On modules with finite spanning dimension (Q2266052)

A (left) module M (over an associative ring with unity) is said to have finite spanning dimension if for any strictly decreasing sequence \(U_ 0,U_ 1,..\). of submodules of M there is an integer i such that for every \(k\geq i\), \(U_ k\) is small in M. M is hollow if every proper submodule of M is small in M. Any module M with finite spanning dimension can be expressed as a finite non-redundant sum of hollow submodules, \(M=M_ 1+...+M_ p\), with p uniquely determined. This \(p=Sd(M)\) is called the spanning dimension of M. If U, X are submodules of M with \(M=U+X\) and \(M\neq U+Y\) for any proper submodule Y of X, then X is said to be a supplement of U in M. The author proves that if H is a submodule of M and both H and M are of finite spanning dimension with \(Sd(M)=Sd(H)+Sd(M/H)\), then H is a supplement of some submodule in M.