Categorical Colimits
In general, arbitrary direct sums and direct limits of flat modules are flat, a consequence of the fact that the tensor product commutes with direct sums and direct limits (in fact with all colimits), and that both direct sums and direct limits are exact functors. Submodules and factor modules of flat modules need not be flat in general. However we have the following result: the homomorphic image of a flat module M is flat if and only if the kernel is a pure submodule of M.
Daniel Lazard proved in 1969 that a module M is flat if and only if it is a direct limit of finitely-generated free modules. As a consequence, one can deduce that every finitely-presented flat module is projective.
An abelian group is flat (viewed as a Z-module) if and only if it is torsion-free.
Read more about this topic: Flat Module
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