Quasi-varieties of lattice ordered groups (Q2266730)

A quasi-variety of algebras (with \(\{\) \(1\}\) as least algebra) is a class of algebras closed under subobjects, products and ultraproducts (a certain kind of homomorphic image). Equivalently, it satisfies a set of identities of the form \(\forall \underset \tilde{} x(\&w_ i(\underset \tilde{} {x)=1} w(\underset \tilde{} x)=1)\). Any variety of algebras is a quasi-variety of algebras and many naturally occurring classes of lattice-ordered groups are quasi-varieties but not varieties. There is a proper variety N of lattice-ordered groups that contains all proper varieties of lattice- ordered groups [the reviewer, Ordered permutation groups, Lond. Math. Soc. Lect. Note Ser. 55 (1981; Zbl 0473.06010), chapter 11]. There is no largest proper quasi-variety of lattice-ordered groups and indeed the author gives \(2^{\aleph_ 0}\) pairwise incomparable quasi-varieties containing N. The proof uses sublattice subgroups of the wreath product of G by \({\mathbb{Z}}\), where G is the group of bounded piecewise linear order-preserving permutations of the real line and \({\mathbb{Z}}\) is the group of integers. The lattice of varieties of lattice-ordered groups is shown to be a sublattice of the lattice \({\mathfrak Q}\) of quasi-varieties but not a complete sublattice thereof. \({\mathfrak Q}\) is shown to be non Brouwerian. However, the distributivity of the lattice \({\mathfrak Q}\) remains open. This and four other open problems are stated at the end of the paper.