Conjugacy in inverse semigroups

Abstract

In a group $G$, elements $a$ and $b$ are conjugate if there exists $g\in G$ such that $g^{-1} ag=b$. This conjugacy relation, which plays an important role in group theory, can be extended in a natural way to inverse semigroups: for elements $a$ and $b$ in an inverse semigroup $S$, $a$ is conjugate to $b$, which we will write as $a\sim_{\mathrm{i}} b$, if there exists $g\in S^1$ such that $g^{-1} ag=b$ and $gbg^{-1} =a$. The purpose of this paper is to study the conjugacy $\sim_{\mathrm{i}}$ in several classes of inverse semigroups: symmetric inverse semigroups, free inverse semigroups, McAllister $P$-semigroups, factorizable inverse monoids, Clifford semigroups, the bicyclic monoid and stable inverse semigroups.