monoidtheoretic

Monoidtheoretic is an adjective used to describe matters, methods, or results that arise from the theory of monoids, the algebraic structures consisting of a set equipped with an associative binary operation and an identity element. The study sits within algebra and is closely related to semigroup theory, but with emphasis on the presence and consequences of the identity.

A monoid is a semigroup with an identity element. Core topics include presentations by generators and relations, free monoids (sets of all finite strings from a given alphabet under concatenation), and free commutative monoids. Other central notions are submonoids, quotient monoids, and homomorphisms; actions of monoids on sets; and the structure theory captured by Green’s relations in monoids. Additional avenues include monoid algebras, representations, growth and finiteness properties, and notions of automaticity and complexity within monoid contexts.

Prominent examples illustrate the basic ideas: the free monoid on a set X consists of all finite strings formed from X with concatenation and the empty string as the identity; the natural numbers with addition form a commutative monoid, as do strings under concatenation or endomorphisms of a set under composition. Monoid theory also explores categorical perspectives, such as monoid objects in monoidal categories, and its connections to combinatorics on words, formal languages, and algebraic combinatorics.

Overall, monoidtheoretic approaches provide a framework for understanding sequential composition, structure, and action across mathematics and theoretical computer science.