a general "rationality" result for Hilbert series of representations of C. This criterion connects to the theory of formal languages, and makes essential use of results on the generating functions of languages, such as the transfer-matrix method and the Chomsky-Sch��tzenberger theorem. Our work is motivated by recent work in the literature on representations of various specific categories. Our general criteria recover many of the results on these categories that had been proved by ad hoc means, and often yield cleaner proofs and stronger statements. For example: we give a new, more robust, proof that FI-modules (originally introduced by Church-Ellenberg-Farb), and a family of natural generalizations, are noetherian; we give an easy proof of a generalization of the Lannes-Schwartz artinian conjecture from the study of generic representation theory of finite fields; we significantly improve the theory of $��$-modules, introduced by Snowden in connection to syzygies of Segre embeddings; and we establish fundamental properties of twisted commutative algebras in positive characteristic., 41 pages; v2: Moved old Sections 3.4, 10, 11, 13.2 and connected text to arxiv:1410.6054v1, Section 13.1 removed and will appear elsewhere; v3: substantial revision and reorganization of sections

We describe the cone of Betti tables of Cohen-Macaulay modules over the homogeneous coordinate ring of a rational normal curve., 9 pages; v2: corrected typos, added references, Section 5, and details to proofs

We present a systematic approach to studying the geometric aspects of Vinberg theta-representations. The main idea is to use the Borel-Weil construction for representations of reductive groups as sections of homogeneous bundles on homogeneous spaces, and then to study degeneracy loci of these vector bundles. Our main technical tool is to use free resolutions as an "enhanced" version of degeneracy loci formulas. We illustrate our approach on several examples and show how they are connected to moduli spaces of Abelian varieties. To make the article accessible to both algebraists and geometers, we also include background material on free resolutions and representation theory., 41 pages, uses tabmac.sty, Dedicated to David Eisenbud on the occasion of his 65th birthday; v2: fixed some typos and added references

This article is an expository account of the theory of twisted commutative algebras, which simply put, can be thought of as a theory for handling commutative algebras with large groups of linear symmetries. Examples include the coordinate rings of determinantal varieties, Segre-Veronese embeddings, and Grassmannians. The article is meant to serve as a gentle introduction to the papers of the two authors on the subject, and also to point out some literature in which these algebras appear. The first part reviews the representation theory of the symmetric groups and general linear groups. The second part introduces a related category and develops its basic properties. The third part develops some basic properties of twisted commutative algebras from the perspective of classical commutative algebra and summarizes some of the results of the authors. We have tried to keep the prerequisites to this article at a minimum. The article is aimed at graduate students interested in commutative algebra, algebraic combinatorics, or representation theory, and the interactions between these subjects., 56 pages

Boij-S��derberg theory is the study of two cones: the cone of cohomology tables of coherent sheaves over projective space and the cone of standard graded minimal free resolutions over a polynomial ring. Each cone has a simplicial fan structure induced by a partial order on its extremal rays. We provide a new interpretation of these partial orders in terms of the existence of nonzero homomorphisms, for both the general and the equivariant constructions. These results provide new insights into the families of sheaves and modules at the heart of Boij-S��derberg theory: supernatural sheaves and Cohen-Macaulay modules with pure resolutions. In addition, our results strongly suggest the naturality of these partial orders, and they provide tools for extending Boij-S��derberg theory to other graded rings and projective varieties., 23 pages; v2: Added Section 8, reordered previous sections

We study lowest-weight irreducible representations of rational Cherednik algebras attached to the complex reflection groups G(m,r,n) in characteristic p. Our approach is mostly from the perspective of commutative algebra. By studying the kernel of the contravariant bilinear form on Verma modules, we obtain formulas for a Hilbert series of irreducible representations in a number of cases, and present conjectures in other cases. We observe that the form of the Hilbert series of irreducible representations and the generators of the kernel tend to be determined by the value of n modulo p and are related to special classes of subspace arrangements. Perhaps the most novel (conjectural) discovery from the commutative algebra perspective is that the generators of the kernel can be given the structure of a "matrix regular sequence'' in some instances, which we prove in some small cases., American Society for Engineering Education. National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship, University of California, Berkeley (Miller Research Fellowship)