Von Neumann regular ring
In mathematics, a von Neumann regular ring is a ring R (associative, with 1, not necessarily commutative) such that for every element a in R there exists an x in R with a = axa. One may think of x as a "weak inverse" of the element a; in general x is not uniquely determined by a. Von Neumann regular rings are also called absolutely flat rings, because these rings are characterized by the fact that every left R-module is flat.
Von Neumann regular rings were introduced by
An element a of a ring is called a von Neumann regular element if there exists an x such that a = axa.[1] An ideal is called a (von Neumann) regular ideal if for every element a in there exists an element x in such that a = axa.[2]
Examples
Every
Another important class of examples of von Neumann regular rings are the rings Mn(K) of n-by-n
U and V such that(where Ir is the r-by-r identity matrix). If we set X = V−1U−1, then
More generally, the n × n matrix ring over any von Neumann regular ring is again von Neumann regular.[1]
If V is a vector space over a field (or skew field) K, then the endomorphism ring EndK(V) is von Neumann regular, even if V is not finite-dimensional.[3]
Generalizing the above examples, suppose S is some ring and M is an S-module such that every
The ring of affiliated operators of a finite von Neumann algebra is von Neumann regular.
A Boolean ring is a ring in which every element satisfies a2 = a. Every Boolean ring is von Neumann regular.
Facts
The following statements are equivalent for the ring R:
- R is von Neumann regular
- every idempotent element
- every finitely generated left ideal is generated by an idempotent
- every principal left ideal is a direct summandof the left R-module R
- every finitely generated left ideal is a direct summand of the left R-module R
- every finitely generated submodule of a projectiveleft R-module P is a direct summand of P
- every left R-module is flat: this is also known as R being absolutely flat, or R having weak dimension 0
- every pure exact.
The corresponding statements for right modules are also equivalent to R being von Neumann regular.
Every von Neumann regular ring has Jacobson radical {0} and is thus semiprimitive (also called "Jacobson semi-simple").
In a commutative von Neumann regular ring, for each element x there is a unique element y such that xyx=x and yxy=y, so there is a canonical way to choose the "weak inverse" of x.
The following statements are equivalent for the commutative ring R:
- R is von Neumann regular.
- R has Krull dimension 0 and is reduced.
- Every localization of R at a maximal idealis a field.
- R is a subring of a product of fields closed under taking "weak inverses" of x ∈ R (the unique element y such that xyx = x and yxy = y).
- R is a V-ring.[4]
- R has the regular functionfactors through the morphism of schemes .[5]
Also, the following are equivalent: for a commutative ring A
- R = A / nil(A) is von Neumann regular.
- The spectrum of A is Hausdorff (in the Zariski topology).
- The constructible topology and Zariski topology for Spec(A) coincide.
Generalizations and specializations
Special types of von Neumann regular rings include unit regular rings and strongly von Neumann regular rings and rank rings.
A ring R is called unit regular if for every a in R, there is a unit u in R such that a = aua. Every
A ring R is called strongly von Neumann regular if for every a in R, there is some x in R with a = aax. The condition is left-right symmetric. Strongly von Neumann regular rings are unit regular. Every strongly von Neumann regular ring is a subdirect product of division rings. In some sense, this more closely mimics the properties of commutative von Neumann regular rings, which are subdirect products of fields. For commutative rings, von Neumann regular and strongly von Neumann regular are equivalent. In general, the following are equivalent for a ring R:
- R is strongly von Neumann regular
- R is von Neumann regular and reduced
- R is von Neumann regular and every idempotent in R is central
- Every principal left ideal of R is generated by a central idempotent
Generalizations of von Neumann regular rings include π-regular rings, left/right
See also
Notes
- ^ a b c Kaplansky 1972, p. 110
- ^ Kaplansky 1972, p. 112
- ^ Skornyakov 2001
- ^ Michler & Villamayor 1973
- ^ Burklund, Schlank & Yuan 2022
References
- Burklund, Robert; Schlank, Tomer M.; Yuan, Allen (2022-07-20). "The Chromatic Nullstellensatz". p. 50. arXiv:2207.09929 [math.AT].
- Zbl 1001.16500
- Michler, G.O.; Villamayor, O.E. (April 1973). "On rings whose simple modules are injective". .
- Skornyakov, L.A. (2001) [1994], "Regular ring (in the sense of von Neumann)", Encyclopedia of Mathematics, EMS Press
- Zbl 0015.38802
Further reading
- Goodearl, K. R. (1991), von Neumann regular rings (2 ed.), Malabar, FL: Robert E. Krieger Publishing Co. Inc., pp. xviii+412, Zbl 0749.16001
- Zbl 0171.28003