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Inequalities for the h- and flag h-vectors of geometric lattices

Kathryn Nyman·Ed Swartz
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Abstract

We prove that the order complex of a geometric lattice has a convex ear decomposition. As a consequence, if D(L) is the order complex of a rank (r+1) geometric lattice L, then for all i \leq r/2 the h-vector of D(L) satisfies h(i-1) \leq h(i) and h(i) \leq h(r-i). We also obtain several inequalities for the flag h-vector of D(L) by analyzing the weak Bruhat order of the symmetric group. As an application, we obtain a zonotopal cd-analogue of the Dowling-Wilson characterization of geometric lattices which minimize Whitney numbers of the second kind. In addition, we are able to give a combinatorial flag h-vector proof of h(i-1) \leq h(i) when i \leq (2/7)(r + 5/2).

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Kathryn Nyman, Ed Swartz. 2005-02-18. Inequalities for the h- and flag h-vectors of geometric lattices. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00454-004-1137-z

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