Automaton semigroups

The concept of an automaton group generalizes easily to semigroups, and the systematic study of this area is beginning. This paper aims to contribute to that study. The basic theory of automaton semigroups is briefly reviewed. Various natural semigroups are shown to arise as automaton semigroups. The interaction of certain semigroup constructions with the class of automaton semigroups is studied. Semigroups arising from Cayley automata are investigated. Various open problems and areas for further research are suggested.