Krull-Schmidt Theorem for small profinite groups

Abstract

We prove that every small profinite group can be decomposed into a direct product of indecomposable profinite groups, and that such a decomposition is unique up to order and isomorphisms of the components. We also investigate the cancellation property of some free pro-$\mathcal{C}$ groups, and give a new criterion for a profinite group to be small.