Almost free modules and Mittag-Leffler conditions

• Published in: Advances in mathematics (New York. 1965) Vol. 229; no. 6; pp. 3436 - 3467
• Main Authors: Herbera, Dolors, Trlifaj, Jan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Inc 01.04.2012
• Subjects: [formula omitted]-Projective module; Deconstructible class; Kaplansky class; Mittag-Leffler module; Model category structure; Quasi-coherent sheaf; 18F20; Deconstructible class; Kaplansky class; Quasi-coherent sheaf; 16E30; Mittag-Leffler module; 14F05; Model category structure; 16D40; 03E75; ℵ1-Projective module
• ISSN: 0001-8708; 1090-2082
• DOI: 10.1016/j.aim.2012.02.013

Drinfeld recently suggested to replace projective modules by the flat Mittag-Leffler ones in the definition of an infinite dimensional vector bundle on a scheme X (Drinfeld, 2006 [8]). Two questions arise: (1) What is the structure of the class D of all flat Mittag-Leffler modules over a general ring? (2) Can flat Mittag-Leffler modules be used to build a Quillen model category structure on the category of all chain complexes of quasi-coherent sheaves on X? We answer (1) by showing that a module M is flat Mittag-Leffler, if and only if M is ℵ1-projective in the sense of Eklof and Mekler (2002) [10]. We use this to characterize the rings such that D is closed under products, and relate the classes of all Mittag-Leffler, strict Mittag-Leffler, and separable modules. Then we prove that the class D is not deconstructible for any non-right perfect ring. So unlike the classes of all projective and flat modules, the class D does not admit the homotopy theory tools developed recently by Hovey (2002) [26]. This gives a negative answer to (2).