Generalized sets of lengths (Q1383966)

Let \(R\) be an integral domain in which each nonzero nonunit is a finite product of irreducible elements. In this paper, the authors study generalized sets of lengths, that is, the sets \({\mathcal V}_R(n)= \{m\mid x_1\dots x_n= y_1\dots y_m\) for irreducible elements \(x_i,y_j\in R\}\) for each positive integer \(n\). They study these sets in the context of a Dedekind domain \(R\) with finite class group \(\text{Cl}(R)=G\) in which each ideal class contains a prime ideal, and they give explicit calculations for several Dedekind domains with small class group (including the case where \(G\) has Davenport constant 5). In particular, they show that the sets \({\mathcal V}_R(n)\) are not completely determined by the Davenport constant of \(G\). These results are actually couched in the more general context of the block monoid of an abelian group \(G\), which specializes to the Dedekind domain case when \(G=\text{Cl}(R)\).