On finite congruence-simple semirings. (Q1421830)

If a semiring \((S,+,\cdot)\) admits no congruence relations other than \(\text{id}_S\) and \(S\times S\), it is called congruence-simple. It is shown that for any finite, additively commutative, congruence-simple semiring \((S,+,\cdot)\) one of the following holds: (1) \(|S|\leq 2\), (2) \(S\cong\text{Mat}_n(\mathbb{F}_q)\) for some finite field \(\mathbb{F}_q\) and some \(n\geq 1\), (3) \(S\) is a ring of prime order with zero multiplication, (4) \((S,+)\) is idempotent, (5) \((S,\cdot)\) is a finite congruence-free semigroup with absorbing element \(\infty\) and \(S+S=\infty\).