The structure of injective covers of special modules (Q1117273)

Let R be a commutative noetherian ring and let M be an R-module. Write Ass(M) for the set of prime ideals \({\mathfrak p}\subset R\) such that there exists a (non-zero) element of M that is killed by \({\mathfrak p}\). E(M) will denote the injective envelope of M. An injective cover of M is a linear map \(\phi:\quad E\to M\) with E an injective R-module such that \(\psi\) is universal in the sense that any other linear map \(\psi:\quad F\to M,\) where F is an injective R-module, factorizes over \(\psi\), and such that E is determined up to automorphisms. If this last condition fails to hold, \(\psi:\quad E\to M\) is called an injective precover. It is known that a ring R is noetherian if and only if every R-module has an injective cover. However, it seems to be difficult to find explicit non-trivial examples. In the paper under review the injective cover of E(R/\({\mathfrak p})/(R/{\mathfrak p})\), \({\mathfrak p}\subset R\) a prime ideal, is proved to be a direct sum of copies of E(R/\({\mathfrak q})\) for prime ideals \({\mathfrak q}\supseteq {\mathfrak p})\). In particular, if \({\mathfrak p}\not\in Ass(R)\) the injective cover of E(R/\({\mathfrak p})/(R/{\mathfrak p})\) is a direct sum of copies of E(R/\({\mathfrak p})\). If \({\mathfrak p}={\mathfrak m}\) is maximal this sum is finite. Also, for a maximal ideal \({\mathfrak m}\subset R\) the following results are proved: (i) \(depth_{{\mathfrak m}}R=1\) if and only if \(depth_{{\mathfrak m}}R>0\) and the injective cover of E(R/\({\mathfrak m})/(R/{\mathfrak m})\) has at least two copies of E(R/\({\mathfrak m}).\) (ii) \(depth_{{\mathfrak m}}R\geq 2\) if and only if \(depth_{{\mathfrak m}}R>0\) and the natural map E(R/\({\mathfrak m})\to E(R/{\mathfrak m})/(R/{\mathfrak m})\) is an injective cover.