Inverse subsemigroups and classes of finite aperiodic semigroups

We prove a number of results related to finite semigroups and their inverse subsemigroups, including the following. (1) A finite semigroup is aperiodic if and only if it is a homomorphic image of a finite semigroup whose inverse subsemigroups are semilattices. (2) A finite inverse semigroup can be represented by order-preserving mappings on a chain if and only if it is a semilattice. Finally, we introduce the concept of pseudo-small quasivariety of finite semigroups, generalizing the concept of small variety. © 2008 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC.