Square submodule of a module (Q980488)

The authors introduce and study the notion of ``square submodule'' of a module over a commutative ring with identity. Let \(R\) be a commutative ring with identity and \(M\) be an \(R\)-module. Denote by \(\mathrm{Mult}_R(M)\) the \(R\)-module of all bilinear maps \(M\times M\to M\). The \textit{square submodule of \(M\) over \(R\)} is defined as \[ \square_RM:=\sum\{\text{Im}(\varphi)|\varphi\in \mathrm{Mult}_R(M)\}. \] The authors investigated the properties of square submodules. For example they investigated the properties of the square module for some classes of integral domains including Dedekind domains. They also provide conditions under which \(\square_RM=M\) and also for \(\square_RM=0\).