From distributive ℓ-monoids to ℓ-groups, and back again Almudena Colacito1 Laboratoire J. A. Dieudonne,´ Universite´ Coteˆ d’Azur, France Nikolaos Galatos Department of Mathematics, University of Denver, 2390 S. York St. Denver, CO 80210, USA George Metcalfe2,∗ Mathematical Institute, University of Bern, Sidlerstrasse 5, 3012 Bern, Switzerland Simon Santschi Mathematical Institute, University of Bern, Sidlerstrasse 5, 3012 Bern, Switzerland Abstract We prove that an inverse-free equation is valid in the variety LG of lattice-ordered groups (ℓ-groups) if and only if it is valid in the variety DLM of distributive lattice- ordered monoids (distributive ℓ-monoids). This contrasts with the fact that, as proved by Repnitski˘ı, there exist inverse-free equations that are valid in all Abelian ℓ-groups but not in all commutative distributive ℓ-monoids, and, as we prove here, there exist inverse-free equations that hold in all totally ordered groups but not in all totally ordered monoids. We also prove that DLM has the finite model property and a decidable equational theory, establish a correspondence between the validity of equations in DLM and the existence of certain right orders on free monoids, and provide an effective method for reducing the validity of equations arXiv:2103.00146v1 [math.GR] 27 Feb 2021 in LG to the validity of equations in DLM. Keywords: Lattice-ordered groups, distributive lattice-ordered monoids, free ∗Corresponding author Email addresses:
[email protected] (Almudena Colacito),
[email protected] (Nikolaos Galatos),
[email protected] (George Metcalfe),
[email protected] (Simon Santschi) 1Supported by Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF) grant No.