On left Köthe rings and a generalization of a Köthe-Cohen-Kaplansky theorem

Abstract

In this paper, we obtain a partial solution to the following question of Köthe: For which rings <inline-formula content-type="math/mathml"> <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="upper R"> <mml:semantics> <mml:mi>R</mml:mi> <mml:annotation encoding="application/x-tex">R</mml:annotation> </mml:semantics> </mml:math> </inline-formula> is it true that every left (or both left and right) <inline-formula content-type="math/mathml"> <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="upper R"> <mml:semantics> <mml:mi>R</mml:mi> <mml:annotation encoding="application/x-tex">R</mml:annotation> </mml:semantics> </mml:math> </inline-formula> -module is a direct sum of cyclic modules? Let <inline-formula content-type="math/mathml"> <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="upper R"> <mml:semantics> <mml:mi>R</mml:mi> <mml:annotation encoding="application/x-tex">R</mml:annotation> </mml:semantics> </mml:math> </inline-formula> be a ring in which all idempotents are central. We prove that if <inline-formula content-type="math/mathml"> <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="upper R"> <mml:semantics> <mml:mi>R</mml:mi> <mml:annotation encoding="application/x-tex">R</mml:annotation> </mml:semantics> </mml:math> </inline-formula> is a left Köthe ring (i.e., every left <inline-formula content-type="math/mathml"> <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="upper R"> <mml:semantics> <mml:mi>R</mml:mi> <mml:annotation encoding="application/x-tex">R</mml:annotation> </mml:semantics> </mml:math> </inline-formula> -module is a direct sum of cyclic modules), then <inline-formula content-type="math/mathml"> <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="upper R"> <mml:semantics> <mml:mi>R</mml:mi> <mml:annotation encoding="application/x-tex">R</mml:annotation> </mml:semantics> </mml:math> </inline-formula> is an Artinian principal right ideal ring. Consequently, <inline-formula content-type="math/mathml"> <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="upper R"> <mml:semantics> <mml:mi>R</mml:mi> <mml:annotation encoding="application/x-tex">R</mml:annotation> </mml:semantics> </mml:math> </inline-formula> is a Köthe ring (i.e., each left and each right <inline-formula content-type="math/mathml"> <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="upper R"> <mml:semantics> <mml:mi>R</mml:mi> <mml:annotation encoding="application/x-tex">R</mml:annotation> </mml:semantics> </mml:math> </inline-formula> -module is a direct sum of cyclic modules) if and only if <inline-formula content-type="math/mathml"> <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" alttext="upper R"> <mml:semantics> <mml:mi>R</mml:mi> <mml:annotation encoding="application/x-tex">R</mml:annotation> </mml:semantics> </mml:math> </inline-formula> is an Artinian principal ideal ring. This is a generalization of a Köthe-Cohen-Kaplansky theorem.