Clean matrices over commutative rings

Abstract

A matrix A ∈ M _n (R) is e-clean provided there exists an idempotent E ∈ M _n (R) such that A-E ∈ GL _n (R) and det E = e. We get a general criterion of e-cleanness for the matrix [[a ₁, a ₂,..., a _n +1]]. Under the n-stable range ondition, it is shown that [[a ₁, a ₂,..., a _n +1]] is 0-clean iff (a ₁, a ₂,..., a _n +1) = 1. As an application, we prove that the 0-cleanness and unit-regularity for such n × n matrix over a Dedekind domain coincide for all n ⩾ 3. The analogous for (s, 2) property is also obtained.