The Realization Problem for Delta Sets of Numerical Semigroups

Abstract

The delta set of a numerical semigroup $S$, denoted $\Delta(S)$, is a factorization invariant that measures the complexity of the sets of lengths of elements in $S$. We study the following problem: Which finite sets occur as the delta set of a numerical semigroup $S$? It is known that $\min \Delta(S) = \gcd \Delta(S)$ is a necessary condition. For any two-element set $\{d,td\}$ we produce a semigroup $S$ with this delta set. We then show that for $t\ge 2$, the set $\{d,td\}$ occurs as the delta set of some numerical semigroup of embedding dimension three if and only if $t=2$.