This dissertation refines and extends the theory of mesoprimary decomposition, as introduced by Kahle and Miller. We begin with an overview of the existing theory of mesoprimary decomposition
in both the combinatorial setting of monoid congruences and the arithmetic setting of binomial ideals. We state all definitions and results that are relevant for subsequent chapters.
We classify redundant mesoprimary components in both the combinatorial and arithmetic settings. Kahle and Miller give a class of redundant components in each setting that are redundant in every mesoprimary decomposition. After identifying a further class of redundant components at the level of congruences, we give a condition on the associated monoid primes that guarantees the existence of unique irredundant mesoprimary decompositions in both settings.
We introduce soccular congruences as combinatorial approximations of irreducible binomial quotients and use the theory of mesoprimary decomposition to give a combinatorial method of constructing irreducible decompositions of binomial ideals. We also demonstrate a binomial ideal which does not admit a binomial irreducible decomposition, answering a long-standing problem of Eisenbud and Sturmfels.
We extend mesoprimary decomposition of monoid congruences to congruences on monoid modules. Much of the theory for monoid congruences extends to this new setting, including a characterization of mesoprimary monoid module congruences in terms of associated prime monoid congruences and a method for constructing coprincipal decompositions of monoid module congruences using key witnesses.
We conclude with a collection of open problems for future study.
