Interval pattern avoidance for arbitrary root systems

We extend the idea of interval pattern avoidance defined by Yong and the author for $S_n$ to arbitrary Weyl groups using the definition of pattern avoidance due to Billey and Braden, and Billey and Postnikov. We show that, as previously shown by Yong and the author for $GL_n$, interval pattern avoidance is a universal tool for characterizing which Schubert varieties have certain local properties, and where these local properties hold.Comment: 6 page

When is a Schubert variety Gorenstein?

A (normal) variety is Gorenstein if it is Cohen-Macualay and its canonical sheaf is a line bundle. This property, which measures the ``pathology'' of the singularities of a variety, is thus stronger than Cohen-Macualayness, but is also weaker than smoothness. We determine which Schubert varieties are Gorenstein in terms of a combinatorial characterization using generalized pattern avoidance conditions. We also give an explicit description as a line bundle of the canonical sheaf of a Gorenstein Schubert variety.Comment: 15 pages, geometric characterization of Gorensteinness added; final version to appear in Adv. Mat