Projection properties and reflexive binary relations (Q5932483)

For a given structure \({\mathcal M}\) for which constant mappings are endomorphisms, consider an integer \(n\geq 1\); the structure is weakly \(n\)-projective if projections are the only retractions of \({\mathcal M}^n\) on its diagonal. It is strongly \(n\)-projective if projections are its only Hamming \(n\)-operations (i.e. \(n\)-ary operations regular with respect to each argument) which are identical on the diagonal. General criteria of ``projectivity'' for reflexive binary relations are established by using elementary techniques of algebraic topology. In particular the existence of strongly \(n\)-projective (symmetric) graphs for each integer \(n\) is obtained.