Solutions to Homework 14

70. (a) Let (a/b) (c/d) be a simple tensor in Q Z Q. By linearity, we have

(a/b) (c/d) = (ac/b) (1/d) = (acd/bd) (1/d) = (ac/bd) (d/d) = (ac/bd) 1
P
P
and so every simple tensor is of the form x 1. Then i (xi 1) = ( i xi ) 1, so every element

of Q Z Q is of the form x 1. The map x 1 7 x gives an isomorphism Q Z Q Q.

(b) Let T be a torsion abelian group and D be a divisible abelian group. Let t d T Z D,
and suppose that nt = 0. Because D is divisible, we have d = ne for some e D. Then
t d = t ne = nt e = 0, so T D = 0 for any torsion T and any divisible D. The result follows
because Q/Z is both torsion and divisible.

71. By the structure theorem for finitely generated modules over a PID, we can write
r

V =R

n
M

R/(ai )

i=1

with a1 | |an . Using the fact that tensors commute with direct sums, and that R/(ai )R R/(aj ) =
R/(amin{i,j} ), we see easily that
2

V R V = Rr

n
M

(R/(ai ))2(r+ni)+1

i=1

72. This is Proposition 3.7 of Commutative Algebra by Atiyah-McDonald.

73. Consider the R-module M/N . The hypotheses imply that I(M/N ) = M/N . By Nakayamas
Lemma, we then have M/N = 0, which says exactly that M = N .

74. This is Proposition 3.14 of Atiyah-McDonald.

75. By the associativity of the tensor product, we have natural isomorphisms of A-modules:
N B MB = N B (B A M ) = (N B B) A M = N A A M
for any B-module N . Thus if 0 N N 0 is an exact sequence of B-modules, there is a
commutative diagram of A-modules:
0

/ N B MB


/ NA M
A

/ N0 M
B
B


/ N 0A M
A

Because M is a flat A-module, the bottom row is exact, and thus the top row is exact as well.

76. Let t be a transcendental over F and let At = A tI, which is invertible in F (t). Then

 


I
0
At
B
At B
=
.
C D
CA1
I
0 D CA1
t
t B
Let Mt be the matrix on the left-hand side of the above equation. Then
det(Mt ) = det(At ) det(D CA1
t B) = det(At D BC)
because all of the matrices in question commute, and


X
det
= det(XY )
0 Y
for any X, Y . Setting t = 0 then gives the result.