The second Hilbert coefficient of modules with almost maximal depth

Abstract: Let $\mathbb{M} = { M_n }$ be a good $\mathfrak{q}$-filtration of a finitely generated $R$-module $M$ of dimension $d$, where $(R,\mathfrak{m})$ is a local ring and $\mathfrak{q}$ is an $\mathfrak{m}$-primary ideal of $R$. In case $depth(M) \geq d-1$, we give an upper bound for the second Hilbert coefficient $e_2(\mathbb{M})$ generalizing results by Huckaba-Marley and Rossi-Valla proved assuming that $M$ is Cohen-Macaulay. We also give a condition for the equality, which relates to the depth of the associated graded module $gr_{\mathbb{M}}(M)$. A lower bound on $e_2(\mathbb{M})$ is proved generalizing a result by Rees and Narita.