Definition. module [jadczyk2019notes, Definition 1.3, p. 3] [ca-000X]

Let \(R\) be a commutative ring with identity \(1_R\). A module over \(R\), called an \(R\)-module, is a pair \((M, \bullet )\), satisfying:

  1. \(M\) is an abelian group under \(+\).
  2. \(\bullet : R \to M \to M\) is called scalar multiplication, acting on the left. For every \(a, b \in R\), \(x, y \in M\), we have
    1. \(a \bullet (x + y) = a \bullet x + a \bullet y\)
    2. \((a + b) \bullet x = a \bullet x + b \bullet x\)
    3. \(a \bullet (b \bullet x)=(a * b) \bullet x\)
    4. \(1_R \bullet x = x\)