Building on the work of P.N. Norton, we give combinatorial formulae for two maximal decompositions of the identity into orthogonal idempotents in the $0$-Hecke algebra of the symmetric group, $\mathbb{C}H_0(S_N)$. This construction is compatible with the branching from $S_{N-1}$ to $S_{N}$.

We explore combinatorics associated with the degenerate Hecke algebra at $q=0$, obtaining a formula for a system of orthogonal idempotents, and also exploring various pattern avoidance results. Generalizing constructions for the 0-Hecke algebra, we explore the representation theory of $\JJ$-trivial monoids. We then discuss two-tensors of crystal bases for $U_q(\tilde{\mathfrak{sl}_2})$, establishing a complementary result to one of Bandlow, Schilling, and Thi ery on affine crystals arising from promotion operators. Finally, we give a computer implementation of Stembridge's local axioms for simply-laced crystal bases.

In 1979, Norton showed that the representation theory of the 0-Hecke algebra admits a rich combinatorial description. Her constructions rely heavily on some triangularity property of the product, but do not use explicitly that the 0-Hecke algebra is a monoid algebra. The thesis of this paper is that considering the general setting of monoids admitting such a triangularity, namely J-trivial monoids, sheds further light on the topic. This is a step to use representation theory to automatically extract combinatorial structures from (monoid) algebras, often in the form of posets and lattices, both from a theoretical and computational point of view, and with an implementation in Sage. Motivated by ongoing work on related monoids associated to Coxeter systems, and building on well-known results in the semi-group community (such as the description of the simple modules or the radical), we describe how most of the data associated to the representation theory (Cartan matrix, quiver) of the algebra of any J-trivial monoid M can be expressed combinatorially by counting appropriate elements in M itself. As a consequence, this data does not depend on the ground field and can be calculated in O(n^2), if not O(nm), where n=|M| and m is the number of generators. Along the way, we construct a triangular decomposition of the identity into orthogonal idempotents, using the usual M\"obius inversion formula in the semi-simple quotient (a lattice), followed by an algorithmic lifting step. Applying our results to the 0-Hecke algebra (in all finite types), we recover previously known results and additionally provide an explicit labeling of the edges of the quiver. We further explore special classes of J-trivial monoids, and in particular monoids of order preserving regressive functions on a poset, generalizing known results on the monoids of nondecreasing parking functions.