Relative coherence and preenvelopes (Q1320370)

The motivation of this paper is the fact that right coherent rings may be characterized as either the rings \(R\) for which any direct product of \(R\) is a flat left \(R\)-module or by the condition that every left \(R\)-module has a flat preenvelope. The concepts of flat modules and coherent rings with respect to an arbitrary torsion theory are introduced (coherence here is defined in a different way from that introduced by other authors). In the case where the torsion class in the torsion theory \(\tau\) is \(\{0\}\), the notion of \(\tau\)-flatness coincides with that of flatness and the notion of \(\tau\)-coherence with that of coherence. The characterizations of coherence mentioned above are generalized to \(\tau\)-coherent rings and \(\tau\)-flat preenvelopes. One of the main theorems shows that \(R\) is right \(\tau\)-coherent if and only if every left \(R\)-module has a \(\tau\)-flat preenvelope. Another result states that \(R\) is right \(\tau\)-coherent and injective left \(R\)-modules are \(\tau\)-flat if and only if every left \(R\)-module has a \(\tau\)-flat preenvelope which is a monomorphism and it is also shown that \(R\) is right \(\tau\)-coherent and submodules of \(\tau\)-flat left \(R\)-modules are \(\tau\)-flat if and only if every left \(R\)-module has a \(\tau\)-flat preenvelope which is an epimorphism. Some known results emerge as corollaries from these theorems and several other known notions (e.g. right \(FC\)-rings, right semihereditary rings, strongly right coherent rings, right coherent rings, left perfect rings and quasi-Frobenius rings) are characterized in terms of preenvelopes of modules.