Elementary methods for splitting representations of Rook monoids: a gentle introduction to groupoids

We show that the algebra of the coloured rook monoid $R_n^{(r)}$, {\em i.e.} the monoid of $n \times n$ matrices with at most one non-zero entry (an $r$-th root of unity) in each column and row, is the algebra of a finite groupoid, thus is endowed with a $C^*$-algebra structure. This new perspective uncovers the representation theory of these monoid algebras by making manifest their decomposition in irreducible modules.