Enumeration of idempotents in planar diagram monoids

We classify and enumerate the idempotents in several planar diagram monoids: namely, the Motzkin, Jones (a.k.a. Temperley-Lieb) and Kauffman monoids. The classification is in terms of certain vertex- and edge-coloured graphs associated to Motzkin diagrams. The enumeration is necessarily algorithmic in nature, and is based on parameters associated to cycle components of these graphs. We compare our algorithms to existing algorithms for enumerating idempotents in arbitrary (regular *-) semigroups, and give several tables of calculated values.Comment: Majorly revised (new title, new abstract, one additional author), 24 pages, 6 figures, 8 tables, 5 algorithm

On Kiselman quotients of 0-Hecke monoids

Combining the definition of 0-Hecke monoids with that of Kiselman semigroups, we define what we call Kiselman quotients of 0-Hecke monoids associated with simply laced Dynkin diagrams. We classify these monoids up to isomorphism, determine their idempotents and show that they are $\mathcal{J}$-trivial. For type $A$ we show that Catalan numbers appear as the maximal cardinality of our monoids, in which case the corresponding monoid is isomorphic to the monoid of all order-preserving and order-decreasing total transformations on a finite chain. We construct various representations of these monoids by matrices, total transformations and binary relations. Motivated by these results, with a mixed graph we associate a monoid, which we call a Hecke-Kiselman monoid, and classify such monoids up to isomorphism. Both Kiselman semigroups and Kiselman quotients of 0-Hecke monoids are natural examples of Hecke-Kiselman monoids.Comment: 14 pages; International Electronic Journal of Algebra, 201

Amalgams of Inverse Semigroups and C*-algebras

An amalgam of inverse semigroups [S,T,U] is full if U contains all of the idempotents of S and T. We show that for a full amalgam [S,T,U], the C*-algebra of the inverse semigroup amaglam of S and T over U is the C*-algebraic amalgam of C*(S) and C*(T) over C*(U). Using this result, we describe certain amalgamated free products of C*-algebras, including finite-dimensional C*-algebras, the Toeplitz algebra, and the Toeplitz C*-algebras of graphs

On the insertion of n-powers

In algebraic terms, the insertion of $n$-powers in words may be modelled at the language level by considering the pseudovariety of ordered monoids defined by the inequality $1\le x^n$. We compare this pseudovariety with several other natural pseudovarieties of ordered monoids and of monoids associated with the Burnside pseudovariety of groups defined by the identity $x^n=1$. In particular, we are interested in determining the pseudovariety of monoids that it generates, which can be viewed as the problem of determining the Boolean closure of the class of regular languages closed under $n$-power insertions. We exhibit a simple upper bound and show that it satisfies all pseudoidentities which are provable from $1\le x^n$ in which both sides are regular elements with respect to the upper bound

Profinite Groups Associated to Sofic Shifts are Free

We show that the maximal subgroup of the free profinite semigroup associated by Almeida to an irreducible sofic shift is a free profinite group, generalizing an earlier result of the second author for the case of the full shift (whose corresponding maximal subgroup is the maximal subgroup of the minimal ideal). A corresponding result is proved for certain relatively free profinite semigroups. We also establish some other analogies between the kernel of the free profinite semigroup and the \J-class associated to an irreducible sofic shift

Semigroups, rings, and Markov chains

We analyze random walks on a class of semigroups called ``left-regular bands''. These walks include the hyperplane chamber walks of Bidigare, Hanlon, and Rockmore. Using methods of ring theory, we show that the transition matrices are diagonalizable and we calculate the eigenvalues and multiplicities. The methods lead to explicit formulas for the projections onto the eigenspaces. As examples of these semigroup walks, we construct a random walk on the maximal chains of any distributive lattice, as well as two random walks associated with any matroid. The examples include a q-analogue of the Tsetlin library. The multiplicities of the eigenvalues in the matroid walks are ``generalized derangement numbers'', which may be of independent interest.Comment: To appear in J. Theoret. Proba