Generalized Irreducible Divisor Graphs

Abstract

In 1988, I. Beck introduced the notion of a zero-divisor graph of a commutative rings with $1$. There have been several generalizations in recent years. In particular, in 2007 J. Coykendall and J. Maney developed the irreducible divisor graph. Much work has been done on generalized factorization, especially $\tau$-factorization. The goal of this paper is to synthesize the notions of $\tau$-factorization and irreducible divisor graphs in domains. We will define a $\tau$-irreducible divisor graph for non-zero non-unit elements of a domain. We show that by studying $\tau$-irreducible divisor graphs, we find equivalent characterizations of several finite $\tau$-factorization properties.