Morita theory in abelian, derived and stable model categories

Abstract

This is a survey paper, based on lectures given at the Workshop on "Structured ring spectra and their applications" which took place January 21-25, 2002, at the University of Glasgow. The term `Morita theory' is usually used for results concerning equivalences of various kinds of module categories. We focus on the covariant form of Morita theory, so the basic question is: When do two `rings' have `equivalent' module categories ? We discuss this question in different contexts and illustrate it by examples: (Classical) When are the module categories of two rings equivalent as categories ? (Derived) When are the derived categories of two rings equivalent as triangulated categories ? (Homotopical) When are the module categories of two ring spectra Quillen equivalent as model categories ? There is always a related question, which is in a sense more general: What characterizes the category of modules over a `ring' ? The answer is, mutatis mutandis, always the same: modules over a `ring' are characterized by the existence of a `small generator', which plays the role of the free module of rank one. The precise meaning of `small generator' depends on the context, be it an abelian category, a derived category or a stable model category.