Some results on the dot-depth hierarchy (Q1207707)

For a (finite) monoid \(M\), let \(M_ e\) be the subsemigroup generated by the elements that are greater in the \(J\)-order than the idempotent \(e\). If \(V\) is a (pseudo-)variety of (finite) monoids, \(\widetilde V\) is the class of finite monoids \(M\) such that \(e M_ e e\) is always in \(V\). Then \(\widetilde V=LV\circledcirc J_ 1\), where: \(LV\) is the variety of semigroups \(S\) such that \(eSe\) is always in \(V\); \(J_ 1\) is the variety of commutative idempotent monoids; \(A\circledcirc B\) is the Mal'cev product of the semigroup variety \(A\) by the monoid variety \(B\), i.e. the variety generated by the monoids \(M\) such that there exists \(\varphi: M\to N\), \(N\) in \(B\) and \(e\varphi^{-1}\) is always in \(A\). The author uses the previous result to give an effective lower bound for the dot- depth of a given aperiodic monoid (its place in the Brzozowski and Cohen hierarchy). Dot-depth 2 is specially discussed, in particular when the monoid is inverse and has few generators.