English

A relative version of Bass' theorem about finite-dimensional algebras

Rings and Algebras 2026-05-01 v4

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 RAR\rightarrow A be a homomorphism of associative rings such that AA is a finitely generated projective right RR-module. Then every flat left AA-module is a direct summand of an AA-module filtered by AA-modules ARFA\otimes_RF induced from flat left RR-modules FF. In other words, a left AA-module is cotorsion if and only if its underlying left RR-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