DERIVED FUNCTORS OF INVERSE LIMITS REVISITED

Abstract

We prove, correct and extend several results of an earlier paper of ours (using and recalling several of our later papers) about the derived functors of projective limit in abelian categories. In particular we prove that if C is an abelian category satisfying the Grothendieck axioms AB3 and AB4* and having a set of generators then the first derived functor of projective limit vanishes on so-called Mittag-Leffler sequences in C. The recent examples given by Deligne and Neeman show that the condition that the category has a set of generators is necessary. The condition AB4* is also necessary, and indeed we give for each integer $m \geq 1$ an example of a Grothendieck category C_m and a Mittag-Leffler sequence in C_m for which the derived functors of its projective limit vanish in all positive degrees except m. This leads to a systematic study of derived functors of infinite products in Grothendieck categories. Several explicit examples of the applications of these functors are also studied.