Alphabeta Math
TheoremStatement: Literature-sourcedProof: AI-adaptedprecheck passaudited 2026-08-13
How statement and proof provenance work

The first chip identifies the source of the statement or construction; the second identifies the source of its local proof or verification.

  • Literature-sourced: the exact statement appears in a cited source; only wording and notation differ.
  • AI-adapted: a semantically identical restatement of literature-sourced material, modulo indexing, notation, and boundary cases adopted by the library.
  • AI-generated: a genuinely novel statement formulated by AI, with no source for the claim itself.

These labels describe origin, not correctness: citations and verification chips remain separate evidence.

Module categories have enough injectives

Statement

Assume the Axiom of Choice. For every unital ring R and every left R-module M, there is an injective left R-module I and a monomorphism M→I. Thus left R-modules have enough injectives.

For commutative R, one explicit functorial target is J(M)=(R(M∨))∨≅∏ϕ∈M∨R∨, where X∨=Hom⁡Z(X,Q/Z); the embedding is M→M∨∨→J(M). Here X∨ is a left R-module by (rϕ)(x)=ϕ(rx).

Facts & Assumptions

Given: A unital ring R and a left R-module M.

[L1]

Every abelian group embeds, without choice, in a divisible abelian group (Every abelian group embeds in a divisible abelian group).

[L2]

If D is an injective abelian group, then Hom⁡Z(R,D) is an injective left R-module (Coinduction sends injective abelian groups to injective modules).

[L3]

Under AC, products of injective modules are injective (Products of injective modules are injective, with the exact choice boundary).

[L4]

The free module on a set has its universal property and canonical basis (Universal property of the free module on a set).

[L5]

Under AC, divisible abelian groups are injective Z-modules (Over a PID, injective modules are exactly divisible modules).

[F1]

AC supplies choices for arbitrary nonempty families (The Axiom of Choice).

Proof

technique · constructive
1.1

Regard M as an abelian group. By [L1], choose an embedding j:M→D into a divisible abelian group D. Under AC, [L5] makes D injective as an abelian group.

L1L5F1choose
1.2

Now assume R commutative and put D0=Q/Z. This group is divisible, hence injective by [L5]. For every nonzero m∈M, define a nonzero map on the cyclic subgroup Zm by sending m to 1/n+Z when m has finite order n, or to 1/2+Z when m has infinite order; injectivity extends it to M. Therefore evaluation M→M∨∨ is injective.

L5construct
2.1

Define η:M→Hom⁡Z(R,D) by η(m)(r)=j(rm). It is R-linear for the coinduced action, and evaluation at 1 gives η(m)(1)=j(m), so η is injective.

step 1.1L2construct
2.2

Let ε:R(M∨)→M∨ be the canonical free cover given by [L4]. Precomposition with its surjection embeds M∨∨ into J(M)=(R(M∨))∨.

step 1.2L4construct
3.1

The target in step 2.1 is injective by [L2], proving enough injectives for arbitrary unital rings.

step 2.1L2
3.2

A homomorphism from a direct sum to D0 is the same as a family of homomorphisms from its summands, so J(M)≅∏ϕ∈M∨R∨. Each R∨ is injective by [L2], and the product is injective by [L3].

step 2.2L2L3L4
4.1

A module map M→N induces N∨→M∨, then a map between the canonical free modules, and dualizing reverses direction again; these maps commute with evaluation and the free covers, so M↦J(M) and the embeddings are functorial.

step 2.2step 3.2L4
5.1

Steps 1.1, 2.1, and 3.1 prove enough injectives over every unital ring. Steps 1.2, 2.2, 3.2, and 4.1 give the stated functorial commutative-ring construction. Full AC enters through injectivity of divisible groups and arbitrary products, not through the divisible-hull embedding itself.

step 1.1step 2.1step 3.1step 1.2step 2.2step 3.2step 4.1discharge-construct∎

Depends on

Used by

Dependency tree · two levels

18 results within two dependency steps of this one, each drawn at its shortest distance from it. An arrow runs from a result to what uses it, so the chart reads left to right and ends at this result, which carries a heavier outline. Every node is a link to that result. Click elsewhere on the chart to enlarge it.

Sources