On Finite Saturated Chains of Overrings

If a domain R, with quotient field K, has a finite saturated chain of overrings from R to K, then the integral closure of R is a Prüfer domain. An integrally closed domain R with quotient field K has a finite saturated chain of overrings from R to K with length m ≥ 1 iff R is a Prüfer domain and |Spec(R)| =m + 1. In particular, we prove that a domain R has a finite saturated chain of overrings from R to K with length dim(R) iff R is a valuation domain and that an integrally closed domain R has a finite saturated chain of overrings from R to K with length dim (R) +1 iff R is a Prüfer domain with exactly two maximal ideals such that at most one of them fails to contain every non-maximal prime. The relationship with maximal non-valuation subrings is also established.