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TheoremStatement: Literature-sourcedProof: AI-adaptedPipeline-generatedprecheck passverified 2026-09-09 (gpt-6-astra)
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The integers have global dimension one

Statement

Assume the Axiom of Choice. Both left and right global dimension of Z equal 1.

Facts & Assumptions

Given: An arbitrary abelian group A and an integer n>1, under Choice.

[L1]

The canonical free module on the underlying set of A surjects onto A by ea↦a, without Choice (Every module is a quotient of a free module).

[L2]

Under AC, subgroups of free abelian groups are free (Subgroups of free abelian groups are free) and free modules are projective (Free modules are projective, with the exact choice boundary). The hypothesis is The Axiom of Choice; the former theorem uses well-ordering and simultaneous coordinate lifts, and the latter uses choices of basis preimages.

[L3]

A projective module lifts every map through every surjection (Projective modules and the lifting property).

[L4]

Projective dimension is the least possible length of a projective resolution, and is zero exactly for projective objects (Projective dimension of an object). Left and right global dimensions are the separate suprema of these dimensions (Left and right global dimension of a ring).

Proof

technique · direct
1.1givenL1L2L4construct

Take the canonical surjection ε:Z(A)→A and put F=Z(A), K=ker⁡ε. The sequence 0→K→F→A→0 is exact. Under the stated AC hypothesis, [L2] makes K free and both K and F projective. Hence this is a projective resolution of length at most one, and pd⁡ZA≤1. No family of resolutions of all groups is selected: this construction applies separately to each A.

2.1givenstep 1.1L3L4algebra

The group Z/nZ is not projective. Otherwise its identity map would lift through the quotient surjection π:Z→Z/nZ to a homomorphism s with πs=id. But ns([1])=s(n[1])=s(0)=0, and an integer annihilated by the positive integer n is zero. Thus s([1])=0, contradicting πs([1])=[1]≠0 for n>1. Consequently [L4] and step 1.1 give pd⁡Z(Z/nZ)=1, while step 1.1 bounds every projective dimension by one. Therefore the left global dimension is exactly one.

3.1step 2.1L3L4algebra∎

Left and right Z-modules are both precisely abelian groups with the integer action given by repeated addition and additive inverses. Passing from ma to am=ma preserves the underlying homomorphisms, exact sequences, and lifting diagrams; thus it preserves projectivity and lengths of projective resolutions in both directions. Their two suprema are therefore equal, so the right global dimension is also one.

Remarks

The nonprojectivity argument for Z/nZ is choice-free. AC enters the upper bound through the two explicit suppliers in [L2]. No comparison of unbounded resolutions, Ext calculation, or implication from AC to DC is needed for this proof.

Depends on

Used by

Dependency tree · two levels

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Sources