Mark Hopkins, Hans Leiß

The tensor product $K \mathop{\otimes_{\cal R}} C_2'$ of the ${}^*$-continuous Kleene algebra $K$ with the polycyclic ${}^*$-continuous Kleene algebra $C_2'$ over two bracket pairs contains a copy of the fixed-point closure of $K$: the centralizer of $C_2'$ in $K \mathop{\otimes_{\cal R}} C_2'$. We prove a representation of elements of $K\mathop{\otimes_{\cal R}} C_2'$ by automata \`a la Kleene and refine it by normal form theorems that restrict the occurrences of brackets on paths through the automata. This is a foundation for a calculus of context-free expressions. We also show that $C_2'$ validates a relativized form of the ``completeness property'' that distinguishes the bra-ket ${}^*$-continuous Kleene algebra $C_2$ from the polycyclic one.