Homogeneous finite rings in characteristic 2 n (Q1106838)

In this paper we complete the classification of homogeneous finite rings. This is the last in a series of papers devoted to the subject, and it seems appropriate to begin by surveying the previous steps in the classification. Let R be a finite ring with unity. R is homogeneous if every isomorphism between subrings of R (containing 1) extends to an automorphism of R. As is well known, R is homogeneous if and only if the first-order theory of R admits elimination of quantifiers (i.e., R is QE). Thus such rings are of interest from a logical, as well as from a purely algebraic, point of view. Since R is finite, it has finite characteristic and is therefore canonically a direct sum of finite QE rings of prime-power characteristic. Thus the problem of classifying all such R's reduces immediately to the case where R has characteristic p n, where p is a prime. Henceforth we restrict ourselves to this case. The classification for \(n=1\) was achieved in two stages. The case where R is semisimple (i.e., its Jacobson radical J equals \(<0>)\) was dealt with by \textit{M. Boffa}, \textit{A. Macintyre}, and \textit{F. Point} [Lect. Notes Math. 834, 20-30 (1980; Zbl 0446.03026)], and the non-semisimple case was treated by \textit{C. Berline} and \textit{G. Cherlin} [Lect. Notes Math. 859, 16-31 (1981; Zbl 0471.03028)]. For semisimple R the only possibilities are the finite fields \({\mathbb{F}}_ q\), \(q=p\) k, the products \({\mathbb{F}}_ q\times {\mathbb{F}}_ q\), and the 2-by-2 matrix ring \(M_ 2({\mathbb{F}}_ p)\). For non-semisimple R one usually has \(R={\mathbb{F}}_ p[J]\), and there are essentially five possibilities for the structure of J, all explicitly known. If \(R\neq {\mathbb{F}}_ p[J]\), then R must be one of two explicitly known rings of order 16. Major progress on the case \(n>1\) was made again by \textit{C. Berline} and \textit{G. Cherlin} [J. Symb. Logic 48, 140-162 (1983; Zbl 0524.03016)]. They showed that if we let \(R_ 1=Ann(p^{n-1})\), then \(R_ 1=R_ 1'\oplus J\), where \(R_ 1'=<0>\) or \({\mathbb{F}}_ q\), and usually \(R={\mathbb{Z}}_{p\quad n}[R_ 1]\). (Again the exceptions are explicitly known.) Furthermore \(J^{2n+1}=<0>\) and J is QE(p), i.e., admits elimination of quantifiers as a ring with distinguished element p. Thus the classification problem is reduced to determining the possibilities for such J. Berline and Cherlin studied J by considering the layers \(J_ i=J\cap Ann(p\) i), and focused attention on the minimal k such that \(J_ k+<p>=J:\) \[ J_ 1\subseteq J_ 2\subseteq \cdot \cdot \cdot \subseteq J_ k\subseteq J_ k+<p>=J. \] In this way they obtained much useful information about J which applies to the radical of any QE ring R of characteristic p n (not necessarily finite). For the finite case, the present authors built on these by first determining explicitly all possibilities for \(J_ 1\) and then, for \(k\geq 2\), determining how each acceptable \(J_ 1\) can be enlarged to obtain J's that are QE(p). We first dealt with odd p [Ann. Pure Appl. Logic 28, 13-31 (1985; Zbl 0557.03019); Logic Colloquium '84, Stud. Logic Found. Math. 120, 207-224 (1986; Zbl 0614.03030)]. In the first paper we found that for odd p there are essentially six different possibilities for the structure of \(J_ 1\), only three of which can occur as the bottom layer of J when \(k\geq 2\). In the second paper we showed that each of these three \(J_ 1's\) can be enlarged to a QE(p) J in only one way, unless \(p=3\) and \(V=\{x\in J_ 1:\) x \(2=0\}\) has dimension 2 as an \({\mathbb{F}}_ p\)-space, in which case there are a few more possibilities (explicitly known). For \(p=2\) it was to be expected that there would be more examples, and in the paper reviewed above (see Zbl 0652.03024) we found that in this case there are nine possibilities for \(J_ 1\), six of which would appear, a priori, to be possible when \(k\geq 2\). In the present paper we show that in fact only four of them can occur when \(k\geq 2\), and we determine the ways in which each of these four can occur as the bottom layer of J.