Convex polytopes and retractions of Abelian groups (Q791667)

Let F(G) denote the semigroup of finite non-empty subsets of a group G. A retraction of G is a semigroup homomorphism \(\sigma:F(G)\to G\) satisfying \(\sigma(\{g\})=g\) for all \(g\in G\). A \(\sigma\)-subgroup of G(G) is a subgroup H such that \(\sigma\) maps F(H) into H. The main results of this paper are: Let G be a torsion free abelian group of rank n. Two retractions of G are the same if and only if they agree on all sets of cardinality at most \(n+1\), but not necessarily the same if they agree on all sets of cardinality at most \(k<n+1\). For any n there exist a G with retraction \(\sigma\) and a subgroup H such that \(\sigma\) maps all subsets of H of cardinality less than n to H, yet H is not a \(\sigma\)-subgroup of G. The proofs are based on a correspondence between retractions and homomorphisms from a semigroup of convex polytopes in \({\mathbb{Q}}^ n\) to \({\mathbb{Q}}^ n\).