Nilpotency in left semi-braces (Q2136902)

In the '90s, \textit{V. G. Drinfel'd} [Lect. Notes Math. 1510, 1--8 (1992; Zbl 0765.17014)] posed the problem of finding all the \textit{set-theoretical solutions of the Yang-Baxter equation}, that are maps \(r:X \times X \to X \times X\), where \(X\) is a set, satisfying the relation \(r_1r_2r_1=r_2r_1r_2\), with \(r_1=r \times id_X\) and \(r_2=id_X \times r\).\\ To solve this problem, several algebraic structures have been studied, among these \emph{(left) semi-braces} [\textit{F. Catino} et al., J. Algebra 483, 163--187 (2017; Zbl 1385.16035)], that are triples \((B,+, \circ)\) in which \((B,+)\) is a left cancellative semigroup, \((B, \circ)\) is a group, and \[ \text{ for all } a,b,c \in B \quad a \circ (b+c)=a \circ b+a \circ \left(a^-+c\right). \] If \(B\) is a semi-brace, the map \(r(a,b)=\left(a \circ \left(a^-+b\right), \left(a^-+b\right)^-\circ b\right) \) is a solution. The interest on such structures has vastly increased in the last years, so much so it is interesting to deepen their structural properties. In the paper under review, the authors pay particular attention to the left and right nilpotency in left semi-braces, showing how these properties influence the whole structure. For do that, they present the \textit{right series} and the\textit{ left series} of a semi-brace \(B\), which make use of the operation \begin{align*} \text{ for all } a,b \in B \qquad a \cdot b= \lambda_a\left(a^-\right)+a \circ b + \lambda_b\left(b^-\right). \end{align*} In the case of \((S, +)\) an abelian group, such an operation coincides with the usual multiplication \(a \cdot b=-a+a\circ b-b\) in ring theory. To study right nilpotency, it is significant to investigate in which cases the set of idempotents of \(B\) is an ideal; so, particular attention is devoted to these semi-braces. It is also introduced the concept of a nilpotent left semi-brace; in particular, the authors show that the multiplicative group of such semi-braces is nilpotent.