Semigroups of tolerance relations

AbstractWe give an abstract algebraic characterization of semigroups of tolerance relations and semigroups of symmetric binary relations

Varieties whose tolerances are homomorphic images of their congruences

The homomorphic image of a congruence is always a tolerance (relation) but, within a given variety, a tolerance is not necessarily obtained this way. By a Maltsev-like condition, we characterize varieties whose tolerances are homomorphic images of their congruences (TImC). As corollaries, we prove that the variety of semilattices, all varieties of lattices, and all varieties of unary algebras have TImC. We show that a congruence n-permutable variety has TImC if and only if it is congruence permutable, and construct an idempotent variety with a majority term that fails TImC

Tolerances as images of congruences in varieties defined by linear identities

An identity s=t is linear if each variable occurs at most once in each of the terms s and t. Let T be a tolerance relation of an algebra A in a variety defined by a set of linear identities. We prove that there exist an algebra B in the same variety and a congruence Theta of B such that a homomorphism from B onto A maps Theta onto T.Comment: 3 page

(m,n)-Semirings and a Generalized Fault Tolerance Algebra of Systems

We propose a new class of mathematical structures called (m,n)-semirings} (which generalize the usual semirings), and describe their basic properties. We also define partial ordering, and generalize the concepts of congruence, homomorphism, ideals, etc., for (m,n)-semirings. Following earlier work by Rao, we consider a system as made up of several components whose failures may cause it to fail, and represent the set of systems algebraically as an (m,n)-semiring. Based on the characteristics of these components we present a formalism to compare the fault tolerance behaviour of two systems using our framework of a partially ordered (m,n)-semiring.Comment: 26 pages; extension of arXiv:0907.3194v1 [math.GM