Rank properties in finite inverse semigroups (Q4525856)

A subset \(A\) of an inverse semigroup \(S\) is called \(I\)-independent if each \(a\) in \(A\) is not contained in the inverse subsemigroup of \(S\) generated by \(A\setminus\{a\}\). The author considers three notions of rank for an inverse semigroup that coincide when \(S\) is a vector space but generally are ordered as their names suggest: the lower \(I\)-rank (the minimum size of a subset \(U\) that generates \(S\) as an inverse subsemigroup), the intermediate \(I\)-rank (the maximum size of an \(I\)-independent subset of \(S\) that generates \(S\) as an inverse subsemigroup), and the upper \(I\)-rank (the maximum size of an \(I\)-independent subset of \(S\)). For the aperiodic Brandt semigroup \(B_n\) the first two ranks are \(n-1\) and \(n\), respectively. The upper \(I\)-rank of \(B(G,n)\), a Brandt semigroup with finite maximal subgroup \(G\), is \((n^2-2n+2)|G|+2\), and the upper \(I\)-rank is found for the symmetric inverse semigroup, \(I_n\), and for its inverse subsemigroup of all proper subpermutations.