On the diameter and girth of zero-divisor graphs of inverse semigroups

Abstract

Let $S$ be an inverse semigroup with zero and let $Z(S)^\times$ be its set of non-zero divisors with respect to the natural partial order $\le $ on $S$, that is, $a \in Z(S)^\times $ if there exists $b\in S\setminus\{0\}$ with $\omega(a, b) = \{c \in S: c \leq a\ \mbox{and}\ c \leq b\}=\{0\}$. The set $Z(S)^\times$ makes up the vertices of the corresponding {\it zero-divisor graph} $\Gamma (S)$, with two distinct vertices $a, b$ forming an edge if $\omega(a, b)=\{0\}$. We characterize {\it zero-divisor graphs} of inverse semigroups in terms of their diameter and girth. We also classify inverse semigroups without zero by building a connection between the diameter (girth) and the least group congruence $\sigma$ on an inverse semigroup without zero. Finally, we give a description of the diameter and girth of graph inverse semigoups $I(G)$ in terms of the set of vertices and the set of edges of a graph $G$.