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The Gerstenhaber problem for three commuting matrices

The Gerstenhaber problem for three commuting matrices

Specialist source · status unassessedAs of 2026-09-10Source & evidence ↓

Problem statement

finrank_adjoin_triple_le

The Gerstenhaber problem: if AA, BB, and CC are pairwise commuting n×nn \times n matrices over a field KK, is the dimension of the unital KK-algebra K[A,B,C]K[A, B, C] they generate always at most nn?

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Formal statement

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/-
Copyright 2026 The Formal Conjectures Authors.

Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
You may obtain a copy of the License at

    https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0

Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
limitations under the License.
-/

import FormalConjecturesUtil

/-!
# The Gerstenhaber problem for three commuting matrices

Gerstenhaber proved in 1961 [Ger61] that the unital algebra generated by two commuting
$n \times n$ matrices over a field has dimension at most $n$. It is an open problem,
known as the **Gerstenhaber problem**, whether the same bound holds for three pairwise
commuting matrices. The bound fails for four or more pairwise commuting matrices.

*References:*
- [Ger61] M. Gerstenhaber, *On dominance and varieties of commuting matrices*.
  Annals of Mathematics (2) 73 (1961), no. 2, 324–348.
  https://doi.org/10.2307/1970336
- [arXiv:2402.16334](https://arxiv.org/abs/2402.16334), M. Satriano and W. Zhang,
  *On the algebra generated by three commuting matrices: combinatorial cases*.
- [arXiv:2006.08588](https://arxiv.org/abs/2006.08588), J. Holbrook and M. Omladič,
  *A computing strategy and programs to resolve the Gerstenhaber Problem for
  commuting triples of matrices*.
-/

namespace Gerstenhaber

variable {K : Type*} [Field K] {n : ℕ}

/--
**Gerstenhaber's theorem** [Ger61]: if $A$ and $B$ are commuting $n \times n$
matrices over a field $K$, then the unital $K$-algebra $K[A, B]$ they generate
has dimension at most $n$.
-/
@[category research solved, AMS 15 16]
theorem finrank_adjoin_pair_le (A B : Matrix (Fin n) (Fin n) K) (hAB : Commute A B) :
    Module.finrank K (Algebra.adjoin K {A, B}) ≤ n := by
  sorry

/--
**The Gerstenhaber problem**: if $A$, $B$, and $C$ are pairwise commuting
$n \times n$ matrices over a field $K$, is the dimension of the unital
$K$-algebra $K[A, B, C]$ they generate always at most $n$?
-/
@[category research open, AMS 15 16]
theorem finrank_adjoin_triple_le :
    answer(sorry) ↔
      ∀ (K : Type*) [Field K] (n : ℕ) (A B C : Matrix (Fin n) (Fin n) K),
        ({A, B, C} : Set (Matrix (Fin n) (Fin n) K)).Pairwise Commute →
          Module.finrank K (Algebra.adjoin K {A, B, C}) ≤ n := by
  sorry

/--
The analogue of Gerstenhaber's theorem fails for four pairwise commuting matrices:
over any field there are four pairwise commuting $4 \times 4$ matrices generating a unital
algebra of dimension greater than $4$. The standard example is
$e_{13}, e_{14}, e_{23}, e_{24}$, whose pairwise products all vanish, so the algebra
they generate has dimension $5$.
-/
@[category research solved, AMS 15 16]
theorem exists_finrank_adjoin_quadruple_gt (K : Type*) [Field K] :
    ∃ A B C D : Matrix (Fin 4) (Fin 4) K,
      ({A, B, C, D} : Set (Matrix (Fin 4) (Fin 4) K)).Pairwise Commute ∧
      4 < Module.finrank K (Algebra.adjoin K {A, B, C, D}) := by
  sorry

end Gerstenhaber

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Source snapshot inspected on 10 September 2026. Subsequent research status and the accuracy of source formalizations have not been independently certified.

Fixed commit b82b08faa9006484021c12005ab41287fb2ffb69. This file contains 1 source-labeled research-open declarations. Other declarations in the attached file can be definitions, solved results or tests. The file is preserved as source material; it has not been compiled or proved by this import.

Copyright The Formal Conjectures Authors. Code: Apache-2.0; other original material: CC BY 4.0. Third-party sources retain their own licenses. Original source files and notices preserved.

References
  1. [1]Formal Conjectures — The Gerstenhaber problem for three commuting matrices link
  2. [2]Original reference cited in the formalization link
  3. [3]Original reference cited in the formalization link
  4. [4]Original reference cited in the formalization link

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