The Stacks project

Proof. Let $\mathfrak m \subset R$ be the maximal ideal; it is the colimit of the maximal ideal $\mathfrak m_ i \subset R_ i$. We prove the lemma by induction on $d = \dim \mathfrak m/\mathfrak m^2$. If $d = 0$, then $R = R/\mathfrak m$ is a field and $R$ is a regular local ring. If $d > 0$ pick an $x \in \mathfrak m$, $x \not\in \mathfrak m^2$. For some $i$ we can find an $x_ i \in \mathfrak m_ i$ mapping to $x$. Note that $R/xR = \mathop{\mathrm{colim}}\nolimits _{i' \geq i} R_{i'}/x_ iR_{i'}$ is a Noetherian local ring. By Lemma 10.106.3 we see that $R_{i'}/x_ iR_{i'}$ is a regular local ring. Hence by induction we see that $R/xR$ is a regular local ring. Since each $R_ i$ is a domain (Lemma 10.106.1) we see that $R$ is a domain. Hence $x$ is a nonzerodivisor and we conclude that $R$ is a regular local ring by Lemma 10.106.7. $\square$