Endomorphism rings of Abelian groups (Q5915518)

The authors have compiled, under nine chapter headings, a comprehensive review of the literature on endomorphism rings of Abelian groups. They target an audience of specialists in Abelian group theory, as will this review. The authors state that their purpose is to ``try to give an idea of the possibilities, methods of proofs, and relations between various research fields and individual results.'' Each chapter contains relevant definitions, main results, and a list of open problems. Naturally, all groups are Abelian. Chapter 1 -- Preliminaries -- begins with examples of the building blocks of endomorphsim rings -- subrings of \(\mathbb{Q}\) and quotients thereof, matrix rings, the \(p\)-adic integers, etc. The ring \(\mathbb{Q}\otimes E(G)\) of quasi-endomorphisms is introduced and tied to the uniqueness of quasi-decomposition of a torsion-free group of finite rank. A torsion-free group is called irreducible if \(\mathbb{Q}\otimes G\) is a simple \(\mathbb{Q}\otimes E(G)\)-module. J. D. Reid's well-known theorem aptly represents Chapter 1. Theorem 1.5. For a torsion-free group \(A\) of finite rank, the following are equivalent. (a) \(A\) is irreducible. (b) \(A\) is quasi-isomorphic to \(B^n= B\oplus B\oplus\cdots\oplus B\), where \(B\) is irreducible and strongly indecomposable. (c) \(\mathbb{Q}\otimes E(A)\) is the ring of \(m\times m\) matrices over some rational division algebra \(D\) and \(m\dim_\mathbb{Q}(D)=\text{rank}(A)\). Other topics introduced include near isomorphism, E-rings and E-modules. Problem 3, which asks for E-modules of large cardinality, has been solved by M. Dugas. Chapter 2 -- Endomorphism Rings with Special Properties. Properties discussed include Artinian, Noetherian, self-injective, regular and commutative. For example, \(\text{End}(A)\) is Artinian if and only if \(A=B\oplus D\), where \(B\) is a finite group and \(D\) is a divisible torsion-free group of finite rank. Chapter 3 -- Groups as Modules over Their Endomorphism Rings. A group \(A\) is Artinian as a module over its endomorphism ring (endo-Artinian) if and only if \(A=B\oplus D\), where \(B\) is a finite group and \(D\) is a divisible group with finitely many \(p\)-components. The group \(A\) is an injective \(E(A)\)-module if and only if \(A=\prod_pA_p\oplus D\), where \(A_p\) is a finite \(p\)-group, \(D\) is a divisible group of finite rank, and either \(D=0\) or \(D\) is torsion or torsion-free and \(A_p=0\) for almost all \(p\). Other module properties that have been investigated are quasi-injective, projective, flat, projective dimension, finitely generated, and uniserial. Chapter 4 -- \(\Hom(A,B)\) as a Bimodule over Endomorphism Rings. Most of the results in this chapter discuss when \(\Hom(A,B)\) is either Artinian or injective as a module over \(E(A)\) or \(E(B)\). For example: Proposition 4.6. For a group \(A\), the following are equivalent. (a) The \(E(A)\)-module \(\Hom(A,D)\) is injective for all divisible groups \(D\). (b) The \(E(A)\)-module \(\Hom(A,\mathbb{Q}/\mathbb{Z})\) is injective. (c) \(A\) is a flat module over \(E(A)\). (d) The \(E(A)\otimes\mathbb{Q}_p\)-module \(A\otimes\mathbb{Q}_p\) is flat for every prime \(p\). (\(\mathbb{Q}_p\) denotes the ring of integers localized at \(p\).) Chapter 5 -- Categorical and Lattice Relations Between a Group and Its Endomorphism Ring. A group \(A\) is self-small if every homomorphism of \(A\) into a direct sum \(\bigoplus A_i\) of copies of \(A\) has image in a finite sum of the \(A_i\). The well-known \(\Hom\) and \(\otimes\) functors produce a category equivalence between the finitely \(A\)-projective groups and the finitely generated projective right \(E(A)\)-modules. The same functors define an equivalence from all \(A\)-projectives to all projective right \(E(A)\)-modules in the case that \(A\) is self small. The chapter goes on to discuss a number of generalizations and related concepts -- faithful and fully faithful groups, the Baer splitting lemma, and endoflat groups. Chapter 6 -- Hereditary Endomorphism Rings. In some settings, groups with hereditary endomorphism ring can act like rank-1 torsion-free groups, and provide strong theorems, especially in the torsion-free case. Recall that \(G\) is locally \(A\)-projective if every finite subset of \(G\) is contained in an \(A\)-projective summand of \(G\). Theorem 6.2. For a torsion-free group \(A\) of finite rank, the following are equivalent. (a) \(E(A)\) is right hereditary. (b) \(A\) is a faithful group and every \(A\)-generated subgroup of an \(A\)-projective group is \(A\)-projective. (c) \(A\) is endoflat and for every locally \(A\)-projective group \(G\), each pure \(A\)-generated subgroup of \(G\) of finite rank is a direct summand of \(G\). (d) For every locally \(A\)-projective group \(G\), each pure \(A\)-generated subgroup of \(G\) of finite rank is a direct summand of \(G\). (e) The ring \(E(A)\) is semiprime, and every element of each minimal pure fully invariant subgroup of a finitely \(A\)-projective group \(G\) can be embedded in some strongly indecomposable direct summand of \(G\). Chapter 7 -- Radicals of Endomorphism Rings. This section begins with the seminal work of R. S. Pierce on \(p\)-groups. Pierce introduced some powerful concepts, including the notion of a small endomorphism and the ideal \(H(A)\subseteq E(A)\) of endomorphisms enlarging heights of elements in the socle \(A[p]\). A nice catalog of theorems describing the Jacobson radical of endomorphism rings for various classes of groups illustrates the influence of Pierce's work. Chapter 8 -- Isomorphism Theorems. The benchmark is the Baer-Kaplansky Theorem: for torsion groups \(A\) and \(C\), every isomorphism \(E(A)\to E(C)\) is induced by an isomorphism \(A\to C\). A number of authors have pushed this result in a variety of directions, as in the following theorem of May and Toubassi: Theorem 8.15. Let \(M\) and \(K\) be two mixed modules of torsion-free rank 1 over a discrete valuation ring \(R\), and suppose the torsion submodule \(T(M)\) is simply presented. Then every isomorphism between the \(R\)-endomorphism rings of \(M\) and \(K\) is induced by an isomorphism between the modules \(M\) and \(K\). Chapter 9 -- Realization Theorems. Here the dark and stormy night was first lit by the beacon of Corner's Theorem: Every countable reduced torsion-free ring is the endomorphism ring of a countable reduced torsion-free group. This result spawned extensive research on realization theorems. Corner subsequently showed that if \(R\) is a ring whose additive group is the completion of a free \(p\)-adic module of at most countable rank, then there is a separable \(p\)-group \(A\) such that \(E(A)=R\oplus E_s(A)\), where \(E_s(A)\) is the ideal of small endomorphisms. Dugas and Göbel, in a series of notable papers opened investigation of realization of rings (and other structures) by ``large'' groups, aided by the development of the Black Box of Shelah. Some of their main results are cited, followed by a discussion of rigid systems, a brief mention of set-theoretic notions, and some category equivalence result. The paper concludes with a list of 350 references. It is indeed a valuable asset for researchers in a variety of fields.