Topologically semiperfect topological rings

Abstract: We define topologically semiperfect (complete, separated, right linear) topological rings and characterize them by equivalent conditions. We show that the endomorphism ring of a module, endowed with the finite topology, is topologically semiperfect if and only if the module is decomposable as an (infinite) direct sum of modules with local endomorphism rings. Then we study structural properties of topologically semiperfect topological rings and prove that their topological Jacobson radicals are strongly closed and the related topological quotient rings are topologically semisimple. For the endomorphism ring of a direct sum of modules with local endomorphism rings, the topological Jacobson radical is described explicitly as the set of all matrices of nonisomorphisms. Furthermore, we prove that, over a topologically semiperfect topological ring, all finitely generated discrete modules have projective covers in the category of modules, while all lattice-finite contramodules have projective covers in both the categories of modules and contramodules. We also show that the topological Jacobson radical of a topologically semiperfect topological ring is equal to the closure of the abstract Jacobson radical, and present a counterexample demonstrating that the topological Jacobson radical can be strictly larger than the abstract one. Finally, we discuss the problem of lifting idempotents modulo the topological Jacobson radical and the structure of projective contramodules for topologically semiperfect topological rings.