The Semigroup Gazette

Zhang twists provide a powerful mechanism for deforming graded algebras, while preserving their graded module categories. We extend this theory by introducing Zhang twists for graded semigroups and graded ample groupoids. We show that the twisting construction preserves a broad class of semigroup structures, and that two graded monoids are twists of each other if and only if their categories of graded sets are pointedly equivalent. We show that Zhang twists are compatible with noncommutative Stone duality: twists on graded-Boolean inverse semigroups are in correspondence with those on the associated graded ample groupoids. Moreover, in the setting of Steinberg algebras we prove that twisting the groupoid gives the same result as twisting the corresponding algebra. These results provide a unified framework linking graded semigroups, inverse semigroup duality, ample groupoids, and graded algebras, while extending the scope of Zhang twists to settings arising from symbolic dynamics, graph algebras, and Steinberg algebras.

Spectral duality structures (SDS) explain why a distinguished family of initial distributions makes the absorption probabilities of resetting processes insensitive to the resetting mechanism. Here we study their axioms. We prove that the six defining conditions are mutually independent and determine what each one contributes. The key tool is a structure theorem valid for an arbitrary permutation and an arbitrary positive weight: every insensitive distribution is supported on a union of cycles balanced at a common level, and the level of a cycle is fixed by the geometric mean of the weight on it. From it, positivity selects the admissible root, the constant orbit product is equivalent to the existence of an insensitive distribution of full support, and the involution is equivalent to the response rank being equal to the number of free weight parameters. Without the duality relation, insensitivity of a single distribution is cheap and generically isolated; duality turns it into structural neutrality of the separatrix. The full-rank condition splits into two layers: a weaker condition is equivalent to maximal response rank, while full rank also excludes insensitivity at any other level. We then show that a single SDS is internally rigid: compatible semigroup structures force a constant weight, compatible abelian group structures obey a precise arithmetic condition, congruences form a simple lattice, and the automorphism group is computed explicitly. Finally, the axioms do not determine the orientation of the response; in the two-site case we give the exact condition under which the geometric and analytic sign criteria agree.

The cardinalities of Kiselman's semigroups $K_n$ are known to grow double exponentially in $n$: the sequence $2^{-n/2}\log_2|K_n|$ converges along the even and odd $n$ subsequences to positive limits $c_{\mathrm{even}}$ and $c_{\mathrm{odd}}$ that appear to coincide. In this paper we prove that they are indeed distinct. Since Kiselman's semigroups are $\mathcal{L}$-trivial, the suffix relation defines a partial order on $K_n$. We introduce the \emph{Kiselman transform} $\mathsf{Kis}(P)$ of a poset $P$, a construction recovering the poset associated with $K_{n+1}$ from that associated with $K_n$. Counting strictly increasing chains in $P$ and $\mathsf{Kis}(P)$ yields a linear recurrence governed by a symmetric infinite matrix with explicit binomial entries. This can be used towards efficiently computing $|K_n|$, allowing the values listed in OEIS sequence A125625 to be extended beyond $n=14$. A generating functions analysis gives formulas for the above asymptotic limits, together with rigorous numerical bounds establishing that \[ c_{\mathrm{even}} - c_{\mathrm{odd}} = 1.9945066605\ldots\times10^{-6} \]

We show that the characteristic cycle multiplicities of $A$-hypergeometric systems are upper semicontinuous in the parameter for every rational projective weight, thereby proving a conjecture of Schulze and Walther [Duke Math. J. 142 (2008), 465--509]. The proof uses a specialization formula for filtered families satisfying a fixed product support condition, expressing the difference between the special and generic characteristic cycles as the characteristic cycle of the first Tor module. Combined with the Gevrey index theorem, this yields upper semicontinuity of generic Gevrey irregularity and of each of its graded dimensions. We also construct non-Cohen--Macaulay semigroup rings whose Gevrey dimensions are constant in the parameter despite the presence of a genuine irregular slope, showing that the Gevrey jump locus need not coincide with the full exceptional arrangement defined by Ext.

We prove that Brandt semirings over nontrivial groups with at least two indices admit no identity basis with a bounded number of variables. A uniform family of finite witnesses has size linear in the variable bound and applies to groups of arbitrary cardinality. A commutative construction yields the corresponding result for flat extensions of groups of unbounded exponent and gives an exact finite basis criterion for arbitrary flat group extensions. Structural representations lead to a classification of finite natural inverse semirings and a single identity characterizing locally Clifford natural inverse structure among regular semirings. We also describe products, orthogonal sums, minimum generators, colored graph identities and linear variable complexity. Further results concern infinite generating algebras and inherent nonfinite basability.

Classical Schur--Weyl duality plays a fundamental role in the representation theory of general linear and symmetric groups. In this paper, we develop an affine Schur--Weyl theory for the Laurent polynomial loop semigroup. Let $\hat G_K(n)$ denote the Laurent polynomial loop semigroup inside the loop group $GL_n(K((t)))$ over a field $K$, and let $\hat S_K(n,r)$ be the affine Schur algebra. The natural action of $\hat G_K(n)$ on the affine tensor space $Ω_K^{\otimes r}$ induces an algebra homomorphism $K\hat G_K(n)\rightarrow \hat S_K(n,r).$ We prove that this homomorphism is surjective for every field $K$ satisfying $|K|>r$. Furthermore, we establish the double centralizer property for affine Schur algebras over unique factorization domains for all $n\geq2$. For $n\geq2$ and any field $K$ with $|K|>r$, this yields the corresponding centralizer property for $\hat G_K(n)$. In contrast, for $n=1$ and $r\geq2$, the corresponding natural homomorphism is not surjective over any field. For $n\geq 2$, we use the double centralizer theorem to determine the center of the affine Schur algebra and, when $K$ is a field with $|K|>r$, show that $\hatζ_{r,K}$ maps the center of $K\hat G_K(n)$ onto it. Over an algebraically closed field $K$ of arbitrary characteristic, we prove that every finite-dimensional irreducible $\hat S_K(n,r)$-module is a tensor product of evaluation modules. Moreover, we obtain explicit character formulas expressing these irreducible characters as products of characters of irreducible classical Schur algebra modules. Finally, we study polynomial representations of $\hat G_K(n)$ over algebraically closed fields $K$, and classify its finite-dimensional irreducible polynomial representations. For finite fields $\mathbb F_q$ with $q>r$, this yields a classification in the defining-characteristic setting.

We introduce and investigate the irreducibility of endomorphisms of finitely generated free semigroups, i.e., we investigate when an endomorphism $φ: Σ^+ -> Σ^+$, where $Σ$ is any alphabet, can be nontrivially expressed as a composition $φ= ψ_2 \circ ψ_1$ of endomorphisms $ψ_1, ψ_2: Σ^+ -> Σ^+$. We, hence, study a notion of primality in the endomorphism monoid of the free semigroup---a natural and fundamental concept in this algebraic structure. We establish that irreducibility is a nontrivial property for the class of so-called rank-preserving endomorphisms, and we provide a characteristic condition separating the reducible and irreducible endomorphisms. We also characterise when an endomorphism is a factor of another endomorphism, analyse the non-uniqueness of factorisations of a rank-preserving endomorphism into its irreducible components, and investigate the use of incidence matrices to give insights into the (ir-)reducibility of rank-preserving endomorphisms.

We study the reflexivity property of ideals in numerical semigroups. In particular, we characterize irreducible reflexive ideals and determine the Apéry set of a reflexive ideal. Moreover, we study how reflexivity allows us to characterize some classes of numerical semigroups and the interaction of reflexivity with the property of being a trace ideal.

We show how to solve the conjugacy (search) problem and the problem of determining whether a given element is periodic in symmetric diagram groups based on finite semigroup presentations.

Let $(R,\m)$ be a one-dimensional Cohen--Macaulay local ring with a canonical fractional ideal $R\subseteq K\subseteq\overline R$, and let $v$ denote its embedding dimension. Put $σ(R)=\sup\{j\ge0\mid\tr(K^j)\supseteq\m\}$. By definition, $R$ is nearly Gorenstein if and only if $σ(R)>0$. We prove that $R$ is almost Gorenstein if and only if $σ(R)\ge v$, equivalently, $σ(R)=\infty$. Thus every finite value of $σ(R)$ is at most $v-1$. We then determine the structure of rings for which $σ(R)$ attains its largest finite value $v-1$, just below the threshold for the almost Gorenstein property. This occurs if and only if $K^{v-1}\cong\m$ and $K^v\not\cong\m$. When these conditions hold, $R$ has type two, with multiplicity $e$ greater than $v$ and $e \equiv 3 \pmod{v-1}$. As an application, we characterize the numerical semigroup rings $R$ with $σ(R)=v-1$ as those generated by an arithmetic progression, of type two and multiplicity greater than $v$.

We introduce the notion of a Cartan inverse semigroup and an (algebraic) semi-Cartan subalgebra in an $R$-algebra A, providing a purely algebraic analogue of Cartan semigroups and semi-Cartan subalgebras in a C*-algebra. This extends the theory of quasi-Cartan subalgebras, shifting the focus from designated subalgebras to designated subsemigroups. Our main result characterises twisted Steinberg algebras in terms of the existence of a Cartan inverse semigroup: we show that an $R$-algebra admits a Cartan inverse semigroup if and only if it is isomorphic to a twisted Steinberg algebra. Moreover, when our construction is applied to a twisted Steinberg algebra over an ample Hausdorff groupoid, the constructed twist is naturally isomorphic to the original one.

Let $$ S_n=\left\langle \genfrac{[}{]}{0pt}{}{n}{1},\ldots,\genfrac{[}{]}{0pt}{}{n}{n-1}\right\rangle $$ be the numerical semigroup generated by the nontrivial unsigned Stirling numbers of the first kind in the $n$th row. Writing $a=\genfrac{[}{]}{0pt}{}{n}{n-1}=\binom n2$ and $b_j=\genfrac{[}{]}{0pt}{}{n}{n-2j}$, we determine the complete gcd filtration of the reduced generating system. More precisely, if \[ M_j=\frac12\operatorname{lcm}\{m\ge1:\varphi(m)\le2j\}, \] then $$ \gcd(a,b_1,\ldots,b_j)=\frac{a}{\gcd(a,M_j)}. $$ The proof uses prime-power block polynomials and exact $p$-adic support at threshold degrees. We then establish a divisor-support property for canonical mixed-radix reductions and combine it with an elementary-symmetric growth estimate to prove that, after inactive generators are removed, the resulting generating sequence is telescopic. Consequently, the Apéry set of $S_n$ is rectangular, yielding an explicit Frobenius formula. The same structure shows that $S_n$ is free and symmetric and gives explicit formulas for its genus and conductor, while its type is one.

We introduce SemiBase, a project that computes and formally certifies finite identity bases for small semigroups. Deciding finite basability is undecidable for finite algebras and remains open for finite semigroups. The task requires a proof that a candidate basis is complete, or a proof that none exists, rather than a single first-order validity query. LLM-guided agents search for these proofs; a referee agent rebuilds them from source, and the Lean kernel checks the resulting corpus in a final audit. Humans choose targets and approve final outcomes. We certify every semigroup of order at most 6: all 1309 semigroups of order at most 5 and all 15973 of order 6, including proofs that the four known nonfinitely based semigroups have no finite basis. The bases for order 6 define 505 distinct varieties, whose inclusion order Vampire determines except for four pairs. The resulting catalogue is a machine-checked account of results scattered across the literature and a tested foundation for order 7.

We establish asymptotics for the degree and height growth rate functions of partially commutative semigroups of endomorphisms of varieties, i.e., semigroups where the only relations between generators, if any, are commuting ones. To do this, we prove a general result connecting the growth rates of two abstract functions, one multiplicative and one simply nonnegative, subject to a Tate telescoping hypothesis and a sufficiently nice normal form on the underlying semigroup. Finally, we construct several new families of endomorphisms on which our asymptotics apply. To do this, we generalize the standard ping-pong lemma for elements to a ping-pong lemma for subsemigroups.

We give a necessary and sufficient condition for a combinatorial D-class of a finite semigroup to have a permutation matching: that its structure matrix admit a balanced weighting, that is, non-negative weights with constant row sums and constant column sums. This weakens the regularity hypothesis, the role of Hall's lemma being taken up by the Birkhoff--von Neumann theorem. We then apply it to show that the monoid of all order-preserving self-maps of an n-element chain, has a permutation matching.

We investigate finite equational bases for full power semirings of finite semigroups, including the empty set, in the constant-free signature with addition and multiplication. For a nontrivial finite nilpotent semigroup, we associate a finite relational structure recording the ordered products that are nonzero. We prove that the full power semiring is finitely based if and only if this structure has finite duality, and relate this condition to first-order definability and dismantling of the square of its core. Quantitative bounds connect obstruction size with the number of variables required in an identity basis. In the commutative case of nilpotency index $d$, the criterion reduces to the existence of an element with nonzero $(d-1)$st power. We also establish a nonfinite-basis obstruction for semigroups with a two-element group ideal and prove a finite lifting theorem. These results yield a direct-product criterion and a five-element counterexample to sufficiency of the identity-fibre condition. The arguments use equational logic, finite relational duality, and explicit algebraic constructions.

In this paper, we study the presence of perfect powers in orbits of polynomials, or of semigroups generated by a finite family of polynomials, defined over a number field. In particular, we correct and generalize a result of Ahmadi et al. (2012), showing that multiplicative shifts of perfect powers in orbits can be detected by a finite algorithm. We also give a finiteness result on elements in orbits satisfying certain multiplicative relations.

We study the finite basis problem for flat semirings of the forms \(S_c(W)\), \(M_c(W)\), and \(M(W)\), where \(W\) is a nonempty set of words in a free commutative semigroup, a free commutative monoid, and a free monoid, respectively. We completely classify such flat semirings with respect to the finite basis property, allowing \(W\) to be infinite. We prove that \(S_c(W)\) is finitely based if and only if every word in \(W\) is either a cube of a letter or has length at most two, whereas \(M_c(W)\) and \(M(W)\) are finitely based if and only if \(W\) consists solely of the empty word. As applications, we recover the nonfinite basability of \(\flat(\mathbb{Z})\) and the max-plus semiring \((\mathbb{Z},\max,+)\).

We consider the 653 equational laws of order up to 4 for an associative binary operation, and all of their conjunctions. We determine that there are only 456 equivalence classes of such conjunctions (associative equational theories), and find all implications between them. The conjunction operation makes this set of theories into a semi-lattice. These results are formalized in Lean. This is a semigroup analogue of the Equational Theories Project, but extended to conjunctions of equations.

The finite basis problem for small semirings differs from its semigroup counterpart even in order three. Recent work classifies several additive types of four-element additively idempotent semirings, including all 386 semirings whose additive reduct is a chain. We consider all four-element semirings with commutative addition, in the binary signature without named constants. Combining the existing classifications with structural reductions and polynomial normal forms, we obtain 2284 finitely based and 57 nonfinitely based isomorphism types among the 2341 types. The nonfinitely based cases consist of 45 additively idempotent semirings and twelve with nonidempotent addition. The positive arguments give explicit bases or finite constructions with specified bounds. The negative arguments use cited results, term retractions and a hypergraph obstruction. A complete catalogue records the applicable result for each representative; separate correspondence tables identify precisely the cases supplied by the earlier classifications.

Let $H=\langle a_1,\ldots,a_n\rangle$ be a numerical semigroup. A conjecture on numerical semigroup rings predicts that the defining ideal $I_H$ has a determinantal presentation if and only if the set of pseudo-Frobenius numbers of $H$ has form $\{h+α,h+2α,\ldots,h+(n-1)α\}$ for $h\ge 0, α>0$. We prove this conjecture under the condition that $h$ has a unique factorization in $H$. We also give characterization this unique-factorization condition. As an application, we consider the family of affine-orbit numerical semigroups determined by $m=cA_{n-1}+1$, $1\le c\le a$. We prove that the relevant element $h$ has a unique factorization and the defining ideal is generated by the 2-minors of a $2\times n$-matrix. In particular, the Eagon--Northcott complex of the matrix mentioned above gives the graded minimal free resolution of $k[H]$.

We study g-dimonoids, which are algebraic structures equipped with two associative binary operations satisfying a prescribed system of axioms. We develop a construction of g-dimonoids based on inflations of semigroups, construct several classes of 2-dinilpotent commutative g-dimonoids, and investigate the isomorphism problem for these classes. As an application of these results, we obtain a structural description of all commutative g-dimonoids of order 3, up to isomorphism.

The Wagner-Preston theorem states that every inverse semigroup can be embedded into an inverse semigroup of partial bijections on some set. However, this embedding does not respect lattice operations in the natural ordering. In this paper, we show that an abstract pseudogroup can be faithfully represented by partial bijections on a set if and only if its frame of idempotents is spatial. More generally, we show that any abstract pseudogroup can be faithfully represented by partial homeomorphisms on a locale.

Motivated by recent work on conjugacy languages in groups, we introduce a general framework for studying \emph{languages of representatives} associated to equivalence relations on finitely generated semigroups. After developing this notion in full generality, we particularize it to Green's relations and obtain the corresponding Green languages, which form the central objects of this article. For free inverse monoids, we describe these languages via Munn trees and establish several structural relations among them, including characterizations of the $\mathcal{D}$-, $\mathcal{R}$-, $\mathcal{L}$-, and $\mathcal{H}$-languages. We then investigate the formal language-theoretic complexity of these Green languages. For free inverse monoids of rank at least two, we show that $\mathcal{H}$-Geo is context-free and co-context-free but not regular, while $\mathcal{R}$-Geo, $\mathcal{L}$-Geo, and $\mathcal{D}$-Geo are neither context-free nor co-context-free. In contrast, in the monogenic case, $\mathcal{D}$-Geo is regular and the remaining Green languages are deterministic context-free. We further relate these results to the ShortLex language and the growth of free inverse monoids, proving in particular that $(\text{FIM}_X,X)$ is growth tight. The article concludes with a collection of open problems and directions for future research.