Length-factoriality in commutative monoids and integral domains

Abstract An atomic monoid M is called a length-factorial monoid (or an other-half-factorial monoid) if for each non-invertible element x ∈ M no two distinct factorizations of x have the same length. The notion of length-factoriality was introduced by Coykendall and Smith in 2011 as a dual of the well-studied notion of half-factoriality. They proved that in the setting of integral domains, length-factoriality can be taken as an alternative definition of a unique factorization domain. However, being a length-factorial monoid is in general weaker than being a factorial monoid (i.e., a unique factorization monoid). Here we further investigate length-factoriality. First, we offer two characterizations of a length-factorial monoid M, and we use such characterizations to describe the set of Betti elements and obtain a formula for the catenary degree of M. Then we study the connection between length-factoriality and purely long (resp., purely short) irreducibles, which are irreducible elements that appear in the longer (resp., shorter) part of any unbalanced factorization relation. Finally, we prove that an integral domain cannot contain purely short and a purely long irreducibles simultaneously, and we construct a Dedekind domain containing purely long (resp., purely short) irreducibles but not purely short (resp., purely long) irreducibles.