Global Product Intersection Sets in Semigroups

Abstract

For a family $(A_q)_{q\in Q}$ of subsets of a semigroup, the product intersection set records those exponents $h \in \mathbb{N}$ for which the $h$-fold product set of the intersection, $(\bigcap_q A_q)^h$, is equal to $\bigcap_q A_q^h$, the intersection of the product sets. Nathanson recently asked which subsets of $\mathbb{N}$ can occur as a product intersection set, both for arbitrary and for decreasing families $(A_q)_{q\in Q}$. We solve both problems by giving a complete classification. In particular, when $|Q| \ge 2$, we show that in either case any subset $X \subseteq \mathbb{N}$ with $1 \in X$ occurs as a product intersection set. Both classifications were autonomously discovered and formally verified in Lean by Aristotle, a formal reasoning agent developed by Harmonic.