Remarks concerning finitely generated semigroups having regular sets of unique normal forms (Q2747262)

A finitely generated semigroup is rational if there is a regular subset \(L\) of \(X^+\) such that the canonical surjection \(\phi\colon X^+\to S\) is bijective on \(L\), where \(X\) is a (finite) set of generators of \(S\).NEWLINENEWLINENEWLINEAfter discussing some basic facts on rationality and growth of semigroups, the authors prove that the free inverse semigroups are not rational. They derive a contradiction from the assumption that the monogenic free inverse semigroup \(FI_x\) were rational using the fact that \(FI_x\) has polynomial (cubic) growth and the pumping property of regular languages.