Simple module

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In mathematics, specifically in ring theory, the simple modules over a ring R are the (left or
right) modules over R that have no non-zero proper submodules. Equivalently, a module M is
simple if and only if every cyclic submodule generated by a non-zero element of M equals M. Simple
modules form building blocks for the modules of finite length, and they are analogous to the simple
groups in group theory.
In this article, all modules will be assumed to be right unital modules over a ring R.
Contents
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1 Examples
2 Basic properties of simple modules
3 Simple modules and composition series
4 The Jacobson density theorem
5 See also
6 References

Examples[edit]
Z-modules are the same as abelian groups, so a simple Z-module is an abelian group which has no
non-zero proper subgroups. These are the cyclic groups of prime order.
If I is a right ideal of R, then I is simple as a right module if and only if I is a minimal non-zero right
ideal: If M is a non-zero proper submodule of I, then it is also a right ideal, so Iis not minimal.
Conversely, if I is not minimal, then there is a non-zero right ideal J properly contained in I. J is a
right submodule of I, so I is not simple.
If I is a right ideal of R, then R/I is simple if and only if I is a maximal right ideal: If M is a non-zero
proper submodule of R/I, then the preimage of M under the quotient mapR R/I is a right ideal
which is not equal to R and which properly contains I. Therefore I is not maximal. Conversely, if I is
not maximal, then there is a right ideal J properly containing I. The quotient map R/I R/J has a
non-zero kernel which is not equal to R/I, and therefore R/I is not simple.
Every simple R-module is isomorphic to a quotient R/m where m is a maximal right ideal of R.[1] By
the above paragraph, any quotient R/m is a simple module. Conversely, suppose that M is a
simple R-module. Then, for any non-zero element x of M, the cyclic submodule xR must equal M. Fix
such an x. The statement that xR = M is equivalent to the surjectivity of the
homomorphism R M that sends r to xr. The kernel of this homomorphism is a right ideal I of R,
and a standard theorem states that M is isomorphic to R/I. By the above paragraph, we find that I is
a maximal right ideal. Therefore M is isomorphic to a quotient of R by a maximal right ideal.
If k is a field and G is a group, then a group representation of G is a left module over the group
ring k[G]. The simple k[G] modules are also known as irreduciblerepresentations. A major aim
of representation theory is to understand the irreducible representations of groups.

Basic properties of simple modules[edit]

The simple modules are precisely the modules of length 1; this is a reformulation of the definition.
Every simple module is indecomposable, but the converse is in general not true.

Every simple module is cyclic, that is it is generated by one element.

Not every module has a simple submodule; consider for instance the Z-module Z in light of the first
example above.
Let M and N be (left or right) modules over the same ring, and let f : M N be a module
homomorphism. If M is simple, then f is either the zero homomorphism or injectivebecause
the kernel of f is a submodule of M. If N is simple, then f is either the zero homomorphism
or surjective because the image of f is a submodule of N. If M = N, then f is anendomorphism of M,
and if M is simple, then the prior two statements imply that f is either the zero homomorphism or an
isomorphism. Consequently the endomorphism ring of any simple module is a division ring. This
result is known as Schur's lemma.
The converse of Schur's lemma is not true in general. For example, the Z-module Q is not simple,
but its endomorphism ring is isomorphic to the field Q.

Simple modules and composition series[edit]

Main article: Composition series
If M is a module which has a non-zero proper submodule N, then there is a short exact sequence

A common approach to proving a fact about M is to show that the fact is true for the center term
of a short exact sequence when it is true for the left and right terms, then to prove the fact
for N and M/N. If N has a non-zero proper submodule, then this process can be repeated. This
produces a chain of submodules

In order to prove the fact this way, one needs conditions on this sequence and on the
modules Mi/Mi + 1. One particularly useful condition is that the length of the sequence is finite
and each quotient module Mi/Mi + 1 is simple. In this case the sequence is called
a composition series for M. In order to prove a statement inductively using composition
series, the statement is first proved for simple modules, which form the base case of the
induction, and then the statement is proved to remain true under an extension of a module
by a simple module. For example, the Fitting lemma shows that the endomorphism ring of a
finite length indecomposable module is a local ring, so that the strong Krull-Schmidt
theorem holds and the category of finite length modules is a Krull-Schmidt category.
The JordanHlder theorem and the Schreier refinement theorem describe the relationships
amongst all composition series of a single module. The Grothendieck group ignores the
order in a composition series and views every finite length module as a formal sum of simple
modules. Over semisimple rings, this is no loss as every module is a semisimple
module and so a direct sum of simple modules. Ordinary character theory provides better
arithmetic control, and uses simple CG modules to understand the structure of finite
groups G. Modular representation theory uses Brauer characters to view modules as formal
sums of simple modules, but is also interested in how those simple modules are joined
together within composition series. This is formalized by studying the Ext functor and
describing the module category in various ways including quivers (whose nodes are the
simple modules and whose edges are composition series of non-semisimple modules of
length 2) and AuslanderReiten theory where the associated graph has a vertex for every
indecomposable module.

The Jacobson density theorem[edit]

Main article: Jacobson density theorem

An important advance in the theory of simple modules was the Jacobson density theorem.
The Jacobson density theorem states:
Let U be a simple right R-module and write D = EndR(U). Let A be any D-linear operator on U
and let X be a finite D-linearly independent subset of U. Then there exists an element r of R
such that xA = xr for all x in X.[2]
In particular, any primitive ring may be viewed as (that is, isomorphic to) a ring of Dlinear operators on some D-space.
A consequence of the Jacobson density theorem is Wedderburn's theorem; namely that
any right artinian simple ring is isomorphic to a full matrix ring of n by n matrices over
adivision ring for some n. This can also be established as a corollary of the Artin
Wedderburn theorem.

See also[edit]

Semisimple modules are modules that can be written as a sum of simple

submodules
Irreducible ideal
Irreducible representation

References[edit]
1. Jump up^ Herstein, Non-commutative Ring Theory, Lemma 1.1.3
2. Jump up^ Isaacs, Theorem 13.14, p. 185