I'm currently an undergrad in my second semester of Abstract Algebra. We've covered groups, rings, fields, all that fun stuff. I'm working with Shahriari's "Algebra in Action" as well as Dummit and Foote, which are excellent resources. However, I've grown curious about what one might call "weaker" algebraic structures, like monoids, semigroups, and magmas. I've learned some things perusing wikipedia and other online resources, but I was wondering if there're any good books on the subject for self-study? Thanks in advance!
(There are no courses on the topic at my university, though it is possible, if unlikely, that I could do an independent study on it.)
Note: When I say magma, I mean a set endowed with a binary operation, not the software MAGMA.
Best Answer
Have a look at A.J. Cain's, "Nine Chapters on the Semigroup Art".
There's also J.M. Howie's, "Fundamentals of Semigroup Theory".
Another good one is "Inverse Semigroups: The Theory of Partial Symmetries", by M.V. Lawson.