Quadratic algebras associated to permutation idempotent solutions of the YBE

Abstract: We study the quadratic algebras $A(K,X,r)$ associated to a class of strictly braided but idempotent set-theoretic solutions $(X,r)$ of the Yang-Baxter or braid relations. In the invertible case, these algebras would be analogues of braided-symmetric algebras or `quantum affine spaces' but due to $r$ being idempotent they have very different properties. We show that all $A(K,X,r)$ for $r$ of a certain permutation idempotent type are isomorphic for a given $n=|X|$, leading to canonical algebras $A(K,n)$. We study the properties of these both via Veronese subalgebras and Segre products and in terms of noncommutative differential geometry. We also obtain new results on general PBW algebras which we apply in the permutation idempotent case.