Every finite semigroup is embeddable in a finite relatively free semigroup. (Q1421247)

This paper gives a very clear proof of the result stated in the title, and gives an example to show that the relatively free group does not always belong to the variety generated by the semigroup under investigation. The analogous question for infinite semigroups is investigated. It is shown that a finitely generated semigroup which satisfies a law of the form \(\xi^d=\xi^{2d}\) can be embedded in a relatively free group satisfying a similar identity, but there exists an uncountable semigroup satisfying \(\xi^2=\xi^3\) (and thus \(\xi^2=\xi^4\)) which cannot be thus embedded. A finite group can always be embedded in a finite relatively free group, because every finite simple group is a direct factor of a relatively free group of the variety it generates, and every finite group is embeddable in an alternating group. Surprisingly, the analogous result for monoids does not hold, for a finite monoid \(M\) is embeddable in a relatively free monoid if and only if either 1 is the only invertible element in \(M\), or \(M\) is a group. In each case the relatively free monoid may be taken to be finite.