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In mathematics, a quasigroup is a set Q with a binary operation, here
denoted *, with the property that for all a and b in Q there are unique solutions to the equations
a * x = b and y * a = b. In this encyclopedia it will also be assumed that
a quasigroup is nonempty.
Note that quasigroups have the cancellation property: if a * b = a * c, then b =
c. This is because x = b is certainly a solution of the equation a * b = a
* x, and the solution is required to be unique. Similarly, if a * b = c * b, then
a = c.
The multiplication table of a finite quasigroup is called a Latin
square: an n × n table filled with n different symbols in such a way that each symbol occurs
exactly once in each row and exactly once in each column.
A quasigroup group with an identity element is called a
loop. It follows from the definition of a quasigroup that each element of a loop has both a left inverse and a
right inverse.
A Moufang loop is a quasigroup Q in which (a * b) * (c * a) =
(a * (b * c)) * a, for all a, b and c in Q. As the name
suggests, Moufang loops are actually loops, and we will now prove this. Let a be any element of Q, and let
e be the element such that a * e = a. Then for any x in Q, (x *
a) * x = (x * (a * e)) * x = (x * a) * (e *
x), and cancelling gives x = e * x. So e is a left identity element. Now let
b be the element such that b * e = e. Then y * b = e * (y
* b), as e is a left identity, so (y * b) * e = (e * (y *
b)) * e = (e * y) * (b * e) = (e * y) * e =
y * e. Cancelling gives y * b = y, so b is a right identity element.
Lastly, e = e * b = b, so e is a two-sided identity element.
Every group is a quasigroup, because a *
x = b if and only if x = a-1 * b, and y * a =
b if and only if y = b * a-1. Moreover, an associative quasigroup must be a Moufang loop, and an associative loop must clearly be a group. This
shows that groups are precisely the associative quasigroups. The structure theory of loops is quite analogous to that of
groups.
Examples of quasigroups:
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