On the Splitting of Modules and Abelian Groups

In a fundamental paper on torsion-free abelian groups, R. Baer [1] proved that the group P of all sequences of integers with respect to componentwise addition is not free. This means precisely that P is not a direct sum of infinite cyclic groups. However, E. Specker proved in [9] that P has the property that any countable subgroup is free. Since an infinite abelian group G is called -free if each subgroup of rank less than is free, these results are equivalent to: P is -free but not free.