Hermitian Morita Theory and Unitary Groups of Modules over Semisimple Artinian Rings

Abstract

This article investigates isomorphisms between certain subgroups of the projective unitary groups of hermitian modules over semisimple Artinian rings with anti-structures. These subgroups contain the commutator subgroups of the projective unitary groups. Specifically, the article provides conditions under which these isomorphisms are induced by and the underlying rings are connected by hermitian Morita equivalences (HMEs). This article introduces the hyperbolic length of a module as well as the concept of generalized hyperbolic modules over simple Artinian rings, and over semisimple Artinian rings with anti-structures. The article shows that the stated isomorphisms are induced by HMEs if all the following conditions hold: (a) the hermitian forms are nonsingular and trace valued; (b) the modules in question are generalized hyperbolic; (c) the hyperbolic length equals three or is greater than or equal to five (hyperbolic length is greater than or equal to five in the semisimple case). Significantly, the condition of the hyperbolic length of a module greater than or equal to m is satisfied by a set of modules larger than or equal to those satisfying the condition of the Witt index of the module greater than or equal to m.