Indecomposable decompositions of torsion-free abelian groups (Q1647336)

All groups here are finite rank torsion-free abelian groups. If a group $G$ of rank $n$ can be written as $G=A_1\oplus \cdots \oplus A_t$ with $A_i$ indecomposable of rank $r_i$, then $n=\sum_{i=1}^t r_i$ and we say that $G$ has indecomposable decomposition and that $G$ realizes the partition $P=(r_1, \ldots, r_t)$. The paper investigates three types of problems (1) Characterize the families of partitions that can be realized by some group. (2) For a given family of partitions of $n$ that can be realized, determine which groups realize them. (3) For a given class of groups, find the families of partitions realized by groups in the class. Denote the class of block-rigid almost completely decomposable groups with cyclic regulator quotient as $\mathcal B$. For a collection $\mathcal P$ of partitions of $n$ let $r^{\mathcal P}$ be the largest entry of any partition in $\mathcal P$ and let $t^{\mathcal P}$ be the length of the longest partition in $\mathcal P$. We say that $\mathcal P$ satisfies the hook condition if $r^{\mathcal P} + t^{\mathcal P}\leq n+1$. This paper features the following results. \begin{itemize} \item[1.] Proposition 3.1(1) shows that if $G\in {\mathcal B}$ then the family $\mathcal P$ of partitions of $G$ satisfies the Hook Condition. \item[2.] A description of $\mathcal B$-groups is established in Lemma 5.12. \item[3.] Lemma 6.7 gives a description (of the type in the previously mentioned Lemma 5.12) for the direct sum of two $\mathcal B$-groups. \item[4.] Lemmas 4.2, 4.3, and 6.1 establish general obstructions to realization. \item[5.] Maximal sets of partitions of $n$ that satisfy the hook condition (denoted ${\mathcal S}(n,k)$) are described in Proposition 3.3. The few ${\mathcal S}(n,k)$ that can be realized by groups in $\mathcal B$ and the many ${\mathcal S}(n,k)$ that cannot be realized by groups in $\mathcal B$ are described in Theorem 7.2. \end{itemize}