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In abstract algebra, the direct sum is a construction which combines several modules into a new, larger module. The direct sum of modules is the smallest module which contains the given modules as submodules with no "unnecessary" constraints, making it an example of a coproduct. Contrast with the direct product, which is the dual notion.
A decomposition with local endomorphism rings [5] (cf. #Azumaya's theorem): a direct sum of modules whose endomorphism rings are local rings (a ring is local if for each element x, either x or 1 − x is a unit). Serial decomposition: a direct sum of uniserial modules (a module is uniserial if the lattice of submodules is a finite chain [6]).
An element in the direct product is an infinite sequence, such as (1,2,3,...) but in the direct sum, there is a requirement that all but finitely many coordinates be zero, so the sequence (1,2,3,...) would be an element of the direct product but not of the direct sum, while (1,2,0,0,0,...) would be an element of both.
Hence when n = 1, R is an R-module, where the scalar multiplication is just ring multiplication. The case n = 0 yields the trivial R-module {0} consisting only of its identity element. Modules of this type are called free and if R has invariant basis number (e.g. any commutative ring or field) the number n is then the rank of the free module.
Examples: A graded vector space is an example of a graded module over a field (with the field having trivial grading). A graded ring is a graded module over itself. An ideal in a graded ring is homogeneous if and only if it is a graded submodule. The annihilator of a graded module is a homogeneous ideal.
An R-module M is semi-simple if every R-submodule of M is an R-module direct summand of M (the trivial module 0 is semi-simple, but not simple). For an R -module M , M is semi-simple if and only if it is the direct sum of simple modules (the trivial module is the empty direct sum).
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For example, the coproduct in the category of groups, called the free product, is quite complicated. On the other hand, in the category of abelian groups (and equally for vector spaces), the coproduct, called the direct sum, consists of the elements of the direct product which have only finitely many nonzero terms. (It therefore coincides ...