An invitation to \(C\)-semigroups (Q5931529)

The authors introduce the class of so-called \(RC\)-semigroups which are semigroups with an additional idempotent unary operation \(C\) that satisfies \(aC(a)=a\), \(C(a)C(b)=C(b)C(a)\), and an asymmetric property: \(C(ab)C(b)=C(ab)\). This leads to a class containing all inverse semigroups (where we may take \(C(a)=a^{-1}a\)) and all monoids (where we may take \(C(a)=1\)). These \(RC\)-semigroups are then studied as a class of algebras in their own right: a theory of congruences is developed and the semigroup varieties consisting of \(RC\)-semigroups are identified.