F-coherent rings with applications to tight closure theory

The aim of this paper is to introduce a new class of Noetherian rings of prime characteristic via perfect closure and study their basic properties. If the perfect closure of a Noetherian ring is coherent, we call it an F-coherent ring. Some applications are given to tight closure theory. In particular, we discuss some relationship between F-coherent rings and F-pure, F-regular, and F-injective rings. As a main tool, we use techniques from valuation theory. The final section discusses how the coherent property effects the behavior of tight closure of finitely generated ideals on general perfect rings.