Commutative semigroups which are semigroup amalgamation bases (Q5936149)

A semigroup amalgam \([\{T_k\}_{i\in I};S]\) is an indexed family of semigroups \(T_i\) containing a semigroup \(S\) such that \(T_i\cap T_j=S\) for all distinct \(i,j\in I\). A semigroup \(S\) is called a semigroup amalgamation base (simply, amalgamation base) if any semigroup amalgam \([\{T_i\}_{i\in I};S]\) is embedded into a semigroup. A semigroup \(S\) is called a complete amalgamation base if all the homomorphic images of \(S\) are amalgamation bases. The author proves that if a commutative semigroup with only finitely many \(\mathcal J\)-classes is an amalgamation base, then it is a complete amalgamation base. The proof of the ``only if'' uses 47 lemmas, most of which consider various cases and subcases. It goes by induction on the number of \(\mathcal J\)-classes of \(S\). The ``if'' part follows from an earlier paper of the author [Math. Jap. 35, No. 3, 473-481 (1990; Zbl 0699.20049)].