On certain finite semigroups of order-decreasing transformations. I. (Q706041)

Let \(X_n=\{1,2,\dots,n\}\) and denote by \(T_n\) the full transformation semigroup on \(X_n\). A transformation \(\alpha\in T_n\) is `order-decreasing' if \(x\alpha\leq x\) for all \(x\in X_n\) and it is `order-increasing' if \(x\alpha\geq x\) for all \(x\in X_n\). The transformation \(\alpha\) is `order-preserving' if \(x\alpha\leq y\alpha\) whenever \(x\leq y\) for all \(x,y\in X_n\). The symbol \(D_n\) denotes the semigroup of all order-decreasing transformations on \(X_n\) and the symbol \(C_n\) denotes the semigroup of all order-preserving transformations on \(X_n\). For \(1\leq r\leq n\), let \(D(n,r)=\{\alpha\in D_n:|X_n\alpha|\leq r\}\) and let \(C(n,r)=\{\alpha\in C_n:|X_n\alpha|\leq r\}\). For \(r\geq 2\), let \(DP_r(n)=D(n,r)/D(n,r-1)\) and let \(CP_r(n)=C(n,r)/C(n,r-1)\). The authors prove that every element in \(DP_r(n)\) is a product of idempotents and, similarly, every element in \(CP_r(n)\) is a product of idempotents. Let \(\mathcal H\), \(\mathcal L\), \(\mathcal R\), \(\mathcal D\), and \(\mathcal J\) denote the usual Green's relations. The authors show that \({\mathcal H}={\mathcal R}\) and \({\mathcal L}={\mathcal D}={\mathcal J}\) on \(DP_r(n)\) and \({\mathcal H}={\mathcal L}={\mathcal R}={\mathcal D}={\mathcal J}\) on \(CP_r(n)\). Recall that the relation \({\mathcal L}^*\) on a semigroup \(S\) is defined by \((a,b)\in{\mathcal L}^*\) if and only if \((a,b)\in{\mathcal L}\) where \({\mathcal L}^*\) is Green's \({\mathcal L}\)-relation on some semigroup \(T\) which contains \(S\) as a subsemigroup. The \({\mathcal R}^*\)-relation is defined dually and \({\mathcal H}^*\) and \({\mathcal D}^*\) are defined by \({\mathcal H}^*={\mathcal L}^*\cap{\mathcal R}^*\), and \({\mathcal D}^*={\mathcal L}^*\vee{\mathcal R}^*\). A subsemigroup \(T\) of \(S\) is referred to as an `inverse ideal' (which need not be an ideal) if for each element \(a\in T\) there exists an element \(b\in S\) such that \(aba=a\) and \(ab,ba\in T\). The authors prove that both \(DP_r(n)\) and \(CP_r(n)\) are inverse ideals of \(P_r(n)\). They go on to determine the \({\mathcal L}^*\), \({\mathcal R}^*\), and \({\mathcal H}^*\) relations on both \(DP_r(n)\) and \(CP_r(n)\). They then show that \(|CP_r(n)|=\tfrac 1{n-r-1}{n-1\choose r-1}{n\choose r}+1\). The rank of a finite semigroup \(S\) is denoted by \(\text{rank\,}S\) and defined by \(\text{rank\,}S=\min\{|A|: A\subseteq S\) and \(\langle A\rangle=S\}\). Similarly, if \(S\) is generated by its set \(E\) of idempotents, the idempotent rank of \(S\) is denoted by \(\text{idrank\,}S\) and defined by \(\text{idrank\,}S=\min\{|A|:A\subseteq E\) and \(\langle A\rangle=S\}\). In the main result of the concluding section of the paper, the authors prove that if \(1\leq r\leq n-1\), then \(\text{rank\,}C(n,r)=\text{idrank\,}C(n,r)=\text{rank\,}CP_r(n)= \text{idrank\,} CP_r(n)={n-1\choose r-1}\).