A note on the coefficients of Hilbert characteristic functions in semi-regular local rings

Let Q be a semi-regular local ring of dimension d, m be its maximal ideal, and q be an m-primary ideal. Then LQ(Q/qn+1), the length of Q-module Q/qn+1, is equal to the characteristic polynomial PQ(q,n) in n for a sufficiently large value of n:

where ei = ei(q), i = 0,1,2,…, d are integers uniquely determined by q, called normalized Hilbert coefficients of q according to (1). It was shown in (1) that e1(q) is a non-negative integer, and is equal to zero if and only if q is generated by a system of parameters. We shall prove, in this paper, that e2(q) is also a non-negative integer, and that this non-negativity is not necessarily true for other coefficients. We shall give an example with negative e3(q).