A characterization of von Neumann regular rings and applications. (Q710868)

For an \(n\times m\) matrix \(A=(a_{ij})\) and an \(m\times l\) matrix \(B=(b_{ij})\) over the same ring \(R\), we say that the pair of matrices \((A,B)\) has simple 0-multiplication if \(a_{ik}b_{kj}=0\) for all \(1\leq i\leq n\), \(1\leq k\leq m\) and \(1\leq j\leq l\). In this paper, a new characterization of von Neumann regular rings is obtained, in terms of simple 0-multiplication of matrices, and is used to establish the natural connections between von Neumann regular rings and feebly Baer modules and rings.