Uniform decision problems and abstract properties of small overlap monoids

We study the way in which the abstract structure of a small overlap monoid is reflected in, and may be algorithmically deduced from, a small overlap presentation. We show that every C(2) monoid admits an essentially canonical C(2) presentation; by counting canonical presentations we obtain asymptotic estimates for the number of non-isomorphic monoids admitting a-generator, k-relation presentations of a given length. We demonstrate an algorithm to transform an arbitrary presentation for a C(m) monoid (m at least 2) into a canonical C(m) presentation, and a solution to the isomorphism problem for C(2) presentations. We also find a simple combinatorial condition on a C(4) presentation which is necessary and sufficient for the monoid presented to be left cancellative. We apply this to obtain algorithms to decide if a given C(4) monoid is left cancellative, right cancellative or cancellative, and to show that cancellativity properties are asymptotically visible in the sense of generic-case complexity.