Serial rings and direct decompositions (Q788087)

This paper is concerned with some relationships between serial rings and the lifting (extending) property of simple modules. The first part is concerned with decompositions of modules of finite length into a direct sum of serial modules. It is known that over a serial ring every f.g. module has such a decomposition. In this paper a characterization for a semiperfect ring to satisfy the above decomposition for modules of finite length is given. The second part of this provides some characterization of serial rings. It is shown that for a perfect ring, the following are equivalent: (1) R is an artinian serial ring; (2) every module has the lifting property of simple modules modulo the radical; (3) every module has the extending property of simple modules. It is also shown that for a perfect ring, R is a serial ring iff every cyclic \(R_ 2\)-module has the lifting property of simple modules modulo the radical.