We address the question of the dualizability of nilpotent Mal’cev algebras, showing that nilpotent finite Mal’cev algebras with a nonabelian supernilpotent congruence are inherently nondualizable. In particular, finite nilpotent nonabelian Mal’cev algebras of finite type are nondualizable if they are direct products of algebras of prime power order. We show that these results cannot be generalized to nilpotent algebras by giving an example of a group expansion of infinite type that is nilpotent and nonabelian, but dualizable. To our knowledge this is the first construction of a nonabelian nilpotent dualizable algebra. It has the curious property that all its nonabelian finitary reducts with group operation are nondualizable. We were able to prove dualizability by utilizing a new clone theoretic approach developed by Davey, Pitkethly, and Willard. Our results suggest that supernilpotence plays an important role in characterizing dualizability among Mal’cev algebras.

We investigate natural dualities for classes of simple graphs. For example, we give a natural duality for the class consisting of all n-colourable graphs and show that, for all n≥3, there is no natural duality for the class consisting of all freely n-colourable graphs. We also prove that there exist arbitrarily long finite chains of 3-colourable graphs that alternate between being dualizable and nondualizable.

The optimality of dualities on a quasivariety , generated by a finite algebra , has been introduced by Davey and Priestley in the 1990s. Since every optimal duality is determined by a transversal of a certain family of subsets of Ω, where Ω is a given set of relations yielding a duality on , an understanding of the structures of these subsets—known as globally minimal failsets—was required. A complete description of globally minimal failsets which do not contain partial endomorphisms has recently been given by the author and H. A. Priestley. Here we are concerned with globally minimal failsets containing endomorphisms. We aim to explain what seems to be a pattern in the way endomorphisms belong to these failsets. This paper also gives a complete description of globally minimal failsets whose minimal elements are automorphisms, when is a subdirectly irreducible lattice-structured algebra.

Consider the quasi-variety generated by a finite algebra and assume that yields a natural duality on based on which is optimal modulo endomorphisms. We shoe that, provided satisfies certain minimality conditions, we can transfer this duality to a natural duality on based on , which is also optimal modulo endormorphisms, for any finite algebra in that has a subalgebra isomorphic to .

We characterise the strongly dualisable three-element unary algebras and show that every fully dualisable three-element unary algebra is strongly dualisable. It follows from the characterisation that, for dualisable three-element unary algebras, strong dualisability is equivalent to a weak form of injectivity.

A unified study is undertaken of finitely generated varieties HSP () of distributive lattices with unary operations, extending work of Cornish. The generating algebra () is assusmed to be of the form (P; ∧, ∨, 0, 1, {fμ}), where each fμ is an endomorphism or dual endomorphism of (P; ∧, ∨, 0, 1), and the Priestly dual of this lattice is an ordered semigroup N whose elements act by left multiplication to give the maps dual to the operations fμ. Duality theory is fully developed within this framework, into which fit many varieties arising in algebraic logic. Conditions on N are given for the natural and Priestley dualities for HSP () to be essentially the same, so that, inter alia, coproducts in HSP () are enriched D-coproducts.

A strong, natural duality is established for the variety by a dihedral gruop of order 2m with m odd. This is the first natural duality for a non-abelian variety of groups.

Both syntactic and semantic solutions are given for the entailment problem of duality theory. The test algebra theorem provides both a syntactic solution to the entailment problem in terms of primitive positive formula and a new derivation of the corresponding result in clone theory, viz. the syntactic description of Inv(Pol(R)) for a given set R of unitary relations on a finite set. The semantic solution to the entailment problem follows from the syntactic one, or can be given in the form of an algorithm. It shows, in the special case of a purely relational type, that duality-theoretic entailment is describable in terms of five constructs, namely trivial relations, intersection, repetition removal, product, and retractive projection. All except the last are concrete, in the sense that they are described by a quantifier-free formula. It is proved that if the finite algebra M generates a congruence-distributive variety and all subalgebras of M are subdirectly irreducible, then concrete constructs suffice to describe entailment. The concept of entailment appropriate to strong dualities is also introduced, and described in terms of coordinate projections, restriction of domains, and composition of partial functions.