All Questions
113 questions
21
votes
1
answer
759
views
Extending $\Bbb N$ to a semiring with isomorphic additive and multiplicative structure
Seen $(\Bbb N,+,\cdot)$ as a semiring, is it possible to extend it to a semiring $(R,+,\cdot)$ so that the additive and multiplicative monoids become isomorphic? This means there is some monoid-...
- 13.6k
18
votes
1
answer
783
views
Are there any "simple" monoids with intermediate growth?
The discovery of the Grigorchuk group which has intermediate growth caused a number of other such groups to be found, but they are all fairly complicated, and as far as I know none of them are ...
- 1,947
17
votes
1
answer
550
views
Does every commutative variety of algebras have a cogenerator?
By a commutative variety $\mathcal{V}$ I mean a classical variety of algebras for some $(\Sigma,E)$, such that each pair of operations in $\Sigma$ commutes.
Equivalently (i) every interpretation of ...
- 1,291
15
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Exact sequence of monoids
What is the right definition of an exact sequence of monoid homomorphisms?
I can't seem to find a consistent in my searches; indeed Balmer (Remark 2.6,
http://www.math.ucla.edu/~balmer/Pubfile/...
- 3,009
15
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Automorphisms of $P(\Bbb N)$
I believe I've proved that the power semigroup of non-negative integers with addition has a trivial automorphism group. The proof is a bit long, completely elementary and rather unremarkable (as the ...
- 1,445
11
votes
3
answers
942
views
What is the smallest variety of algebras containing all fields?
A field is a ring whose nonzero elements form a commutative group under multiplication. A field is also a commutative inverse semigroup with respect to multiplication. The unique multiplicative ...
- 2,464
11
votes
1
answer
949
views
Magma "actions" (or alternatively, "What is the Yoneda lemma for magmas?")
Arguably the most import thing about groups, semigroups and more generally categories, is that they can act on sets (or even collections of sets in the case of a category). This is the basis for all ...
- 2,392
10
votes
5
answers
1k
views
On the notion of partial semigroup
A partial binary operation on a set $X$ is just a (partial) function $\varphi: X \times X \rightharpoonup X$ (I'm using \rightharpoonup for partial maps), and a partial magma is a pair $\mathbb M = (M,...
- 10.5k
10
votes
1
answer
274
views
A flatness result of Fiedorwicz for amalgamated free products of monoids in connection with classifying spaces of monoids
In Lemma 5.2(a) of Z. Fiedorowicz, Classifying Spaces of Topological Monoids and Categories American Journal of Mathematics Vol. 106, No. 2 (Apr., 1984), pp. 301-350 the author proves the following.
...
- 38.6k
10
votes
1
answer
243
views
Can a semigroup with zero be globally isomorphic to a semigroup without zero?
This is not a great question for sure and it may even be trivial for all I know, but a couple of years ago, when I still thought I'd be a mathematician, I spent quite a lot of time thinking about it ...
- 1,445
9
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Ternary associative multiplication
In this answer Brian M. Scott describes the following generalization of a binary associative multiplication to a ternary one: it is a function $$[\cdot,\cdot,\cdot] : G\times G \times G \to G$$ such ...
- 4,780
8
votes
2
answers
596
views
If a semigroup embeds into a group, then is it a subdirect product of groups?
The title has it all:
Q. If a semigroup $S$ embeds into a group, then is $S$ (isomorphic to) a subdirect product of groups?
If yes, then $S$ is a subdirect product of subdirectly irreducible groups,...
- 10.5k
8
votes
1
answer
322
views
Does every cancellative duo semigroup embed into a group?
Prompted by the comments to a recent answer by YCor to a related question (here), I'd like to ask the following:
Q. Does every cancellative duo semigroup embed into a group?
A (multiplicatively ...
- 10.5k
8
votes
1
answer
437
views
Function $\phi$ such that $f(\phi(x,y)) = f(x) + f(y)$
I have a continuous function $f:\mathbb{R}^n\to\mathbb{R}$, and I am looking for a continuous (or at least measurable) function $\phi:\mathbb{R}^{2n}\to\mathbb{R}^n$ such that $f(\phi(x,y))=f(x)+f(y)$....
- 3,065
8
votes
1
answer
238
views
Functions over monoids which factor in two different ways
This is a follow-up question to this MO question, which was asked by Richard Stanley in a comment to my answer there.
Let $S$ be a commutative monoid and $f(x_1, \dots, x_n)$ be a function from $S^n$ ...
- 32.1k
8
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Sets of matrices which are irreducible but not strongly irreducible
A set of $d \times d$ real or complex matrices is commonly called irreducible if those matrices do not jointly preserve a linear subspace with dimension strictly between zero and $d$. A stronger ...
- 6,206
8
votes
0
answers
285
views
Matrix decompositions as monoid isomorphisms. Ever considered before?
I've noticed some correspondences between some matrix decompositions and monoid isomorphisms (always to some free commutative monoid), in addition to the one I asked about in a previous question:
...
- 4,943
7
votes
2
answers
488
views
Is every cancellative semigroup a subdirect product of subdirectly irreducible cancellative semigroups?
By a classical result of Birkhoff (that is, Theorem 2 in [G. Birkhoff, Subdirect unions in universal algebra, Bull. AMS, 1944]) and the trivial fact that the class of semigroups is closed under the ...
- 10.5k
7
votes
1
answer
271
views
Algebraic proof that the monoid ring of a torsion-free monoid is reduced
In what follows, I say that a monoid $M$ is torsion-free if the $n$-th power map is injective for all $n \geq 1$. I have a proof of the following result:
Claim: if $M$ is a torsion-free commutative ...
- 413
7
votes
1
answer
444
views
Which monoids have a faithful irreducible representation?
Let $*$ be a binary operation on a set $M$, with an identity element $e\in M$.
A monoid representation of $(M,*,e)$ is a map $\delta:M\to (S\to S)$ for some set $S$, such that $\delta(e)=\mathrm{id}_S$...
- 24.8k
7
votes
1
answer
350
views
Pushouts of injective monoid homomorphisms
Given a pushout square in the category of monoids
$$\begin{array}{ccc}A & \rightarrow & M \\ \downarrow && \downarrow \\ N & \rightarrow & P\end{array}$$such that $A \to M$ and ...
- 5,482
7
votes
1
answer
167
views
For which abelian groups $G$ does the monoid of zero-sum sequences over $G$ embed into a ring as a divisor-closed subsemigroup?
Let $K$ be a multiplicatively written semigroup (either commutative or not) and $H$ a subsemigroup of $K$. We say that $H$ is divisor-closed (in $K$) if $x \in H$ for all $x, y \in K$ such that $x \...
- 10.5k
7
votes
3
answers
525
views
Is the class of inverse semigroups globally determined?
This question is a follow-up to this one I asked on math.stackexchange. I've decided to ask here because I believe this is a research-level question. I'm sorry if I'm wrong -- I'm not a researcher ...
- 1,445
7
votes
0
answers
295
views
A minimal semigroup generating subset of the additive reals
I asked this on MSE, but I was told to ask it here because it is a difficult question. Consider the additive magma of the real numbers, $(\mathbb{R};+)$. Does there exist a subset $S$ of the reals ...
- 2,023
6
votes
2
answers
237
views
Realizing a monoid as $\mathrm{End}(G)$ for some graph $G$
This question relates to Realizing groups as automorphism groups of graphs.
Given a monoid $M$, is there a graph $G$ such that the endomorphism monoid $\textrm{End}(G)$ is isomorphic to $M$?
- 48.9k
6
votes
2
answers
416
views
For a monoid with zero $M$, how many additive operations on $M$ can there be making $M$ a ring?
Let $(M,\times)$ be a monoid with zero. Let $\Sigma(M,\times)$ be the set of binary operations $+$ on $M$ such that $(M,+,\times)$ is a ring. Let $\sim$ be an equivalence relation on $\Sigma(M,\times)$...
- 1,445
6
votes
2
answers
422
views
Monoids in which every prime is an atom
Let $H$ be a multiplicatively written monoid with identity $1_H$. We write $H^\times$ for the set of units (or invertible elements) of $H$. We say that an element $a \in H$ is an atom if $a \notin H^\...
- 10.5k
6
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Who coined "mob" and "clan" and why these words?
A mob is a word used for a topological semigroup which is a Hausdorff space. A clan is a compact connected mob with a two-sided identity element.
Who used these words with these meanings first and ...
- 1,445
6
votes
1
answer
903
views
Monoids and groups of fractions
Let $G$ be a group containing a monoid $M$ that spans $G$ as a group. Is it possible to have a proper quotient $\varphi \colon G \to Q$ of $G$ such that the restriction of $\varphi$ to $M$ is ...
- 2,050
6
votes
1
answer
185
views
A name for semigroups in which left and right principal ideals coincide
Is there any standard name for semigroups $S$ in which $xS=Sx$ for all $x\in S$?
Examples of such semigroups are commutative semigroups and Clifford inverse semigroups.
- 41.9k
6
votes
1
answer
135
views
Automorphisms of special egg-box diagrams
By a egg-box diagram I will simply mean a (possibly infinite) rectangular array of holes, with some of the holes containing an egg (denoted by a filled-in circle) and the rest of the holes are empty (...
- 18.7k
6
votes
0
answers
177
views
Is the monoid of all cancellative finitely generated commutative monoids cancellative?
$\DeclareMathOperator\Mon{Mon}\DeclareMathOperator\Grp{Grp}$Let $\Mon'$ be the set of isomorphism classes of (small) commutative, unital, cancellative ($a + t = b + t$ implies $a = b$) monoids. It is ...
- 1,084
5
votes
3
answers
851
views
What are some examples of non-commutative $\mathbb{Q}$-monoids and/or $\mathbb{R}$-monoids?
Definition 0. Let $R$ denote a commutative semiring with $0$ and $1$. By an $R$-monoid, I mean a monoid $M$ equipped with an action $R \times M \rightarrow M$ denoted $r,m \mapsto m^r$, satisfying the ...
- 3,793
5
votes
1
answer
243
views
Terminology for a monoid $H$ s.t. $xy \in H^\times$ only if $x, y \in H^\times$
The title has it all. Is there any consolidated terminology for referring to a (multiplicative) monoid $H$ such that $xy \in H^\times$ (if and) only if $x, y \in H^\times$? Here is a short list of ...
- 10.5k
5
votes
2
answers
754
views
Do all finitely generated nilpotent semigroups have polynomial growth?
The notion of nilpotency passes nicely from groups to semigroups. Define $q_1(x,y)=xy$ and $$q_{i+1}(x,y,z_1,\cdots,z_i)=q_i(x,y,z_1,\cdots,z_{i-1})z_iq_i(y,x,z_1,\cdots,z_{i-1})$$ inductively for all ...
- 1,437
5
votes
2
answers
537
views
If $k[S]$ is noetherian, is S finitely generated?
Let $S$ be a semigroup. If $S$ is abelian, then it follows that the semigroup algebra $k[S]$ is finitely generated if and only if $S$ is.
What if we relax the condition on $k[S]$, so that $k[S]$ is ...
- 11.6k
5
votes
3
answers
718
views
Subsets of $\mathbb{R}^+$ closed under addition
No one's answered the question cumulant problem so here's a simpler question: Has anyone described or catalogued all sets of non-negative real numbers that are closed under addition? In particular, ...
5
votes
1
answer
342
views
Can the trivial module be stably free for a monoid ring?
Let $M$ be a non-trivial monoid and $\mathbb ZM$ its monoid ring. All modules are left modules in what follows. Suppose that $M$ contains a zero element (or absorbing element) $z$. That is $mz=z=zm$ ...
- 38.6k
5
votes
2
answers
317
views
Proving that a semigroup is regular
In a number of diverse situations of interest to me (mostly associated with something called the abelian sandpile model), one can define a nonabelian semigroup generated by commuting elements $a_1,\...
- 19.7k
5
votes
2
answers
332
views
Questions on weakly symmetric algebras
A finite dimensional algebra $A$ over a field $K$ is called weakly symmetric in case $soc(P)=top(P)$ for every indecomposable projective module $P$ and it is called symmetric in case $D(A) \cong A$ as ...
- 26.5k
5
votes
2
answers
364
views
Have semigroups with actions on themselves that have a dual to the compatibility axiom ever been studied?
For a semigroup $G$ with a left action on itself, the axiom for compatibility becomes:
$$
\forall f,g,h\in G:hg(f)=h(g(f))
$$
Now suppose there is additional axiom, or constraint if you prefer, ...
- 505
5
votes
0
answers
99
views
Zappa-Szép products of the monoid of integers with itself
Question
What are all the functions $\alpha , \beta : \mathbb{N} \to \mathbb{N}$ satisfying the following functional equations?
$\bullet ~~~~ \alpha(0)=0, \quad \beta(0)=0\\
\bullet ~~~ \...
- 5,482
4
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Semiring naturally associated to any monoid?
For any monoid $M$, we can naturally construct a semiring $S$ as follows:
Let the additive monoid of $S$ be the free commutative monoid on $M$
Let the multiplicative monoid of $S$ be $M$
Then, if ...
- 4,907
4
votes
3
answers
1k
views
Is there a general notion of semigroup action?
The analogous result to Cayley’s theorem or Yoneda lemma in semigroup theory represents semigroups as semigroups of functions from a set to itself. This suggests that a semigroup action consists of a ...
- 2,464
4
votes
1
answer
423
views
What is the formula for the commutative multiplication on CP(infinity)?
There is a classic formula for maps $\mathrm{CP}(r) \times \mathrm{CP}(s) \to \mathrm{CP}(r+s)$ or maybe $r+s+1$ using Plücker coordinates - IF memory serves. In the limit we get the abelian ...
- 3,880
4
votes
1
answer
239
views
True or false? Every left or right cancellative, duo semigroup is cancellative
A semigroup $S$ is duo if $aS = Sa$ for all $a \in S$, where $aS := \{ax: x \in S\}$ and similarly for $Sa$; for instance, every commutative semigroup is duo, and so is every group. On the other hand, ...
- 10.5k
4
votes
1
answer
146
views
When is semigroup algebra local?
Let $G$ be a finite semigroup (or monoid if that helps) and $K$ a field.
Question: When is the semigroup algebra $KG$ local?
Here local means that there is a unique maximal right (or left) ideal.
...
- 26.5k
4
votes
1
answer
434
views
Regarding a new algebraic structure
By "left semigroup-joined-semigroup" I mean an algebraic structures $(S,\cdot,*)$ such that both $\cdot,*$ are associative, and the following property holds (see this )
$$
x*(y\cdot z)=x*y*z\;\; ; \;...
- 995
4
votes
2
answers
507
views
Are algebraic structures uniquely identifed by their free objects?
It might be a naive question, as I am not a specialist in this field.
This is a follow-up to this question.
I want to study varieties of objects generalizing ordered monoids, in particular using an ...
- 1,341
4
votes
2
answers
607
views
Invertible elements in monoid rings of unital monoids without non-trivial invertible elements
This question is somewhat related to Tilmans notorious problem in this post. Let $(M,\cdot)$ be a monoid with unit $1$ and set
$$(M,\cdot)^{\times} := \lbrace x \in M \mid \exists y \in M : xy=yx=1 \...
- 25.5k