On classification of maximal nilpotent subsemigroups

We develop a general approach to the study of maximal nilpotent subsemigroups of finite semigroups. This approach can be used to recover many known classifications of maximal nilpotent subsemigroups, in particular, for the symmetric inverse semigroup, the symmetric semigroup, and the factor power of the symmetric group. We also apply this approach to obtain a classification of maximal nilpotent subsemigroups in the semigroup of binary relations and in certain 0-simple finite semigroups.