Catenary modules (Q1977438)

Let \(A\) be a commutative ring with 1. \(A\) is called catenary if for every prime ideals \(p\subset p'\), there exists a saturated chain of prime ideals (i.e., a chain which cannot be refined with prime ideals) starting from \(p\) and ending at \(p'\), and each such chain has the same finite length. A proper submodule \(K\) of the right \(A\)-module \(M\) is called prime if \(am\in K\) implies \(m\in K\) or \(aM\subseteq K\), see \textit{C.-P. Lu} [Comment. Math. Univ. St. Pauli 33, 61-69 (1984; Zbl 0575.13005), Commun. Algebra 23, 3741-3752 (1995; Zbl 0853.13011)]. This notion was examined by many authors, for instance, the principal ideal theorem was generalized to modules by \textit{S. M. George, R. L. McCasland}, and \textit{P.F. Smith} [Commun. Algebra 22, 2083-2099 (1994; Zbl 0795.13001)]. The authors first study the heights of some prime submodules. They extend the concept of catenary rings naturally to modules, and show that \(A^n\) is a catenary \(A\)-module for a principal ideal domain (PID) \(A\), hence a finitely generated module over a PID is catenary. Being catenary turns out to be a local property. It is shown that, for a one-dimensional Noetherian domain \(A\), \(A\) is Dedekind if and only if every finitely generated torsion free \(A\)-module is catenary.