May modules of countable rank (Q2293666)

\par All modules here are over a fixed discrete valuation domain \(R\) and by the rank of a module we always mean the torsion-free rank. To define a May module, we need the following. Let \(B\) be a submodule of the \(R\)-module \(M\). If \(M/B\) is torsion, \(B\) is called full-rank. If \(B\) is nice in \(M\) and \(M/B\) is totally projective, we call \(B\) an NT-submodule. If \(B\) is a free NT-submodule it is called an NFT-submodule. Then \(M\) is called a May module if every full-rank free submodule \(F\subseteq M\) contains an NFT-submodule \(B\subseteq F\). The term May module was coined by Keef [Endomorphism rings of mixed modules and a theorem of \textit{W. May} [Houston J. Math., 44, No. 2, 413--435 (2018; Zbl 1443.16034)] where he showed that if \(M\) is a May module and \(N\) is almost any other module, then every ring isomorphism of their endomorphism rings is induced by an isomorphism of their underlying modules \(M\) and \(N\). In [Note Mat. 38, No. 2, 35--54 (2018; Zbl 1443.16033)], the author and \textit{M. Flagg} explored the properties of finite rank May modules. The current paper explores May modules of countable rank. We call the modules \(M_1\) and \(M_2\) \(H\)-isomorphic if there are totally projective modules \(H_1\) and \(H_2\) where \(M_1 \oplus H_1 \cong M_2 \oplus H_2\). The main result is Theorem 3.5 which states that if \(M\) is a May module of countable rank, then \(M\) is \(H\)-isomorphic to the direct sum \(\bigoplus_{\alpha \in I} M_\alpha\) of \(\alpha\)-limiting modules \(M_\alpha\) which are unique up to \(H\)-isomorphism. It is further shown (Corollary 3.12) that each \(M_\alpha\) is isomorphic to a sum \(N_\alpha \oplus L_\alpha\) where \(N_\alpha\) is balanced-projective and \(L_\alpha\) is infinitely gapped. These terms in the decomposition are further analyzed in the section. Section 4 examines the relation between countable rank May modules and balanced-projective modules. For instance, in Theorem 4.1 it is shown that a reduced module \(M\) of countable rank is a May module if and only if it has a balanced-projective submodule \(N\) such that \(M/N\) is countably generated. Section 5 develops results on May modules of uncountable rank. An example is constructed that shows that several results in the paper cannot be extended from countable rank to uncountable rank.