The finite basis problem for endomorphism semirings of finite semilattices with zero. (Q1047111)

We recall that a semiring is a structure \((\Sigma,+,\cdot,0)\) such that the following conditions hold: (i) \((\Sigma,+,0)\) is a commutative monoid; (ii) \((\Sigma,\cdot,0)\) is a semigroup with zero; (iii) \((\Sigma,+,\cdot,0)\) satisfies the distributive identities \(x(y+z)=xy+xz\) and \((x+y)z=xz+yz\). If the additional identity \(x+x=x\) is satisfied, then the semiring is called additively idempotent, or an ai-semiring for short. The present note is meant as an accompaniment to the previous paper by the author [Algebra Univers. 60, No. 1, 19-35 (2009; Zbl 1172.08003)], a part of a broader quest into finite basis problems for semirings. We recall that a universal algebra \(\mathcal A\) is said to be nonfinitely based (NFB) if the set of its identities (atomic formulas \(p=q\)) is not finitely axiomatizable, i.e., if there is no finite set of identities holding in \(\mathcal A\) from which all other identities holding in \(\mathcal A\) can be deduced within the framework of equational logic. Otherwise, \(\mathcal A\) is finitely based. An algebra \(\mathcal A\) is said to be inherently nonfinitely based (INFB) if (i) \(\mathcal A\) generates a locally finite variety, and (ii) for any algebra \(\mathcal B\) such that the variety \(\mathbb{V}(\mathcal B)\) generated by \(\mathcal B\) is locally finite and \(\mathcal A\in\mathbb{V}(\mathcal B)\), we have that \(\mathcal B\) is NFB. If \(\mathcal S\) is a join-semilattice with a distinguished least element, then all its endomorphisms form an ai-semiring \(\text{End}(\mathcal S)\); conversely, it is known that any ai-semiring embeds into an endomorphism semiring of such kind. If \(|\mathcal S|\leq 2\), then \(\text{End}(\mathcal S)\) is readily seen to be finitely based. On the other hand, the author shows that if \(\mathcal S\) is finite and either contains the square of a two-element chain or is a chain with at least four elements, then \(\text{End}(\mathcal S)\) is INFB. This leaves only the case when \(\mathcal S\) is a three-element chain as an open problem.