Definable functors and Brown--Adams representability

Abstract: The question of when the derived category of a ring satisfies Brown--Adams representability is revisited via studying the transfer of pure homological dimension along definable functors: it is shown that, for any ring, the pure global dimension of the derived category is at least the pure global dimension of the ring; expanding results of Beligiannis and Keller-Christensen-Neeman. This result is obtained by constructing `change of category' isomorphisms of PExt groups across definable functors. The same isomorphisms illustrate circumstances when one can transfer the property of Brown--Adams representability. We demonstrate how these methods can be used to test whether certain derived category of quasi-coherent sheaves are a Brown category. We also make an investigation into the structure of derived categories of von Neumann regular rings, which are shown in many cases to control Brown--Adams representability; this includes a new proof of the telescope conjecture, and a new and short proof that a coherent ring satisfies Freyd's (strong) generating hypothesis if and only if it is von Neumann regular.