Prime properties of the smallest ideal of \(\beta\mathbb{N}\) (Q1914084)

Let \(S=(\beta \mathbb N,+)\) be the semigroup obtained by extending the ordinary addition \(+\) of \(\mathbb N\) to its Stone-Čech compactification \(\beta \mathbb N\), such that the resulting multiplication is continuous in the left variable, i.e., the translations \(x\mapsto xs\colon S\to S\) are continuous. The semigroup \(\mathbb N\) is identified with the corresponding subsemigroup of \(S\), its remainder \(S\setminus \mathbb N\) is denoted by \(\mathbb N^*\). It is well known that \(S\) contains a minimal ideal \(K\), but it is not yet known whether \(K\) is prime in \(S\), that is, whether there exist elements \(x,y\in S\setminus K\) such that \(xy\in K\). In the present paper the authors give various results approaching this question and its analogue for the closure \(\overline{K}\) of \(K\) in \(S\). Here are two samples: (i) If \(p\) is a \(P\)-point of \(\mathbb N^*\) (i.e., the intersection of countably many neighborhoods of \(p\) in \(\mathbb N^*\) is again a neighborhood in \(\mathbb N^*\)) then for any \(q\in {\mathbb N}^*\setminus K\) the elements \(p+q\) and \(q+p\) cannot lie in \(K\); this statement also holds with \(K\) replaced by \(\overline K\). (ii) If \(\overline{K}\) is not prime then \(K\) is not prime.