Generating singular transformations (Q5952245)

Let \(S_n\) and \(T_n\) respectively denote the full symmetric group and the full transformation semigroup on \(V=\{1,2,\dots,n\}\). The set \(T_n\setminus S_n\) forms the subsemigroup \(\text{Sing}_n\) of all singular mappings in \(T_n\). Consider the semigroup \(S=G\cup\text{Sing}_n\), where \(G\) is a proper subgroup of \(S_n\). The singular rank [resp. idempotent rank] of \(S\) is the minimum cardinality of a set \(N\subseteq\text{Sing}_n\) for which \(\text{Sing}_n\subseteq\langle G\cup N\rangle\) [resp. \(F\subseteq E(T_n)\) such that \(S\subseteq\langle F\cup S_n\rangle\)]. The purpose of the paper is to compute the singular and idempotent ranks of those subsemigroups of \(T_n\) that contain all singular transformations. Consider the complete graph on \(V\). The natural action of \(G\) on \(V\) induces an action on the edges; let \(v\) and \(e\) respectively denote the number of vertex and edge orbits under these actions. The singular rank of \(S\) is then \(e\) and the idempotent rank is either \(e\) or \(e+1\), the latter occurring exactly when \(v=2\) and all edges connecting the two vertex orbits belong to the same edge orbit.