Null extensions and generalized inflations of Brandt semigroups. (Q2373413)

A null extension of a base semigroup \(B\) is a groupoid \(A\) containing \(B\) such that all products of elements of \(A\) are in \(B\). An inflation of a semigroup \(B\) is a new semigroup formed from \(B\) by adding a set of new elements to each element \(b\) in \(B\) with the rule that new elements attached to \(b\) always act like \(b\) in forming products in the new semigroup. A generalized inflation \(A\) of a base semigroup \(B\) is defined through a hat function \(H\colon A\to B\) and a selector function \(\Gamma\colon A\times A\to B\). Given a base semigroup \(B\) we attach disjoint sets \(S_b\) of new elements for each \(b\in B\), and form \(A=\bigcup\{S_b\mid b\in B\}\). For each \(x\in A\) there is a unique element \(b\in B\) such that \(x\in S_b\), this element is denoted by \(\widehat x\). The multiplication operation on \(A\) will be defined using a selector function \(\Gamma\) with multiplication in the set \(A\) defined by \(xy=\Gamma(x,\widehat y)\Gamma(y,\widehat x)\). The function \(\Gamma\) should have the property that \(\Gamma(b,x)=b\) for any \(b\in B\) and any \(x\in A\). Any semigroup which is a generalized inflation of a semigroup \(B\) is also a null extension of the semigroup \(B\), and any inflation of a semigroup \(B\) is also a generalized inflation. \textit{G. T. Clarke} and \textit{R. A. R. Monzo}, [Semigroup Forum 60, No. 2, 172-186 (2000; Zbl 0951.20045)], proved that any semigroup which is the null extension of a base semigroup which is a union of groups must be a generalized inflation. In this paper the authors prove that any generalized inflation of a Brandt semigroup \(B\) is an inflation of \(B\). In contrast to the completely simple case there exist associative null extensions of Brandt semigroups which are not generalized inflations. There is given a characterization of associative null extensions of Brandt semigroups.