A combinatorial property of finite full transformation semigroups
John M Howie, Edmund F. Robertson, Boris M. Schein · Proceedings of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Section A Mathematics · 1988
Synopsis Let E be the set of idempotents in the semigroup Singn of singular self-maps of N = {1, …, n}. Let α ∊ Singn. Then α ∊ E2 if and only if for every x in im α the set xα−1 either contains x or contains an element of (im α)′. Write rank α for |im α| and fix α for |{x ∊ N: xa = x}|. Define (x, xα, xα2) to be an admissible α-triple if x ∊ (im α)′, xα3 ≠ xα2. Let comp α (the complexity of α) be the maximum number of disjoint admissible α-triples. Then α ∊ E3 if and only if