Bass numbers over local rings via stable cohomology

Abstract: For any non-zero finite module M of finite projective dimension over a noetherian local ring R with maximal ideal m and residue field k, it is proved that the natural map Ext_R(k,M)-->Ext_R(k,M/mM) is non-zero when R is regular and is zero otherwise. A noteworthy aspect of the proof is the use of stable cohomology. Applications include computations of Bass series over certain local rings.