Equational Complexity of the Finite Algebra Membership Problem

We associate to each variety of algebras of finite signature a function on the positive integers called the equational complexity of the variety. This function is a measure of how much of the equational theory of a variety must be tested to determine whether a finite algebra belongs to the variety. We provide general methods for giving upper and lower bounds on the growth of equational complexity functions and provide examples using algebras created from graphs and from finite automata. We also show that finite algebras which are inherently nonfinitely based via the shift automorphism method cannot be used to settle an old problem of Eilenberg and Schützenberger.