Free completely regular semigroups

Abstract

A completely regular semigroup is a semigroup that is a union of groups. The aim here is to provide an alternative characterization of the free completely regular semigroup Fcrx on a set X to that given by J. A. Gerhard in [3, 4].Although the structure theory for completely regular semigroups was initiated in 1941 [1] by A. H. Clifford it was not until 1968 that it was shown by D. B. McAlister [5] that Fcrx exists. More recently, in [7], M. Petrich demonstrated the existence of Fcrx by showing that completely regular semigroups form a variety of unary semigroups (that is, semigroups with the additional operation of inversion).