Non-commutative regular rings (Q5949386)

In a previous article, the author introduced a noncommutative concept of Cohen-Macaulay ring based on invertible ideals rather than invertible elements [J. Algebra 236, No. 2, 522-548 (2001; Zbl 0982.16008)]; here he narrows the focus to a corresponding notion of regular (semi)local ring. Throughout, let \(R\) be a left Noetherian semilocal ring with Jacobson radical \(J\). The author calls such a ring regular if it contains invertible ideals \(P_i\) such that \(P_1+\cdots+P_n=J\) and each \(P_i\) remains invertible modulo \(P_1+\cdots+P_{i-1}\). The integer \(n\) then equals the global (homological) dimension of \(R\) as well as the dimension introduced in his previous paper (the degree of a Hilbert-Samuel polynomial recording the lengths of \(R\) modulo powers of \(J\)). In the \(1\)-dimensional case, \(R\) is a hereditary serial ring; the structure of such rings is known (e.g., see [\textit{R. B. Warfield}, jun., J. Algebra 37, 187-222 (1975; Zbl 0319.16025)]). To handle higher-dimensional cases, the author introduces the concept of an almost regular valuation on a ring \(S\). This is a valuation-like function \(v\) from \(S\) to the monoid of finitely generated filters on \((\mathbb{Z},\leq)^n\), and as with ordinary valuations, the set \(\{a\in S\mid v(a)\geq 0\}\) is a subring of \(S\). The main result of the paper provides a classification of semiperfect regular rings: Namely, the indecomposable basic semiperfect regular rings are precisely those valuation rings of almost regular valuations which happen to be left Noetherian. From this theorem, the author deduces that every semiperfect regular ring is a left order in a semisimple ring.