Direct-sum cancellation for modules over real quadratic orders (Q861851)

A ring \(R\) has \textit{mixed cancellation} if for all finitely generated \(R\)-modules \(L,M,N\) the isomorphism of \(L\oplus M\sim L\oplus N\) implies that \(M\) and \(N\) are isomorphic. If this implication holds for all torsion-free finitely generated modules \(L,M,N\), then \(R\) is said to have \textit{torsion-free cancellation}. The author studies these properties for Bass rings \(R\) (i.e. one-dimensional noetherian rings with finite normalization, in which every ideal is generated by at most two elements), and gives (Th.4.2) a sufficient condition for mixed cancellation. In the case when the conductor \(\mathfrak f\) of \(R\) (defined by \(\mathfrak f=\{x\in R:\;x\bar R\subset R\}\), \(\bar R\) being the integral closure of \(R\)) is the product of all maximal ideals of \(R\) containing \(\mathfrak f\), this condition is also sufficient. This is applied to the case when \(R\) is an order in a real quadratic number field and it is shown in particular that if \(p\equiv1\pmod 4\) is a prime in the interval \([13,10^{11}]\), then the order \({\mathbb Z}\left[{p+p\sqrt p\over2}\right]\) has torsion-free cancellation, but not mixed cancellation.