On \(F\)-inverse covers of inverse monoids. (Q2581279)

An inverse monoid \(F\) in which every class with respect to the smallest group congruence has a maximal element in the natural partial order is called an \(F\)-inverse monoid. Such a monoid \(F\) is an \(F\)-inverse cover of an inverse monoid \(M\) if there is an idempotent-separating onto homomorphism \(F\to M\). While it is well known that every inverse monoid admits an \(F\)-inverse cover, it remains an open problem whether every finite inverse monoid admits a finite \(F\)-inverse cover. One of the difficulties in trying to solve the problem is that the only construction of an \(F\)-inverse cover which is known involves monoids over free groups. This paper proposes an approach to the problem by examining conditions on a variety \(\mathcal U\) of groups which ensure that a given inverse monoid \(M\) admits an \(F\)-inverse cover over \(\mathcal U\). For instance, as an application of results on Burnside varieties of groups, the authors show that, if a monoid \(M\) admits an \(E\)-unitary cover over a periodic group then it also admits an \(F\)-inverse cover over a periodic group. They also give several necessary and sufficient conditions for a finite inverse monoid \(M\) to have a finite \(F\)-inverse cover, such as: (a) there exists a prime \(p\) such that, for every elementary Abelian \(p\)-group \(H\), the Margolis-Meakin expansion \(M(H)\) has a finite \(F\)-inverse cover; (b) for every positive integer \(n\) there exists a positive integer \(m\) such that, for every arrow \(x\) of the free category in the variety of categories generated by the Kostrikin-Zelmanov variety \({\mathcal K}_m\) of exponent \(m\), freely generated by the Hasse diagram of the Boolean lattice of \(2^n\) elements, directed upward, every term in a certain recursively defined sequence of subgraphs associated with \(x\) contains the terminal vertex of~\(x\).