Uniquely separable extensions (Q2196496)

The paper under review is a continuation of a series by the author and his collaborators on separable extensions and depth. Let \(A\) be an associative, unital, semisimple algebra over a field \(k\). \(A\) is called separable if for every field extension \(L\) of \(k\), the base change \(A \otimes_k L\) is semisimple as well. It is well known that \(A\) is separable if and only if the \(A^e= \left( A \otimes A^{\text{op}}\right)\)-module morphism \[\mu: A^e \rightarrow A: a\otimes b \mapsto ab\] has a right inverse \(s\). Furthermore, such a split exists if and only if there is a separability idempotent \(p := s(1) \in A^e\) so that \(ap = pa\) for all \(a \in A\). The notion of separability was extended to algebras over commutative rings by \textit{M. Auslander} and \textit{O. Goldman} [Trans. Am. Math. Soc. 97, 367--409 (1961; Zbl 0100.26304)] and their separability elements studied in [\textit{K. Hirata} and \textit{K. Sugano}, J. Math. Soc. Japan 18, 360--373 (1966; Zbl 0178.36802)] (for more details on separable algebras over commutative rings, see also [\textit{F. DeMeyer} and \textit{E. Ingraham}, Separable algebras over commutative rings. Berlin-Heidelberg-New York: Springer-Verlag (1971; Zbl 0215.36602)]). In the case of a separable extension of noncommutative rings \(A/B\), a separability element is an idempotent in the endomorphism ring \(\left( A \otimes_B A\right)^B \cong \text{End} \vphantom{+}_AA \otimes_B A_A\). In the paper under review, it is shown that an idempotent \(p\) is full (\(ApA = A\)) if and only if the separable extension \(A/B\) is \(H\)-separable (or equivalently of \(H\)-depth \(1\)). Furthermore, a split extension \(A/B\) is centrally projective (or equivalently has depth \(1\)) if and only if there is a bimodule projection \(A \rightarrow B\) that is a full idempotent in \(\text{End} \vphantom{+}_{B}{A_B}\). The author proves that for a ring extension \(A/B\) such that the natural module \(A_B\) is finitely generated projective, there is a one-to-one correspondence between separability idempotents of \(A/B\) and bimodule projection \(\text{End} A_B \rightarrow A\). In the final section, the author relates depth \(1\) to known group theoretic results.