On the representation dimension of finite dimensional algebras (Q1975910)

The representation dimension, introduced by M. Auslander in 1971, is a Morita invariant of Artin algebras and measures how far an Artin algebra is from being of finite representation type. It is known that an Artin algebra has representation dimension 2 if and only if it is of finite representation type. In this paper the author contributes new interesting results to the literature on the representation dimension of algebras. First, he gives an upper bound of the representation dimension of the tensor product of two algebras and shows as a consequence that the representation dimension of an \(n\times n\) triangular matrix algebra over an algebra \(A\) is bounded by the representation dimension of \(A\) plus 2. This result extends an earlier theorem proved by Fossum, Griffith and Reiten in 1975. The author also studies the relationship between the representation dimension of an algebra and its factor algebras by powers of the Jacobson radical, and the relationship of the representation dimension and the global dimension. Finally, the author discusses the representation dimension of algebras which are one-point extensions.