
Epigroups 335
epigroup having subsemigroups which are not subepigroups is given by the infinite cyclic
group (the subepigroups of a group are obviously none other than its subgroups).
Note the following two elementary properties of the principal character; the latter is a
special case of a rudimentary general algebraic fact.
2.1 Observation A homomorphic image of an epigroup is an epigroup, and any semigroup
homomorphism ϕ of an epigroup S onto some epigroup is automatically an epigroup homo-
morphism, i.e., ϕ(
a)=ϕ(a) for any a ∈ S.
2.2 Observation Under a homomorphism of an epigroup, the inverse image of a subepigroup
(in particular, the inverse image of an idempotent) is a subepigroup.
A homomorphic image of a subsemigroup of a given semigroup is called a divisor (or
factor) of the semigroup. A divisor is called a Rees divisor if it is the Rees quotient semigroup
of some subsemigroup modulo an ideal. A divisor obtained from a subepigroup of an epigroup
will be called, for brevity, an epidivisor. Observation 2.1 shows that any epidivisor of an
epigroup is itself an epigroup. Since an ideal of an epigroup is obviously a subepigroup,
among the epidivisors of an epigroup are all its principal factors.
The subepigroup generated by a subset A of a given epigroup will be denoted by A,
while the single angular brackets are used to denote the subsemigroup generated by a set.
(We could also suggest the alternative notation epA, but the double angular brackets seem
to contrast better with the subsemigroup notation.) If S is an epigroup and S = A [resp.,
S = A], then A will be called an epigroup [semigroup] generating set of S.Itisworth
noting that if A is an epigroup generating set, and
A = {a |a ∈ A}, then the set A ∪ A
does not have to be a semigroup generating set of the given epigroup. Moreover, a finitely
generated epigroup (even if it is completely regular) may have no finite semigroup generating
sets: an example is the free completely regular semigroup of rank 2 (see [116]
1
). We can say,
however, that if S is an epigroup in which the mapping a →
a is an endomorphism or an
anti-endomorphism, then S = A obviously implies S = A ∪
A. Epigroups with these
properties of the pseudo-inversion operation will be considered in Subsection 3.4.
It is natural to call an epigroup having a one-element epigroup generating set mono-
genic or, in accordance with traditional group-theoretic and semigroup-theoretic terminology,
cyclic. We choose the latter. Consider an arbitrary cyclic epigroup C = a.Letind(a)=n.
The equalities (2.2
) show that Gr C is the cyclic group generated by a,GrC = G
e
a
, C is
a cyclic group if n = 1 (and only in this case), and C \ Gr C = {a,...,a
n−1
} if n>1.
In any event, C = K
e
a
, C is commutative, and Gr C is its kernel. We see that the finite
cyclic epigroups are precisely the finite cyclic semigroups whose structure and classification
are textbook facts. Our aim now is to classify infinite cyclic epigroups. To do this, we need
the construction described below.
Suppose T is an arbitrary semigroup, H a subsemigroup, and I an ideal of H.Wetake
asetF of cardinality equal to that of H \ I and disjoint from T ; the image of any element
1
Note, in order to avoid a misunderstanding, that in the work cited, as well as in a number of other
works of different authors, completely regular semigroups were called Clifford (another variant is Cliffordian)
semigroups. This good term had been proposed not later than the mid sixties (refer to the book [29]);
being shorter, it seemed to be rather appropriate for the notion which became the subject of a rich theory.
However, later many authors began to use the term “Clifford semigroup” only for the particular case of inverse
completely regular semigroups, i.e., semilattices of groups. Somewhat more detailed terminological remarks
on this matter are given in [108, p. 23].