Southeast Asian Bulletin of Mathematics (2001) 25: 4760

Southeast Asian
Bulletin of
Mathematics
: Springer-Verlag 2001
Sums and Limits of Generalized Direct Families of
Algebras*
Miroslav C

iric and Tatjana Petkovic

University of Nis, Faculty of Philosophy, Department of Mathematics, 18000 Nis, C

irila i
Metodija 2, Yugoslavia
E-mail address: mciric@archimed.lfak.ni.ac.yu
E-mail address: tanjapet@archimed.lfak.ni.ac.yu
Stojan Bogdanovic
University of Nis, Faculty of Economics, 18000 Nis, Trg JNA 11, Yugoslavia
E-mail address: sbogdan@archimed.lfak.ni.ac.yu
Abstract. In this paper we introduce a generalization of direct families of algebras and
we study their limits and sums. In the case of generalized direct families of algebras carried
by idempotent algebras we investigate some subdirect decompositions of their sums. The
results that we obtain generalize various results given by J.L. Chrislock and T. Tamura [2],
M. C

iric and S. Bogdanovic [37], H. Mitsch [13], M. Petrich [1416], B.M. Schein [2324]
and others.
1. Introduction and Preliminaries
If A is an algebra of type t without nullary operation symbols, then it can be
decomposed by congruence relations all classes of which are subalgebras of A, or
equivalently, by congruence relations whose related factors are idempotent alge-
bras of type t. Such decompositions are called idempotent decompositions.
There are two general problems concerning idempotent decompositions. The
rst one is the decomposition problem: How should an algebra be decomposed
into its components, possibly of simpler structure, and the structure of the whole
algebra be described in terms of the structure of the components? The opposite one
is the composition problem: Given a family A
i

i A I
of pairwise disjoint algebras of
type t indexed by an idempotent algebra I of the same type, how should oper-
ations of type t on A = 6
i A I
A
i
be dened so that A becomes an algebra of type t,
the equivalence relation on A determined by the partition A
i

i A I
is a congruence
relation and the related factor algebra is isomorphic to I ?
*Supported by Grant 04M03B of RFNS through Math. Inst. SANU
Problems of this type have been rst considered by A.H. Cliord in [9], 1941.
He studied semigroups decomposable into semilattices of groups and he solved the
related composition problem by use of a transitive system of homomorphisms over
a semilattice. His work has been continued in several directions. J. Ponka in [16],
1967, generalized his construction dening the sum of a semilattice ordered system
of algebras determined by a transitive system of homomorphisms over a semi-
lattice. Such sums are now known as Ponka sums. Another generalization of
Cliord's construction was given by G. Lallement in [12], 1967. He dened the
sum of a semilattice ordered system of semigroups by the help of a not necessarily
transitive system of homomorphisms over a semilattice. In the case of general
algebras, such sums were dened by A. Romanowska and J.D.H. Smith in [19],
1991. They called them Lallement sums. They also proved that every algebra
decomposed into a semilattice sum of algebras can be so constructed. In the case
of semigroups this result was obtained by G. Lallement in [12]. The reader can nd
more information about Lallement and Ponka sums in the survey paper [17] by
J. Ponka and A. Romanowska.
The third generalization of Cliord's constructions was given by B.M. Schein in
[23], 1974 (see also [24]). He dened the sum of a system of semigroups indexed
by a band (idempotent semigroup) by the help of two mutually balanced transitive
systems of homomorphisms dened over two quasi-orders on a band. M. C

iric
and S. Bogdanovic gave in [5], 1993, an equivalent denition with only one tran-
sitive system of homomorphisms over another quasi-order on a band. In the same
paper they gave a common generalization of this construction and of the Lalle-
ment sums of semigroups. This concept has been since treated in a series of papers
of the same authors (see [57] and also [3] and [4]).
The purpose of the present paper is to generalize all mentioned construction
methods. In Section 2 we introduce the concept of a generalized direct family of
algebras of type t carried by a quasi-ordered set. We dene the limit of such a
family and when t has no nullary operation symbols, we dene its sum. In Section
3 we study generalized direct families carried by idempotent algebras, which are
treated as quasi-ordered sets with respect to quasi-orders on them dened through
their semilattice replicas. We investigate some subdirect decompositions of the
sums of such families. The obtained results generalize various results given by J.L.
Chrislock and T. Tamura in [2], M. C

iric and S. Bogdanovic in [37], H. Mitsch

in [13], M. Petrich in [1416], B.M. Schein in [2324] and others.
Throughout this paper, the symbols of mappings will be written on the right,
and the symbols of operations will be written on the left. The set of all positive
integers will be denoted by N. For n A N we write [1; n[ = k A N[ 1 Uk Un.
For an equivalence relation x on a non-empty set X, ax will denote the x-class of
an element a A X, and x
\
: a ax will denote the natural mapping from X onto
the factor set X=x. By D
X
we denote the equality relation on X. By a quasi-order
on a set X we mean a reexive and transitive relation X. A non-empty set X sup-
plied with a quasi-order u is called a quasi-ordered set. A quasi-ordered set X is
directed if for all x; y A X there exists z A X such that x uz and y uz.
For a given type (language) t of algebras and n A N or n = 0, t
n
will denote
the set of all n-ary operation symbols from t. If t is a type of algebras having no
48 M. C

iric, T. Petkovic, and S. Bogdanovic

nullary operation symbols, that is t
0
= q, then by an idempotent algebra of type
t we mean an algebra satisfying the condition f
A
(a; a; . . . ; a) = a for every f A t
n
,
n A N, and a A A. If Y is a join-semilattice, then it can be treated as an algebra
of type t, where the operations of type t on Y are dened as follows: Let f A t
n
,
n A N, and a
k
A Y for k A [1; n[, we set f
Y
(a
1
; . . . ; a
n
) = 4
n
k=1
a
k
. The algebra
dened in that way is called a t-semilattice.
Let A be an algebra of type t. For an algebra B of the same type we say that
it is an extension or an overalgebra of A if it contains a subalgebra isomorphic to
A. As usual, we identify these two algebras and we treat A as a subalgebra of B. If
B and C are two extensions of A and j : B C is a homomorphism such that
aj = a for each a A A, then j is called an A-homomorphism, and in the case when
C = A, we say that j is a retraction of B onto A.
Let be given two algebras A and B of type t and their common homomorphic
image H. Let j and c denote the homomorphisms of A and of B onto H, respec-
tively. Then P = (a; b) A A B[ aj = bc is a subdirect product of the algebras
A and B and it is called the pullback product of A and B with respect to H, j and
c. An algebra Q of type t is called a sub-pullback product of A and B with respect
to H, j and c if it is a subdirect product of A and B contained in the pullback
product of A and B with respect to H, j and c.
Let A be an algebra of type t and let P(A) be the power set of A, that is the
set of all subsets of A. Dene operations of type t on P(A) as follows: For f A t
n
,
n A N, and X
k
A P(A), k A [1; n[, let
f
P(A)
(X
1
; . . . ; X
n
) = f
A
(a
1
; . . . ; a
n
) [ a
k
A X
k
; for each k A [1; n[;
and for f A t
0
let f
P(A)
= f
A
. Then P(A) is also an algebra of type t called the
power algebra of A.
For undened notions and notations we refer to [1], [10] and [11].
2. Generalized Direct Families of Algebras, their Sums and Limits
In this section we dene generalized direct families of algebras, their sums and
limits, and we study some of their fundamental properties.
Denition 1. Let be given a directed quasi-ordered set I and two families A
i

i A I
and
B
i

i A I
, each consisting of pairwise disjoint algebras of type t. For i; j A I, i uj, let
f
i; j
be a homomorphism of A
i
into B
j
such that the family f
i; j

iuj
satises the
following conditions:
(i) for each i A I, f
i; i
is an embedding of A
i
into B
i
;
(ii) for each f A t
n
, n A N, and for all i
1
; . . . ; i
n
A I there exists i vi
1
; . . . ; i
n
such
that
f
B
i
(a
1
f
i
1
; i
; . . . ; a
n
f
i
n
; i
) A A
i
(1)
Sums and Limits of Generalized Direct Families of Algebras 49
for all a
1
A A
i
1
; . . . ; a
n
A A
i
n
, and for each j vi it holds

f
B
i
(a
1
f
i
1
; i
; . . . ; a
n
f
i
n
; i
)

f
i; j
= f
B
j
(a
1
f
i
1
; j
; . . . ; a
n
f
i
n
; j
): (2)
Then the quadruplet (I; A
i

i A I
; f
i; j

iuj
; B
i

i A I
), shortly denoted by (I; A
i
; f
i; j
;
B
i
), is called the generalized direct family of algebras carried by I. The family
A
i

i A I
is called the base family, the family B
i

i A I
is called the extension family,
and I is called the carrier of this generalized direct family. Because of (i), for each
i A I, A
i
will be treated as a subalgebra of B
i
, up to an isomorphism.
If all the mappings f
i; j
are injective, then such a generalized direct family is
denoted by hI; A
i
; f
i; j
; B
i
i, and it is called an injective generalized direct family of
algebras.
Futhermore, if we have a generalized direct family (I; A
i
; f
i; j
; B
i
) of algebras
such that each f
i; j
maps A
i
into A
j
, or A
i
= B
i
for each i A I, then such a gener-
alized direct family of algebras is denoted by (I; A
i
; f
i; j
). Moreover, if we have a
generalized direct family (I; A
i
; f
i; j
) such that f
i; j

iuj
is a transitive system of
homomorphisms, i.e. f
i; j
f
j; k
= f
i; k
whenever i uj uk, then we obtain an ordi-
nary direct family of algebras which is denoted by [I; A
i
; f
i; j
[.
Let (I; A
i
; f
i; j
; B
i
) be a generalized direct family of algebras of type t and let
t

= tt
0
. In order to simplify the notations we introduce the operations of type
t

on the set I as follows: For each f A t

n
, n A N, and all i
1
; . . . ; i
n
A I, x an i A I
that satises the condition (ii) of Denition 1, and set
f
I
(i
1
; . . . ; i
n
) = i: (3)
In particular, for each i A I we assume that
f
I
(i; . . . ; i) = i: (4)
With respect to the operations dened in this way, I becomes an idempotent
algebra of type t

, and it is positively quasi-ordered with respect to the

quasi-order u.
Now we are ready to construct the limit of a generalized direct family of
algebras.
Theorem 1. Let (I; A
i
; f
i; j
; B
i
) be a generalized direct family of algebras and let the
relation y on A = 6
i A I
A
i
be dened as follows: For a A A
i
, b A A
j
, i; j A I, we set
ayb = (bk A I)(El vk)af
i; l
= bf
j; l
: (5)
Then y is an equivalence relation on A and the related quotient set, denoted by A
y
,
is an algebra of type t, with operations dened as follows: If f A t
n
, n A N, and
a
1
A A
i
1
; . . . ; a
n
A A
i
n
, i
1
; . . . ; i
n
A I, then we set
f
A
y
(a
1
y; . . . ; a
n
y) =

f
B
i
(a
1
f
i
1
; i
; . . . ; a
n
f
i
n
; i
)

y; (6)
50 M. C

iric, T. Petkovic, and S. Bogdanovic

where i = f
I
(i
1
; . . . ; i
n
), and if f A t
0
, then we set
f
A
y
= f
A
i
y; (7)
for an arbitrary i A I.
Proof. It is obvious that y is reexive and symmetric. To prove the transitivity
assume a; b; c A A such that ayb and byc. Let a A A
i
, b A A
j
and c A A
k
, for some
i; j; k A I. By hypothesis there exist s; t A I such that s vi; j and t v j; k, and
af
i; l
= bf
j; l
and bf
j; m
= cf
k; m
;
for each l vs and each mvt. Since I is directed, there exists r vs; t, and for each
l vr we have
af
i; l
= bf
j; l
= cf
k; l
;
which yields ayb.
Let us consider an arbitrary f A t
0
, and arbitrary i; j A I. Then for each k vi; j
we have that
f
A
i
f
i; k
= f
B
k
= f
A
j
f
j; k
which means that f
A
i
y = f
A
j
y, for all i; j A I. Therefore, then nullary operation
f
A
y
is well-dened by (7).
Now suppose that f A t
n
, n A N, and assume a
1
; . . . ; a
n
; b
1
; . . . ; b
n
A A such that
a
k
y = b
k
y, for each k, k A [1; n[. For 1 Uk Un let a
k
A A
i
k
and b
k
A A
j
k
, for some
i
k
; j
k
A I. Let i = f
I
(i
1
; . . . ; i
n
) and j = f
I
( j
1
; . . . ; j
n
). By (1) we have
f
B
i
(a
1
f
i
1
; i
; . . . ; a
n
f
i
n
; i
); f
B
j
(b
1
f
j
1
; j
; . . . ; b
n
f
j
n
; j
) A A:
On the other hand, by a
k
yb
k
, for 1 Uk Un, we have that there exists m
k
vi
k
; j
k
such that
a
k
f
i
k
; l
= b
k
f
j
k
; l
; (8)
for each l vm
k
. Now, for an arbitrary mvm
1
; . . . ; m
n
; i; j and each l vm we
have

f
B
i
(a
1
f
i
1
; i
; . . . ; a
n
f
i
n
; i
)

f
i; l
= f
B
l
(a
1
f
i
1
; l
; . . . ; a
n
f
i
n
; l
) (by(2))
= f
B
l
(b
1
f
j
1
; l
; . . . ; b
n
f
j
n
; l
) (by(8))
=

f
B
j
(b
1
f
j
1
; j
; . . . ; b
n
f
j
n
; j
)

f
j; l
(by(2))
Sums and Limits of Generalized Direct Families of Algebras 51
whence we obtain that

f
B
i
(a
1
f
i
1
; i
; . . . ; a
n
f
i
n
; i
)

y =

f
B
j
(b
1
f
j
1
; j
; . . . ; b
n
f
j
n
; j
)

y;
which was to be proved. This completes the proof of the theorem. r
Denition 2. The algebra A
y
constructed in Theorem 1 will be called the limit of the
generalized direct family (I; A
i
; f
i; j
; B
i
) of algebras, or the generalized direct limit
of this family.
In the case when the above family is an ordinary direct family of algebras, A
y
is
an ordinary direct limit.
In the case when t
0
= q, we can also construct the sum of a generalized direct
family of algebras.
Theorem 2. Let (I; A
i
; f
i; j
; B
i
) be a generalized direct family of algebras of type t,
where t
0
= q, and let A = 6
i A I
A
i
. Then A is an algebra of type t with operations
dened as follows: For f A t
n
, n A N and a
1
A A
i
1
; . . . ; a
n
A A
i
n
; i
1
; . . . ; i
n
A I, we set
f
A
(a
1
; . . . ; a
n
) = f
B
i
(a
1
f
i
1
; i
; . . . ; a
n
f
i
n
; i
); (9)
where i = f
I
(i
1
; . . . ; i
n
).
Moreover, the following conditions hold:
(a) the relation y on A dened in Theorem 1 is a congruence relation on A and
A=y GA
y
;
(b) the relation % on A dened by
a%b = a; b A A
i
for some i A I;
is a congruence relation on A and A=% GI.
Proof. It is clear that the operations f
A
, f A t are well-dened, so that A is an
algebra of type t. Moreover, by (9) and (6) we have

f
A
(a
1
; . . . ; a
n
)

y =

f
B
i
(a
1
f
i
1
; i
; . . . ; a
n
f
i
n
; i
)

y = f
A
y
(a
1
y; . . . ; a
n
y);
so (a) is fulllled. Condition (b) follows by (9). r
3. Generalized Direct Families Carried by Idempotent Algebras
Throughout this section t will denote a type of algebras with t
0
= q.
Let A be an algebra of type t and let r be a congruence relation on A. It is
easy to check that every r-class of A is a subalgebra of A if and only if the factor
52 M. C

iric, T. Petkovic, and S. Bogdanovic

algebra A=r is an idempotent algebra. Assume that r has this property. Let the
factor algebra A=r be denoted by I, let j : A I be the natural homomor-
phism corresponding to r and for i A I let A
i
= ij
1
. Then A
i
is a subalgebra of
A for each i A I, A can be written as
A = 6
i A I
A
i
; with A
i
VA
j
= q; for i 0 j; i; j A I; (10)
and for arbitrary f A t
n
, n A N, and i
1
; . . . ; i
n
A I we have
f
P(A)
(A
i
1
; . . . ; A
i
n
) JA
f
I
(i
1
;...; i
n
):
(11)
Conversely, if there exists a family A
i

i A I
of subalgebras of an algebra A, indexed
by an idempotent algebra I, which satises the conditions (10) and (11), then the
equivalence relation r determined by the partition A
i

i A I
is a congruence relation
on A and A=r GI. The pair (I; A
i

i A I
), shortly denoted by (I; A
i
), is called an
idempotent decomposition of A. In the case when I is a t-semilattice, the decom-
position (I; A
i
) is called a semilattice decomposition of A.
If A is an algebra of type t, then there exists a smallest congruence relation r on
A such that A=r is the idempotent algebra, and then A=r is called a idempotent
replica of A and the corresponding idempotent decomposition is called the greatest
idempotent decomposition of A. Similarly, there exists a smallest congruence rela-
tion s on A such that A=s is a t-semilattice, and then A=s is the semilattice replica
of A and the corresponding semilattice decomposition is the greatest semilattice
decomposition of A.
Throughout this section I will denote an idempotent algebra of type t, and Y will
denote its semilattice replica. The expression ``A = (I; A
i
)'' means that the algebra
A possesses an idempotent decomposition (I; A
i
) and the expression ``I = (Y; I
a
)
is an idempotent algebra'' means that I is an idempotent algebra and (Y; I
a
) is
the greatest semilattice decomposition of I. Using this decomposition we dene a
quasi-order u on I as follows:
i uj = i A I
a
; j A I
b
for some a; b A Y and a Ub;
and this makes it possible to consider generalized direct families of algebras
carried by quasi-ordered sets dened thus, that is carried by idempotent algebras.
The problem that will be considered in this section is the following: Let be
given an idempotent decomposition (I; A
i
) of an algebra A. Under what condi-
tions can A be represented as the sum of some families of the form (I; A
i
; f
i; j
; B
i
)?
In the case of semilattice decompositions, the answer to this question was given
by A.B. Romanowska and J.D.H. Smith in [21]. They proved that for every semi-
lattice decomposition (Y; A
a
) of an algebra A, A can be represented as the sum of
some generalized direct families (Y; A
a
; f
a; b
; B
a
), called a coherent Lallement sum.
Here we consider the general case of idempotent decompositions.
If (I; A
i
) is an idempotent decomposition of an algebra A, then for each
i A I, U
i
= 6
kui
A
k
is a subalgebra of A. These algebras play a crucial role in
the following
Sums and Limits of Generalized Direct Families of Algebras 53
Theorem 3. Let (I; A
i
) be an idempotent decomposition of an algebra A.
Then A can be represented as the sum of some families (I; A
i
; f
i; j
; B
i
) if and only
if for every i A I there exists an extension B
i
of A
i
and an A
i
-homomorphism of U
i
into B
i
.
Proof. Let A be representable as the sum of some generalized direct families
(I; A
i
; f
i; j
; B
i
). For an arbitrary i A I, dene a mapping j
i
: U
i
B
i
by aj
i
=
af
k; i
, if a A A
k
, for k ui. Then j
i
is an A
i
-homomorphism of U
i
into B
i
.
Conversely, suppose that for each i A I there exists an extension B
i
of A
i
and
an A
i
-homomorphism j
i
of U
i
into B
i
. For i; j A I such that i uj dene a map-
ping f
i; j
: A
i
B
j
by af
i; j
= aj
j
for a A A
i
. Let us prove that (I; A
i
; f
i; j
; B
i
) is a
generalized direct family and A is its sum.
For an arbitrary i A I, j
i
is an A
i
-homomorphism, that is aj
i
= a for each a A
A
i
, so f
i; j
is an embedding of A
i
into B
i
. Suppose that f A t
n
, n A N, i
m
A I and
a
m
A A
i
m
, for m A [1; n[. Let i = f
I
(i
1
; . . . ; i
m
) and j vi. Then f
A
(a
1
; . . . ; a
n
) A A
i
,
so we have
f
B
i
(a
1
f
i
1
; i
; . . . ; a
n
f
i
n
; i
) = f
B
i
(a
1
j
i
; . . . ; a
n
j
i
) =

f
U
i
(a
1
; . . . ; a
n
)

j
i
=

f
A
(a
1
; . . . ; a
n
)

j
i
= f
A
(a
1
; . . . ; a
n
) A A
i
;
and further

f
B
i
(a
1
f
i
1
; i
; . . . ; a
n
f
i
n
; i
)

f
i; j
=

f
A
(a
1
; . . . ; a
n
)

f
i; j
=

f
U
j
(a
1
; . . . ; a
n
)

j
j
= f
B
j
(a
1
j
j
; . . . ; a
n
j
j
)
= f
B
j
(a
1
f
i
1
; j
; . . . ; a
n
f
i
n
; j
):
Thus we have proved the conditions (1), (2) and (9), which completes the proof of
the theorem. r
Similarly we prove the following
Corollary 1. Let (I; A
i
) be an idempotent decomposition of an algebra A.
Then A can be represented as the sum of some families (I; A
i
; f
i; j
) if and only if
for every i A I there exists a retraction of U
i
onto A
i
.
Another necessary and sucient condition for an algebra A to be the sum of
some generalized direct families carried by an idempotent algebra is given by the
following
Theorem 4. Let I = (Y; I
a
) be an idempotent algebra.
An algebra A is the sum of some families (I; A
i
; f
i; j
; B
i
) if and only if A is a sub-
pullback product of I and some algebra of the form C = (Y; C
a
) with respect to Y.
54 M. C

iric, T. Petkovic, and S. Bogdanovic

Proof. Let A be the sum of a generalized direct family (I; A
i
; f
i; j
; B
i
). Dene a
relation h on A by ahb if and only if there exist a A Y and i; j A I
a
such that a A A
i
,
b A A
j
and
af
i; k
= bf
j; k
for each k vi; j; k A I:
Evidently, h is reexive and symmetric. To prove the transitivity of h assume
a; b; c A A such that ahb and bhc. Then there exist a A Y and i; j; k A I
a
such that
a A A
i
, b A A
j
, c A A
k
and
af
i; s
= bf
j; s
and bf
j; t
= cf
k; t
for all s vi; j and t v j; k:
Let l vi; k. Then l A I
b
for some b Va, whence l v j. Now we have that
af
i; l
= bf
j; l
= cf
k; l
;
and this yields ahc, which was to be proved.
Assume now that f A t
n
, n A N, and a
m
; b
m
A A, m A [1; n[, such that a
m
hb
m
, for
each m A [1; n[. Then for each m A [1; n[ there exist a
m
A Y and i
m
; j
m
A I
a
m
such
that a
m
A A
i
m
; b
m
A A
j
m
and
a
m
f
i
m
; k
= b
m
f
j
m
; k
for each k vi
m
; j
m
:
Let us introduce the following notations:
a = f
A
(a
1
; . . . ; a
m
); b = f
A
(b
1
; . . . ; b
m
);
a = f
Y
(a
1
; . . . ; a
m
); i = f
I
(i
1
; . . . ; i
m
); j = f
I
( j
1
; . . . ; j
m
):
Then i; j A I
a
, a A A
i
, b A A
j
and for each k vi; j we have that k vi
m
; j
m
for each
m A [1; n[, whence
af
i; k
= f
A
(a
1
f
i
1
; k
; . . . ; a
n
f
i
n
; k
) = f
A
(b
1
f
j
1
; k
; . . . ; b
n
f
j
n
; k
) = bf
j; k
:
Therefore, we have proved that h is a congruence relation on A.
For a A Y let A
a
denote the sum of the family (I
a
; A
i
; f
i; j
; B
i
). Then A = (Y; A
a
).
Let s denote the corresponding semilattice congruence on A. Since h Js, for
C = A=h we have that C = (Y; C
a
) where C
a
= A
a
h
\
, for each a A Y.
Let % denote the congruence relation on A determined by the partition
A
i
[ i A I of A. It is clear that % Vh = D
A
, so A is a subdirect product of A=% GI
and A=h = C. It remains to prove that A can be embedded into a pullback prod-
uct of I and C with respect to Y. Consider the embedding F : A I C dened
by aF = (a%; ah). For an arbitrary a A A we have that a A A
i
and i A I
a
for some
a A Y, whence aF = (i; ah) A I
a
C
a
. Therefore AFJ6
a A Y
I
a
C
a
, which was
to be proved.
Sums and Limits of Generalized Direct Families of Algebras 55
Conversely, let there exist an algebra of the form C = (Y; C
a
) such that A is a
sub-pullback product of I and C with respect to Y. Without loss of generality we
can assume that AJ6
a A Y
I
a
C
a
. By Theorem 3.6 of [21], C is the sum of some
family (Y; C
a
; f
a; b
; D
a
). For i A I
a
, a A Y, let
A
i
= (i C
a
) VA; B
i
= i D
a
;
and for i uj, that is for i A I
a
and j A I
b
, such that a Ub, let a mapping f
i; j
:
A
i
B
j
be dened by
(i; a)f
i; j
= ( j; af
a; b
):
We immediately check that (I; A
i
; f
i; j
; B
i
) is a generalized direct family of alge-
bras and A is its sum. r
Remark 1. With notations from the above theorem, the algebra A
a
is the subdirect
product of the algebras I
a
and C
a
for each a A Y.
The conditions under which the sub-pullback product appearing in Theorem 4
is a pullback are given by the next theorem:
Theorem 5. Let I = (Y; I
a
) be an idempotent algebra.
An algebra A is a pullback product of I and some algebra of the form C =
(Y; C
a
), with respect to Y, if and only if A is the sum of some family (I; A
i
; f
i; j
; B
i
)
satisfying the following conditions:
(a) (I
a
; A
i
; f
i; j
; B
i
) is a direct family of algebras for each a A Y;
(b) f
i; j
f
j; k
= f
i; k
for all i; j A I
a
, k A I
b
, a Ub.
In this case, for each a A Y, we have the following:
(I) C
a
is the limit of the family (I
a
; A
i
; f
i; j
);
(II) A
i
is isomorphic to C
a
for each i A I
a
;
(III) the sum A
a
of the family (I
a
; A
i
; f
i; j
) is isomorphic to the direct product of I
a
and C
a
.
Proof. Let A be the sum of a generalized direct family (I; A
i
; f
i; j
; B
i
) which sat-
ises the conditions (a) and (b). Let us use the notations introduced in the proof
of Theorem 4. By this theorem we have that A is a sub-pullback product of I and
the algebra C = (Y; C
a
). Let a A Y and (i; u) A I
a
C
a
. Then u = ah for some
a A A
a
, that is a A A
j
for some j A I
a
. Set b = af
j; i
. By (a) we have that b A A
i
, and
by (b) it follows that bha, so u = bh. Therefore bF = (i; bh) = (i; u), so we have
proved that AF = 6
a A Y
I
a
C
a
. Hence A is a pullback product of I and C.
Let us prove the conditions (I), (II) and (III). Take an arbitrary a A Y. Since
A
a
F = I
a
C
a
, (III) holds.
(I). Let h
a
denote the restriction of h to A
a
and let y
a
be the congruence relation
on A
a
dened by the rule given in (5). Let a A A
i
; b A A
j
for some i; j A I
a
. If ah
a
b
then af
i; k
= bf
j; k
for each k vi; j, and then af
i; k
= bf
j; k
for each k A I
a
, so we
56 M. C

iric, T. Petkovic, and S. Bogdanovic

have that ay
a
b. On the other hand, if ay
a
b then af
i; l
= bf
j; l
for each l A I
a
, so a =
bf
j; i
, and now, for each k vi; j, by (b) it follows that af
i; k
= bf
j; i
f
i; k
= bf
j; k
,
whence ah
a
b. Therefore, y
a
= h
a
, whence C
a
= A
a
h
\
= A
a
h
\
a
= A
a
y
\
a
, which means
that C
a
is the limit of the family (I
a
; A
i
; f
i; j
).
(II). Assume an arbitrary i A I
a
. Let j
i
denote the restriction of h
\
to A
i
. Evi-
dently, j
i
maps A
i
into C
a
and it is one-to-one. On the other hand, for each u A C
a
we have u = bh for some b A A
a
, that is for b A A
j
, for some j A I
a
. If we set a =
bf
j; i
then a A A
i
and ahb, whence aj
i
= ah = bh = u. Therefore, j
i
is an isomor-
phism of A
i
onto C
a
.
Conversely, if A is a pullback product of I and some algebra of the form C =
(Y; C
a
) with respect to Y, then as in the proof of Theorem 4 we show that A is
the sum of some families (I; A
i
; f
i; j
; B
i
) satisfying the conditions (a) and (b). r
Next we give two consequences of the above theorem:
Corollary 2. Let I = (Y; I
a
) be an idempotent algebra.
An algebra A is the sum of a family (I; A
i
; f
i; j
) satisfying the conditions (a) and
(b) of Theorem 5, if and only if it is a pullback product of I and the sum of some
family (Y; C
a
; f
a; b
) with respect to Y.
Proof. Let A be the sum of some family (I; A
i
; f
i; j
) satisfying the conditions (a)
and (b) of Theorem 5. With notations from Theorems 4 and 5, A is the pullback
product of I and C = (Y; C
a
) with respect to Y. For each a A Y x an element
i
a
A I
a
. For a; b A Y such that a Ub, dene a mapping f
a; b
: C
a
C
b
by: f
a; b
=
j
1
i
a
f
i
a
; i
b
j
i
b
. Then it is not hard to verify that (Y; C
a
; f
a; b
) is a generalized direct
family and C is its sum. r
Corollary 3. Let I = (Y; I
a
) be an idempotent algebra.
An algebra A is the sum of a direct family [I; A
i
; f
i; j
[ if and only if it is a pullback
product of I and the sum of some direct family [Y; C
a
; f
a; b
[ with respect to Y.
Proof. This corollary can be proved similarly as the previous one. r
Using injective generalized families of algebras, by the next theorem we char-
acterize all subdirect products of an idempotent algebra and an algebra. This result
generalizes the corresponding result proved by the rst two authors in [7] in the
case of semigroups.
Theorem 6. Let I be an idempotent algebra and let C be an algebra.
An algebra A is a subdirect product of I and C if and only if A is the sum of some
injective generalized direct family of algebras carried by I, whose limit is isomorphic
to C.
Proof. Let A be a subdirect product of I and C. For i A I let B
i
= i C and
A
i
= AVB
i
, and for i; j A I such that i uj dene a mapping f
i; j
: A
i
B
j
by
Sums and Limits of Generalized Direct Families of Algebras 57
(i; c)f
i; j
= ( j; c), where c A C. By a straightforward verication we obtain that
each f
i; j
is an injective homomorphism, that the condition (i) of Denition 1 holds,
and A = 6
i A I
A
i
.
Let f A t
n
, n A N, i
m
A I and a
m
A A
i
m
, for m A [1; n[. Then a
m
= (i
m
; c
m
) with
c
m
A C for each m A [1; n[, and if we set i = f
I
(i
1
; . . . ; i
n
), then we have
f
A
(a
1
; . . . ; a
n
) =

f
I
(i
1
; . . . ; i
n
); f
C
(c
1
; . . . ; c
n
)

f
I
(i; . . . ; i); f
C
(c
1
; . . . ; c
n
)

= f
B
i

(i; c
1
); . . . ; (i; c
n
)

= f
B
i
(a
1
f
i
1
; i
; . . . ; a
n
f
i
n
; i
);
and for each j vi we have

f
B
i
(a
1
f
i
1
; i
; . . . ; a
n
f
i
n
; i
)

f
i; j
=

i; f
C
(c
1
; . . . ; c
n
)

f
i; j
=

j; f
C
(c
1
; . . . ; c
n
)

= f
B
j

( j; c
1
); . . . ; ( j; c
n
)

= f
B
j
(a
1
f
i
1
; j
; . . . ; a
n
f
i
n
; j
):
Therefore, hI; A
i
; f
i; j
; B
i
i is an injective generalized direct family of algebras and
A is its sum. Moreover, for (i; c
1
), ( j; c
2
) A A we have that (i; c
1
)y( j; c
2
) if and only
if c
1
= c
2
, so y = ker p, where y is the congruence relation on A dened by (5) and
p is the projection homomorphism of A onto C. Therefore C GA=y, that is C is
the limit of the given family.
Conversely, let hI; A
i
; f
i; j
; B
i
i be an injective generalized direct family of alge-
bras such that A is its sum and C is isomorphic to its limit. Consider the congru-
ence relation y on A dened by (5) and the congruence relation % which corre-
spond to the idempotent decomposition (I; A
i
) of A. Since each f
i; j
is injective, we
have that y V% = D
A
, whence we obtain that A is a subdirect product of A=% GI
and A=y GC. This completes the proof of the theorem. r
Another method for the characterization of subdirect products of an idempotent
semigroup and a semigroup was developed by J. Chrislock and T. Tamura in [2],
H. Mitsch in [13] and the rst two authors in [7]. Here we give a generalization of
their results. This will be done using the concept of a relational morphism. This
concept has its origin in Semigroup theory and has very signicant applications in
Formal language theory (for example, see [17]).
In what follows we consider an arbitrary type t of algebras, possibly with nullary
operation symbols. Let A and B be two algebras of type t. By a relation x from A
into B, denoted x : A B, we mean a mapping from A into the power algebra
P(B). The graph of the relation x is a subset of A B dened by
graph(x) = (a; b) [ b A ax:
58 M. C

iric, T. Petkovic, and S. Bogdanovic

We say that x is a relation from A onto B, or that it is a surjective relation, if for
each b A B there exists a A A such that b A ax.
A relational morphism from A into B is dened to be a relation x : A B
having the following properties:
(i) ax is non-empty for each a A A;
(ii) for each f A t
n
, n A N, and all a
1
; . . . ; a
n
A A, we have
f
P(B)
(a
1
x; . . . ; a
n
x) J

f
A
(a
1
; . . . ; a
n
)

x;
(iii) for each f A t
0
, f
B
A f
A
x.
Using this concept we prove the following
Theorem 7. Let A and B be two algebras of type t and let S JA B. Then S is a
subdirect product of A and B if and only if it is the graph of some relational mor-
phism of A onto B.
Proof. In order to simplify the notations we set P = A B.
Let S be a subdirect product of A and B. Dene a relation x : A B in the
following way: For a A A, ax = b A B[ (a; b) A S. Since S is a subdirect product
of A and B, we see that x is surjective and (i) holds.
Let f A t
n
for n A N, and a
1
; . . . ; a
n
A A. Let b A f
P(B)
(a
1
x; . . . ; a
n
x), that is b =
f
B
(b
1
; . . . ; b
n
), where b
i
A a
i
x for each i A [1; n[, and let a = f
A
(a
1
; . . . ; a
n
). Then
b
i
A a
i
x implies (a
i
; b
i
) A S for each i A [1; n[, whence (a; b) A S, that is b A ax,
which was to be proved. If f A t
0
, then f
P
= ( f
A
; f
B
) A S, since S is a subalgebra
of A B, so f
B
A f
A
x. Therefore, we have proved that x is a relational morphism
of A onto B.
Conversely, let S be the graph of some relational morphism x of A onto B.
By the conditions (ii) and (iii) it follows that S is a subalgebra of A B, and by
condition (i) and the surjectivity of x we have that S is a subdirect product of A
and B. r
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