Let $k$ be an arbitrary field and $X$ a $k$-scheme of finite type (i.e. a scheme with a finite cover of spectra of finitely generated $k$-algebras).
How can I think of the points $x\in X$? What does it mean intuitively for a point to be open, closed, or neither of both? What is a characterization of the points $x\in X$?
I think I found out a characterization of closed points. Please correct me, if there is something wrong.
The closed points $x\in X$ can be characterized as
- for the special case $X=\operatorname{Spec}(A)$ exactly the maximal ideals of $A$,
- the $x\in X$ for which the canonical morphism $\operatorname{Spec}(k(x))\to \operatorname{Spec}(\mathcal{O}_{X,x})\to X$ is a closed immersion.
- the $x\in X$ for which $k(x)$ is a finite field extension of $k$ (Zariki's Lemma).
My question is also about the open points $x\in X$ and the points which are neither closed nor open. I guess that a point $x\in X$ is open iff $\operatorname{Spec}(k(x))\to \operatorname{Spec}(\mathcal{O}_{X,x})\to X$ is an open immersion.
Of course, if $X=\operatorname{Spec(A)}$ is affine, the open points $x\in X$ should be the complements of $V(I)$ containing one element for some ideal $I\subseteq A$.
Do non-closed points correspond to certain subschemes of $X$ which are in a certain sense more that zero-dimensional? If yes, what does the (transcendence) degree of the field extension $k(x)/k$ say about the point $x$ and the subscheme? How is it reflected in the subvariety if the point is open? Short: How can I think of non-closed points?
I have the impression that $X$ may have at most one open point which is the (unique) generic point of $X$, if is exists, for example if $X$ is integral. Perhaps the neither closed nor open points $x\in X$ are (exactly?) the generic points of the irreducible closed subschemes of $X$ which are not $X$ itself?
What does the (transcendence) degree of the field extension $k(x)/k$ say about the point $x$? If my guess about the irreducible closed subschemes corresponding to the points was right, is this transcendence degree the Krull dimension of that subvariety?