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One of the major open problems in noncommutative algebraic geometry is the classification of noncommutative projective surfaces (or, slightly more generally, of noetherian connected graded domains of Gelfand-Kirillov dimension 3). In a companion paper the authors described a noncommutative version of blowing down and, for example, gave a noncommutative analogue of Castelnuovo's classic theorem that lines of self-intersection (-1) on a smooth surface can be contracted. In this paper we will use these techniques to construct explicit birational transformations between various noncommutative surfaces containing an elliptic curve. Notably we show that Van den Bergh's quadrics can be obtained from the Sklyanin algebra by suitably blowing up and down, and we also provide a noncommutative analogue of the classical Cremona transform. This extends and amplifies earlier work of Presotto and Van den Bergh., Comment: 45 pages; 2 figures; comments welcome

In the ongoing programme to classify noncommutative projective surfaces (connected graded noetherian domains of Gelfand-Kirillov dimension three) a natural question is to determine the minimal models within any birational class. In this paper we show that the generic noncommutative projective plane (corresponding to the three dimensional Sklyanin algebra R) as well as noncommutative analogues of P^1 x P^1 and of the Hirzebruch surface F_2 (arising from Van den Bergh's quadrics R) satisfy very strong minimality conditions. Translated into an algebraic question, where one is interested in a maximality condition, we prove the following theorem. Let R be a Sklyanin algebra or a Van den Bergh quadric that is infinite dimensional over its centre and let A be any connected graded noetherian maximal order containing R, with the same graded quotient ring as R. Then, up to taking Veronese rings, A is isomorphic to R. Secondly, let T be an elliptic algebra (that is, the coordinate ring of a noncommutative surface containing an elliptic curve). Then, under an appropriate homological condition, we prove that every connected graded noetherian overring of T is obtained by blowing down finitely many lines (line modules)., Comment: 42 pages; Third and final version to appear in Advances in Mathematics: minor revisions from second version

One of the major open problems in noncommutative algebraic geometry is the classification of noncommutative projective surfaces (or, slightly more generally, of noetherian connected graded domains of Gelfand-Kirillov dimension 3). Earlier work of the authors classified the connected graded noetherian subalgebras of Sklyanin algebras using a noncommutative analogue of blowing up. In order to understand other algebras birational to a Sklyanin algebra, one also needs a notion of blowing down. This is achieved in this paper, where we give a noncommutative analogue of Castelnuovo's classic theorem that (-1)-lines on a smooth surface can be contracted. The resulting noncommutative blown-down algebra has pleasant properties; in particular it is always noetherian and is smooth if the original noncommutative surface is smooth. In a companion paper we will use this technique to construct explicit birational transformations between various noncommutative surfaces which contain an elliptic curve., Comment: 40 pages

These notes are an expanded version of the author's lectures at the graduate workshop "Noncommutative Algebraic Geometry" at the Mathematical Sciences Research Institute in June 2012. The main topics discussed are Artin-Schelter regular algebras, point modules, and the noncommutative projective scheme associated to a graded algebra., Comment: Preliminary version. Comments are welcome

The Weyl algebra over a field $k$ of characteristic $0$ is a simple ring of Gelfand-Kirillov dimension 2, which has a grading by the group of integers. We classify all $\mathbb{Z}$-graded simple rings of GK-dimension 2 and show that they are graded Morita equivalent to generalized Weyl algebras as defined by Bavula. More generally, we study $\mathbb{Z}$-graded simple rings $A$ of any dimension which have a graded quotient ring of the form $K[t, t^{-1}; \sigma]$ for a field $K$. Under some further hypotheses, we classify all such $A$ in terms of a new construction of simple rings which we introduce in this paper. In the important special case that $\operatorname{GKdim} A = \operatorname{tr.deg}(K/k) + 1$, we show that $K$ and $\sigma$ must be of a very special form. The new simple rings we define should warrant further study from the perspective of noncommutative geometry., Comment: 37 pages

We develop a ring-theoretic approach for blowing up many noncommutative projective surfaces. Let T be an elliptic algebra (meaning that, for some central element g of degree 1, T/gT is a twisted homogeneous coordinate ring of an elliptic curve E at an infinite order automorphism). Given an effective divisor d on E whose degree is not too big, we construct a blowup T(d) of T at d and show that it is also an elliptic algebra. Consequently it has many good properties: for example, it is strongly noetherian, Auslander-Gorenstein, and has a balanced dualizing complex. We also show that the ideal structure of T(d) is quite rigid. Our results generalise those of the first author. In the companion paper "Classifying Orders in the Sklyanin Algebra", we apply our results to classify orders in (a Veronese subalgebra of) a generic cubic or quadratic Sklyanin algebra., Comment: 39 pages. Minor changes from previous version. The final publication is available from Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10468-014-9506-7

One of the major open problems in noncommutative algebraic geometry is the classification of noncommutative surfaces, and this paper resolves a significant case of this problem. Specifically, let S denote the 3-dimensional Sklyanin algebra over an algebraically closed field k and assume that S is not a finite module over its centre. (This algebra corresponds to a generic noncommutative P^2.) Let A be any connected graded k-algebra that is contained in and has the same quotient ring as a Veronese ring S^(3n). Then we give a reasonably complete description of the structure of A. This is most satisfactory when A is a maximal order, in which case we prove, subject to a minor technical condition, that A is a noncommutative blowup of S^(3n) at a (possibly non-effective) divisor on the associated elliptic curve E. It follows that A has surprisingly pleasant properties; for example it is automatically noetherian, indeed strongly noetherian, and has a dualizing complex., Comment: 55 pages

We show that the twisted homogeneous coordinate rings of elliptic curves by infinite order automorphisms have the curious property that every subalgebra is both finitely generated and noetherian. As a consequence, we show that a localisation of a generic Skylanin algebra has the same property., Comment: 5 pages; comments welcome; v2 only minor changes, most suggested by referee

We study the existence of free subalgebras in division algebras, and prove the following general result: if $A$ is a noetherian domain which is countably generated over an uncountable algebraically closed field $k$ of characteristic 0, then either the quotient division algebra of $A$ contains a free algebra on two generators, or it is left algebraic over every maximal subfield. As an application, we prove that if $k$ is an uncountable algebraically closed field and $A$ is a finitely generated $k$-algebra that is a domain of GK-dimension strictly less than 3, then either $A$ satisfies a polynomial identity, or the quotient division algebra of $A$ contains a free $k$-algebra on two generators., Comment: 20 pages

Let $K$ be a field, let $\sigma$ be an automorphism of $K$, and let $\delta$ be a derivation of $K$. We show that if $D$ is one of $K(x;\sigma)$ or $K(x;\delta)$, then $D$ either contains a free algebra over its center on two generators, or every finitely generated subalgebra of $D$ satisfies a polynomial identity. As a corollary, we are able to show that the quotient division ring of any iterated Ore extension of an affine domain satisfying a polynomial identity either again satisfies a polynomial identity or it contains a free algebra over its center on two variables., Comment: 12 pages; minor changes to statement of main theorem; changes to proofs

We study Artin-Schelter regular algebras of global dimension 4 with three generators of degree one. We classify those which are domains and which have an additional Z x Z-grading, and prove that all of these examples are also strongly noetherian, Auslander regular, and Cohen-Macaulay., Comment: 23 pages; No changes from version 1 except to add second author's name which was inadvertently omitted from original submission

We construct a family of connected graded domains of GK-dimension 4 that are birational to P2, and show that the general member of this family is noetherian. This disproves a conjecture of the first author and Stafford. The algebras we construct are Koszul and have global dimension 4. They fail to be Artin-Schelter Gorenstein, however, showing that a theorem of Zhang and Stephenson for dimension 3 algebras does not extend to dimension 4. The Auslander-Buchsbaum formula also fails to hold for our family. The algebras can be obtained as global sections of a certain quasicoherent graded sheaf on P1xP1, and our key technique is to work with this sheaf. In contrast to all previously known examples of birationally commutative graded domains, the graded pieces of the sheaf fail to be ample in the sense of Van den Bergh. Our results thus require significantly new techniques., Comment: 48 pages, 1 figure, comments welcome; v2 introduction rewritten, no other significant changes

We describe some interesting graded rings which are generated by degree-3 elements inside the Sklyanin algebra S, and prove that they have many good properties. Geometrically, these rings R correspond to blowups of the Sklyanin P^2 at 7 or fewer points. We show that the rings R are exactly those degree-3-generated subrings of S which are maximal orders in the quotient ring of the 3-Veronese of S., Comment: 44 pages

Given a projective scheme $X$ over a field $k$, an automorphism $\sigma$ of $X$, and a $\sigma$-ample invertible sheaf $L$, one may form the twisted homogeneous coordinate ring $B = B(X, L, \sigma)$, one of the most fundamental constructions in noncommutative projective algebraic geometry. We study the primitive spectrum of $B$, as well as that of other closely related algebras such as skew and skew-Laurent extensions of commutative algebras. Over an algebraically closed, uncountable field $k$ of characteristic zero, we prove that that the primitive ideals of $B$ are characterized by the usual Dixmier-Moeglin conditions whenever the dimension of $X$ is no more than 2., Comment: 34 pages

Let k be an algebraically closed field, let K/k be a finitely generated field extension of transcendence degree 2 with automorphism sigma, and let A be an N-graded subalgebra of Q = K[t; sigma] with A_n finite dimensional over k for all n. Then if A is big enough in Q in an appropriate sense, we prove that GKdim A = 3,4,5 or is infinite, with the exact value depending only on the geometric properties of sigma. The proof uses techniques in the birational geometry of surfaces which are of independent interest., Comment: 26 pages, minor corrections from previous version based on referee report. To appear in Trans. Amer. Math. Soc

In an earlier paper (D. S. Keeler, D. Rogalski, and J. T. Stafford, ``Naive noncommutative blowing up,'' Duke Math. J., 126 (2005), 491-546), we defined and investigated the properties of the naive blowup of an integral projective scheme X at a single closed point. In this paper we extend those results to the case when one naively blows up X at any suitably generic zero-dimensional subscheme Z. The resulting algebra A has a number of curious properties; for example it is noetherian but never strongly noetherian and the point modules are never parametrized by a projective scheme. This is despite the fact that the category of torsion modules in the quotient category qgr A is equivalent to the category of torsion coherent sheaves over X. These results are used in the companion paper ``A class of noncommutative projective surfaces'' to prove that a large class of noncommutative surfaces can be written as naive blowups.

Let A=k+A_1+A_2.... be a connected graded, noetherian k-algebra that is generated in degree one over an algebraically closed field k. Suppose that the graded quotient ring Q(A) has the form Q(A)=k(Y)[t,t^{-1},sigma], where sigma is an automorphism of the integral projective surface Y. Then we prove that A can be written as a naive blowup algebra of a projective surface X birational to Y. This enables one to obtain a deep understanding of the structure of these algebras; for example, generically they are not strongly noetherian and their point modules are not parametrized by a projective scheme. This is despite the fact that the simple objects in the quotient category qgr A will always be in (1-1) correspondence with the closed points of the scheme X.

If A is a strongly noetherian graded algebra generated in degree one, then there is a canonically constructed graded ring homomorphism from A to a twisted homogeneous coordinate ring B(X, L, sigma), which is surjective in large degree. This result is a key step in the study of projectively simple rings. The proof relies on some results concerning the growth of graded rings which are of independent interest., Comment: LaTeX, 21 pages; corollary of main theorem added to intro; other minor changes from ver. 1

We introduce the notion of a projectively simple ring, which is an infinite-dimensional graded k-algebra A such that every 2-sided ideal has finite codimension in A (over the base field k). Under some (relatively mild) additional assumptions on A, we reduce the problem of classifying such rings (in the sense explained in the paper) to the following geometric question, which we believe to be of independent interest. Let X is a smooth irreducible projective variety. An automorphism f: X -> X is called wild if it X has no proper f-invariant subvarieties. We conjecture that if X admits a wild automorphism then X is an abelian variety. We prove several results in support of this conjecture; in particular, we show that the conjecture is true if X is a curve or a surface. In the case where X is an abelian variety, we describe all wild automorphisms of X. In the last two sections we show that if A is projectively simple and admits a balanced dualizing complex, then Proj(A) is Cohen-Macaulay and Gorenstein., Comment: Some new material has been added in Section 1; to appear in Advances in Mathematics

Let B(X,L,s) be the twisted homogeneous coordinate ring of an irreducible variety X over an algebraically closed field k with dim X > 1. Assume that c in X and s in Aut(X) are in sufficiently general position. We show that if one follows the commutative prescription for blowing up X at c, but in this noncommutative setting, one obtains a noncommutative ring R=R(X,c,L,s) with surprising properties. In particular: (1) R is always noetherian but never strongly noetherian. (2) If R is generated in degree one then the images of the R-point modules in qgr(R) are naturally in (1-1) correspondence with the closed points of X. However, both in qgr(R) and in gr(R), the R-point modules are not parametrized by a projective scheme. (3) qgr R has finite cohomological dimension yet H^1(R) is infinite dimensional. This gives a more geometric approach to results of the second author who proved similar results for X=P^n by algebraic methods., Comment: Latex, 42 pages