A relative version of Bass' theorem about finite-dimensional algebras
Abstract
As a special case of Bass' theory of perfect rings, one obtains the assertion that, over a finite-dimensional associative algebra over a field, all flat modules are projective. In this paper we prove the following relative version of this result. Let be a homomorphism of associative rings such that is a finitely generated projective right -module. Then every flat left -module is a direct summand of an -module filtered by -modules induced from flat left -modules . In other words, a left -module is cotorsion if and only if its underlying left -module is cotorsion. The proof is based on the cotorsion periodicity theorem.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.2507.15425,
title = {A relative version of Bass' theorem about finite-dimensional algebras},
author = {Leonid Positselski},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:2507.15425},
year = {2026}
}
Comments
LaTeX 2e, 13 pages; v.2: misprints corrected, Example 3.10 added at the end; v.3: three references added in the Introduction, Remark 3.3(4) added, a short paragraph inserted near the end of Example 3.10, the proof of Lemma 2.4 and the first paragraph of Remark 3.8 slightly shortened; v.4: two misprints corrected