Effective equivalence relations and principal quantales

Abstract

Stably supported quantales generalize pseudogroups and provide an algebraic context in which to study the correspondences between inverse semigroups and \'etale groupoids. Here we study a further generalization where a non-unital version of supported quantale carries the algebraic content of such correspondences to the setting of open groupoids. A notion of principal quantale is introduced which, in the case of groupoid quantales, corresponds precisely to effective equivalence relations.