Acts and Operator Monoids
Let M be a monoid, with the binary operation denoted by “•” and the identity element denoted by e. Then a (left) M-act (or left act over M) is a set X together with an operation ⋅ : M × X → X which is compatible with the monoid structure as follows:
- for all x in X: e ⋅ x = x;
- for all a, b in M and x in X: a ⋅ (b ⋅ x) = (a • b) ⋅ x.
This is the analogue in monoid theory of a (left) group action. Right M-acts are defined in a similar way. A monoid with an act is also known as an operator monoid. Important examples include transition systems of semiautomata. A transformation semigroup can be made into an operator monoid by adjoining the identity transformation.
Read more about this topic: Monoid
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