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A semigroup is a set $S$ together with a binary operation that is associative. Examples of semigroups are the set of finite strings over a fixed alphabet (under concatenation) and the positive integers (under addition, maximum, or minimum). A monoid is a semigroup with a neutral element. Of course, any group is also a monoid/semigroup.

29 votes

Why aren't representations of monoids studied so much?

One implicit aspect of the question is the intrinsic interest of studying monoid representations. This is addressed by Qiaochu's answer and comments on it. But I'd emphasize more the role of appli …
Jim Humphreys's user avatar