Localization of Rota–Baxter algebras

Abstract

A commutative Rota–Baxter algebra can be regarded as a commutative algebra that carries an abstraction of the integral operator. With the motivation of generalizing the study of algebraic geometry to Rota–Baxter algebras, we extend the central concept of localization for commutative algebras to commutative Rota–Baxter algebras. The existence of such a localization is proved and, under mild conditions, its explicit construction is obtained. The existence of tensor products of commutative Rota–Baxter algebras is also proved and the compatibility of localization and the tensor product of Rota–Baxter algebras is established. We further study Rota–Baxter coverings and show that they form a Grothendieck topology.