Universal co-Extensions of torsion abelian groups

Abstract

In [16], a theory of universal extensions in abelian categories is developed; in particular, the notion of Ext-universal object is presented. In the present paper, we show that an Ab3 abelian category which is Ext-small satisfies the Ab4 condition if, and only if, each one of its objects is Ext-universal. We also give a characterization of the co-Ext-universal objects of the category of torsion abelian groups. In particular, we show that such groups are the ones admitting a decomposition $Q\oplus R$, in which $Q$ is injective and $R$ is a reduced group on which each $p$-component is bounded.