A note on blockers in posets

The blocker $A^{*}$ of an antichain $A$ in a finite poset $P$ is the set of elements minimal with the property of having with each member of $A$ a common predecessor. The following is done: 1. The posets $P$ for which $A^{**}=A$ for all antichains are characterized. 2. The blocker $A^*$ of a symmetric antichain in the partition lattice is characterized. 3. Connections with the question of finding minimal size blocking sets for certain set families are discussed

Chains, Antichains, and Complements in Infinite Partition Lattices

We consider the partition lattice $\Pi_\kappa$ on any set of transfinite cardinality $\kappa$ and properties of $\Pi_\kappa$ whose analogues do not hold for finite cardinalities. Assuming the Axiom of Choice we prove: (I) the cardinality of any maximal well-ordered chain is always exactly $\kappa$; (II) there are maximal chains in $\Pi_\kappa$ of cardinality $> \kappa$; (III) if, for every cardinal $\lambda < \kappa$, we have $2^{\lambda} < 2^\kappa$, there exists a maximal chain of cardinality $< 2^{\kappa}$ (but $\ge \kappa$) in $\Pi_{2^\kappa}$; (IV) every non-trivial maximal antichain in $\Pi_\kappa$ has cardinality between $\kappa$ and $2^{\kappa}$, and these bounds are realized. Moreover we can construct maximal antichains of cardinality $\max(\kappa, 2^{\lambda})$ for any $\lambda \le \kappa$; (V) all cardinals of the form $\kappa^\lambda$ with $0 \le \lambda \le \kappa$ occur as the number of complements to some partition $\mathcal{P} \in \Pi_\kappa$, and only these cardinalities appear. Moreover, we give a direct formula for the number of complements to a given partition; (VI) Under the Generalized Continuum Hypothesis, the cardinalities of maximal chains, maximal antichains, and numbers of complements are fully determined, and we provide a complete characterization.Comment: 24 pages, 2 figures. Submitted to Algebra Universalis on 27/11/201

Short antichains in root systems, semi-Catalan arrangements, and B-stable subspaces

Let \be be a Borel subalgebra of a complex simple Lie algebra \g. An ideal of \be is called ad-nilpotent, if it is contained in [\be,\be]. The generators of an ad-nilpotent ideal give rise to an antichain in the poset of positive roots, and the whole theory can be expressed in a combinatorial fashion, in terms of antichains. The aim of this paper is to present a refinement of the enumerative theory of ad-nilpotent ideals for the case in which \g has roots of different length. An antichain is called short, if it consists of short roots. We obtain, for short antichains, analogues of all results known for the usual antichains.Comment: LaTeX2e, 20 page

Combinatorial symbolic powers

Symbolic powers are studied in the combinatorial context of monomial ideals. When the ideals are generated by quadratic squarefree monomials, the generators of the symbolic powers are obstructions to vertex covering in the associated graph and its blowups. As a result, perfect graphs play an important role in the theory, dual to the role played by perfect graphs in the theory of secants of monomial ideals. We use Gr\"obner degenerations as a tool to reduce questions about symbolic powers of arbitrary ideals to the monomial case. Among the applications are a new, unified approach to the Gr\"obner bases of symbolic powers of determinantal and Pfaffian ideals.Comment: 29 pages, 3 figures, Positive characteristic results incorporated into main body of pape

An algebraic framework for the greedy algorithm with applications to the core and Weber set of cooperative games

An algebraic model generalizing submodular polytopes is presented, where modular functions on partially ordered sets take over the role of vectors in ${\mathbb R}^n$. This model unifies various generalizations of combinatorial models in which the greedy algorithm and the Monge algorithm are successful and generalizations of the notions of core and Weber set in cooperative game theory. As a further application, we show that an earlier model of ours as well as the algorithmic model of Queyranne, Spieksma and Tardella for the Monge algorithm can be treated within the framework of usual matroid theory (on unordered ground-sets), which permits also the efficient algorithmic solution of the intersection problem within this model. \u

On structures in hypergraphs of models of a theory

We define and study structural properties of hypergraphs of models of a theory including lattice ones. Characterizations for the lattice properties of hypergraphs of models of a theory, as well as for structures on sets of isomorphism types of models of a theory, are given

A Theory of Stationary Trees and the Balanced Baumgartner-Hajnal-Todorcevic Theorem for Trees

Building on early work by Stevo Todorcevic, we describe a theory of stationary subtrees of trees of successor-cardinal height. We define the diagonal union of subsets of a tree, as well as normal ideals on a tree, and we characterize arbitrary subsets of a non-special tree as being either stationary or non-stationary. We then use this theory to prove the following partition relation for trees: Main Theorem: Let $\kappa$ be any infinite regular cardinal, let $\xi$ be any ordinal such that $2^{\left|\xi\right|} < \kappa$, and let $k$ be any natural number. Then $$\text{non-$\left(2^{<\kappa}\right)$-special tree } \to \left(\kappa + \xi \right)^2_k.$$ This is a generalization to trees of the Balanced Baumgartner-Hajnal-Todorcevic Theorem, which we recover by applying the above to the cardinal $(2^{<\kappa})^+$, the simplest example of a non-$(2^{<\kappa})$-special tree. As a corollary, we obtain a general result for partially ordered sets: Theorem: Let $\kappa$ be any infinite regular cardinal, let $\xi$ be any ordinal such that $2^{\left|\xi\right|} < \kappa$, and let $k$ be any natural number. Let $P$ be a partially ordered set such that $P \to (2^{<\kappa})^1_{2^{<\kappa}}$. Then $$P \to \left(\kappa + \xi \right)^2_k.$$Comment: Submitted to Acta Mathematica Hungaric

The saturation spectrum for antichains of subsets

Extending a classical theorem of Sperner, we characterize the integers $m$ such that there exists a maximal antichain of size $m$ in the Boolean lattice $B_n$, that is, the power set of $[n]:=\{1,2,\dots,n\}$, ordered by inclusion. As an important ingredient in the proof, we initiate the study of an extension of the Kruskal-Katona theorem which is of independent interest. For given positive integers $t$ and $k$, we ask which integers $s$ have the property that there exists a family $\mathcal F$ of $k$-sets with $\lvert\mathcal F\rvert=t$ such that the shadow of $\mathcal F$ has size $s$, where the shadow of $\mathcal F$ is the collection of $(k-1)$-sets that are contained in at least one member of $\mathcal F$. We provide a complete answer for $t\leqslant k+1$. Moreover, we prove that the largest integer which is not the shadow size of any family of $k$-sets is $\sqrt 2k^{3/2}+\sqrt[4]{8}k^{5/4}+O(k)$.Comment: This is a merger of arXiv:2106.02226v2 with arXiv:2106.0223