Matrix factorizations with more than two factors

Abstract: Given an element $f$ in a regular local ring, we study matrix factorizations of $f$ with $d \ge 2$ factors, that is, we study tuples of square matrices $(\varphi_1,\varphi_2,\dots,\varphi_d)$ such that their product is $f$ times an identity matrix of the appropriate size. Several well known properties of matrix factorizations with $2$ factors extend to the case of arbitrarily many factors. For instance, we show that the stable category of matrix factorizations with $d\ge 2$ factors is naturally triangulated and we give explicit formula for the relevant suspension functor. We also extend results of Kn\"orrer and Solberg which identify the category of matrix factorizations with the full subcategory of maximal Cohen-Macaulay modules over a certain non-commutative algebra $\Gamma$. As a consequence of our findings, we observe that the ring $\Gamma$ behaves, homologically, like a "non-commutative hypersurface ring" in the sense that every finitely generated module over $\Gamma$ has an eventually $2$-periodic projective resolution.