Krull's principal ideal theorem

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In commutative algebra, Krull's principal ideal theorem, named after Wolfgang Krull (18991971),
gives a bound on the height of a principal ideal in a Noetherian ring. The theorem is sometimes
referred to by its German name, Krulls Hauptidealsatz (Satz meaning "proposition" or "theorem").
Formally, if R is a Noetherian ring and I is a principal, proper ideal of R, then I has height at most
one.
This theorem can be generalized to ideals that are not principal, and the result is often called Krull's
height theorem. This says that if R is a Noetherian ring and I is a proper ideal generated
by n elements of R, then I has height at most n.
The principal ideal theorem and the generalization, the height theorem, both follow from the
fundamental theorem of dimension theory. Bourbaki's Commutative Algebra gives a direct proof.
Kaplansky's Commutative ring includes a proof due to David Rees.

References[edit]

Matsumura, Hideyuki (1970), Commutative Algebra, New York: Benjamin, see in particular
section (12.I), p. 77
http://www.math.lsa.umich.edu/~hochster/615W10/supDim.pdf