arXiv subjects

James East

Publications and source records attributed to James East.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Involutions of (twisted) diagram monoids

We classify the involutions of all of the most well-studied diagram monoids -- namely the partition, planar partition, partial Brauer, Motzkin, Brauer and Temperley--Lieb monoids -- and characterise those that give rise to star-regular or regular star-monoid structures. We then complete the same program for the associated twisted diagram monoids, with respect to both the canonical float-counting twisting, and the recently-discovered rank-based twisting. This necessitates developing a general theory of involutions of twisted products. Some of our results were quite unexpected. For example, a Brauer monoid is star-regular with respect to many of its involutions, but only a regular star-monoid for one of them. We will also see that twisted diagram monoids over the integers are always star-regular, thereby providing new and very natural examples of star-regular monoids. Along the way, we also obtain (by necessity) a number of results of independent interest; specifically, we classify the automorphisms of the Motzkin and Temperley--Lieb monoids (and hence also of the planar partition monoids), and we show that all of our diagram monoids generically have trivial centre.

math.RA↗

arXiv2026

Faithful linear and relational representations of diagram categories and monoids

We study representations of diagram categories by binary relations and matrices over rings and semirings. Our main result is a faithful involutive tensor representation of the partition category $P$ (and consequently of each partition monoid $P_n$) by zero-one matrices over an arbitrary (additively) idempotent semiring. The dimensions of the matrices involved are powers of $2$, and we show that these are minimal with respect to faithful involutive tensor representations by matrices over any semiring. Intriguingly, these matrices encode the number of floating components formed when composing partitions, and can therefore be used to construct faithful representations of ($d$-)twisted partition categories $P^\Phi$ and $P^{\Phi,d}$ (and the respective twisted partition monoids $P_n^\Phi$ and $P_n^{\Phi, d}$) over rings of appropriate characteristic. We also give lower-dimensional involutive representations of the Brauer and Temperley--Lieb categories $B$ and $TL$. In the case of $TL$, the dimensions are given by Fibonacci numbers.

math.RA↗

arXiv2025

Maximal subgroups of free projection- and idempotent-generated semigroups with applications to partition monoids

This paper investigates the maximal subgroups of a free projection-generated regular $*$-semigroup $PG(P)$ over a projection algebra $P$, and their relationship to the maximal subgroups of the free idempotent-generated semigroup $IG(E)$ over the corresponding biordered set $E = E(P)$. In the first part of the paper we obtain a number of general presentations by generators and defining relations, in each case reflecting salient combinatorial/topological properties of the groups. In the second part we apply these to explicitly compute the groups when $P = P(P_n)$ and $E = E(P_n)$ arise from the partition monoid $P_n$. Specifically, we show that the maximal subgroup of $PG(P(P_n))$ corresponding to a projection of rank $r\leq n-2$ is (isomorphic to) the symmetric group $S_r$. In $IG(E(P_n))$, the corresponding subgroup is the direct product $Z \times S_r$. The appearance of the infinite cyclic group $Z$ is explained by a connection to a certain twisted partition monoid $P_n^\Phi$, which has the same biordered set as $P_n$.

math.GR↗

arXiv2025

Presentations for semigroups of full-domain partitions

The full-domain partition monoid $P_n^{fd}$ has been discovered independently in two recent studies on connections between diagram monoids and category theory. It is a right restriction Ehresmann monoid, and contains both the full transformation monoid and the join semilattice of equivalence relations. In this paper we give presentations (by generators and relations) for $P_n^{fd}$, its singular ideal, and its planar submonoid. The latter is not an Ehresmann submonoid, but it is a so-called grrac monoid in the terminology of Branco, Gomes and Gould. In particular, its structure is determined in part by a right regular band in one-one correspondence with planar equivalences.

math.RA↗

arXiv2025

Twisted products of monoids

A twisting of a monoid $S$ is a map $\Phi:S\times S\to\mathbb{N}$ satisfying the identity $\Phi(a,b) + \Phi(ab,c) = \Phi(a,bc) + \Phi(b,c)$. Together with an additive commutative monoid $M$, and a fixed $q\in M$, this gives rise a so-called twisted product $M\times_\Phi^qS$, which has underlying set $M\times S$ and multiplication $(i,a)(j,b) = (i+j+\Phi(a,b)q,ab)$. This construction has appeared in the special cases where $M$ is $\mathbb{N}$ or $\mathbb{Z}$ under addition, $S$ is a diagram monoid (e.g.~partition, Brauer or Temperley-Lieb), and $\Phi$ counts floating components in concatenated diagrams. In this paper we identify a special kind of `tight' twisting, and give a thorough structural description of the resulting twisted products. This involves characterising Green's relations, (von Neumann) regular elements, idempotents, biordered sets, maximal subgroups, Sch\"{u}tzenberger groups, and more. We also consider a number of examples, including several apparently new ones, which take as their starting point certain generalisations of Sylvester's rank inequality from linear algebra.

math.GR↗

arXiv2024

Self-supervised Monocular Depth and Pose Estimation for Endoscopy with Latent Priors

Accurate 3D mapping in endoscopy enables quantitative, holistic lesion characterization within the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, requiring reliable depth and pose estimation. However, endoscopy systems are monocular, and existing methods relying on synthetic datasets or complex models often lack generalizability in challenging endoscopic conditions. We propose a robust self-supervised monocular depth and pose estimation framework that incorporates a Generative Latent Bank and a Variational Autoencoder (VAE). The Generative Latent Bank leverages extensive depth scenes from natural images to condition the depth network, enhancing realism and robustness of depth predictions through latent feature priors. For pose estimation, we reformulate it within a VAE framework, treating pose transitions as latent variables to regularize scale, stabilize z-axis prominence, and improve x-y sensitivity. This dual refinement pipeline enables accurate depth and pose predictions, effectively addressing the GI tract's complex textures and lighting. Extensive evaluations on SimCol and EndoSLAM datasets confirm our framework's superior performance over published self-supervised methods in endoscopic depth and pose estimation.

cs.CV↗

arXiv2024

Minimum transformation representations of diagram monoids

We obtain formulae for the minimum transformation degrees of the most well-studied families of finite diagram monoids, including the partition, Brauer, Temperley--Lieb and Motzkin monoids. For example, the partition monoid $P_n$ has degree $1 + \frac{B(n+2)-B(n+1)+B(n)}2$ for $n\geq2$, where these are Bell numbers. The proofs involve constructing explicit faithful representations of the minimum degree, many of which can be realised as (partial) actions on projections.

math.RA↗

arXiv2024

Categorical representation of DRC-semigroups

DRC-semigroups model associative systems with domain and range operations, and contain many important classes, such as inverse, restriction, Ehresmann, regular $*$-, and $*$-regular semigroups. In this paper we show that the category of DRC-semigroups is isomorphic to a category of certain biordered categories whose object sets are projection algebras in the sense of Jones. This extends the recent groupoid approach to regular $*$-semigroups of the first and third authors. We also establish the existence of free DRC-semigroups by constructing a left adjoint to the forgetful functor into the category of projection algebras.

math.RA↗

arXiv2024

Diameters of endomorphism monoids of chains

The left and right diameters of a monoid are topological invariants defined in terms of suprema of lengths of derivation sequences with respect to finite generating sets for the universal left or right congruences. We compute these parameters for the endomorphism monoid $End(C)$ of a chain $C$. Specifically, if $C$ is infinite then the left diameter of $End(C)$ is 2, while the right diameter is either 2 or 3, with the latter equal to 2 precisely when $C$ is a quotient of $C{\setminus}\{z\}$ for some endpoint $z$. If $C$ is finite then so is $End(C),$ in which case the left and right diameters are 1 (if $C$ is non-trivial) or 0.

math.RA↗

arXiv2024

Projection algebras and free projection- and idempotent-generated regular $*$-semigroups

The purpose of this paper is to introduce a new family of semigroups - the free projection-generated regular $*$-semigroups - and initiate their systematic study. Such a semigroup $PG(P)$ is constructed from a projection algebra $P$, using the recent groupoid approach to regular $*$-semigroups. The assignment $P\mapsto PG(P)$ is a left adjoint to the forgetful functor that maps a regular $*$-semigroup $S$ to its projection algebra $P(S)$. In fact, the category of projection algebras is coreflective in the category of regular $*$-semigroups. The algebra $P(S)$ uniquely determines the biordered structure of the idempotents $E(S)$, up to isomorphism, and this leads to a category equivalence between projection algebras and regular $*$-biordered sets. As a consequence, $PG(P)$ can be viewed as a quotient of the classical free idempotent-generated (regular) semigroups $IG(E)$ and $RIG(E)$, where $E=E(PG(P))$; this is witnessed by a number of presentations in terms of generators and defining relations. The semigroup $PG(P)$ can also be interpreted topologically, through a natural link to the fundamental groupoid of a simplicial complex explicitly constructed from $P$. The theory is then illustrated on a number of examples. In one direction, the free construction applied to the projection algebras of adjacency semigroups yields a new family of graph-based path semigroups. In another, it turns out that, remarkably, the Temperley-Lieb monoid $TL_n$ is the free regular $*$-semigroup over its own projection algebra $P(TL_n)$.

math.RA↗

arXiv2024

Congruences of maximum regular subsemigroups of variants of finite full transformation semigroups

Let $T_X$ be the full transformation monoid over a finite set $X$, and fix some $a\in T_X$ of rank $r$. The variant $T_X^a$ has underlying set $T_X$, and operation $f\star g=fag$. We study the congruences of the subsemigroup $P=Reg(T_X^a)$ consisting of all regular elements of $T_X^a$, and the lattice $Cong(P)$ of all such congruences. Our main structure theorem ultimately decomposes $Cong(P)$ as a specific subdirect product of $Cong(T_r)$ and the full equivalence relation lattices of certain combinatorial systems of subsets and partitions. We use this to give an explicit classification of the congruences themselves, and we also give a formula for the height of the lattice.

math.RA↗

arXiv2023

On the diameter of semigroups of transformations and partitions

For a semigroup $S$ whose universal right congruence is finitely generated (or, equivalently, a semigroup satisfying the homological finiteness property of being type right-$FP_1$), the right diameter of $S$ is a parameter that expresses how `far apart' elements of $S$ can be from each other, in a certain sense. To be more precise, for each finite generating set $U$ for the universal right congruence on $S,$ we have a metric space $(S,d_U)$ where $d_U(a,b)$ is the minimum length of derivations for $(a,b)$ as a consequence of pairs in $U$; the right diameter of $S$ with respect to $U$ is the diameter of this metric space. The right diameter of $S$ is then the minimum of the set of all right diameters with respect to finite generating sets. We investigate whether various natural infinite semigroups of transformations and partitions have a finitely generated universal right/left congruence, and for those that do, we determine their right/left diameter. Among other results, for an arbitrary infinite set $X$ we prove the following. Each of the monoids of all binary relations on $X,$ of all partial transformations on $X,$ and of all full transformations on $X,$ as well as the partition and partial Brauer monoids on $X,$ have right diameter 1 and left diameter 1. The symmetric inverse monoid on $X$ has right diameter 2 and left diameter 2. The monoid of all injective mappings on $X$ has right diameter 4, and its minimal ideal (called the Baer-Levi semigroup on $X$) has right diameter 3, but neither of these two semigroups has a finitely generated universal left congruence. On the other hand, the semigroup of all surjective mappings on $X$ has left diameter 4, and its minimal ideal has left diameter 2, but neither of these semigroups has a finitely generated universal right congruence.

math.GR↗

arXiv2023

A groupoid approach to regular $*$-semigroups

In this paper we develop a new groupoid-based structure theory for the class of regular $*$-semigroups. This class occupies something of a `sweet spot' between the important classes of inverse and regular semigroups, and contains many natural examples. Some of the most significant families include the partition, Brauer and Temperley-Lieb monoids, among other diagram monoids. Our main result is that the category of regular $*$-semigroups is isomorphic to the category of so-called `chained projection groupoids'. Such a groupoid is in fact a triple $(P,\mathcal G,\varepsilon)$, where: $\bullet$ $P$ is a projection algebra (in the sense of Imaoka and Jones), $\bullet$ $\mathcal G$ is an ordered groupoid with object set $P$, and $\bullet$ $\varepsilon:\mathscr C\to\mathcal G$ is a special functor, where $\mathscr C$ is a certain natural `chain groupoid' constructed from $P$. Roughly speaking: the groupoid $\mathcal G=\mathcal G(S)$ remembers only the `easy' products in a regular $*$-semigroup $S$; the projection algebra $P=P(S)$ remembers only the `conjugation action' of the projections of $S$; and the functor $\varepsilon=\varepsilon(S)$ tells us how $\mathcal G$ and $P$ `fit together' in order to recover the entire structure of $S$. In this way, we obtain the first completely general structure theorem for regular $*$-semigroups. As a consequence of our main result, we give a new proof of the celebrated Ehresmann--Schein--Nambooripad Theorem, which establishes an isomorphism between the categories of inverse semigroups and inductive groupoids. Other applications will be given in future works. We consider several examples along the way, and pose a number of problems that we believe are worthy of further attention.

math.RA↗

arXiv2023

Presentations for wreath products involving symmetric inverse monoids and categories

Wreath products involving symmetric inverse monoids/semigroups/categories arise in many areas of algebra and science, and presentations by generators and relations are crucial tools in such studies. The current paper finds such presentations for $M\wr\mathcal I_n$, $M\wr\operatorname{Sing}(\mathcal I_n)$ and $M\wr\mathcal I$. Here $M$ is an arbitrary monoid, $\mathcal I_n$ is the symmetric inverse monoid, $\operatorname{Sing}(\mathcal I_n)$ its singular ideal, and $\mathcal I$ is the symmetric inverse category.

math.RA↗

arXiv2022

Product decompositions of semigroups induced by action pairs

This paper concerns a class of semigroups that arise as products $US$, associated to what we call `action pairs'. Here $U$ and $S$ are subsemigroups of a common monoid and, roughly speaking, $S$ has an action on the monoid completion $U^1$ that is suitably compatible with the product in the over-monoid. The semigroups encapsulated by the action pair construction include many natural classes such as inverse semigroups and (left) restriction semigroups, as well as many important concrete examples such as transformational wreath products, linear monoids, (partial) endomorphism monoids of independence algebras, and the singular ideals of many of these. Action pairs provide a unified framework for systematically studying such semigroups, within which we build a suite of tools to ensure a comprehensive understanding of them. We then apply our abstract results to many special cases of interest. The first part of the paper constitutes a detailed structural analysis of semigroups arising from action pairs. We show that any such semigroup $US$ is a quotient of a semidirect product $U\rtimes S$, and we classify all congruences on semidirect products that correspond to action pairs. We also prove several covering and embedding theorems, each of which naturally extends celebrated results of McAlister on proper (a.k.a. $E$-unitary) inverse semigroups. The second part of the paper concerns presentations by generators and relations for semigroups arising from action pairs. We develop a substantial body of general results and techniques that allow us to build presentations for $US$ out of presentations for the constituents $U$ and $S$ in many cases, and then apply these to several examples, including those listed above. Due to the broad applicability of the action pair construction, many results in the literature are special cases of our more general ones.

math.RA↗

arXiv2021

On the enumeration of integer tetrahedra

We consider the problem of enumerating integer tetrahedra of fixed perimeter (sum of side-lengths) and/or diameter (maximum side-length), up to congruence. As we will see, this problem is considerably more difficult than the corresponding problem for triangles, which has long been solved. We expect there are no closed-form solutions to the tetrahedron enumeration problems, but we explore the extent to which they can be approached via classical methods, such as orbit enumeration. We also discuss algorithms for computing the numbers, and present several tables and figures that can be used to visualise the data. Several intriguing patterns seem to emerge, leading to a number of natural conjectures. The central conjecture is that the number of integer tetrahedra of perimeter $n$, up to congruence, is asymptotic to $n^5/C$ for some constant $C\approx 229000$.

math.CO↗

arXiv2021

Properties of congruences of twisted partition monoids and their lattices

We build on the recent characterisation of congruences on the infinite twisted partition monoids $\mathcal{P}_{n}^Φ$ and their finite $d$-twisted homomorphic images $\mathcal{P}_{n,d}^Φ$, and investigate their algebraic and order-theoretic properties. We prove that each congruence of $\mathcal{P}_{n}^Φ$ is (finitely) generated by at most $\lceil\frac{5n}2\rceil$ pairs, and we characterise the principal ones. We also prove that the congruence lattice $\textsf{Cong}(\mathcal{P}_{n}^Φ)$ is not modular (or distributive); it has no infinite ascending chains, but it does have infinite descending chains and infinite antichains. By way of contrast, the lattice $\textsf{Cong}(\mathcal{P}_{n,d}^Φ)$ is modular but still not distributive for $d>0$, while $\textsf{Cong}(\mathcal{P}_{n,0}^Φ)$ is distributive. We also calculate the number of congruences of $\mathcal{P}_{n,d}^Φ$, showing that the array $\big(|\textsf{Cong}(\mathcal{P}_{n,d}^Φ)|\big)_{n,d\geq 0}$ has a rational generating function, and that for a fixed $n$ or $d$, $|\textsf{Cong}(\mathcal{P}_{n,d}^Φ)|$ is a polynomial in $d$ or $n\geq 4$, respectively.

math.RA↗

arXiv2021

Classification of congruences of twisted partition monoids

The twisted partition monoid $\mathcal{P}_n^Φ$ is an infinite monoid obtained from the classical finite partition monoid $\mathcal{P}_n$ by taking into account the number of floating components when multiplying partitions. The main result of this paper is a complete description of the congruences on $\mathcal{P}_n^Φ$. The succinct encoding of a congruence, which we call a C-pair, consists of a sequence of $n+1$ congruences on the additive monoid $\mathbb{N}$ of natural numbers and a certain $(n+1)\times\mathbb{N}$ matrix. We also give a description of the inclusion ordering of congruences in terms of a lexicographic-like ordering on C-pairs. This is then used to classify congruences on the finite $d$-twisted partition monoids $\mathcal{P}_{n,d}^Φ$, which are obtained by factoring out from $\mathcal{P}_n^Φ$ the ideal of all partitions with more than $d$ floating components. Further applications of our results, elucidating the structure and properties of the congruence lattices of the ($d$-)twisted partition monoids, will be the subject of a future article.

math.RA↗