The reverse spelling of an FPrt-universal word in two letters (Q1272206)

The paper contributes to the investigation of the universality of words in monoids. The word \(w(x_1,\dots,x_n)\) (= element of the free monoid over \(\{x_1,\dots,x_n\}\)) is called universal in a monoid \(S\) if for every \(s\in S\) there exist \(p_1,\dots,p_n\) such that \(s=w(p_1,\dots,p_n)\). The characterization of the universality of particular words in particular monoids has a long history started by \textit{J. R. Isbell} [Bull. Acad. Pol. Sci., Sér. Math. Astron. Phys. 14, 593-595 (1966; Zbl 0149.01501)]. The present paper concerns the monoid \(\text{Prt}(X)\) of all partial transformations of the set \(X\). The main theorem states that for arbitrary \(w=w(x,y)\) the following are equivalent: (i) for every finite \(X\) the word \(w\) is universal in \(\text{Prt}(X)\), and (ii) for every finite \(X\) the word \(\overline w\) (the left-right mirror image of \(w\)) is universal in \(\text{Prt}(X)\). The proof is based on a result by the second author [Algebra Univers. 10, 135-154 (1980; Zbl 0428.20042)]. A prominent role is played by the representations by so-called spikes \(0\to 1\to\dots\to k\in\text{Prt}(\{0,\dots,k\})\). A rich bibliography is presented and also several open questions are formulated.