All Questions
Tagged with order-theory co.combinatorics
111 questions
41
votes
3
answers
2k
views
What is the minimal size of a partial order that is universal for all partial orders of size n?
A partial order $\mathbb{B}$ is universal for a class $\cal{P}$ of partial orders if every order in $\cal{P}$ embeds
order-preservingly into $\mathbb{B}$.
For example, every partial order
$\langle\...
- 236k
35
votes
12
answers
4k
views
Open questions about posets
Partially ordered sets (posets) are important objects in combinatorics (with basic connections to extremal combinatorics and to algebraic combinatorics) and also in other areas of mathematics. They ...
29
votes
0
answers
665
views
A conjecture about inclusion–exclusion
$\newcommand\calF{\mathcal{F}}
\def\cupdot {\stackrel{\bullet}{\cup}}
\def\minusdot {\stackrel{\bullet}{\setminus}}$This post presents a conjecture that we have with some colleagues. It is about ...
- 391
28
votes
3
answers
2k
views
When does a graph underlie the Hasse diagram of a poset?
For any finite poset $P=(X,\leq)$ there is a graph $G$ underlying its Hasse diagram $H=(X,\lessdot)$, so that $V(G)=X$ and $E(G)=\{\{u,v\}:u\lessdot v\}$. With that said, is it possible to ...
- 2,506
25
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Expected height of a poset?
I am interested in any known results/empirical studies done on the average height of a poset with $N$ elements. Obviously this would depend on how that poset relation was randomly defined, however, at ...
- 662
19
votes
0
answers
775
views
A Linear Order from AP Calculus
In teaching my calculus students about limits and function domination, we ran into the class of functions
$$\Theta=\{x^\alpha (\ln{x})^\beta\}_{(\alpha,\beta)\in\mathbb{R}^2}$$
Suppose we say that $...
- 433
18
votes
3
answers
794
views
What is the minimum size of a partial order containing all partial orders of size 5?
This earlier MO question asks to find the minimum size of a partial order that is universal for all partial orders of size $n$, i.e. any partial order of size $n$ embeds into it, preserving the order. ...
- 328
17
votes
4
answers
1k
views
Subposets of small Dushnik-Miller dimension
The Dushnik–Miller dimension of a partial order $(P,{\leq})$ is the smallest possible size $d$ for a family ${\leq_1},\ldots,{\leq_d}$ of total orderings of $P$ whose intersection is ${\leq}$, i....
- 44.4k
16
votes
3
answers
10k
views
Proving that a poset is a lattice
I discovered experimentally that a certain finite poset (sorry, I cannot give its definition here) seems to be in fact a (non-distributive, non-graded) lattice. The covering relations are reasonably ...
- 5,822
15
votes
5
answers
7k
views
infinite permutations
This question is related to this one: Continued fractions using all natural integers. Suppose we have the set of natural numbers $N$ with order and we perform permutation on it. So we obtain the same ...
- 1,626
14
votes
1
answer
625
views
On certain order-automorphisms of the rationals
Consider the rationals $\mathbb{Q}$ with the usual order $\leq$. Now let $A$ be a subset of $\mathbb{Q}$, such that foreseen with the induced order $\leq$, $(A,\leq)$ is a dense linear order.
...
- 4,547
12
votes
11
answers
1k
views
Lattices on classical combinatorial families
I am asking for examples of lattices defined on classical combinatorial families, such as Permutations, Catalan objects, set partitions or integer partitions, graphs.
I am mosty interested in lattices ...
- 5,822
12
votes
1
answer
949
views
Discrete version of Nullstellensatz?
Hi. I was reading the paper "On the foundations of combinatorial theory (VI): The idea of a generating function" by Doubilet, Rota and Stanley, and there is a relation treated which is very ...
- 902
12
votes
1
answer
385
views
How long can a cycle of antichains in a finite partial order be?
Suppose that $X$ is a finite partially ordered set. Then a subset $A\subseteq X$ is said to be an antichain if there do not exist elements $a,b\in A$ with $a<b$. Let $\mathcal{A}_{X}$ be the set of ...
11
votes
2
answers
383
views
Order dimension and weak poset partitions
The order dimension of a poset $(P,\leq)$ is the least number of linear extensions of $(P,\leq)$ such that the intersection of these extensions is $(P,\leq)$. The wikipedia entry provides some ...
- 1,498
11
votes
0
answers
286
views
Does every finite poset have a rigid endomorphism?
Crossposted on Mathematics.
In this post, an order-preserving self-map of a poset $X$ will be called an endomorphism of $X$, and such an endomorphism $f$ will be called rigid if the only automorphism ...
- 4,416
10
votes
6
answers
2k
views
Generalizations of Boolean posets/lattices
A Boolean lattice has a number of rather nice properties which give it a central role in many parts of combinatorics. For instance, it's a lattice, it can be augmented with a ring structure, it can ...
- 12.6k
10
votes
1
answer
396
views
Generalising the union-closed sets conjecture from lattice to a larger class of posets
(edit: I decided to simplify the question and only pose it for bounded posets first)
The Union-closed sets conjecture is equivalent for lattices P to:
There exists a join-irreducible element $a$ with ...
- 26.5k
10
votes
2
answers
676
views
Status of Barany's conjecture?
One of Barany's most intriguing conjectures is about the $f$-vectors of convex polytopes. It asks:
Let $P$ be a convex $d$-polytope. Is it always true that $f_k \geq \min(f_0, f_{d-1})$?
A convex $...
- 1,312
10
votes
2
answers
365
views
Whether a total order set of size $n$ has the fewest endomorphisms among posets of size $n$
A function $f: P \to P$ is an endomorphism iff for any $x \le y$ in the poset $P$ , $f(x) \le f(y)$. So among posets of size $n$, whether the total order set $[n]$ (with the usual ordering) has the ...
- 101
10
votes
1
answer
169
views
necklace reconstruction in the permutation case
Suppose I want a necklace with $n$ beads labelled (bijectively) by $\{1, 2, \ldots n\}$, that is I want a cyclic order on $\{1, 2, \ldots, n\}$ (so for example $132$ is the same cyclic order as $321$ ...
- 155
10
votes
1
answer
492
views
is there a ‘nice’ lattice on the set of unlabelled graphs with $n$ vertices?
It is easy to endow the set of vertex-labelled graphs with $n$ vertices with a lattice structure: take the union and the intersection of the edge set as meet and join respectively.
However, I wonder ...
- 5,822
10
votes
0
answers
265
views
Let $X$ be a finite set of $n$ ($>1$) elements and $\tau$ be a topology on $X$ having exactly $m$ elements. Can we give any description of $m$?
Let $X$ be a finite set of $n$ ($>1$) elements and $\tau$ be a topology on $X$ having exactly $m$ elements.
Can we give any description of $m$ as it relates to $n$?
Obviously $2\le m\le 2^n$ and ...
- 307
10
votes
0
answers
400
views
Computing the ordinal of a rational language well-partially-ordered by the subword relation
Let $\Sigma$ be a finite set or "alphabet", $\Sigma^*$ the free monoid on $\Sigma$ or set of "words". If $w,w'\in \Sigma^*$, write $w\leq w'$ when $w$ is a "subword" of $w'$, i.e., can be obtained by ...
- 32.5k
9
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Given a cardinal k, what's the biggest dense linear order with a dense subset of size k?
It's not hard to show that for any cardinal $\kappa$, there is no dense linear order without endpoints (DLO) of size greater than $2^{\kappa}$ that has a dense subset of size $\kappa$. But one can ...
- 3,982
9
votes
1
answer
542
views
Reference request: number of antichains of a partially ordered set
Let $\mathbb{N}$ denote the set of all positive integers. For each $n \in \mathbb{N}$, define the set $$ P_n = \{ (a,b) \in \mathbb{N} \times \mathbb{N} : 1 \leq a \leq b \leq n \} $$ and consider the ...
- 563
9
votes
0
answers
205
views
Reference for sparseness of incomparability graphs implying sparseness of covering graphs
If a partial order on $n$ elements has $m$ incomparable pairs, then its covering graph (aka Hasse diagram aka transitive reduction, the graph of pairs of elements that are comparable but are not the ...
- 18.6k
8
votes
2
answers
294
views
Euler characteristic of the simplicial complex of sets of elements in a semilattice with non-zero meet
In a combinatorial computation, I came across the following quantity:
Consider a finite meet semilattice $L$, that is, a finite poset which is closed under $\min$. Denote the least element of $L$ by $...
- 305
8
votes
2
answers
212
views
Constructing a $0/1$ polytope from an abstract simplicial complex
Let us fix $\Delta$ a finite simplicial complex, and label the vertices of $\Delta$ as $\{1,2,\ldots,n\}$. For each $F\in \Delta$ let us consider the point in $\mathbb{R}^n$ given by:
$$e_F := \sum_{i\...
- 1,889
8
votes
1
answer
3k
views
Number of graphs with a given number of nodes, edges and triangles
Hi. Does anyone know if it is possible to enumerate the set of labeled/unlabeled graphs (loopless, undirected, only one edge between pairs of nodes) having a given number of nodes, edges and triangles?...
- 902
8
votes
1
answer
552
views
Does this “flipping lexicographic” ordering have a standard name?
I’ve run into the following straightforward variant of lexicographic ordering, and am wondering if it has a standard name. I’ve been calling it the flipping lexicographic ordering, for evident ...
- 21.3k
8
votes
1
answer
415
views
Decomposing posets into countably many chains
A conjecture of Galvin's is that the following is possible (which I take to mean that the consistency of the following can be proven relative to the consistency of something like ZFC, or ZFC plus some ...
- 3,982
8
votes
1
answer
634
views
Verification of a maximal antichain
In order theory, an antichain (Sperner family/clutter) is a subset of a partially-ordered set, with the property that no two elements are comparable with each other. A maximal antichain is the ...
- 37
8
votes
0
answers
451
views
Product of Partial Orders
Define the transpose product of a partial order $P$ over a set $S$ in the following way. The direct product of a partial order $P \subseteq S \times S$ and its converse, $P^{op}$, gives a partial ...
7
votes
1
answer
434
views
Monotonic maximal chains in a Coxeter group
Let $(W, S)$ be a Coxeter system, and let $T = \bigcup_{w \in W, s \in S} wsw^{-1}$. Associated to every element $t \in T$ is a unique positive root $\alpha_t \in \Phi^{+}$ considered as a vector in ...
- 118k
7
votes
0
answers
139
views
poset of lattice properties
Is there a good overview of the dependencies between properties that a (finite) lattice poset can have?
To give a practical example, I was looking for a property weaker than congruence uniform and ...
- 5,822
6
votes
1
answer
735
views
Bridge game with only one suit: strategy
This game looks like bridge, but 1- there are only two players Alice and Bob, 2- there is only one suit, whose cards are numbered $1, 2,\ldots,2n$. One deals each player $n$ cards. Therefore Alice ...
- 52.3k
6
votes
2
answers
291
views
"Minimal" connected matroids
I'm interested in connected matroids $M$ on the ground set $[n]$ for which there is no connected matroid on $[n]$ of the same rank but with a strictly smaller set of bases (by inclusion). Equivalently,...
- 3,513
6
votes
3
answers
236
views
Refinement-minimal intersecting covers
Motivation. Yesterday I was sitting idly in the train, contemplating the train network. I noticed that a lot of lines (not all) intersected, and some pairs of lines intersected in quite a few stations....
- 48.9k
6
votes
3
answers
333
views
Does the rank (=height) of a well partial order bound its type (=length, =stature)?
Terminology and context
(This should all be standard, but is recalled because terminology sometimes varies, and also to put the question into perspective.)
A partially ordered set is called well-...
- 32.5k
6
votes
1
answer
254
views
Fixed points for finitary distributive lattices bijection
Birkhoff's Fundamental Theorem of Finite Distributive Lattices says that there is a bijection
$$ \{ \textrm{finite posets}\} \to \{ \textrm{finite distributive lattices}\} $$
$$ P \mapsto J(P), $$
...
- 24.2k
6
votes
1
answer
233
views
Sum of order polynomials of a set of posets
Let $n\in \mathbb{Z}_{>0}$. For every subset $S\subseteq \left[ n-1\right]$ we define a poset $P_S=\left([n],\le_{P_S}\right)$ given by the covering relation $\lessdot$ which is defined as
\begin{...
- 63
6
votes
0
answers
188
views
Natural bijection between join- and meet-irreducibles in modular lattices?
A well known property of finite modular lattices is that they have the same number of join-irreducible and meet-irreducible elements. I was wondering if there exists a natural bijection between these ...
- 3,513
6
votes
0
answers
188
views
Generalized graph-minor theorem?
Consider the following generalized graph-minor theorem:
GM($κ,λ$): Given any collection $S$ of $κ$ simple undirected graphs each with less than $λ$ vertices, there are distinct graphs $G,H$ in $S$ ...
- 2,912
5
votes
1
answer
270
views
Question about a family of nested countable subsets of $\mathbb{R}$
Let $\mathcal{F}$ denote a family of countable subsets of $\mathbb{R}$, such that for each $U, V\in\mathcal{F}$ we have that $U\subseteq V$, or $V\subseteq U$. Let $(\mathcal{F}, \preceq)$ denote the ...
- 291
5
votes
1
answer
376
views
Kuratowski's 14 theorem and universal algebra
For a tuple of functions $\overline{p}$ on a set $Y$, let $cl_{\overline{p}}$ be the associated closure operation: $cl_{\overline{p}}(Z)$ is the smallest subset of $Y$ containing $Z$ and closed under ...
- 21.2k
5
votes
2
answers
337
views
A "strong" Galois-Tukey connection between orders with suborders
(Background, may be skipped by the knowledgeable reader: A Galois-Tukey connection between two partial orders $(P,\le)$ and $(Q,\le)$ is a pair of maps $\varphi^+:P\to Q$ and $\varphi^-:Q\to P$ ...
- 14k
5
votes
1
answer
218
views
Classification of multiplicative lattices
Question 1:Is there a classification of finite lattices which admit a multiplication making them into a finite multiplicative lattices? (see https://encyclopediaofmath.org/wiki/Multiplicative_lattice ...
- 26.5k
5
votes
1
answer
333
views
Do monotone functions on the interval have an "Alexander duality" property?
Let $X,Y$ be two copies of the unit interval $[0,1]$. Consider functions $X\rightarrow Y$ and $Y\rightarrow X$ both as subsets of the cartesian product $X\times Y$. (More precisely: identify a ...
- 2,851
5
votes
1
answer
770
views
Intervals in posets: how to extend interval orders, Allen's algebra, and interval graphs to intervals of posets?
BACKGROUND
Assume a poset $\langle P, \le \rangle$. For two points $a,b \in P$
with $a \le b$, then $I = [a,b] = \{ x : a \le x \le b \}$ is the
interval between $a$ and $b$.
When $P$ is a chain (e....
- 53