On the k ‐HFD property in Dedekind domains with small class group

Abstract

Let D be an atomic integral domain (i.e., a domain in which each nonzero nonunit of D can be written as a product of irreducible elements) and k any positive integer. D is known as a half factorial domain (HFD) if for any irreducible elements α1, …, αn, β1, …, βm of D the equality α1… αn = β1… βm implies that n = m. In [5] the present authors define D to be a k-half factorial domain (k-HFD) if the equality above along with the fact that n or m ≤ k implies that n = m. In this paper we consider the k-HFD property in Dedekind domains with small class group and prove the following Theorem: if D is a Dedekind domain with class group of order less than 16 then D is k-HFD for some integer k > 1, if, and only if, D is HFD.