Magma (algebra) - Free Magma

A free magma on a set is the "most general possible" magma generated by the set (that is there are no relations or axioms imposed on the generators; see free object). It can be described, in terms familiar in computer science, as the magma of binary trees with leaves labeled by elements of . The operation is that of joining trees at the root. It therefore has a foundational role in syntax.

A free magma has the universal property such that, if is a function from the set to any magma, then there is a unique extension of to a morphism of magmas

See also: free semigroup, free group, Hall set

Read more about this topic:  Magma (algebra)

Famous quotes containing the word free:

    “I feel a sincere wish indeed to see our government brought back to it’s republican principles, to see that kind of government firmly fixed, to which my whole life has been devoted. I hope we shall now see it so established, as that when I retire, it may be under full security that we are to continue free and happy.”
    —Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)