A groupoid approach to discrete inverse semigroup algebras

Let K be a commutative ring with unit and S an inverse semigroup. We show that the semigroup algebra KS can be described as a convolution algebra of functions on the universal étale groupoid associated to S by Paterson. This result is a simultaneous generalization of the author's earlier work on finite inverse semigroups and Paterson's theorem for the universal C^∗-algebra. It provides a convenient topological framework for understanding the structure of KS, including the center and when it has a unit. In this theory, the role of Gelfand duality is replaced by Stone duality.Using this approach we construct the finite dimensional irreducible representations of an inverse semigroup over an arbitrary field as induced representations from associated groups, generalizing the case of an inverse semigroup with finitely many idempotents. More generally, we describe the irreducible representations of an inverse semigroup S that can be induced from associated groups as precisely those satisfying a certain “finiteness condition.” This “finiteness condition” is satisfied, for instance, by all representations of an inverse semigroup whose image contains a primitive idempotent.