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1

For P a partially ordered set, let S be a subset of P such that if:

a,c\in S and b\in P and a<=b<=c then b\in S

Is there a name for a subset with this property? The term "dense" subset is already taken and means something else.

flag	asked Dec 7 2009 at 8:37 Adam 1,970●1●5●18

David Eppstein · Accepted Answer · 2009-12-07 08:47:11Z UTC

10

A set with this property is called convex.

See e.g. Quasi-uniform spaces, Volume 77 of Lecture notes in pure and applied mathematics, Peter Fletcher, William F. Lindgren, Marcel Dekker, 1982, p.84.

answered Dec 7 2009 at 8:47

David Eppstein
9,233●1●21●41

Thank you very much! – Adam Dec 8 2009 at 9:17

Mikael Vejdemo-Johansson · Answer 2 · 2009-12-07 22:07:26Z UTC

0

I remember seeing a definition of interval in a poset as the subset $[a,c] = \{b: a\leq b\leq c\}$. This would seem to be what you're talking about.

Specifically, this is the definition in Stanley: Enumerative Combinatorics vol 1, p 98.

answered Dec 7 2009 at 22:07

Mikael Vejdemo-Johansson
1,459●1●5●15

2

Every interval is convex, but not every convex set is an interval. For instance, an antichain in a poset is convex, but unless it has only one element it is not an interval. – David Eppstein Dec 8 2009 at 0:16

Right, and Stanley requires for the interval that a ≤ b, which isn't stated explicitly in the question. – Mikael Vejdemo-Johansson Dec 9 2009 at 1:04

name for “solid” subset of a partially ordered set?

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