1. Introduction
An element 
a of a semigroup 
S is a right [left] magnifying element in 
S if there exists a proper subset 
M of 
S satisfying 
 . The concepts of right and left magnifying elements of a semigroup were first introduced in 1963 by Ljapin [
1]. Many initially significant results were later published by Migliorini in [
2,
3], where he also introduced the notion of minimal subset related to a magnifying element of 
S. In [
4], Catino and Migliorini determined the existence of strong magnifying elements in a semigroup and the existence of magnifying elements in simple and bisimple semigroups as well as regular semigroups. Semigroups with strong and nonstrong magnifying elements were investigated by Gutan [
5]. A year later, he showed in [
6] that every semigroup which contains magnifying elements is factorizable; this solved a problem raised by Catino and Migliorini. Gutan also established in [
7] the method for obtaining semigroups having good left magnifying elements such that none of those is very good.
Let 
X be a nonempty set. The full transformation semigroup on 
X is the set
      
      of all transformations from 
X into itself, which is a semigroup under the composition of functions. In [
8], Magill, Jr. characterized transformation semigroups with identities containing magnifying elements. Gutan and Kisielewicz solved in [
9] a long-standing open problem by showing the existence of semigroups containing both good and bad magnifying elements.
Interesting properties, especially regularity and Green’s relations, on semigroups of transformations preserving relations have been widely conducted; see, e.g., [
10,
11,
12,
13,
14]. In 2013, Huisheng and Weina [
15] studied naturally orderd semigroups of partial transformations preserving an equivalence relation. Chinram and Baupradist have lately investigated right and left magnifying elements in some generalized transformation semigroups in [
16,
17].
Let 
E be an equivalence relation of a nonempty set 
X. We conventionally set 
. All functions will be written from the right, 
 rather than 
, and composed as 
 rather than 
, for 
. The semigroup of partial transformations preserving the equivalence relation 
E
      is exactly a subsemigroup of 
. Furthermore, if 
, then 
. In this paper, we study right and left magnifying elements in 
 and conclude necessary and sufficient conditions for elements of 
 to be left or right magnifying.
  2. Right Magnifying Elements
Lemma 1. If α is a right magnifying element in , then α is onto.
 Proof.  Suppose  is a right magnifying element in . According to the definition of right magnifying element, there exists a proper subset M of  with . Clearly, the identity map  on X belongs to . Thus, there exists  such that . This shows that  is onto. ☐
 Lemma 2. Let α be a right magnifying element in . For any , there exists  such that .
 Proof.  Suppose  is a right magnifying element in . Again, by definition, we obtain a proper subset M of  satisfying . Since , there exists  such that . Let  be such that . It follows that  and . Since , we have . We then choose  and . Therefore, the proof is complete. ☐
 Lemma 3. If   and α is bijective in , then α is not right magnifying.
 Proof.  Assume that   and  is bijective in . By Lemma 2,  such that  . Suppose that  is right magnifying. By definition, there is a proper subset M of  with . Consequently, . Then , which is a contradiction since M is a proper subset of . Hence  is not right magnifying. ☐
 Lemma 4. If  is onto but not one-to-one,   and, for any  there exists  such that , then α is right magnifying.
 Proof.  Let  be onto but not one-to-one and  . For any , there exists  such that . Let  is not onto}. Then, .
Let 
 be any function in 
. Since 
 is onto, we have for each 
 , there exists 
 such that 
 (if 
, we must choose 
 and if 
, we must choose 
). Define 
 by 
 for all 
 . To show that 
, let 
 be such that 
. Since 
, 
. By assumption, we obtain 
 such that 
 and 
. Hence, 
. Since 
 is not one-to-one, 
 is not onto either. Thus, 
 and we obtain, for all 
, that
        
Then, , hence . Therefore,  is right magnifying. ☐
 Example 1. Let . Define a relation E on X by Consider . It is clear that E is an equivalence relation on X. Let  be defined by  for all positive integers  and  for all positive integers , that is, Then, α is onto but not one-to-one and, for any , there exists  such that . Let  is not onto}. For any function , Lemma 4 ensures that there exists  such that .
We will illustrate these ideas by considering the element γ of , which is defined by ,  and  for positive integers , that is, Define a function  by  for all , that is,  Lemma 5. If  is onto,   and for any , there exists  such that , then α is right magnifying.
 Proof.  Let  be onto and  . For any , there exists  such that . We follow the method of proof used in Lemma 4 and define   by  for all . To show that , let  be such that . Since , we have . By assumption, there exists  such that  and . Hence, . Since ,  is not onto either.
Thus, 
 and we obtain, for all 
, that
        
Then, , hence . Therefore,  is right magnifying. ☐
 Example 2. Let . Define an equivalence relation E on X by We obtain . Let  be defined by  and  for all positive integers , that is, Then, α is onto,   and for any , there exists  such that . Let  is not onto}. For any function , Lemma 5 ensures that there exists  such that .
We will illustrate these ideas by considering the element γ of , which is defined by  for all , that is, To get the required result, define a function   by  if  and  for all positive integers , that is,  We summarize those lemmas in a theorem as follows.
Theorem 1. α is right magnifying in  if and only if α is onto, for any , there exists  such that  and either
- 1. 
-  or 
- 2. 
-  and α is not one-to-one. 
 Proof.  It follows by Lemmas 1–5. ☐
 As a consequence, the following result holds for 
Corollary 1. Let . Then, α is right magnifying in a semigroup  if and only if α is onto and either
- 1. 
-  or 
- 2. 
-  and α is not one-to-one. 
 Proof.  It follows immediately from Theorem 1. ☐
   3. Left Magnifying Elements
Lemma 6. If α is a left magnifying element in , then α is one-to-one.
 Proof.  Using the same argument as in Lemma 1, we obtain a proper subset M of  with  and there exists  such that . This shows that  is one-to-one. ☐
 Lemma 7. If α is a left magnifying element in , then  .
 Proof.  Suppose  is a left magnifying in . Again, by definition, there is a proper subset M of  with . Let  be such that  . Then,  for some . Since  , we obtain  . ☐
 Lemma 8. Let α be a left magnifying element in . For any , if  then .
 Proof.  Suppose  is a left magnifying element in . By Lemma 7,  . There exists a proper subset M of  satisfying . Since , there exists  such that . Let  be such that . It follows that  and . Then, we obtain  because . ☐
 Lemma 9. If  is bijective and  , then α is not left magnifying.
 Proof.  As in Lemma 3, the result holds by applying Lemma 8. ☐
 Lemma 10. If  is one-to-one but not onto,   and for any ,  implies , then α is a left magnifying element in .
 Proof.  Assume that 
 is one-to-one but not onto, 
  and for any 
, 
 implies 
. Let 
  . Claim that 
 Let 
. For 
 , then there exists 
  such that 
. Define 
 by 
 if 
  and 
 . We see that 
    . To show that 
, assume 
 , 
, 
  and 
. Then, 
 and hence, by assumption, we obtain 
. Thus, 
 because 
 Then, 
 and for 
, we have
        
This gives us that  and . Hence,  is a left magnifying element in . ☐
 Example 3. Let . Define a relation E on X by It is obvious that E is an equivalence relation on X and, in addition, . Let  be defined by  for all positive integers . For convenience, we write α as We now obtain that α is one-to-one but not onto and for any ,  implies . Let    and  be any function. By Lemma 10, there exists  such that .
We will illustrate these ideas by considering the element γ of , which is defined by  for all positive integers , that is, To get the required result, define a function  by  for all , that is,  Example 4. Let . Define a relation E on X by Let  be defined by  for all . Then, α is one-to-one but not onto and for any ,  implies . Let    and  be any function. By Lemma 10, there exists  such that . We will illustrate these ideas by considering the element γ of , which is defined by  for all .
To get the required result, define a function  by  if  and  for some  Thus,  and we have  for all  which shows that .
 We summarize those lemmas in a theorem as follows.
Theorem 2. α is left magnifying in  if and only if α is one-to-one but not onto,   and for any ,  implies .
 Proof.  It follows from Lemmas 6–10. ☐
 As a consequence, the following result holds for 
Corollary 2. α is a left magnifying element in  if and only if α is one-to-one but not onto and  .
 Proof.  It follows from Theorem 2. ☐