  A differential module is a module equipped with a square-zero endomorphism.
This structure underpins complexes of modules over rings, as well as
differential graded modules over graded rings. We establish lower bounds on the
class--a substitute for the length of a free complex--and on the rank of a
differential module in terms of invariants of its homology. These results
specialize to basic theorems in commutative algebra and algebraic topology. One
instance is a common generalization of the equicharacteristic case of the New
Intersection Theorem of Hochster, Peskine, P. Roberts, and Szpiro, concerning
complexes over noetherian commutative rings, and of a theorem of G. Carlsson on
differential graded modules over graded polynomial rings.
