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First page of Projective blowups: a formal and multicentered proof

Projective blowups: a formal and multicentered proof

A. Mayeux

math.AG Aug 13, 2026 · v1 cs.LO
Formalizes the universal property of multicentered blowups of schemes in Lean 4, building on Mathlib's scheme theory and prior Lean formalizations of multigraded Proj and dilatations.
We give a machine-checked proof, in Lean 4, of the universal property of multicentered blowups: given a finite family $Z$ of closed subschemes of a scheme $X$, presented on each chart by ideals, there is a scheme $\Bl_Z X$ over $X$, terminal among $X$-schemes on which every member of the family becomes an effective Cartier divisor. To the best of our knowledge this is the first formalisation of blowups, single- or multicentered, in any theorem prover. The proof is organised around the universal property of the multicentered dilatation of a ring: the initial algebra in which a finite family of ideals becomes generated by non-zero-divisors. Existence and uniqueness of the dilatation are established locally, on affine charts, and every subsequent step of the construction, the base change along open immersions, the comparison isomorphisms on overlaps, the triple overlap maps, the cocycle identity, and the independence of the chosen presentation, is deduced from that single local property by uniqueness alone. We give the exact theorem statement as formalized, the proof architecture, and the main new mathematical ingredients, together with the corresponding Lean code.

Blowups are a foundational construction in algebraic geometry, but no theorem prover had a formalization of single- or multicentered blowups. The goal is a machine-checked proof that the multicentered blowup of a scheme along a finite family of closed subschemes is terminal among X-schemes on which every centre becomes an effective Cartier divisor.

Centres are presented chart-by-chart by ideals on an affine open cover and quotiented by an equivalence relation. The proof rests on the universal property of multicentered dilatations of rings, established locally on affine charts. Local blowups are glued using the multigraded Proj construction of Brenner and Schröer. Base change along open immersions, overlap isomorphisms, the cocycle identity, and independence of presentation are all derived from uniqueness in the dilatation universal property.

A complete Lean 4 proof of the universal property of multicentered blowups, with no noetherian, properness, or finite-type assumptions on X. A correspondence table maps each paper statement to its Lean declaration.