a semilattice is a commutative band

This note explains how a semilattice is the same as a commutative band.

Let $S$ be a semilattice, with partial order and each pair of elements $x$ and $y$ having a greatest lower bound $x\wedge y$. Then it is easy to see that the operation $\wedge$ defines a binary operation on $S$ which makes it a commutative semigroup, and that every element is idempotent since $x\wedge x=x$.

Conversely, if $S$ is such a semigroup, define $x\le y$ iff $x=xy$. Again, it is easy to see that this defines a partial order on $S$, and that greatest lower bounds exist with respect to this partial order, and that in fact $x\wedge y=xy$.

Title	a semilattice is a commutative band
Canonical name	ASemilatticeIsACommutativeBand
Date of creation	2013-03-22 12:57:28
Last modified on	2013-03-22 12:57:28
Owner	mclase (549)
Last modified by	mclase (549)
Numerical id	6
Author	mclase (549)
Entry type	Proof
Classification	msc 20M99
Classification	msc 06A12
Related topic	Lattice