Macaulay2 / Macaulay2/M2

syz(Matrix) returns nonminimal syzygies

Open
#3,634 1 comment 0 reactions 0 assignees View on GitHub

Nobody has claimed this yet.

Documentation
Dominant language
Macaulay2
Stars
435
Forks
297
Avg merge
4d 20h
Merged PRs (30d)
11

Description

This is related to the example that produced the bug in #3017. In the [documentation](https://macaulay2.com/doc/Macaulay2/share/doc/Macaulay2/Macaulay2Doc/html/_syz_lp__Matrix_rp.html) for `syz(Matrix)`, the output is "the matrix of minimal or trimmed generators for the syzygies among the columns of h". However, this is not true:
```
i1 : R = QQ[x]

o1 = R

o1 : PolynomialRing

i2 : h = transpose matrix{{x^3+1},{x^2+1}}

o2 = {-3} | x3+1 x2+1 |

1 2
o2 : Matrix R <-- R

i3 : syz h

o3 = | x2+1 x3+x2+x+1 |
| -x3-1 -x4-x3-x-1 |

2 2
o3 : Matrix R <-- R

i4 : mingens image oo

o4 = | -x2-1 |
| x3+1 |

2 1
o4 : Matrix R <-- R
```

I am not sure if the solution here is to fix the code, or to fix the documentation -- the [documentation](https://macaulay2.com/doc/Macaulay2/share/doc/Macaulay2/Macaulay2Doc/html/_syz_lp__Groebner__Basis_rp.html) for `syz(GroebnerBasis)` reiterates that the output might include nonminimal syzygies, but the documentation for `syz(Matrix)` is misleading.

Contributor guide

No contributing guide indexed for this repository

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

Start by reproducing the linked `syz(Matrix)` example, then compare its documentation with the `syz(GroebnerBasis)` documentation. Determine whether the discrepancy requires a code change or corrected wording; done means the behavior and documentation agree about whether nonminimal syzygies can be returned.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Domain
documentation
Issue type
Documentation
Difficulty
4/5
Estimated time
3-5 days
Activity status
Stale
Clarity
Needs clarification
Newbie friendliness
35/100

Get new issues in your inbox

A short digest of beginner-friendly GitHub issues.