Free Inverse Monoids and Graph immersions

The relationship between covering spaces of graphs and subgroups of the free group leads to a rapid proof of the Nielsen-Schreier subgroup theorem. We show here that a similar relationship holds between immersions of graphs and closed inverse submonoids of free inverse monoids. We prove using these methods, that a closed inverse submonoid of a free inverse monoid is finitely generated if and only if it has finite index if and only if it is a rational subset of the free inverse monoid in the sense of formal language theory. We solve the word problem for the free inverse category over a graph Γ. We show that immersions over Γ may be classified via conjugacy classes of loop monoids of the free inverse category over Γ. In the case that Γ is a bouquet of X circles, we prove that the category of (connected) immersions over Γ is equivalent to the category of (transitive) representations of the free inverse monoid FIM(X). Such representations are coded by closed inverse submonoids of FIM(X). These monoids will be constructed in a natural way from groups acting freely on trees and they admit an idempotent pure retract onto a free inverse monoid. Applications to the classification of finitely generated subgroups of free groups via finite inverse monoids are developed.