Contramodules over pro-perfect topological rings

Abstract: For four wide classes of topological rings $\mathfrak R$, we show that all flat left $\mathfrak R$-contramodules have projective covers if and only if all flat left $\mathfrak R$-contramodules are projective if and only if all left $\mathfrak R$-contramodules have projective covers if and only if all descending chains of cyclic discrete right $\mathfrak R$-modules terminate if and only if all the discrete quotient rings of $\mathfrak R$ are left perfect. Three classes of topological rings for which this holds are the complete, separated topological associative rings with a base of neighborhoods of zero formed by open two-sided ideals such that either the ring is commutative, or it has a countable base of neighborhoods of zero, or it has only a finite number of semisimple discrete quotient rings. The fourth class consists of all the topological rings with a base of neighborhoods of zero formed by open right ideals which have a closed two-sided ideal with certain properties such that the quotient ring is a topological product of rings from the previous three classes. The key technique on which the proofs are based is the contramodule Nakayama lemma for topologically T-nilpotent ideals.