The M3[D] construction and n-modularity

In 1968, Schmidt introduced the M ₃D] construction, an extension of the five-element modular nondistributive lattice M ₃ by a bounded distributive lattice D, defined as the lattice of all triples satisfying . The lattice M ₃D] is a modular congruence-preserving extension of D.? In this paper, we investigate this construction for an arbitrary lattice L. For every n > 0, we exhibit an identity such that is modularity and is properly weaker than . Let M _n denote the variety defined by , the variety of n-modular lattices. If L is n-modular, then M ₃L] is a lattice, in fact, a congruence-preserving extension of L; we also prove that, in this case, Id M ₃L] M ₃Id L]. ? We provide an example of a lattice L such that M ₃L] is not a lattice. This example also provides a negative solution to a problem of Quackenbush: Is the tensor product of two lattices A and B with zero always a lattice. We complement this result by generalizing the M ₃L] construction to an M ₄L] construction. This yields, in particular, a bounded modular lattice L such that M ₄ L is not a lattice, thus providing a negative solution to Quackenbush’s problem in the variety M of modular lattices.? Finally, we sharpen a result of Dilworth: Every finite distributive lattice can be represented as the congruence lattice of a finite 3-modular lattice. We do this by verifying that a construction of Gr?tzer, Lakser, and Schmidt yields a 3-modular lattice. Received May 26, 1998; accepted in final form October 7, 1998.