Tight closure test exponents for certain parameter ideals

This paper is concerned with the tight closure of an ideal $I$ in a commutative Noetherian ring $R$ of prime characteristic $p$. The formal definition requires, on the face of things, an infinite number of checks to determine whether or not an element of $R$ belongs to the tight closure of $I$. The situation in this respect is much improved by Hochster's and Huneke's test elements for tight closure, which exist when $R$ is a reduced algebra of finite type over an excellent local ring of characteristic $p$. More recently, Hochster and Huneke have introduced the concept of test exponent for tight closure: existence of these test exponents would mean that one would have to perform just one single check to determine whether or not an element of $R$ belongs to the tight closure of $I$. However, to quote Hochster and Huneke, 'it is not at all clear whether to expect test exponents to exist; roughly speaking, test exponents exist if and only if tight closure commutes with localization'. The main purpose of this paper is to provide a short direct proof that test exponents exist for parameter ideals in a reduced excellent equidimensional local ring of characteristic $p$.