When are KE-closed subcategories torsion-free classes? (Q6581844)

Let \(R\) be a commutative noetherian ring, and let \(\bmod(R)\) denote the category of finitely generated \(R\)-modules. In this paper, the authors study KE-closed subcategories of \(\bmod(R)\), that is, additive subcategories which are closed under kernels and extensions. They first give a characterization of KE-closed subcategories; a KE-closed subcategory is a torsion-free class in a torsion-free class. As an immediate application of the dual statement, they give a conceptual proof of Stanley-Wang's result about narrow subcategories. Next, they classify the KE-closed subcategories of \(\bmod(R)\) when \(\dim(R) \leq 1\) and when \(R\) is a two-dimensional normal domain. More precisely, in the former case, they prove that KE-closed subcategories coincide with torsion-free classes in \(\bmod(R)\). Moreover, this condition implies \(\dim(R) \leq 1\) when \(R\) is a homomorphic image of a Cohen-Macaulay ring (e.g. a finitely generated algebra over a regular ring).