Mitsch's order and inclusion for binary relations and partitions. (Q372344)

Mitsch's natural partial order \(\leq\) on a semigroup \(S\) is defined as follows: \(a\leq b\) if \(a=b\) or there are \(x,y\in S\) such that \(a=ax=bx=yb=ya\). In this paper the author discusses the relationship between this partial order and the partial order given by inclusions for the semigroup of all binary relations on a set \(X\) and the partition semigroup associated to \(X\). The author characterises Mitsch's natural order using equations in the theory of relation algebras and the connection to the inclusion order is explored by means of a sublattice of the lattice of preorders.