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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 02 March 2017
Let $K$ be a number field with ring of integers
$\mathbb{Z}_{K}$. We prove two asymptotic formulas connected with the distribution of irreducible elements in
$\mathbb{Z}_{K}$. First, we estimate the maximum number of nonassociated irreducibles dividing a nonzero element of
$\mathbb{Z}_{K}$ of norm not exceeding
$x$ (in absolute value), as
$x\rightarrow \infty$. Second, we count the number of irreducible elements of
$\mathbb{Z}_{K}$ of norm not exceeding
$x$ lying in a given arithmetic progression (again, as
$x\rightarrow \infty$). When
$K=\mathbb{Q}$, both results are classical; a new feature in the general case is the influence of combinatorial properties of the class group of
$K$.
Research of the first author is supported by NSF award DMS-1402268.