A characterization of congruence permutable locally finite varieties

A variety of universal algebras is said to be congruence permutable if for every algebra A of and every pair of congruences α, β from A we have αβ = βα. We show that if is locally finite (i.e., every finitely generated member of is finite) then congruence permutability is equivalent to a local property of the finite members of , expressible in the language of tame congruence theory. This answers a question of R. McKenzie and D. Hobby.     

Many-sorted algebras in congruence modular varieties

We present several basic results on many-sorted algebras, most of them only valid in congruence modular varieties. We describe a connection between the properties of many-sorted varieties and those of varieties of one sort and give some results on functional completeness, the commutator and Abelian algebras.Presented by H. P. Gumm.     

Finitary decidability implies congruence permutability for congruence modular varieties

We show that if a locally finite congruence modular varietyV is finitely decidable, thenV has to be congruence permutable.Presented by S. Burris.     

A characterization of locally finite varieties that satisfy a nontrivial congruence identity

We show that a locally finite variety satisfies a nontrivial congruence identity if and only if it satisfies an idempotent Mal'tsev condition that fails in the variety of semilattices. Received January 27, 1999; accepted in final form June 11, 1999.     

Finite equational bases for congruence modular varieties

In this paper it is proved that a variety generated by a finite algebraic system with finitely many operations is finitely axiomatizable, provided that the variety is congruence modular and residually small. This result is an extension to congruence modular varieties of a well known theorem for congruence distributive varieties, due to K. A. Baker. Also, under somewhat less restrictive hypotheses, (which are satisfied by finite groups and rings) it is proved that a finite algebraic system belongs to a finitely axiomatizable locally finite variety.Research supported by National Science Foundation Grant No. DMS-8302295.Presented by George Gratzer.     

Absolute retracts and essential extensions in congruence modular varieties

This paper studies absolute retracts in congruence modular varieties of universal algebras. It is shown that every absolute retract with finite dimensional congruence lattice is a product of subdirectly irreducible algebras. Further, every absolute retract in a residually small variety is the product of an abelian algebra and a centerless algebra.     

Almost all minimal idempotent varieties are congruence modular

We show that, up to term equivalence, the only minimal idempotent varieties that are not congruence modular are the variety of sets and the variety of semilattices. From this it follows that a minimal idempotent variety that is not congruence distributive is term equivalent to the variety of sets, the variety of semilattices, or a variety of affine modules over a simple ring. Received March 29, 1999; accepted in final form February 8, 2000.     

On tolerance lattices of algebras in congruence modular varieties

We prove that the tolerance lattice TolA of an algebra A from a congruence modular variety V is 0-1 modular and satisfies the general disjointness property. If V is congruence distributive, then the lattice Tol A is pseudocomplemented. If V admits a majority term, then Tol A is 0-modular. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Optimal Mal’tsev conditions for congruence modular varieties

For varieties, congruence modularity is equivalent to the tolerance intersection property, TIP in short. Based on TIP, it was proved in [5] that for an arbitrary lattice identity implying modularity (or at least congruence modularity) there exists a Mal’tsev condition such that the identity holds in congruence lattices of algebras of a variety if and only if the variety satisfies the corresponding Mal’tsev condition. However, the Mal’tsev condition constructed in [5] is not the simplest known one in general. Now we improve this result by constructing the best Mal’tsev condition and various related conditions. As an application, we give a particularly easy new proof of the result of Freese and Jónsson [11] stating that modular congruence varieties are Arguesian, and we strengthen this result by replacing “Arguesian” by “higher Arguesian” in the sense of Haiman [18]. We show that lattice terms for congruences of an arbitrary congruence modular variety can be computed in two steps: the first step mimics the use of congruence distributivity, while the second step corresponds to congruence permutability. Particular cases of this result were known; the present approach using TIP is even simpler than the proofs of the previous partial results.Dedicated to the memory of Ivan RivalReceived February 12, 2003; accepted in final form August 5, 2004.This revised version was published online in August 2005 with a corrected cover date.     

Positive universal classes in locally finite varieties

In some recent papers, the concept of a Q-independent sequence of finite lattices was utilized. We investigate this concept in universal algebras and apply it to positive universal classes in locally finite varieties, with emphasis on semilattices, lattices, and their expansions.     

Congruence meet-semidistributive locally finite varieties and a finite basis theorem

We provide several conditions that, among locally finite varieties, characterize congruence meet-semidistributivity and we use these conditions to give a new proof of a finite basis theorem published by Baker, McNulty, and Wang in 2004. This finite basis theorem extends Willard’s Finite Basis Theorem.     

On the relationship of AP,RS and CEP in congruence modular varieties

A condition is found on a congruence modular variety, guaranteeing that the implication AP & RSCEP holds. The condition is in terms of the commutator on congruence lattices. In particular, the implication holds for any congruence distributive variety whose free algebra on four generators is finite.Presented by Walter Taylor.     

Finite posets and topological spaces in locally finite varieties

We prove that if a finite connected poset admits an order-preserving Taylor operation, then all of its homotopy groups are trivial. We use this to give new characterisations of locally finite varieties omitting type 1 in terms of the posets (or equivalently, finite topological spaces) in the variety. Similar variants of other omitting-type theorems are presented. We give several examples of posets that admit various types of Taylor operations; in particular, we exhibit a topological space which is not an H-space but is compatible with a set of non-trivial identities, answering a question of W. Taylor.In Celebration of the Sixtieth Birthday of Ralph N. McKenzieReceived September 18, 2002; accepted in final form March 19, 2003.     

Embeddability and epimorphism relations in undecidable locally finite varieties

Some of the results obtained by A. Pinus for congruence distributive varieties are generalized to the case of congruence-nodular varieties. Most attention is paid to congruence-modular varieties containing a subdirectly indecomposable algebra with non-Abelian monolith. Supported by RFFR grant No. 93-011-1520. Translated fromAlgebra i Logika, Vol. 35, No. 1, pp. 79–87, January–February, 1996.     

A characterization of minimal locally finite varieties

In this paper we describe a one-variable Mal'cev-like condition satisfied by any locally finite minimal variety. We prove that a locally finite variety is minimal if and only if it satisfies this Mal'cev-like condition and it is generated by a strictly simple algebra which is nonabelian or has a trivial subalgebra. Our arguments show that the strictly simple generator of a minimal locally finite variety is unique, it is projective and it embeds into every member of the variety. We give a new proof of the structure theorem for strictly simple abelian algebras that generate minimal varieties.

     

Residually finite, congruence meet-semidistributive varieties of finite type have a finite residual bound

We show that a residually finite, congruence meet-semidistributive variety of finite type is residually for some finite . This solves Pixley's problem and a special case of the restricted Quackenbush problem.