The natural order of an inverse semigroup defined by a ≤ b ⇔ a′b = a′a has turned out to be of great importance in describing the structure of it. In this paper an order-theoretical point of view is adopted to characterise inverse semigroups. A complete description is given according to the type of partial order an arbitrary inverse semigroup S can possibly admit: a least element of (S, ≤) is shown to be the zero of (S, ·); the existence of a greatest element is equivalent to the fact, that (S, ·) is a semilattice; (S, ≤) is directed downwards, if and only if S admits only the trivial group-homomorphic image; (S, ≤) is totally ordered, if and only if for all a, b ∈ S, either ab = ba = a or ab = ba = b; a finite inverse semigroup is a lattice, if and only if it admits a greatest element. Finally formulas concerning the inverse of a supremum or an infimum, if it exists, are derived, and right-distributivity and left-distributivity of multiplication with respect to union and intersection are shown to be equivalent.
Simplicity of inverse semigroup and étale groupoid algebras
