Formal Fibers of Prime Ideals in Polynomial Rings

Abstract: Let (R,m) be a Noetherian local domain of dimension n that is essentially finitely generated over a field and let R^ denote the m-adic completion of R. Matsumura has shown that n-1 is the maximal height possible for prime ideals of R^ in the generic formal fiber of R. In this article we prove that every prime ideal of R^ that is maximal in the generic formal fiber of R has height n-1. We also present a related result concerning the generic formal fibers of certain extensions of mixed polynomial-power series rings.