The number of submodules (Q4699207)

The author studies the question of how many submodules a module over a ring must have. The case considered in the paper is when the cardinality of the module is infinite and greater than that of the ring. The key concept is that of an independent set of a module. A subset \(I\) of non-zero elements of a left \(R\)-module \(M\) is called independent if whenever \(r_1x_1+\cdots+r_nx_n=0\) for \(r_i\) in \(R\) and distinct \(x_i\) in \(I\), one gets that \(r_ix_i=0\) for all \(i=1,\ldots,n\). Every subset of an independent set \(I\) of a module \(M\) creates a unique submodule of \(M\). The more general concept is that of a semi-independent set, which means the independence modulo a certain submodule of \(M\). The main method used in the paper relies on the seach for ``large'' (semi-) independent sets in a module. The paper generalizes and provides a new proof of a theorem of \textit{R. G. Burns, F. Okoh, H. Smith} and \textit{J. Wiegold} [Arch. Math. 42, 289-295 (1984; Zbl 0528.20001)] that if \(R\) is an infinite left Noetherian ring and \(M\) a left \(R\)-module such that \(m=\text{card}(M)>\text{card}(R)\), then every maximal independent set in \(M\) has cardinality \(m\), and \(M\) has \(2^m\) submodules. Other interesting results on the number of submodules of a module over an arbitrary ring are also obtained. For the entire collection see [Zbl 0921.00018].