Matrix invertible extensions over commutative rings. Part II: determinant liftability

Abstract

A unimodular $2\times 2$ matrix $A$ with entries in a commutative ring $R$ is called weakly determinant liftable if there exists a matrix $B$ congruent to $A$ modulo $R\det(A)$ and $\det(B)=0$; if we can choose $B$ to be unimodular, then $A$ is called determinant liftable. If $A$ is extendable to an invertible $3\times 3$ matrix $A^+$, then $A$ is weakly determinant liftable. If $A$ is simple extendable (i.e., we can choose $A^+$ such that its $(3,3)$ entry is $0$), then $A$ is determinant liftable. We present necessary and/or sufficient criteria for $A$ to be (weakly) determinant liftable and we use them to show that if $R$ is a $\Pi_2$ ring in the sense of Part I (resp.\ is a pre-Schreier domain), then $A$ is simply extendable (resp.\ extendable) iff it is determinant liftable (resp.\ weakly determinant liftable). As an application we show that each $J_{2,1}$ domain (as defined by Lorenzini) is an elementary divisor domain.