Southeast Asian Bulletin of Mathematics (2020) 44: 451–464 Southeast Asian

Bulletin of
Mathematics
c SEAMS. 2020

De Morgan Almost Distributive Lattices

Gezahagne Mulat Addis

Departement of Mathematics, University of Gondar, Gondar, Ethiopia
Email: [email protected]

Received 8 November 2018

Accepted 26 December 2019

Communicated by Y.Q. Chen

AMS Mathematics Subject Classification(2000): 03G10, 03G25, 03G05

Abstract. The purpose of this paper is to define and investigate a new equational class
of algebras which we call De Morgan almost distributive lattices (or shortly De Morgan
ADLs) as a common abstraction of De Morgan algebras and almost Boolean algebras
(relatively complemented ADLs).

Keywords: De Morgan algebras; Boolean algebras; ADLs; De Morgan ADLs.

1. Introduction

The concept of an almost distributive lattice (ADL) was first introduced by

U.M. Swamy and G.C. Rao [9] in 1980 as a common abstraction to most of the
existing ring theoretic and lattice theoretic generalization of Boolean algebras.
An ADL is an algebra with two binary operations ∨ and ∧ which satisfies almost
all the properties of a distributive lattice with smallest element 0 except possibly
the commutativity of ∨, the commutativity of ∧ and the right distributivity of
∨ over ∧. It was also observed that any one of these three properties converts
an ADL into a distributive lattice.
A De Morgan algebra is an algebra that satisfies most of the properties of a
Boolean algebra except for the law of the excluded middle, expressed as x∨x0 = 1
or x∧x0 = 0. De Morgan algebras were studied by J.A. Kalman [5] as i−lattices,
G.C. Moisil [6], A. Bialynicki-Birula and H. Rasiowa [2] and A. Bialinki Birula
[3] under the name of quasi-Boolean algebras. From the algebraic point of view,
De Morgan algebras are important in the study of constructive logic.
452 G.M. Addis

In this paper we define and investigate a new equational class of algebras

called De Morgan almost distributive lattices as a common abstraction of De
Morgan algebras and almost Boolean algebras (relatively complemented ADLs).

2. Preliminaries

This section contains some necessary definitions and results which will be used
in the text.

Definition 2.1. [9] An almost distributive lattice (or shortly an ADL) is an algebra
(L, ∨, ∧, 0) of type (2, 2, 0) satisfying the following set of axioms:
(1) a ∨ 0 = a,
(2) 0 ∧ a = 0,
(3) (a ∨ b) ∧ c = (a ∧ c) ∨ (b ∧ c),
(4) a ∧ (b ∨ c) = (a ∧ b) ∨ (a ∧ c),
(5) a ∨ (b ∧ c) = (a ∨ b) ∧ (a ∨ c),
(6) (a ∨ b) ∧ b = b
for all a, b, c ∈ A.

The binary relation ” ≤ ” on L defined by:

a ≤ b if and only if a ∧ b = a, or equivalently a ∨ b = b
is a partial ordering on L. An element m in L is said to be maximal if it is
maximal with respect to the partial ordering ≤ on L.

Lemma 2.2. [9] Let m ∈ L. Then the following statements are equivalent:
(1) m is maximal
(2) m ∨ x = m for all x ∈ L
(3) m ∧ x = x for all x ∈ L

For elements a, b in L with a ≤ b, the interval [a, b] denotes the set {x ∈ L :

a ≤ x ≤ b}.

Notation 2.3. For a maximal element m in L, we write Lm to denote the interval

[0, m]. It was observed in [9] that Lm is a bounded distributive lattice. Moreover
its members are characterized as:
Lm = {a ∧ m : a ∈ L}

Definition 2.4. [9] An ADL L is called relatively complemented if the interval

[0, b] is a Boolean algebra for all b ∈ L. By an almost Boolean algebra, we mean
a relatively complemented ADL with maximal elements.
De Morgan Almost Distributive Lattices 453

Theorem 2.5. [9] L is relatively complemented if and only if for all a, b ∈ L,

there exists an element in L denoted by ab such that:

a ∧ ab = 0 and a ∨ ab = a ∨ b

For further detail on ADLs we refer to [9, 8, 7].

Definition 2.6. [1] A De Morgan algebra is an algebra M = (M ; ∨, ∧, −, 0, 1) of

type (2, 2, 1, 0, 0) such that (M ; ∨, ∧, 0, 1) is a bounded distributive lattice and the
unary operation x 7→ x on M satisfies the following conditions:
(1) x = x
(2) x ∧ y = x ∨ y
(3) x ∨ y = x ∧ y

It follows from the axioms that 1 = 0 and 0 = 1.

3. De Morgan ADLs

In this section we define De Morgan ADLs and give several characterization for
them.

Definition 3.1. An algebra (L, ∨, ∧,◦ , 0, m) is called a De Morgan almost dis-

tributive lattice (or shortly a De Morgan ADL) if (L, ∨, ∧, 0, m) is an ADL with
maximal elements (where m is a fixed maximal element treated as a nulary op-
eration) and x 7→ x◦ is a unary operation on L satisfying the following axioms:
(1) x◦◦ = x ∧ m
(2) (x ∨ y)◦ = x◦ ∧ y ◦
(3) (x ∧ y)◦ = x◦ ∨ y ◦
for all x, y ∈ L.

It follows from the axioms that x◦◦ ∧ n = x ∧ n for all maximal elements n
of L.

Example 3.2. Let (L, ∨, ∧, 0) be a discrete ADL with at least two elements.
Choose a nonzero element m ∈ L and define a unary operation x 7→ x◦ on L as
follows: (
◦ m if a = 0,
a =
0 otherwise
for all a ∈ L. Then (L, ∨, ∧,◦ , 0, m) is a De Morgan ADL. We denote by L1 , the
discrete De Morgan ADL with exactly three elements.
454 G.M. Addis

Example 3.3. Let L = {0, a, b, c}. Define binary operations ∨ and ∧ on L as

follows:
∨ 0 a b c ∧ 0 a b c
0 0 a b c 0 0 0 0 0
a a a b c a 0 a a a
b b b b b b 0 a b c
c c c c c c 0 a b c

Then (L, ∨, ∧, 0) is an ADL which is neither a distributive lattice nor a discrete

ADL. If we define a unary operation x 7→ x◦ on L as follows:
x x◦
0 b
a a
b 0
c 0

Then (L, ∨, ∧,◦ , b) is a De Morgan ADL. We denote this De Morgan ADL by

L2 .

Example 3.4. Let L = {0, a, b, c, d}. Define binary operations ∧ and ∨ on L as

follows:
∧ 0 a b c d ∨ 0 a b c d
0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 a b c d
a 0 a b a b a a a a c c
b 0 a b a b b b b b d d
c 0 a b c d c c c c c c
d 0 a b c d d d d d d d

Then (L, ∨, ∧, 0) is an ADL with maximal elements c and d, which is neither a

distributive lattice nor a discrete ADL.
If we define a unary operation x 7→ x◦ on L as follows:
x x◦
0 c
a a
b a
c 0
d 0

Then (L, ∨, ∧,◦ , 0, c) is a De Morgan ADL. We denote this De Morgan ADL by

L3 .

Lemma 3.5. The following statements hold in a De Morgan ADL

(1) 0◦ = m
De Morgan Almost Distributive Lattices 455

(2) n◦ = 0 for all maximal elements n of L.

(3) a ≤ b implies that b◦ ≤ a◦ .
(4) a◦◦◦ = a◦ .
(5) (a ∧ b)◦ = (b ∧ a)◦ for all a, b ∈ L.

Proof. (1) Since 0 = m◦ ∧ 0, 0◦ = (m◦ ∧ 0)◦ = m◦◦ ∨ 0◦ = (m ∧ m) ∨ 0◦ =

m ∨ 0◦ = m.
(2) Since n = n ∨ a for all a ∈ A, we have n◦ = (n ∨ 0◦ )◦ = n◦ ∧ 0◦◦ =
n◦ ∧ (0 ∧ m) = 0.
(3) Let a ≤ b. Then a ∧ b = a = b ∧ a. So that a◦ ∨ b◦ = a◦ = b◦ ∨ a◦ or
equivalently b◦ ≤ a◦ .
(4) Since a◦◦ = a ∧ m, we have a◦◦◦ = (a ∧ m)◦ = a◦ ∨ m◦ = a◦ .
(4) (a ∧ b)◦ = (a ∧ b ∧ m)◦ = (b ∧ a ∧ m)◦ = (b ∧ a)◦ .

Lemma 3.6. For any a and b in a De Morgan ADL L and a maximal element
m of L, the following statements are equivalent:
(1) ha] = hb].
(2) a ∧ m = b ∧ m.
(3) a◦ = b◦ .

Proof. It is proved in [9] that (1) and (2) are equivalent. We proceed to show that
(2) if and only if (3). Suppose that a ∧ m = b ∧ m. Then a◦ = a◦◦◦ = (a ∧ m)◦ =
(b ∧ m)◦ = b◦◦◦ = b◦ . Conversely, if a◦ = b◦ , then a ∧ m = a◦◦ = b◦◦ = b ∧ m.
Therefore the equivalence holds.

Lemma 3.7. Every De Morgan algebra is a De Morgan ADL.

Corollary 3.8. Every Boolean algebra is a De Morgan ADL.

Theorem 3.9. Let (L, ∨, ∧,◦ , 0, m) be a De Morgan ADL and X a nonempty set.
If LX denotes the class of all functions from X to L. Then (LX , ∨, ∧,◦ , 0X , mX )
is a De Morgan ADL where ∨, ∧, ◦ , 0X and mX are given as follows:
For each f, g ∈ LX and each x ∈ X,

(f ∨ g)(x) = f (x) ∨ g(x)

(f ∧ g)(x) = f (x) ∧ g(x)

f ◦ (x) = (f (x))◦
0X (x) = 0, and mX (x) = m for all x ∈ X.

Theorem 3.10. Any relatively complemented ADL with maximal elements is a

De Morgan ADL.
456 G.M. Addis

Proof. Suppose that L is relatively complemented ADL with maximal elements.

Then for each a, b ∈ L there exists a unique element in L denoted by ab such
that a∧ab = 0 and a∨ab = a∨b. Choose a maximal element m ∈ L and define a
unary operation a 7→ a◦ on L by: a◦ = am for all a ∈ L. Clearly am ∧(a∧m) = 0.
Also, am ∨ (a ∧ m) = (am ∨ a) ∧ (am ∨ m) = (am ∨ a) ∧ m = m = am ∨ m. So that
a◦◦ = a ∧ m. It can also be observed that (a ∨ b)◦ = a◦ ∧ b◦ and (a ∧ b)◦ = a◦ ∨ b◦ .
Therefore L together with this unary operation becomes a De Morgan ADL.

Remark 3.11. But the converse is not always true; i.e., every De Morgan ADL
need not necessarily be relatively complemented. To verify this, consider the De
Morgan ADL given in Example 3.3. There is no x in L such that a ∧ x = 0 and
a ∨ x = a ∨ b = b. So that, L is not relatively complemented.

Theorem 3.12. Let (L, ∨, ∧,◦ , 0, m) be a De Morgan ADL. Then the following
statements are equivalent:
(1) a ∧ a◦ = 0 for all a ∈ L.
(2) a◦ ∨ a◦◦ = m for all a ∈ L.
(3) L is relatively complemented.
(4) Lm is a Boolean algebra where the complementation is the unary operation
◦
.

Proof. (1) ⇒ (2), (3) ⇒ (4) and (4) ⇒ (1) are straight forward. We proceed
to show (2) ⇒ (3). Assume (2). Then for any a ∈ A, (a◦ ∨ a◦◦ )◦ = 0 so that
a◦◦ ∧ a◦◦◦ = a ∧ a◦ = 0. For any a, b ∈ L, we have a ∧ (a◦ ∧ b) = 0. Also consider:

a ∨ (a◦ ∧ b) = (a ∨ a◦ ) ∧ (a ∨ b)
= m ∧ (a ∨ a◦ ) ∧ (a ∨ b)
= (a ∨ a◦ ) ∧ m ∧ (a ∨ b)
= [(a ∧ m) ∨ (a◦ ∧ m)] ∧ (a ∨ b)
= (a◦◦ ∨ a◦ ) ∧ (a ∨ b)
= m ∧ (a ∨ b)
= a∨b

Therefore a◦ ∧b is the unique element ab and hence L is relatively complemented.

Theorem 3.13. Let (L, ∨, ∧,◦ , 0, m) be a De Morgan ADL. Then L × L is clearly

an ADL with pointwise operations. If we define a unary operation ◦ on L × L
as follows:
(a, b)◦ = (b◦ , a◦ )
for all a, b ∈ L, then (L × L, ∨, ∧,◦ , 0) is a De Morgan ADL. Moreover if L is
relatively complemented ADL, then so is L × L. But the unary operation ◦ on
L × L is not the reduct of the relative complementation on L × L.
De Morgan Almost Distributive Lattices 457

Theorem 3.14. Let (L, ∨, ∧, 0, m) be an ADL. If Ldual

m denotes the dual of the
distributive lattice Lm , then the product L × Ldual
m is an ADL with pointwise
operations ∨ and ∧. If we define a unary operation ◦ on L × Ldual
m by:

(a, b ∧ m)◦ = (b ∧ m, a ∧ m)
◦
for all a, b ∈ L, then (L × Ldual
m , ∨, ∧, , (m, 0)) is a De Morgan ADL.

Proof. For any a, b ∈ L, consider

(a, b ∧ m)◦◦ = (b ∧ m, a ∧ m)◦

= (a ∧ m, b ∧ m)
= (a, b ∧ m)∧(m, 0)

Also

((a, b ∧ m)∨(c, d ∧ m))◦ = (a ∨ c, b ∧ d ∧ m)◦

= (b ∧ d ∧ m, (a ∨ c) ∧ m)
= (b ∧ d ∧ m, (a ∧ m) ∨ (c ∧ m))
= (b ∧ m, a ∧ m)∧(d ∧ m, c ∧ m)
= (a, b ∧ m)◦ ∧(c, d ∧ m)◦

Similarly it can be verified that

((a, b ∧ m)∧(c, d ∧ m))◦ = (a, b ∧ m)◦ ∨(c, d ∧ m)◦

◦
Therefore (L × Ldual
m , ∨, ∧, , (m, 0)) is a De Morgan ADL.

The following theorem gives us a set of necessary and sufficient conditions

for a De Morgan ADL to be a De Morgan algebra. It is a generalization of [9,
Theorem (1.7)].

Theorem 3.15. Let (L, ∨, ∧,◦ , 0, m) be a De Morgan ADL. Then the following
statements are equivalent:
(1) L is a De Morgan algebra.
(2) The poset (L, ≤) is directed above.
(3) (L, ∨, ∧) is a distributive lattice.
(4) ∨ is commutative.
(5) ∧ is commutative.
(6) ∨ is right distributive over ∧.
(7) The relation θ = {(a, b) ∈ L × L : b ∧ a = a} is antisymetric.
(8) For each a ∈ L, the relation φa given by:

(x, y) ∈ φa if and only if x ∨ a = y ∨ a and x◦ ∨ a = y ◦ ∨ a

is a congruence relation on L.
458 G.M. Addis

Theorem 3.16. Let (L, ∨, ∧, 0, m) be an ADL. Then the following statements are
equivalent:
(1) L is a De Morgan ADL.
(2) Ln is a De Morgan algebra for all maximal elements n of L.
(3) Lm is a De Morgan algebra.

Proof. (1) ⇒ (2): Suppose that L is a De Morgan ADL. For any maximal
element n of L, define a unary operation x 7→ x on Ln as follows:

(a ∧ n) = a◦ ∧ n for all a ∈ L

where ◦ is the unary operation on L. It follows from Lemma 3.6 that this unary
operation is well defined. Moreover it can be easily verified that Ln together
with this unary operation is a De Morgan algebra.
(2) ⇒ (3) is clear. To prove (3) ⇒ (1) let us define a unary operation x 7→ x
on L as follows:
a = (a ∧ m)◦ for all a ∈ L
where ◦ is the unary operation on Ln . Then it is routine to verify that L together
with this unary operation is a De Morgan ADL.

Theorem 3.17. A nontrivial ADL (L, ∨, ∧, 0) with maximal elements is a De

Morgan ADL if and only if the class PI(L) of all its principal ideals is a De
Morgan algebra.

For a De Morgan ADL L let us define a set L◦ by

L◦ = {a◦ : a ∈ L}.

−
Theorem 3.18. If we define binary operations ∨ and ∧ and a unary operation
on L◦ as follows:

a◦ ∨ b◦ = (a ∧ b)◦ , a◦ ∧ b◦ = (a ∨ b)◦ and a◦ = a◦◦ ,

then (L◦ , ∨, ∧,− , 0, m) is a De Morgan algebra.

Proof. It is clear to see that L◦ is a De Morgan ADL. It is enough to show that

∨ commutes in L◦ . For each a, b ∈ L, we have (a ∧ b)◦ = (b ∧ a)◦ . This completes
the proof.

Theorem 3.19. There is a dual isomorphism between L◦ and Lm .

Proof. Consider f : L◦ → Lm defined by:

f (a◦ ) = a ∧ m for all a ∈ L

De Morgan Almost Distributive Lattices 459

Lemma 3.6 assures that f is well defined and injective. A routine verification
shows that f is a dual isomorphism.

In an ADL L, let us denote the set of all unary operations on L which makes
L a De Morgan ADL by U and the set of all maximal elements of L by M. Then
we have the following theorem.

Theorem 3.20. If both U and M are nonempty, then they are in one-to-one
correspondence.

Proof. If x 7→ x◦ is a unary operation which makes L as a De Morgan ADL,

then there exists a unique maximal element m ∈ L such that x◦◦ = x ∧ m. Also
for any maximal element n and a unary operation x 7→ x◦ on L (which makes L
as a De Morgan ADL), define a unary operation ∗n : L → L by:
x∗n = x◦ ∧ n
for all x ∈ L. Then (L, ∨, ∧, ∗n , 0, n) is a De Morgan ADL such that L◦ ∼
= L ∗n .
Furthermore, the map n 7→ ∗n defines a one-to-one correspondence from M onto
U.

Let (L, ∨, ∧, 0, 1) be a bounded distributive lattice with atleast three elements

in which 1 is ∨−irreducible (in the sense that a ∨ b = 1 ⇒ either a = 1 or b = 1).
By adjoining one element z (z can be any object) to L we can obtain an ADL
which is neither discrete nor a distributive lattice in the following way. Put
b z = L ∪ {z}. Define binary operations ∨
L b and ∧
b on L b z as follows:
b b
(1) If a, b ∈ L, then a∨b = a ∨ b and a∧b = a ∧ b.
(2) 1∨ bz = 1 = z∧ b 1 and z ∨
b 1 = z = 1∧ b z.
(3) For a 6= 1, a∧ bz = a = z∧ b a and a∨bz = z = z∨b a.
b
Then (Lz , ∨b, ∧
b , 0) is an ADL with two maximal elements 1 and z. If (L, ∨, ∧,
◦
, 0, 1) is a De Morgan algebra, then L b z can be made into a De Morgan ADL by
defining a unary operation x 7→ x on L b z by

a = a◦ for all a ∈ L and z = 0.

The following theorem is a direct consequence of this result.

Theorem 3.21. Any De Morgan algebra L in which its unit is ∨−irreducible,

can be embeded into a De Morgan ADL M which is neither discrete ADL nor a
distributive lattice such that M ◦ = L.

4. Congruence Relations

Let (L, ∨, ∧,◦ , 0, m) be a De Morgan ADL. An equivalence relation θ on L is

said to be a congruence relation on L if and only if it is a congruence relation
460 G.M. Addis

on the ADL (L, ∨, ∧, 0) and satisfies the property:

(x, y) ∈ θ ⇒ (x◦ , y ◦ ) ∈ θ

for all x, y ∈ L. In this section we give some important congruence relations

which we are using, to characterize De Morgan ADLs and De Morgan algebras.
Let us define a binary relation η on L as follows:

(a, b) ∈ η if and only if a◦ = b◦

for all a, b ∈ L. Then we have the following results.

Lemma 4.1. η is a congruence relation on L.

Proof. It is clear that η is an equivalence relation on A. Moreover, for any

a, b, c, d ∈ A, if a◦ = b◦ and c◦ = d◦ , then a◦ ∧ c◦ = b◦ ∧ d◦ and a◦ ∧ c◦ = b◦ ∧ d◦ ;
that is, (a ∨ c)◦ = (b ∨ d)◦ and (a ∧ c)◦ = (b ∧ d)◦ . Also, a◦ = b◦ implies that
a◦◦ = b◦◦ . So that η is a congruence relation on L.

Lemma 4.2. η = ∆L if and only if L is a De Morgan algebra.

Proof. For any a, b ∈ L, we have (a ∧ b)◦ = (b ∧ a)◦ . So that (a ∧ b, b ∧ a) ∈ η.

This completes the proof.

Theorem 4.3. The quotient L/η is a De Morgan algebra.

Proof. Obviously L/η is a De Morgan ADL. It suffices to show that one of

the binary operations (either ∨ or ∧) on L/η commutes. Let a, b ∈ A and m
be a maximal element. We have a ∧ b ∧ m = b ∧ a ∧ m which implies that
(a ∧ b)◦ = (b ∧ a)◦ . So that η[a ∧ b] = η[b ∧ a]. Therefore L/η is a De Morgan
algebra.

Theorem 4.4. η is the smallest congruence on L for which its quotient is a De

Morgan algebra.

Proof. Suppose that φ is a congruence relation on A such that L/φ is a De

Morgan algebra. That is, (a ∧ b, b ∧ a) ∈ φ for all a, b ∈ A. We show that η ⊆ φ.
Let (a, b) ∈ η. Then a◦ = b◦ or equivalently a ∧ b = b and b ∧ a = a. So that
(a, b) ∈ φ. Hence the result holds.

For each a ∈ L, let us define binary relations ψ a and φa as follows:

(x, y) ∈ ψ a if and only if x ∧ a = y ∧ a and x◦ ∧ a = y ◦ ∧ a

and
(x, y) ∈ φa if and only if a ∧ x = a ∧ y and a ∧ x◦ = a ∧ y ◦
De Morgan Almost Distributive Lattices 461

Then we have the following results.

Theorem 4.5. For each a ∈ L, ψ a and φa are congruence relations on L.

Proof. Clearly both ψ a and φa are congruence relations on an ADL (L, ∨, ∧, 0).
Let (x, y) ∈ ψ a . Then x ∧ a = y ∧ a and x◦ ∧ a = y ◦ ∧ a. It remains to show
that x◦◦ ∧ a = y ◦◦ ∧ a. For, consider

x◦◦ ∧ a = x ∧ m ∧ a
= m∧x∧a
= m∧y∧a
= y∧m∧a
= y ◦◦ ∧ a.

So that (x◦ , y ◦ ) ∈ ψ a . Also, if (x, y) ∈ φa . Then a ∧ x = a ∧ y and a ∧ x◦ =

a ∧ y ◦ .We need to show that a ∧ x◦◦ = a ∧ y ◦◦ . For, consider

a ∧ x◦◦ = a ∧ x ∧ m
= a∧y∧m
= a ∧ y ◦◦ .

(x◦ , y ◦ ) ∈ φa . Therefore, ψ a and φa are congruence relations on L.

Theorem 4.6. The quotient L/ψ a is a De Morgan algebra.

Proof. It is enough if we show that η ⊆ ψ a . Let (x, y) ∈ η. Then x◦ = y ◦ which

implies that x ∧ y = y and y ∧ x = x. Now consider:

x∧a = y∧x∧a
= x∧y∧a
= y ∧ a.

Also it is clear that x◦ ∧ a = y ◦ ∧ a. So that (x, y) ∈ ψ a . That is η ⊆ ψ a .

Therefore L/ψ a is a De Morgan algebra.

Lemma 4.7. If a is maximal, then ψ a = η. The converse holds whenever a◦ ∧a =

0. Moreover, ψ a = ∆L if and only if L is a lattice.

Theorem 4.8. The quotient L/φa is a De Morgan ADL but not necessarily a De
Morgan algebra. We verify this in the following example.

Example 4.9. Let L = {0, a, b} be the discrete De Morgan ADL as given in

Example 3.2.
462 G.M. Addis

Proof. Consider the congruence φa on L. Since L is not a distributive lattice it is

enough if we show that L/φa is isomorphic to L. For this, consider the canonical
map x 7→ φa [x] of L onto L/φa which is an epimorphism. We show that this
map is injective. For any x, y ∈ L, φa [x] = φa [y] implies that (x, y) ∈ φa . That
is, a ∧ x = a ∧ y. Since every nonzero element in L is maximal it yields that
x = y. Thus L ∼= L/φa and hence L/φa is not a De Morgan algebra.

Lemma 4.10. For each a, b ∈ L, φa ∩ φb = φa∨b .

Proof. Let (x, y) ∈ φa ∩ φb . Then

a ∧ x = a ∧ y, a ∧ x◦ = a ∧ y ◦ , b ∧ x = b ∧ y and b ∧ x◦ = b ∧ y ◦ .

So

(a ∨ b) ∧ x = (a ∧ x) ∨ (b ∧ x)
= (a ∧ y) ∨ (b ∧ y)
= (a ∨ b) ∧ y.

Similarly (a ∨ b) ∧ x◦ = (a ∨ b) ∧ y ◦ . Whence φa ∩ φb ⊆ φa∨b . To prove the other

inclusion let (x, y) ∈ φa∨b . Then (a∨b)∧x = (a∨b)∧y and (a∨b)∧x◦ = (a∨b)∧y ◦ .
Now consider:

a ∧ x = (a ∧ x) ∧ [(a ∧ x) ∨ (b ∧ x)]
= (a ∧ x) ∧ [(a ∨ b) ∧ x]
= (a ∧ x) ∧ [(a ∨ b) ∧ y]
= a ∧ x ∧ (a ∨ b) ∧ y
= a ∧ (a ∨ b) ∧ x ∧ y
= a∧x∧y

and

a ∧ y = [(a ∧ y) ∨ (b ∧ y)] ∧ (a ∧ y)
= [(a ∨ b) ∧ y] ∧ (a ∧ y)
= [(a ∨ b) ∧ x] ∧ (a ∧ y)
= (a ∨ b) ∧ x ∧ a ∧ y
= (a ∨ b) ∧ a ∧ x ∧ y
= a ∧ x ∧ y.

So that a ∧ x = a ∧ y. Following the same procedure we get a ∧ x◦ = a ∧ y ◦ and

hence (x, y) ∈ φa . Since (a∨b)∧x = (b∨a)∧x, repeating the above argument by
interchanging a and b each other gives that (x, y) ∈ φb . Therefore φa∨b ⊆ φa ∩φb
and the result holds.
De Morgan Almost Distributive Lattices 463

Lemma 4.11. If a is maximal, then φa = ∆L . But the converse need not neces-
sarily be true.

This is verified in the following example.

Example 4.12. Consider a De Morgan ADL given in Example 3.4. φa = ∆L ,

but a is not maximal.

Lemma 4.13. If φa = ∆L , then a ∧ a◦ = a◦ .

Proof. It suffices to show that (a ∧ a◦ , a◦ ) ∈ φa . Clearly a ∧ (a ∧ a◦ ) = a ∧ a◦ .

Also consider:

a ∧ (a ∧ a◦ )◦ = a ∧ (a◦ ∨ a◦◦ )
= a ∧ (a◦◦ ∨ a◦ )
= (a ∧ a◦◦ ) ∨ (a ∧ a◦ )
= (a ∧ a ∧ m) ∨ (a ∧ a◦ )
= (a ∧ m) ∨ (a ∧ a◦ )
= a ∧ (m ∨ a◦ )
= a∧m
= a ∧ (a ∧ m)
= a ∧ a◦◦ .

Therefore (a ∧ a◦ , a◦ ) ∈ φa , and that a ∧ a◦ = a◦ whenever φa = ∆L .

For each a ∈ L consider the binary relation θa on L defined by:

(x, y) ∈ θa if and only if a ∨ x = a ∨ y and a ∨ x◦ = a ∨ y ◦ .

Then we have the following characterization.

Theorem 4.14. Let L be a De Morgan ADL. If L is ∨−associative, then the

binary relation θa is a congruence relation on L.

Lemma 4.15. In an associative De Morgan ADL L, if a is zero, then θa = ∆L .

But θa = ∆L implies that a ≤ a◦ .

Proof. If a is zero, then it is clear that θa = ∆L . Suppose that θa = ∆L . It

is enough to show that (a ∨ a◦ , a◦ ) ∈ θa . Clearly a ∨ (a ∨ a◦ ) = a ∨ a◦ . Also
464 G.M. Addis

consider:

a ∨ (a ∨ a◦ )◦ = a ∨ (a◦ ∧ a◦◦ )
= (a ∨ a◦ ) ∧ (a ∨ a◦◦ )
= (a ∨ a◦ ) ∧ a
=a
= a ∨ a◦◦ .

So that (a ∨ a◦ , a◦ ) ∈ θa .

5. Conclusion and Further Recommendations

In this paper a new equational class of algebras called De Morgan ADLs is

introduced as a common abstraction of De Morgan algebras and almost Boolean
algebras. It is observed that, a De Morgan ADL is an algebra with two binary
operations ∨ and ∧, and with one unary operation ◦ which satisfies almost all
the properties of a De Morgan algebra except possibly the commutativity of ∨,
the commutativity of ∧ and the right distributivity of ∨ over ∧.
It is under investigation by the author to give a subdirect representation and
sheaf representation of De Morgan ADLs.

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