Abstract

A block of an orthoalgebra (or of an orthomodular lattice) is a maximal Boolean subalgebra. A site is the intersection of two distinct blocks. L is block (site)-finite if there are only finitely many blocks (sites). We introduce a certain type of subalgebra of an orthoalgebra which is a subortholattice if the orthoalgebra is an ortholattice (and therefore an orthomodular lattice) and which is block finite if the orthoalgebra is site finite. The construction yields a cover of a site-finite orthoalgebra or orthomodular lattice L by block-finite substructures of the same type and having the same center as L. Every site-finite orthomodular lattice is commutator finite