The associativity equation revisited

Summary Consideration of the Associativity Equation,x (y z) = (x y) z, in the case where:I × I I (I a real interval) is continuous and satisfies a cancellation property on both sides, provides a complete characterization of real continuous cancellation semigroups, namely that they are topologically order-isomorphic to addition on some real interval: ( – ,b), ( – ,b], –, +), (a, + ), or [a, + ) — whereb = 0 or –1 anda = 0 or 1. The original proof, however, involves some awkward handling of cases and has defied streamlining for some time. A new proof is given following a simpler approach, devised by Páles and fine-tuned by Craigen.