Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2008. / Title from title screen (site viewed Sept. 18, 2008). PDF text: 75 p. ; 408 K. UMI publication number: AAT 3303784. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in microfilm and microfiche formats.

W. D. Munn proved that a finite dimensional representation of an inverse semigroup is equivalent to a ⋆-representation if and only if it is bounded. The first goal of this thesis will be to give new analytic proof that every finite dimensional representation of a compact inverse semigroup is equivalent to a ⋆-representation. The second goal is to parameterize all finite dimensional irreducible representations of a compact inverse semigroup in terms of maximal subgroups and order theoretic properties of the idempotent set. As a consequence, we obtain a new and simpler proof of the following theorem of Shneperman: a compact inverse semigroup has enough finite dimensional irreducible representations to separate points if and only if its idempotent set is totally disconnected. Our last theorem is the following: every norm continuous irreducible ∗-representation of a compact inverse semigroup on a Hilbert space is finite dimensional.

W. D. Munn proved that a finite dimensional representation of an inverse semigroup is equivalent to a ⋆-representation if and only if it is bounded. The first goal of this thesis will be to give new analytic proof that every finite dimensional representation of a compact inverse semigroup is equivalent to a ⋆-representation. The second goal is to parameterize all finite dimensional irreducible representations of a compact inverse semigroup in terms of maximal subgroups and order theoretic properties of the idempotent set. As a consequence, we obtain a new and simpler proof of the following theorem of Shneperman: a compact inverse semigroup has enough finite dimensional irreducible representations to separate points if and only if its idempotent set is totally disconnected. Our last theorem is the following: every norm continuous irreducible ∗-representation of a compact inverse semigroup on a Hilbert space is finite dimensional.

W. D. Munn proved that a finite dimensional representation of an inverse semigroup is equivalent to a ⋆-representation if and only if it is bounded. The first goal of this thesis will be to give new analytic proof that every finite dimensional representation of a compact inverse semigroup is equivalent to a ⋆-representation. The second goal is to parameterize all finite dimensional irreducible representations of a compact inverse semigroup in terms of maximal subgroups and order theoretic properties of the idempotent set. As a consequence, we obtain a new and simpler proof of the following theorem of Shneperman: a compact inverse semigroup has enough finite dimensional irreducible representations to separate points if and only if its idempotent set is totally disconnected. Our last theorem is the following: every norm continuous irreducible ∗-representation of a compact inverse semigroup on a Hilbert space is finite dimensional.

W. D. Munn proved that a finite dimensional representation of an inverse semigroup is equivalent to a ⋆-representation if and only if it is bounded. The first goal of this thesis will be to give new analytic proof that every finite dimensional representation of a compact inverse semigroup is equivalent to a ⋆-representation. The second goal is to parameterize all finite dimensional irreducible representations of a compact inverse semigroup in terms of maximal subgroups and order theoretic properties of the idempotent set. As a consequence, we obtain a new and simpler proof of the following theorem of Shneperman: a compact inverse semigroup has enough finite dimensional irreducible representations to separate points if and only if its idempotent set is totally disconnected. Our last theorem is the following: every norm continuous irreducible ∗-representation of a compact inverse semigroup on a Hilbert space is finite dimensional.

Baseado no conjunto das funções parciais injetoras em um conjunto não vazio e no conjunto das funções booleanas de várias variáveis, a dissertação apresenta os conceitos de grupos e de semigrupos inversos, que são constituídos por elementos inversíveis. No caso de grupos, a definição de elemento inversível é a usual e, no caso de semigrupos inversos, a definição de elemento inversível é uma generalização do conceito usual de elemento inversível. / Based on the set of injective partial functions in a non empty set and in the set of booleans functions with many variables, this paper shows the concepts of groups and inverse semigroups, which are both made of inversible elements. In groups, the definition of inversible element is the usual and, in inverse semigroups, the definition of inversible element is a generalization of the usual concept of inversible element.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Nebraska-Lincoln, 2006. / Title from title screen (site viewed on Feb. 6, 2007). PDF text: iv, 86 p. : ill. UMI publication number: AAT 3218333. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in microfilm and microfiche format.

This thesis is divided into four chapters. In the first one, all the pre-requisite theory of semigroups and groupoids is introduced, as well as a few new results - such as a short study of ∨-ideals and quotients in distributive semigroups and a non-commutative Loomis-Sikorski Theorem. In the second chapter, we motivate and describe the sofic property for probability measure-preserving groupoids and prove several permanence properties for the class of sofic groupoids. This provides a common ground for similar results in the particular cases of groups and equivalence relations. In particular, we prove that soficity is preserved under finite index extensions of groupoids. We also prove that soficity can be determined in terms of the full group alone, answering a question by Conley, Kechris and Tucker-Drob. In the third chapter we turn to the classical problem of reconstructing a topological space from a suitable structure on the space of continuous functions. We prove that a locally compact Hausdorff space can be recovered from classes of functions with values on a Hausdorff space together with an appropriate notion of disjointness, as long as some natural regularity hypotheses are satisfied. This allows us to recover (and even generalize) classical theorem by Kaplansky, Milgram, Banach-Stone, among others, as well as recent results of the similar nature, and obtain new consequences as well. Furthermore, we extend the techniques used here to obtain structural theorems related to topological groupoids. In the fourth and final chapter, we study dynamical aspects of partial actions of inverse semigroups, and in particular how to construct groupoids of germs and (partial) crossed products and how do they relate to each other. This chapter is based on joint work with Viviane Beuter.