Given a simple digraph $D$ on $n$ vertices (with $n\ge2$), there is a natural construction of a semigroup $\langle D\rangle$ associated with $D$. For any edge $(a,b)$ of $D$, let $a\to b$ be the idempotent of defect $1$ mapping $a$ to $b$ and fixing all vertices other than $a$; then define $\langle D\rangle$ to be the semigroup $\langle a\to b:(a,b)\in E(D)\rangle$. For $α\in \langle D \rangle$, let $\ell(D,α)$ be the minimal length of a word in $E(D)$ expressing $α$. When $D=K_n$ is the complete undirected graph, Howie and Iwahori, independently, obtained a formula to calculate $\ell(K_n,α)$, for any $α\in \langle K_n \rangle = \text{Sing}_n$; however, no analogous nontrivial results are known when $D \neq K_n$. In this paper, we characterise all simple digraphs $D$ such that either $\ell(D,α)$ is equal to Howie-Iwahori's formula for all $α\in \langle D \rangle$, or $\ell(D,α) = n - \text{fix}(α)$ for all $α\in \langle D \rangle$, or $\ell(D,α) = n - \text{rk}(α)$ for all $α\in \langle D \rangle$. When $D$ is an acyclic digraph and $α\in \langle D \rangle$, we find a tight upper bound for $\ell(D,α)$. Finally, we study the case when $D$ is a strong tournament (which corresponds to a smallest generating set of idempotents of defect $1$ of $\text{Sing}_n$), and we propose some conjectures.
We show that if the Schützenberger graph of every positive word, that contains an $R$-word only once as it's subword, is finite over an Adain presentation $\langle X|u=v\rangle$, then the Schützenberger graph of every positive word is finite over the presentation $\langle X|u=v\rangle$. This enable us to solve the word problem ffor some classes of one relation Adian inverse semigroups.
We explore a natural class of semigroups that have word problem decidable by finite state automata. Among the main results are invariance of this property under change of generators, invariance under basic algebraic constructions and algebraic properties of these semigroups.
We show that all of the Schützenberger complexes of an Adian inverse semigroup are finite if the Schützenberger complex of every positive word is finite. This enables us to solve the word problem for certain classes of Adian inverse semigroups (and hence for the corresponding Adian semigroups and Adian groups).
The study of word hyperbolic groups is a prominent topic in geometric group theory; however word hyperbolic groups are defined by a geometric condition which does not extend naturally to semigroups. We propose a linguistic definition. Roughly speaking a semigroup is word hyperbolic if its multiplication table is a context free language. For groups this definition is equivalent to the original geometric one. We also briefly consider word problems of semigroups.
Every semigroup which is a finite disjoint union of copies of the free mono- genic semigroup (natural numbers under addition) has soluble word prob- lem and soluble membership problem. Efficient algorithms are given for both problems.
This paper studies decision problems for semigroups that are word-hyperbolic in the sense of Duncan & Gilman. A fundamental investigation reveals that the natural definition of a `word-hyperbolic structure' has to be strengthened slightly in order to define a unique semigroup up to isomorphism. The isomorphism problem is proven to be undecidable for word-hyperbolic semigroups (in contrast to the situation for word-hyperbolic groups). It is proved that it is undecidable whether a word-hyperbolic semigroup is automatic, asynchronously automatic, biautomatic, or asynchronously biautomatic. (These…
Motivated by the question of which completely regular semigroups have context-free word problem, we show that for certain classes of languages $\mathfrak{C}$(including context-free), every completely regular semigroup that is a union of finitely many finitely generated groups with word problem in $\mathfrak{C}$ also has word problem in $\mathfrak{C}$. We give an example to show that not all completely regular semigroups with context-free word problem can be so constructed.
This note proves a generalisation to inverse semigroups of Anisimov's theorem that a group has regular word problem if and only if it is finite, answering a question of Stuart Margolis. The notion of word problem used is the two-tape word problem -- the set of all pairs of words over a generating set for the semigroup which both represent the same element.
We introduce the space function $s(n)$ of a finitely presented semigroup $S =<A\mid R>.$ To define $s(n)$ we consider pairs of words $w,w'$ over $A$ of length at most $n$ equal in $S$ and use relations from $R$ for the transformations $w=w_0\to...\to w_t= w'$; $s(n)$ bounds from above the tape space (or computer memory) sufficient to implement all such transitions $w\to...\to w'.$ One of the results obtained is the following criterion: A finitely generated semigroup $S$ has decidable word problem of polynomial space complexity if and only if $S$ is a subsemigroup of a finitely presented semigr…
The set of idempotents of any semigroup carries the structure of a biordered set, which contains a great deal of information concerning the idempotent generated subsemigroup of the semigroup in question. This leads to the construction of a free idempotent generated semigroup $\mathsf{IG}(\mathcal{E})$ - the `free-est' semigroup with a given biordered set $\mathcal{E}$ of idempotents. We show that when $\mathcal{E}$ is finite, the word problem for $\mathsf{IG}(\mathcal{E})$ is equivalent to a family of constraint satisfaction problems involving rational subsets of direct products of pairs of ma…
In this paper we investigate the word problem of the free Burnside semigroup satisfying x^2=x^3 and having two generators. Elements of this semigroup are classes of equivalent words. A natural way to solve the word problem is to select a unique "canonical" representative for each equivalence class. We prove that overlap-free words and so-called almost overlap-free words (this notion is some generalization of the notion of overlap-free words) can serve as canonical representatives for corresponding equivalence classes. We show that such a word in a given class, if any, can be efficiently found.…
Motivated by issues arising in computer science, we investigate the loop-free paths from the identity transformation and corresponding straight words in the Cayley graph of a finite transformation semigroup with a fixed generator set. Of special interest are words that permute a given subset of the state set. Certain such words, called minimal permutators, are shown to comprise a code, and the straight ones comprise a finite code. Thus, words that permute a given subset are uniquely factorizable as products of the subset's minimal permutators, and these can be further reduced to straight minim…
This article studies the properties of word-hyperbolic semigroups and monoids, i.e. those having context-free multiplication tables with respect to a regular combing, as defined by Duncan & Gilman. In particular, the preservation of word-hyperbolicity under taking free products is considered. Under mild conditions on the semigroups involved, satisfied e.g. by monoids or regular semigroups, we prove that the semigroup free product of two word-hyperbolic semigroups is again word-hyperbolic. Analogously, with a mild condition on the uniqueness of representation for the identity element, satisfied…
We study the language-theoretic aspects of the word problem, in the sense of Duncan & Gilman, of free products of semigroups and monoids. First, we provide algebraic tools for studying classes of languages known as super-AFLs, which generalise e.g. the context-free or the indexed languages. When $\mathcal{C}$ is a super-AFL closed under reversal, we prove that the semigroup (monoid) free product of two semigroups (resp. monoids) with word problem in $\mathcal{C}$ also has word problem in $\mathcal{C}$. This recovers and generalises a recent result by Brough, Cain & Pfeiffer that the class of c…
This paper studies the classes of semigoups and monoids with context-free and deterministic context-free word problem. First, some examples are exhibited to clarify the relationship between these classes and their connection with the notions of word-hyperbolicity and automaticity. Second, a study is made of whether these classes are closed under applying certain semigroup constructions, including direct products and free products, or under regressing from the results of such constructions to the original semigroup(s) or monoid(s).
The category of all idempotent generated semigroups with a prescribed structure $\mathcal{E}$ of their idempotents $E$ (called the biordered set) has an initial object called the free idempotent generated semigroup over $\mathcal{E}$, defined by a presentation over alphabet $E$, and denoted by $\mathsf{IG}(\mathcal{E})$. Recently, much effort has been put into investigating the structure of semigroups of the form $\mathsf{IG}(\mathcal{E})$, especially regarding their maximal subgroups. In this paper we take these investigations in a new direction by considering the word problem for $\mathsf{IG…
In this paper, we study the word problem for automaton semigroups and automaton groups from a complexity point of view. As an intermediate concept between automaton semigroups and automaton groups, we introduce automaton-inverse semigroups, which are generated by partial, yet invertible automata. We show that there is an automaton-inverse semigroup and, thus, an automaton semigroup with a PSPACE-complete word problem. We also show that there is an automaton group for which the word problem with a single rational constraint is PSPACE-complete. Additionally, we provide simpler constructions for …
Building on the previous extensive study of Yang, Gould and the present author, we provide a more precise insight into the group-theoretical ramifications of the word problem for free idempotent generated semigroups over finite biordered sets. We prove that such word problems are in fact equivalent to the problem of computing intersections of cosets of certain subgroups of direct products of maximal subgroups of the free idempotent generated semigroup in question, thus providing decidability of those word problems under group-theoretical assumptions related to the Howson property and the coset…
A new construction of a free inverse semigroup was obtained by Poliakova and Schein in 2005. Based on their result, we find a Groebner-Shirshov basis of a free inverse semigroup relative to the deg-lex order of words. In particular, we give the (unique and shortest) Groebner-Shirshov normal forms in the classes of equivalent words of a free inverse semigroup together with the Groebner-Shirshov algorithm to transform any word to its normal form.
The words separation problem, originally formulated by Goralcik and Koubek (1986), is stated as follows. Let $Sep(n)$ be the minimum number such that for any two words of length $\le n$ there is a deterministic finite automaton with $Sep(n)$ states, accepting exactly one of them. The problem is to find the asymptotics of the function $Sep$. This problem is inverse to finding the asymptotics of the length of the shortest identity in full transformation semigroups $T_k$. The known lower bound on $Sep$ stems from the unary identity in $T_k$. We find the first series of identities in $T_k$ which a…
We study the complexity of computation in finitely generated free left, right and two-sided adequate semigroups and monoids. We present polynomial time (quadratic in the RAM model of computation) algorithms to solve the word problem and compute normal forms in each of these, and hence also to test whether any given identity holds in the classes of left, right and/or two-sided adequate semigroups.
Let H be a pseudovariety of groups in which the kappa-word problem is decidable. Here, kappa denotes the canonical implicit signature, which consists of the multiplication and the (omega-1)-power. We prove that the kappa-word problem is also decidable over DRH, the pseudovariety of all finite semigroups whose regular R-classes lie in H. Further, we present a canonical form for elements in the free kappa-semigroup over DRH, based on the knowledge of a canonical form for elements in the free kappa-semigroup over H. This extends work of Almeida and Zeitoun on the pseudovariety of all finite R-tri…
With each semigroup one can associate a partial algebra, called the biordered set, which captures important algebraic and geometric features of the structure of idempotents of that semigroup. For a biordered set $\mathcal{E}$, one can construct the free idempotent-generated semigroup over $\mathcal{E}$, $\mathsf{IG}(\mathcal{E})$, which is the free-est semigroup (in a definite categorical sense) whose biorder of idempotents is isomorphic to $\mathcal{E}$. Studies of these intriguing objects have been recently focusing on their particular aspects, such as maximal subgroups, the word problem, et…
We investigate the orbits of automaton semigroups and groups to obtain algorithmic and structural results, both for general automata but also for some special subclasses. First, we show that a more general version of the finiteness problem for automaton groups is undecidable. This problem is equivalent to the finiteness problem for left principal ideals in automaton semigroups generated by complete and reversible automata. Then, we look at $ω$-word (i.e. right infinite words) with a finite orbit. We show that every automaton yielding an $ω$-word with a finite orbit already yields an ultimately…
We formulate and explain the extended Burrows-Wheeler transform of Mantaci et al from the viewpoint of permutations on a chain taken as a union of partial order-preserving mappings. In so doing we establish a link with syntactic semigroups of languages that are themselves cyclic semigroups. We apply the extended transform with a view to generating de Bruijn words through inverting the transform.
A regular semigroup is weakly generated by a set X if it has no proper regular subsemigroups containing X. In this paper, we study the regular semigroups weakly generated by idempotents. We show there exists a regular semigroup FI(X) weakly generated by |X| idempotents such that all other regular semigroups weakly generated by |X| idempotents are homomorphic images of FI(X). The semigroup FI(X) is defined by a presentation $\langle G(X),ρ_e\cupρ_s\rangle$ and its structure is studied. Although each of the sets $G(X)$, $ρ_e$, and $ρ_s$ is infinite for $|X|\geq 2$, we show that the word problem …
We prove that the semigroup generated by a finite state Mealy automaton $\mathcal{A}=(Q,A,τ)$ is infinite if and only if there exists some right-infinite word in the alphabet $A$ with infinite orbit.
We show that an automaton group or semigroup is infinite if and only if it admits an $ω$-word (i. e. a right-infinite word) with an infinite orbit, which solves an open problem communicated to us by Ievgen V. Bondarenko. In fact, we prove a generalization of this result, which can be applied to show that finitely generated subgroups and subsemigroups as well as principal left ideals of automaton semigroups are infinite if and only if there is an $ω$ -word with an infinite orbit under their action. The proof also shows some interesting connections between the automaton semigroup and its dual. F…
An m-endomorphism of a free semigroup is an endomorphism that sends every generator to a word of length at most m. Two m-endomorphisms are combinatorially equivalent if they are conjugate under an automorphism of the semigroup. In this paper, we specialize an argument of N. G. de Bruijn to produce a formula for the number of combinatorial equivalence classes of m-endomorphisms on a rank-n semigroup. From this formula, we derive several little-known integer sequences.
We introduce the notion of expandability in the context of automaton semigroups and groups: a word is k-expandable if one can append a suffix to it such that the size of the orbit under the action of the automaton increases by at least k. This definition is motivated by the question which ω-words admit infinite orbits: for such a word, every prefix is expandable. In this paper, we show that, on input of a word u, an automaton T and a number k, it is decidable to check whether u is k-expandable with respect to the action of T. In fact, this can be done in exponential nondeterministic space. Fro…
The idempotent problem of a finitely generated inverse semigroup is the formal language of all words over the generators representing idempotent elements. This note proves that a finitely generated inverse semigroup with regular idempotent problem is necessarily finite. This answers a question of Gilbert and Noonan Heale, and establishes a generalisation to inverse semigroups of Anisimov's Theorem for groups.
In this paper we construct free Hom-semigroups when its unary operation is multiplicative and is an involution. Our method of construction is by bracketed words. As a consequence, we obtain free Hom-associative algebras generated by a set under the same conditions for the unary operation.
We provide geometric methods and algorithms to verify, construct and enumerate pairs of words (of specified length over a fixed $m$-letter alphabet) that form identities in the semigroup $\ut{n}$ of $n\times n$ upper triangular tropical matrices. In the case $n=2$ these identities are precisely those satisfied by the bicyclic monoid, whilst in the case $n=3$ they form a subset of the identities which hold in the plactic monoid of rank $3$. To each word we associate a signature sequence of lattice polytopes, and show that two words form an identity for $\ut{n}$ if and only if their signatures a…
We show that the word problem for an amalgam $[S_1,S_2;U,ω_1,ω_2]$ of inverse semigroups may be undecidable even if we assume $S_1$ and $S_2$ (and therefore $U$) to have finite $\mathcal{R}$-classes and $ω_1,ω_2$ to be computable functions, interrupting a series of positive decidability results on the subject. This is achieved by encoding into an appropriate amalgam of inverse semigroups 2-counter machines with sufficient universality, and relating the nature of certain \sch graphs to sequences of computations in the machine.
In this paper we study the regular semigroups weakly generated by a single element x, that is, with no proper regular subsemigroup containing x. We show there exists a regular semigroup $F_1$ weakly generated by x such that all other regular semigroups weakly generated by x are homomorphic images of $F_1$. We define $F_1$ using a presentation where both sets of generators and relations are infinite. Nevertheless, the word problem for this presentation is decidable. We describe a canonical form for the congruence classes given by this presentation, and explain how to obtain it. We end the paper…
The main results of this paper is to give a complete characterization of the automaticity of one-relator semigroups with length less than or equal to three. Let $S=sgp\langle A|u=v\rangle$ be a semigroup generated by a set $A=\{a_1,a_2,\dots,a_n\},\ n\in \mathbb{N}$ with defining relation $u=v$, where $u,v\in A^*$ and $A^*$ is the free monoid generated by $A$. Such a semigroup is called a one-relator semigroup. Suppose that $|v|\leq|u|\leq3$, where $|u|$ is the length of the word $u$. Suppose that $a,b\in A,\ a\neq b$. Then we have the following: (1) $S$ is prefix-automatic if $u=v\not\in \{ab…
In this paper, we present two algorithms based on the Froidure-Pin Algorithm for computing the structure of a finite semigroup from a generating set. As was the case with the original algorithm of Froidure and Pin, the algorithms presented here produce the left and right Cayley graphs, a confluent terminating rewriting system, and a reduced word of the rewriting system for every element of the semigroup. If $U$ is any semigroup, and $A$ is a subset of $U$, then we denote by $\langle A\rangle$ the least subsemigroup of $U$ containing $A$. If $B$ is any other subset of $U$, then, roughly speakin…
We establish a new sufficient condition under which a monoid is non-finitely based and apply this condition to Lee monoids $L_\ell^1$, obtained by adjoining an identity element to the semigroup generated by two idempotents $a$ and $b$ subjected to the relation $0=abab \cdots$ (length $\ell$). We show that every monoid which generates a variety containing $L_5^1$ and is contained in the variety generated by $L_\ell^1$ for some $\ell \ge 5$ is non-finitely based. We establish this result by analyzing $τ$-terms for $M$ where $τ$ is certain non-trivial congruence on the free semigroup, that is, we…
