Classification Theory of Abelian Groups. I: Balanced Projectives (Q4133850)

In this paper a class of abelian groups is introduced which includes the torsion totally projective groups and those torsion-free groups which are direct sums of groups of rank one. Characterizations of the groups in this class are given, and a complete classification theorem, in terms of additive numerical invariants, is proved. A short exact sequence \(O\rightarrow A \rightarrow C\rightarrow O\) is balanced if for every height h, the sequence \(O\rightarrow hA \rightarrow hB \rightarrow hC \rightarrow O\) is exact. A group \(P\) is balanced projective if it is projective with respect to all such sequences, i.e., for any such sequence, the induced map \(\Hom\;(P,B) \rightarrow \Hom\; (P,C)\) is surjective. A classification theorem is proved for the balanced projectives which will include, as special cases, Baer' s 1937 classification of the torsion-free balanced projectives, and Hill's classification of totally projective \(p\)-groups. Also is proved that any balanced projective is a direct sum of groups of torsion-free rank at most one. Important is to work first in the local case - with modules over a discrete valuation ring. One then proves many of the results for an abelian group \(M\) by referring to the localization \(M_{p} = M\otimes Z\). This paper is the first of a series concerning the classification theory of mixed abelian groups. In the first \S\; the methods of extending homomorphisms and isomorphisms are developed. In the second \S\; the basic building blocks of the theory of balanced projectives are introduced, and it is proved that there are enough balanced projectives. In \S\; 3 a decomposition theorem for objects in an arbitrary additive category is proved. A category is introduced in which abelian groups of torsion-free rank one are small objects, and the decomposition theorem in this category is used to obtain some information about summands of a direct sum of groups of rank one. In \S\; 4 the classification theory in the local case (for modules over a discrete valuation ring) is completed. In \S\; 5, these results are extended to the global case, introducing the necessary invariants.