An implication basis for linear forms

The main results of this paper are a generalization of the results of S. Fajtlowicz and J. Mycielski on convex linear forms. We show that if V_n is the variety generated by all possible algebras , where R denotes the real numbers and , for some , then any basis for the set of all identities satisfied by V_n is infinite. But on the other hand, the identities satisfied by V_n are a consequence of gL and μ_n, where μ_n is the n-ary medial law and the inference rule gL is an implication patterned after the classical rigidity lemma of algebraic geometry. We also prove that the identities satisfied by are a consequence of gL and μ_n iff {p₁, ... , p_n} is algebraically independent. We then prove analagous results for algebras of arbitrary type τ and in the final section of this paper, we show that analagous results hold for Abelian group hyperidentities. This paper is dedicated to Walter Taylor. Received July 16, 2005; accepted in final form January 12, 2006. The research of both authors was supported by an operating grant ODP0008215 from NSERC.