Cohen factorizations: Weak functoriality and applications

We investigate Cohen factorizations of local ring homomorphisms from three perspectives. First, we prove a “weak functoriality” result for Cohen factorizations: certain morphisms of local ring homomorphisms induce morphisms of Cohen factorizations. Second, we use Cohen factorizations to study the properties of local ring homomorphisms (Gorenstein, Cohen–Macaulay, etc.) in certain commutative diagrams. Third, we use Cohen factorizations to investigate the structure of quasi-deformations of local rings, with an eye on the question of the behavior of CI-dimension in short exact sequences.