Lazy groupoids (Q2227628)

A binary algebraic structure, or groupoid, \((G,*)\), is called lazy if all operations obtained by composition are \(x*y\), \(x*x\) or \(x\) (up to renaming of variables). For example, rectangular bands are lazy. An essentially unary operation \(x*y=f(x)\) is lazy if and only if \(f^2(x)=x\) or \(f^2(x)=f(x)\). The paper characterizes lazy groupoids in two ways. It describes all 15 maximal varieties of lazy groupoids and their subvarieties, providing explicit equational bases. For each maximal variety of lazy groupoids, there is a universal construction of all members of the variety, similar in spirit to the classical description of rectangular bands.