Let $H$ be a Krull monoid with finite class group where every class contains some prime divisor. It is known that every set of lengths is an almost arithmetical multiprogression. We investigate which integers occur as differences of these progressions. In particular, we obtain upper bounds for the size of these differences. Then, we apply these results to show that, apart from one known exception, two elementary $p$-groups have the same system of sets of lengths if and only if they are isomorphic.

In a recent paper (Diversity in Monoids, Czech. Math. J. 62 (2012), 795–809), the last two authors introduced and developed the monoid invariant “diversity” and related properties “homogeneity” and “strong homogeneity”. We investigate these properties within the context of inside factorial monoids, in which the diversity of an element counts the number of its different almost primary components. Inside factorial monoids are characterized via diversity and strong homogeneity. A new invariant complementary...

Let $M$ be a (commutative cancellative) monoid. A nonunit element $q\in M$ is called almost primary if for all $a,b\in M$, $q\mid ab$ implies that there exists $k\in \mathbb{N}$ such that $q\mid a^k$ or $q\mid b^k$. We introduce a new monoid invariant, diversity, which generalizes this almost primary property. This invariant is developed and contextualized with other monoid invariants. It naturally leads to two additional properties (homogeneity and strong homogeneity) that measure how far an almost primary element is from being primary. Finally, as an application...