Permanent Semigroups

A permanent semigroup is a semigroup of n × n matrices on which the permanent function is multiplicative. If the underlying ring is an infinite integral domain with characteristic p > n or characteristic 0 we prove that any permanent semigroup consists of matrices with at most one nonzero diagonal. The same result holds if the ring is a finite field with characteristic p > n and at least n²+n elements. We also consider the Kronecker product of permanent semigroups and show that the Kronecker product of permanent semigroups is a permanent semigroup if and only if the pennanental analogue of the formula for the determinant of a Kronecker product of two matrices holds. This latter result holds even when the matrix entries are from a commutative ring with unity.     

Semigroups generated by a group and an idempotent

It is well known that the semigroup of all transformations on a finite set X of order n is generated by its group of units, the symmetric group, and any idempotent of rank n ? 1. Similarly, the symmetric inverse semigroup on X is generated by its group of units and any idempotent of rank n ? 1 while the analogous result is true for the semigroup of all n × n matrices over a field.

In this paper we begin a systematic study of the structure of a semigroup S generated by its group G of units and an idempotent ? . The first section consists of preliminaries while the second contains some general results which provide the setting for those which follow.

In the third section we shall investigate the situation where G is a permutation group on a set X of order n and ? is an idempotent of rank n ? 1. In particular, we shall show that any such semigroup S is regular. Furthermore we shall determine when S is an inverse or orthodox semigroup or completely regular semigroup.

The fourth section deals with a special case, that in which G is cyclic. The fifth, and last, deals with the situation where G is dihedral. In both cases, the resulting semigroup has a particularly delicate structure which is of interest in its own right. Both situations are replete with interesting combinatorial gems.

The author was led to the results of this paper by considering the output of a computer program he was writing for generating and analyzing semigroups.     

Amenability constants for semilattice algebras

For any finite commutative idempotent semigroup S, a semilattice, we show how to compute the amenability constant of its semigroup algebra ℓ ¹(S). This amenability constant is always of the form 4n+1. We then show that these give lower bounds to amenability constants of certain Banach algebras graded over semilattices. We also give example of a commutative Clifford semigroups G _n whose semigroup algebras ℓ ¹(G _n ) admit amenability constants of the form 41+4(n−1)/n. We also show there is no commutative semigroup whose semigroup algebra has an amenability constant between 5 and 9. N. Spronk’s research was supported by NSERC Grant 312515-05.     

Finite degree: algebras in general and semigroups in particular

An algebra A has finite degree if its term functions are determined by some finite set of finitary relations on A. We study this concept for finite algebras in general and for finite semigroups in particular. For example, we show that every finite nilpotent semigroup has finite degree (more generally, every finite algebra with bounded p _n -sequence), and every finite commutative semigroup has finite degree. We give an example of a five-element unary semigroup that has infinite degree. We also give examples to show that finite degree is not preserved in general under taking subalgebras, homomorphic images, direct products or subdirect factors.     

Orders in Strict Regular Semigroups

 A subsemigroup S of a semigroup Q is an order in Q if for every there exist such that , where a and d are contained in (maximal) subgroups of Q, and and are their inverses in these subgroups. A regular semigroup S is strict if it is a subdirect product of completely (0-)simple semigroups. We construct all orders and involutions in Auinger’s model of a strict regular semigroup. This is used to find necessary and sufficient conditions on an involution on an order S in a strict regular semigroup Q for extendibility to an involution on Q.     

*-orderable semigroups

Fix a *-orderable field k. We introduce the class of *-orderable semigroups as those semigroups with involution S for which the semigroup algebra kS endowed with the canonical involution admits a *-ordering. It is shown that this class is a quasivariety that is locally and residually closed. A cancellative nilpotent semigroup with involution is proved to be *-orderable if and only if it has unique extraction of roots. In general this equivalence fails, although every *-orderable semigroup has unique extraction of roots.     

Power semigroups of finite groups and the INFB property

We show that for any finite group, the involution semigroup consisting of all of its subsets is not inherently nonfinitely based.     

Orders in Strict Regular Semigroups

 A subsemigroup S of a semigroup Q is an order in Q if for every there exist such that , where a and d are contained in (maximal) subgroups of Q, and and are their inverses in these subgroups. A regular semigroup S is strict if it is a subdirect product of completely (0-)simple semigroups. We construct all orders and involutions in Auinger’s model of a strict regular semigroup. This is used to find necessary and sufficient conditions on an involution on an order S in a strict regular semigroup Q for extendibility to an involution on Q. (Received 27 April 1999; in revised form 20 October 1999)     

On a class of completely join prime <Emphasis Type="Italic">J</Emphasis>-trivial semigroups with unique involution

A finite algebra is completely join prime if whenever it belongs to the complete join of some collection of pseudovarieties, then it belongs to one of the pseudovarieties. An infinite class of completely join prime J-trivial semigroups with unique involution is introduced to demonstrate the incompatibility between the lattice of pseudovarieties of involution semigroups and the lattice of pseudovarieties of semigroups. Examples are also exhibited to show that a finite involution semigroup and its semigroup reduct need not be simultaneously completely join prime.     

Varieties generated by unstable involution semigroups with continuum many subvarieties

Over the years, several finite semigroups have been found to generate varieties with continuum many subvarieties. However, finite involution semigroups that generate varieties with continuum many subvarieties seem much rarer; in fact, only one example—an inverse semigroup of order 165—has so far been published. Nevertheless, it is shown in the present article that there are many smaller examples among involution semigroups that are unstable in the sense that the varieties they generate contain some involution semilattice with nontrivial unary operation. The most prominent examples are the unstable finite involution semigroups that are inherently non-finitely based, the smallest ones of which are of order six. It follows that the join of two finitely generated varieties of involution semigroups with finitely many subvarieties can contain continuum many subvarieties.     

On disjunctions of algebraic sets in completely simple semigroups

A semigroup S is called an equational domain if any finite union of algebraic sets over S is algebraic. We give some necessary and su?cient conditions for a completely simple semigroup to be an equational domain.     

Finite groups are big as semigroups

We prove that a finite group G occurs as a maximal proper subsemigroup of an infinite semigroup (in the terminology of Freese, Ježek, and Nation, G is a big semigroup) if and only if |G| ≥ 3. In fact, any finite semigroup whose minimal ideal contains a subgroup with at least three elements is big.     

On subsemigroups of βℕ and absolute coretracts

A semigroup S is called an absolute coretract if for any continuous homomorphism f from a compact Hausdorff right topological semigroup T onto a compact Hausdorff right topological semigroup containing S algebraically there exists a homomorphism g \colon S→ T such that f\circ g=id _S . The semigroup β\ben contains isomorphic copies of any countable absolute coretract. In this article we define a class C of semigroups of idempotents each of which is a decreasing chain of rectangular semigroups. It is proved that every semigroup from C is an absolute coretract and every finite semigroup of idempotents, which is an absolute coretract, belongs to C . July 25, 2000     

On identities of finite involution semigroups

We investigate the question of whether a finite involution semigroup is inherently nonfinitely based (INFB), which means that it is not contained in any finitely based locally finite variety. Although we fall short of a full characterization, we nevertheless clarify a number of interesting subcases.     

Small inherently nonfinitely based finite semigroups

We show how to construct all ``forbidden divisors' for the pseudovariety of not inherently nonfinitely based finite semigroups. Several other results concerning finite semigroups that generate an inherently nonfinitely based variety that is miminal amongst those generated by finite semigroups are obtained along the way. For example, aside from the variety generated by the well known six element Brandt monoid \tb , a variety of this type is necessarily generated by a semigroup with at least 56 elements (all such semigroups with 56 elements are described by the main result). September 23, 1999     

On uniformly repetitive semigroups

Letk be an integer greater than 1 andS be a finitely generated semigroup. The following propositions are equivalent: 1) the semigroup of non negative integers is not uniformlyk-repetitive; 2) any finitely generated and uniformlyk-repetitive semigroup is finite. As a consequence we prove that any finitely generated and uniformly 4-repetitive semigroup is finite.     

Comparing Semigroup and Monoid Presentations for Finite Monoids

 It is known that for any finite group G given by a finite group presentation there exists a finite semigroup presentation for G of the same deficiency, i.e. satisfying . It is also known that the analogous statement does not hold for all finite monoids. In this paper we give a necessary and sufficient condition for a finite monoid M, given by a finite monoid presentation, to have a finite semigroup presentation of the same deficiency.     

Structure of a finite commutative inverse semigroup and a finite bundle for which the inverse monoid of local automorphisms is permutable

For a semigroup S, the set of all isomorphisms between the subsemigroups of the semigroup S with respect to composition is an inverse monoid denoted by PA(S) and called the monoid of local automorphisms of the semigroup S. The semigroup S is called permutable if, for any couple of congruences ρ and σ on S, we have ρ ∘ σ = σ ∘ ρ. We describe the structures of a finite commutative inverse semigroup and a finite bundle whose monoids of local automorphisms are permutable.     

On a conjecture of brown

LetS=B(k,n,n+1) be the free semigroup onk generators on the Burnside variety defined by the equationx ⁿ=x ⁿ⁺¹. We prove that for each idempotente=e ² the setS _e={sεS/s ⁿ=e} is finite. In the casen=2, S _e is a finite semigroup. This gives an answer to a conjecture of Brown. Partially supported by the Italian Ministry of Universities and Scientific Research and by Exprit-EBRA project ASMICS, contract 3166.     

A classification of maximal idempotent-generated subsemigroups of finite orientation-preserving singular partial transformation semigroups

In this paper we describe the maximal idempotent-generated subsemigroups of the finite orientation-preserving singular partial transformation semigroup SPOP _n and obtain their complete classification. We also obtain a classification of the maximal idempotent-generated subsemigroups of the finite order-preserving singular partial transformation semigroup PO^k_n\mathit{PO}^{k}_{n} with respect to ≤ _k .