In
mathematics, the term weak inverse is used with several meanings.
Theory of semigroups
In the theory of
semigroup
In mathematics, a semigroup is an algebraic structure consisting of a Set (mathematics), set together with an associative internal binary operation on it.
The binary operation of a semigroup is most often denoted multiplication, multiplicatively ...
s, a weak inverse of an element ''x'' in a semigroup is an element ''y'' such that . If every element has a weak inverse, the semigroup is called an
''E''-inversive or ''E''-dense semigroup. An ''E''-inversive semigroup may equivalently be defined by requiring that for every element , there exists such that and are
idempotent
Idempotence (, ) is the property of certain operations in mathematics and computer science whereby they can be applied multiple times without changing the result beyond the initial application. The concept of idempotence arises in a number of pl ...
s.
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An element ''x'' of ''S'' for which there is an element ''y'' of ''S'' such that is called regular. A regular semigroup In mathematics, a regular semigroup is a semigroup ''S'' in which every element is regular, i.e., for each element ''a'' in ''S'' there exists an element ''x'' in ''S'' such that . Regular semigroups are one of the most-studied classes of semigroup ...
is a semigroup in which every element is regular. This is a stronger notion than weak inverse. Every regular semigroup is ''E''-inversive, but not vice versa.
Category theory
In category theory, a weak inverse of an object ''A'' in a monoidal category
In mathematics, a monoidal category (or tensor category) is a category \mathbf C equipped with a bifunctor
:\otimes : \mathbf \times \mathbf \to \mathbf
that is associative up to a natural isomorphism, and an object ''I'' that is both a left ...
''C'' with monoidal product ⊗ and unit object ''I'' is an object ''B'' such that both and are isomorphic to the unit object ''I'' of ''C''. A monoidal category in which every morphism
In mathematics, particularly in category theory, a morphism is a structure-preserving map from one mathematical structure to another one of the same type. The notion of morphism recurs in much of contemporary mathematics. In set theory, morphis ...
is invertible and every object has a weak inverse is called a 2-group
In mathematics, a 2-group, or 2-dimensional higher group, is a certain combination of group and groupoid. The 2-groups are part of a larger hierarchy of ''n''-groups. In some of the literature, 2-groups are also called gr-categories or groupal ...
.
See also
* Generalized inverse
In mathematics, and in particular, algebra, a generalized inverse (or, g-inverse) of an element ''x'' is an element ''y'' that has some properties of an inverse element but not necessarily all of them. The purpose of constructing a generalized in ...
* Von Neumann regular ring
In mathematics, a von Neumann regular ring is a ring ''R'' (associative, with 1, not necessarily commutative) such that for every element ''a'' in ''R'' there exists an ''x'' in ''R'' with . One may think of ''x'' as a "weak inverse" of the eleme ...
References
Monoidal categories
Semigroup theory
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