Structure of Chinese algebras. (Q2428069)

The Chinese monoid \(M_n\) of rank \(n\) is generated by \(a_1,a_2,\dots,a_n\) subject to the relations \[ a_ja_ia_k=a_ja_ka_i=a_ka_ja_i,\quad i\leq k\leq j. \] The monoid \(M_n\) is infinite and has polynomial growth. In the paper under review the authors study the structure of the monoid algebra \(K[M_n]\) of \(M_n\) over a field \(K\). The authors show that \(K[M_n]\) has only finitely many prime ideals and completely describe them using certain homogeneous congruences on \(M_n\). Further, it is shown that the prime radical of \(K[M_n]\) coincides with the Jacobson radical. As a consequence the authors derive a new representation of \(M_n\) as a submonoid of the product \(B^k\times\mathbb Z^l\) for some \(k,l\in\mathbb N\), where \(B\) denotes the bicyclic monoid, and show that \(M_n\) satisfies a nontrivial identity.