 Rectangular band

A rectangular band is a semigroup satisfying the displayed identities; these also imply associativity. Every nonempty such algebra is a product $B\times C$ with $(b,c)\ast (b^{\prime },c^{\prime })=(b,c^{\prime })$. Fixing $e$, the factor sets are $B=\{x\ast e\}$ and $C=\{e\ast x\}$, and $x\mapsto (x\ast e,e\ast x)$ has inverse $(b,c)\mapsto b\ast c$. Homomorphisms between nonempty products are exactly pairs of maps on the two factors.