Binomial edge ideals of bipartite graphs

Binomial edge ideals are a noteworthy class of binomial ideals that can be associated with graphs, generalizing the ideals of 2-minors. For bipartite graphs we prove the converse of Hartshorne's Connectedness Theorem, according to which if an ideal is Cohen-Macaulay, then its dual graph is connected. This allows us to classify Cohen-Macaulay binomial edge ideals of bipartite graphs, giving an explicit and recursive construction in graph-theoretical terms. This result represents a binomial analogue of the celebrated characterization of (monomial) edge ideals of bipartite graphs due to Herzog and Hibi (2005).