On products of \(k\) atoms. II. (Q2629262)

Let \(H\) be a Krull monoid, let \(G\) be the associated class-group and assume that \(G\) is finite and every class contains a prime divisor. For a given \(k\) let \(\rho_k(H)\) be the maximal integer \(m\) with the following property: there exist atoms \(a_1,\dots,a_k,b_1,\dots,b_m\) with \(a_1a_2\cdots a_k = b_1b_2\cdots b_m\). It is not difficult to observe that one has \(\rho_{2k}(H)=kD(G)\), where \(D(G)\) is the Davenport constant of \(G\), and \[ 1+kD(G)\leq \rho_{2k+1}(H) \leq kD(G) + \left[{D(G)\over2}\right].\eqno(1) \] The authors conjecture that for sufficiently large \(k\) the second inequality in (1) becomes equality. In Theorem 1 it is shown that if \(G=\bigoplus_{j=1}^rC_{n_j}^{s_j}\) with cyclic groups \(C_{n_j}\), \(n_1, n_2,\dots, n_s\) and \(s_j\geq2\), then \[ \rho_{2k+1}(H)\geq D^*(H) +\left[{D^*(G)\over2}\right]+(k-1)D(G), \] where \[ D^*(G)=1 +\sum_{j=1}^r(n_j-1). \] This establishes the authors conjecture in the case when all exponents \(s_j\) are larger than \(1\) and \(D^*(G)=D(G)\) (it has been shown by \textit{J. E. Olson} [J. Number Theory 1, 8--10 (1969; Zbl 0169.02003); ibid. 1, 195--199 (1969; Zbl 0167.28004)] that the last equality holds for finite \(p\)-groups and direct sums of two cyclic groups). In Theorem 2, the authors deal with the case \(k=3\) and show that if \(G=C_m\oplus C_{mn}\) with \(n\geq 1\) and \(m\geq2\), then the equality \[ \rho_3(H) = D(G)+\left[{D(G)\over2}\right] \] holds if and only if either \(n=1\) or \(m=n=2\). For Part I, see [\textit{W. Gao} and the first author, Monatsh. Math. 156, No. 2, 141--157 (2009; Zbl 1184.20051)].