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Sándor Kovács
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EDITs: 1) edited to make it work for the general case of a short exact sequence 2) edited some steps following Torsten's comments below.

Let $0\rightarrow M'\rightarrow M\rightarrow M''\rightarrow0$ be exact with $M'$ and $M''$ of finite type. Assume $\{P_i\}$ is a directed collection of subobjects of $M$ such that $\lim P_i\to M$ is surjective.

Let $(M\to Q_i):={\rm coker} (P_i\to M)$ so one has short exact sequences: $$ 0\to P_i \to M \to Q_i \to 0. $$ Then $$ \lim P_i \to M \text{ is surjective} \quad \Leftrightarrow \quad \lim Q_i =0. $$ Now let $(K'_i\to M'):=\ker (M'\to M\to Q_i)$ and $(Q_i\to C'_i):={\rm coker } (M'\to M\to Q_i)$. By construction we have surjective maps: $$ M \to Q_i \to C_i $$ that composed with $M'\to M$ is the zero map. Hence we obtain a surjective map $\gamma_i : M''\to C'_i$. Repeat this argument for the surjective map $M \to \lim Q_i \to \lim C_i$ composed with $M'\to M$ and observe that the induced map $\gamma : M\to \lim C_i$ has to be the same as the limit map obtained from the $\gamma_i$. However, since $\lim Q_i =0$, it follows that $\gamma=0$ and hence $\lim \gamma_i=0$. Let $K_i'':=\ker\gamma_i$. Then it follows that $\lim K_i''\to M''$ is surjective and hence for some $j$, $K''_i\to M''$ is surjective for all $i\geq j$. However, that implies that $\gamma_i=0$ and hence $C_i=0$ for $i\geq j$.

This in turn implies that $M'\to Q_i$ is surjective for $i\geq j$. Since $\lim Q_i =0$, it then follows that $\lim K'_i\to M'$ is surjective and hence there exists a $j'\geq j$ such that $K'_i\to M'$ is surjective for all $i\geq j'$. It follows that (the surjective) $M'\to Q_i$ is the zero map. Therefore $Q_i=0$, and hence $P_i=M$ for $i\geq j'$

Sándor Kovács
  • 42.9k
  • 2
  • 109
  • 155