Adjunction semigroups

Abstract

Let S and T be compact (topological) semigroups, A be a closed subsemigroup of S, and f be a continuous homomorphism of A onto T. It is a natural question to ask is there a compact semigroup Z containing T and a continuous homomorphism φ of S onto Z such that φ restricted to A is f?In the category of compact Hausdorff spaces, the answer to the analogous question may be given by the following construction due to Borsuk. Let X and Y be compact Hausdorff spaces, A be a closed subspace of X and f a continuous function of A onto Y. Then R(f, X) = {(x, y)|f(x) = f(y) or x = y} is a closed equivalence relation on X. The adjunction space Z(f, x) is X/R(f, X). The purpose of this note is to investigate this construction in semigroups.