Equationally defined classes of semigroups

DOI10.1007/S00233-023-10397-4MaRDI QIDQ6145356zbMATH OpenOpenAlexFDO

Authors Peter M. Higgins, Marcel Jackson

Publication date 9 January 2024

Published in Semigroup Forum (Search for Journal in Brave)

Copyright license Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International

Full work available at URL https://arxiv.org/abs/2212.02699

zbMATH Keywords

equational classes Makanin's algorithm regular semigroups

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Equational classes, universal algebra in model theory (03C05) Equational logic, Mal'tsev conditions (08B05) Varieties and pseudovarieties of semigroups (20M07)

Abstract: We apply, in the context of semigroups, the main theorem from~cite{higjac} that an elementary class

m a t h c a l C

of algebras which is closed under the taking of direct products and homomorphic images is defined by systems of equations. We prove a dual to the Birkhoff theorem in that if the class is also closed under the taking of containing semigroups, some basis of equations of

m a t h c a l C

is free of the

f o r a l l

quantifier. Examples are given of EHP-classes that require more than two quantifiers in some equation of any equational basis.

Review text

In a previous paper [J. Algebra 555, 131--156 (2020; Zbl 1471.20038)] with a similar title, the authors show that a class of algebras is closed under existential embeddings, the taking of direct products and of homomorphic images (it is an `EHP-class') if and only if it is defined by systems of equations. With the overall emphasis being on semigroups, the concept is illustrated by the class of completely regular semigroups, defined by the equations \((\forall a)(\exists x): (a = axa) \wedge (ax = xa)\). In the first part of this paper, the examples of the earlier paper are expanded. The main theorem of the paper states that an EHP-class of semigroups is \text{existential}, that is, it has a basis of equations free of the \(\forall\) operator, if and only if it is closed under the taking of containing semigroups. As the authors say, this is a sort of dual to the Birkhoff theorem (which of course requires equations free of the \(\exists\) operator). On the other hand, for types of algebras such that every algebra contains a one-element subalgebra, closure under taking of containing semigroups obviously yield all algebras of that type. The authors go on to prove that the class of equation systems satisfied in the class of all semigroups is decidable; they conclude with an investigation of EHP-classes requiring both types of alternation of quantifiers.

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