Finite union of commutative power joined semigroups

Abstract

A commutative semigroup is called power joined if for every element a, b there are positive integers m, n such that am=bn. A commutative power joined semigroup is archimedean (p. 131, [3]) and cannot be decomposed into the disjoint union of more than one subsemigroup. Every commutative semigroup is uniquely decomposed into the disjoint union of power joined subsemigroups which are called the power joined components. This paper determines the structure of commutative archimedean semigroups which have a finite number of power joined components. The number of power joined components of commutative archimedean semigroups is one or three or infinity.