Embedding the bicyclic semigroup into countably compact topological semigroups (Q616921)

The bicyclic semigroup is a monoid generated by two letters \(a,b\) with the relation \(ab=1\). It is known that a compact semigroup does not contain the bicyclic semigroup [\textit{R. J. Koch} and \textit{A. D. Wallace}, Duke Math. J. 24, 193-- 195 (1957; Zbl 0218.22003)]. In connection with this result the authors study the question: Can a countably compact semigroup contain the bicyclic semigroup? The following Theorem is proved: If there exists a torsion-free Abelian countably compact group without non-trivial convergent sequences, then there exists a Tikhonov countably compact semigroup containing a bicyclic semigroup. The problem of the existence of a countably compact group without non-trivial convergent sequences in ZFC remains open. It is known that under MA there exist groups with the required properties.