An abstract factorization theorem and some applications (Q2132471)

Given a (multiplicative) monoid \(H\), a non-unit \(a\in H\) is an atom if \(a\ne xy\) for all non-units \(x,y\in H\). Classical factorization theory investigates the decomposition of non-unit elements of \(H\) as products of atoms. Combining the language of monoids and the language of preorders (partial orders that need not be antisymmetric), the author proves an existence theorem for factorizations of \textit{certain} elements of a monoid \(H\) through the elements of a distinguished subset \(A\) of \(H\), which are in some sense minimal and not necessarily atoms. Namely, Theorem 3.10 states that the \(\preceq\)-non-units of a monoid \(H\) endowed with a preorder \(\preceq\) are product of \(\preceq\) irreducibles (i.e., \(\preceq\)-non-units that cannot be written as a product of two \(\preceq\)-non-units each of which is strictly \(\preceq\)-smaller than \(a\)) whenever \(\preceq\) is artinian (i.e., there is no strictly \(\preceq\)-decreasing, infinite sequence of elements of \(H\)), where \(u\in H\) is a \(\preceq\)-unit if \(u\preceq 1_H\preceq u\) and a \(\preceq\)-non-unit otherwise,. Because of its generality, Theorem 3.10 has a wide variety of applications both within and outside the classical theory of factorization. These applications include: a generalization to Dedekind-finite monoids of a theorem by Anderson and Valdes-Leon on ``irreducible factorizations'' over commutative monoids (Corollary 4.1) and of a well-known existence result on ``atomic factorizations'' over cancellative monoids already present in Cohn's work from the 1960s (Corollary 4.6); a monoid-theoretic proof (Corollary 4.14) that every \(R\)-module of finite uniform dimension over a possibly non-commutative ring \(R\) is a direct sum of finitely many indecomposable \(R\)-modules, obtained as a special case of a more general decomposition theorem for the objects of some categories with finite products (Corollary 4.13); a conceptually new proof of the folk result that every permutation of a finite set \(X\) is a functional composition of \(n\) or fewer transpositions, where \(n\) is the cardinality of \(X\). The present paper lays the foundation of an abstract setting in which to study rather general factorization problems.