Finite left-distributive algebras and embedding algebras (Q1369254)

A groupoid is called a \textit{left-distributive algebra} if it satisfies the law \(a\cdot(b\cdot c)=(a\cdot b)\cdot(a\cdot c)\). This paper seeks a representation of the free monogenic left-distributive algebra as a limit of a sequence of finite algebras. Such a representation is known to exist if a strong large cardinal axiom is assumed [\textit{R. Laver}, Adv. Math. 91, 209-231 (1992; Zbl 0822.03030)]. The finite algebras used here are based on the set \(\{0,1,2\dots,2^n-1\}\) with a binary operation \(\ast_n\) which is left-distributive and satisfies \(a\ast_n 1=a+1\pmod{2^n}\) (it is shown that there is a unique such operation). With an appropriate embedding, the limit of these is a left-distributive monogenic algebra \((A_{\infty},\ast_{\infty})\). The other concept used here is that of \textit{embedding algebra}. This is a structure \((A,\cdot)\) where \(A\) is a collection of strictly increasing functions from \(\omega\) to \(\omega\) and \(\cdot\) is a left-distributive binary operation on \(A\) satisfying cr\((a\cdot b)=a(\)cr\((b))\), for all \(a,b\) with \(b\) not the identity function, where cr\((f)\) denotes the least \(n\) such that \(f(n)>n\). The main result of the paper is: Theorem 5.2. The statement ``There exists a non-trivial embedding algebra'' is equivalent to the statement ``\(A_{\infty}\) is free''. It is also shown that ``\(A_{\infty}\) is free'' is not provable in Primitive Recursive Arithmetic. This leaves open the question as to how strong the statement actually is, since it is known to be provable under the assumption ``there is an \(n\)-huge cardinal for each \(n\)''.