There is a positive answer to this question now by Pham Hung Quy's post here and this paper, but let meone can also mention that the same thingask this question about other gradings. This is not true if the $\mathbb{Z}$-grading is changed to a $Q$-grading where $Q$ is an arbitrary commutative Noetherian monoid.answer, but a long comment:
- $\mathbb{N}^n$-graded are monomial ideals: It is well-known that monomial irreducible decomposition is irreducible decomposition.
- Ideals finely graded (Hilbert function takes only the value 1) by an affine semigroup (a finitely generated subsemigroup of $\mathbb{Z}^n$) are toric ideals. They are prime and irreducible.
- Ideals graded by some affine semigroup $A$ could be an interesting next goal. Since the grading is torsion free, there is an $A$-graded primary decomposition, but irreducible decomposition is not clear.
ByDescending further in the hierarchy of grading monoids, a resultcommutative Noetherian monoids is any quotient of Eisenbud$\mathbb{N}^n$ by a congruence. An ideal is graded by such a monoid if and Sturmfelsonly if it is a binomial ideal (Binomial ideals, PropositionProposition 1.11 in Binomial Ideals by Eisenbud and Sturmfels) and the theory of binomial ideals can be developed somewhat similarly to that of monomial ideals. However, an ideal graded by a fixed commutative Noetherian monoid $Q$ need not even have a primary decomposition into $Q$-graded ideals are exactly binomial ideals. There are binomial ideals that are reducible as ideals For example, but cannot be written as intersections of binomial ideals. My paper with Ezra Miller and Chris O'Neill gives$(x^2-xy, xy-y^2) = (x,y^2) \cap (x-y)$. The ideal on the first example: Inleft hand side is $k[x,y]$(finely) $Q$-graded for some monoid $Q$ in which $x$ and $y$ have different degrees, but they must have the idealsame degree in the unique minimal prime $(x^2y-xy^2, x^3, y^3)$ has two$(x-y)$.
Now one could ask if in general binomial ideals have binomial irreducible components (because its socledecompositions, that is two dimensional), and one of them must contain a non-binomial. See Example 6.1 and Theorem 6letting $Q$ vary in the decomposition.4 This was an open problem in Eisenbud/Sturmfels, but the linked paperanswer is negative by Section 6 in Irreducible decomposition of binomial ideals by Kahle, Miller, O'Neill.