On finite molecularization domains (Q2236786)

In this article, the authors investigate what is called a Finite Molecularization Domain (FMD) which is roughly the ideal theoretic analogue of what has been called a finite factorization domain (FFD). The rings considered are always commutative and with unity. The authors use a new set of terminology to avoid confusion with other previously established terms in the literature. Molecules are what have been referred to as nonfactorable ideals (roughly the ideal analogue of an atom) traditionally. Thus, a molecular domain is what has been called a factorable domain, which is a ring \(R\) with the property that every nonzero proper ideal of R is a product of nonfactorable ideals of \(R\). A finite molecularization domain, or FMD, is a molecular domain \(R\) with the property that every nonzero proper ideal of \(R\) has only a finite number of molecularizations -- that is, every nonzero proper ideal of \(R\) has only a finite number of factorizations as a product of molecules. With this language established, the authors begin demonstrating several properties of molecules with the focus towards FMDs. They draw comparisons with the roughly analogous notions of atoms and thus finite factorization domains to see which theorems translate from the element level to the ideal level factorizations. There are several theorems developing a number of connections, particularly at the local level, amongst the concepts of ``FMD'', ``FFD'', and the ``finite superideal domains'' (FSD's) of Hetzel and Lawson. After proving several results about their new rings, they move towards investigating several classic rings of importance for factorization properties. Among many other results, characterizations of when \(k[X^2 , X^3]\), where \(k\) is a field, and the classical \(D + M\) construction are FMD's are provided. They also demonstrate that if \(R\) is a Dedekind domain with the finite norm property, then \(R[X]\) is an FMD. The authors mention contemporary work done independently which generalizes some of the results in this article can be found in: [\textit{D. D. Anderson} et al., J. Algebra Appl. 17, No. 8, Article ID 1850156, 59 p. (2018; Zbl 1401.13006); Commun. Algebra 47, No. 4, 1742--1772 (2019; Zbl 1431.13003)].