Noetherian Rings in Which Every Ideal is a Product of Primary Ideals

Abstract

The classical rings of number theory, Dedekind domains, are characterized by the property that every ideal is a product of prime ideals. More generally, a commutative ring R with identity has the property that every ideal is a product of prime ideals if and only if R is a finite direct sum of Dedekind domains and special principal ideal rings. These rings, called general Z.P.I. rings, are also characterized by the property that every (prime) ideal is finitely generated and locally principal.