Ph.D.

Thesis Report
w - Coatomic Modules
Tuǧba Güroǧlu
June 17, 2009

Abstract
In this work, we study w - coatomic modules and we try to inves-
tigate some properties of w - coatomic modules.

1 Introduction
Throughout this note we assume that R is an associative ring with unity
and all modules are unital left R- modules, unless otherwise mentioned. Let
R be a ring and M be an R-module. Rad(M ) and Soc(M ) will denote
Jacobson radical and socle of M , respectively. A module M is said to be
semisimple , if every submodule of M is a direct summand in M . A module
M is said to be coatomic if every proper submodule of M is contained in a
maximal submodule of M (see [4]), equivalently, for a submodule N of M ,
whenever Rad(M/N ) = M/N , then M = N . Semisimple modules, finitely
generated modules, hollow modules and local modules are coatomic modules.
The submodule T (M ) = {m ∈ M : rm = 0 for some 0 6= r ∈ R} is called
the torsion submodule of M and if M = T (M ) then M is called a torsion
module. A module M is supplemented, if every submodule N of M has a
supplement, i.e., a submodule K minimal with respect to N + K = M . K is
a supplement of N if and only if N + K = M and N ∩ K ¿ K.

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2 Properties of w - Coatomic Modules
Definition 2.1. A module M is called w-coatomic if every proper semisimple
submodule of M is contained in a maximal submodule of M .

Proposition 2.2. The following statements are equivalent for a module M :

(1) M is w - coatomic.

(2) For every semisimple submodule U of M , Rad(M/U ) = M/U implies

M/U = 0.

Proof. (1 ⇒ 2) Let M be a w - coatomic and let Rad(M/U ) = M/U for a

semisimple submodule U of M . Suppose M/U 6= 0, so U is proper submodule
of M . But since Rad(M/U ) = M/U , there is no maximal submodule of M
containing U , contradiction.
(2 ⇒ 1) Suppose that M is not w - coatomic. Let U be a proper semisimple
submodule of M . Then U is not contained in a maximal submodule of M .
Thus Rad(M/U ) = M/U . By (2), M/U = 0, contradiction.

Example 2.3. Obviously any coatomic module is w-coatomic but the con-
verse is not true. Let Z denote the ring of integers. Consider the Z-module
M = ⊕N Mn where Mn = Z for all n ∈ N. Since the only semisimple submod-
ule of M is 0 and is contained in maximal submodule ⊕pZ, M is w-coatomic.
But by ([6], page 155), M = ⊕N Mn is not coatomic .

Lemma 2.4. For some submodule N of M , if M/N is w - coatomic, then

M is w - coatomic.

Proof. Let U be a semisimple submodule of M . Then U + N/N is a semisim-

ple submodule of M/N . Since M/N is w - coatomic, U +N/N is contained in
a maximal submodule of M/N , say K/N . Thus M/N/K/N ∼ = M/K is sim-
ple, that is, K is maximal in M containing U . Hence M is w - coatomic.

Example 2.5. Consider the Z-module N . Let M = N ⊕ Q. Then M is w

- coatomic, but the factor module M/N ∼
= Q is not w - coatomic because
Q has no maximal submodule. Thus the converse statement of lemma 2.4 is
not true.

Corollary 2.6. If M/N is semisimple for proper submodule N of M , then

M is w - coatomic.

Proof. Let M/N be a semisimple. Then M/N is coatomic and M/N is also
w - coatomic and by lemma 2.4, M is w - coatomic.

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Proposition 2.7. Let M = ⊕ni=1 Mi where every Mi is w - coatomic. Then
M is w - coatomic.

Proof. Let’s use the induction on n. If n = 1, then M is w - coatomic because

M1 is w - coatomic. Suppose for n = k, M = ⊕ki=1 Mi is w - coatomic.
Now let’s show for n = k + 1, M is w - coatomic. It can be written as
M = ⊕k+1 k k k
i=1 Mi = (⊕i=1 Mi ) ⊕ Mk+1 . Then M/Mk+1 = ⊕i=1 Mi . Since ⊕i=1 Mi
is w - coatomic, by lemma 2.4, M is w - coatomic.

Proposition 2.8. Let M be an R- module, U be a semisimple submodule of

M and V be a supplement of U in M . Then M is w-coatomic if and only if
V is w - coatomic.

Proof. (⇒) Let M be a w-coatomic. If V is a supplement of U , then M =

U + V and U ∩ V ¿ V . Since U is semisimple, U = (U ∩ V ) ⊕ U 0 for some
submodule U 0 of U . It follows that M = U + V = (U ∩ V ) + U 0 + V and
so M = U 0 + V . Because 0 = (U ∩ V ) ∩ U 0 = V ∩ U 0 , then M = U 0 ⊕ V .
Let U = 0. Then M = V . By assumption, V is w-coatomic. Now suppose
U 6= 0. Let Rad(V /V 0 ) = V /V 0 for a semisimple submodule V 0 of V . Then
M/(U 0 ⊕ V 0 ) = (U 0 ⊕ V )/(U 0 ⊕ V ) ∼
= V /V 0 is radical module. Since U 0 and
V 0 are semisimple submodules, by assumption, M/(U 0 ⊕ V 0 ) = 0, that is,
M = U 0 ⊕ V 0 . Thus V = V 0 .
(⇐) Let V be a w-coatomic and V be a supplement of U . Then M = U + V
and U ∩ V ¿ V . For semisimple submodule U 0 of U , M = U 0 ⊕ V . Since
M/V ∼ = U 0 is semisimple, by corollary 2.6, M is w-coatomic.
Lemma 2.9. If every maximal submodule of M is direct summand, then M
is w - coatomic.

Proof. Let K be a maximal submodule of M . Then M = K ⊕ K 0 for some

submodule K 0 of M . So M/K ∼ = K 0 is simple. Then K 0 is semisimple.
Since every semisimple module is coatomic, K 0 is coatomic. Thus K 0 is w -
coatomic and by lemma 2.4, M is w - coatomic.

Lemma 2.10. Let M be a w - coatomic module. Then M/Soc(M ) contains

a maximal submodule.

Proof. Suppose that M/Soc(M ) does not contain a maximal submodule.

By assumption, Soc(M ) is contained in a maximal submodule K in M since
Soc(M ) is semisimple. Then M/K is simple. It follows that M/Soc(M )/K/Soc(M )
is simple. So K/Soc(M ) is maximal submodule in M/Soc(M ), contradiction.
Thus M/Soc(M ) contains a maximal submodule.

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Lemma 2.11. Let M be w-coatomic module. Then Rad(M ) 6= M .

Proof. Suppose that Rad(M ) = M . Let N be a semisimple submodule of

M . Since Rad(M ) = M , then there is no maximal submodule containing N ,
contradiction. Thus Rad(M ) 6= M .

Example 2.12. Let M be a w-coatomic module. Then every submodule

of M is not w-coatomic. For example; consider the submodule Rad(M ) of
M . Rad(M ) would be a w-coatomic, then every semisimple submodule of
Rad(M ) were contained in a maximal submodule in Rad(M ). But Rad(M )
has no maximal submodule. Hence Rad(M ) is not w-coatomic.

Lemma 2.13. Let R be a DVR. Then every R-module M is w-coatomic.

Proof. In DVR, M/Rad(M ) is semisimple. Then by corollary 2.6, M is w-

coatomic.
We call M a semilocal module if M/Rad(M ) is semisimple.

Lemma 2.14. Every semilocal module is w - coatomic.

Proof. Let M be a semilocal module. Then M/Rad(M ) is semisimple. By

corollary 2.6, M is w - coatomic.

Example 2.15. Consider the Z module Z where Z is the ring of integers. Z

module Z is w - coatomic but Z is not semilocal module, that is, the converse
of the above lemma is not true.

Let M be a module and U, V be submodules of M . We say that V is a

weak supplement of U in M if M = U + V and U ∩ V ¿ M . M is called
weakly supplemented if every submodule of M has a weak supplement.

Proposition 2.16. Every weakly supplemented module is w - coatomic.

Proof. Let M be weakly supplemented module and let N be a semisimple

submodule of M . Then N has a weak supplement K in M for some submod-
ule K of M such that M = N + K and N ∩ K ¿ M . Since N is semisimple,
N = (N ∩K)⊕N 0 for some submodule N 0 of N . It follows that M = N 0 ⊕K.
So M/K ∼ = N 0 is semisimple, thus M/K is w - coatomic. By lemma 2.3, M
is w - coatomic.

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Proposition 2.17. Let R be a hereditary ring. Then M is w - coatomic if
and only if every nonzero injective submodule of M is w - coatomic.

Proof. (⇒) Let M be a w - coatomic and N be a nonzero injective submodule

of M . Let L be a semisimple submodule of N . Let L = 0. By assumption, L
is contained in a maximal submodule K of M . Since N is injective submodule
of M , then N + K/K is injective submodule of M/K and N + K/K is
direct summand in M/K. That is, M/K = (N + K)/K ⊕ N 0 /K for some
submodule N 0 of M . If N + K/K is not proper submodule of M/K, then
N +K/K = M/K. Since N +K/K ∼ = N/N ∩K and M/K is simple, so N ∩K
is maximal submodule in N containing L. Let N +K/K is proper submodule
of M/K. Since M/K is simple, then N + K/K = 0 or N + K/K = M/K.
If N + K/K = 0, then M/K = N 0 /K, contradiction. Thus N/N ∩ K ∼ =
N + K/K = M/K, i.e., N ∩ K is maximal submodule in N containing L.
Let L 6= 0. Similar to above, N ∩ K is maximal submodule in N containing
L because L is submodule of N and K.
(⇐) Let N be an injective submodule of M . Then M = N ⊕ K for some
submodule K of M . Thus M/K ∼ = N is w - coatomic by assumption. By
lemma 2.4, M is w - coatomic.

Lemma 2.18. Let R be a Dedekind domain. If M is torsion module, then

M is w - coatomic.

Proof. Let M be a torsion module. By ([12], corollary 2.7), M/Rad(M ) is

semisimple and by corollary 2.6, M is w - coatomic.

Lemma 2.19. Let R be a Dedekind domain. Let M be a torsion module.

Then every submodule of M is w - coatomic.

Proof. Let M be a torsion module and N be submodule of M . Then N is

torsion module. By lemma 2.18, N is w - coatomic.

Lemma 2.20. Let R be a Dedekind domain and K be the field of quotients

of R. Then R K is w - coatomic.

Proof. By ([12], lemma 2.8), R K is weakly supplemented and by proposition

2.16, R K is w - coatomic.

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