General bilinear forms. (Q2339729)

For generating modules \(M\) over a ring \(R\), a concept of general bilinear form is introduced which generalizes sesquilinear forms. A one-to-one correspondence between anti-automorphisms of \(\mathrm{End}_R(M)\) and regular bilinear forms on \(M\) is established, so that involutions correspond to symmetric bilinear forms. As an application, a simple proof of (a variant of) Osborn's theorem on rings with involution is given.