On the (un)decidability of a near-unanimity term (Q2474099)

Let \({\mathcal A}=(A,F)\) be a finite algebra with \(| A| >2\) and \(a,b\in A\). A term \(t\) is called a near-unanimity term if \(t(y,x,\ldots,x)=t(x,y,x,\ldots,x)=\ldots=t(x,\ldots,x,y)=x\). The near-unanimity problem for \({\mathcal A}\) is the problem of deciding if \({\mathcal A}\) has a near-unanimity term of finite arity. \({\mathcal A}\) is called idempotent if \(f(x,\ldots,x)=x\) for all \(f\in F\). The algebra \({\mathcal A}\) is called strictly simple if it is simple and does not have a proper subalgebra containing more than one element. The following results are proved: It is undecidable whether there exists a near-unanimity term on \(A\setminus\{a,b\}\). There exist three of the six maximal clones on \(A\) such that if the clone of \({\mathcal A}\) is contained in one of these three clones then the near-unanimity problem for \({\mathcal A}\) is decidable. If \({\mathcal A}\) is idempotent and strictly simple then also the near-unanimity problem for \({\mathcal A}\) is decidable.