Presentation of the Motzkin Monoid

In 2010, Tom Halverson and Georgia Benkart introduced the Motzkin algebra, a generalization of the Temperley-Lieb algebra, whose elements are diagrams that can be multiplied by stacking one on top of the other. Halverson and Benkart gave a diagrammatic algorithm for decomposing any Motzkin diagram into diagrams of three subalgebras: the Right Planar Rook algebra, the Temperley-Lieb algebra, and the Left Planar Rook algebra. We first explore the Right and Left Planar Rook monoids, by finding presentations for these monoids by generators and relations, using a counting argument to prove that our relations suffice. We then turn to the newly-developed Motzkin monoid, where we describe Halverson's decomposition algorithm algebraically, find a presentation by generators and relations, and use a counting argument but with a much more sophisticated algorithm.