The finite basis problem for the power semirings of finite groups

Abstract

For any group $G$, the set of all nonempty subsets of $G$ forms an additively idempotent semiring under set-theoretic union and elementwise multiplication, called the power semiring of $G$ and denoted by $\mathcal{P}(G)$. We prove that for a finite group $G$, $\mathcal{P}(G)$ has no finite basis for its identities if and only if $|G|\ge 3$. This completes the classification of the power semirings of finite groups with respect to the finite basis property.

9 pages