Alg Comb Lecture 7

18.
312: Algebraic Combinatorics
Lionel Levine
Lecture 7
Lecture date: Feb 24, 2011
Notes by: Andrew Geng
Partially ordered sets
1.1
Definitions
Definition 1 A partially ordered set ( poset for short) is a set P with a binary relation
R P P satisfying all of the following conditions.
1. (reflexivity) (x, x) R for all x P
2. (antisymmetry) (x, y) R and (y, x) R x = y
3. (transitivity) (x, y) R and (y, z) R (x, z) R
In analogy with the order on the integers by size, we will write (x, y) R as x y (or
equivalently, y x). We will use x < y to mean that x y and x 6= y. When there are
multiple posets in play, we can disambiguate by using the name of the poset as a subscript,
e.g. x P y.
Remark 2 The word partial indicates that theres no guarantee that all elements can be
compared to each otheri.e. we dont know that for all x, y P , at least one of x y and
x y holds. A poset in which this is guaranteed is called a totally ordered set.
Partially ordered sets can be visualized via Hasse diagrams, which we now proceed to define.
Definition 3 Given x, y in a poset P , the interval [x, y] is the poset {z P | x z y}
with the same order as P .
Definition 4 y covers x means [x, y] = {x, y}. That is, no elements of the poset lie
strictly between x and y (and x 6= y).
Definition 5 The Hasse diagram of a partially ordered set P is the (directed) graph whose
vertices are the elements of P and whose edges are the pairs (x, y) for which y covers x. It
is usually drawn so that elements are placed higher than the elements they cover.
7-1
1.2
Examples
1. n (handwritten as n) is the set [n] with the usual order on integers.

2. The Boolean algebra Bn is the set of subsets of [n], ordered by inclusion. (S T
means S T ).
Figure 1: Hasse diagrams of B2 and B3
{1, 2, 3}
{1, 2}
{1}
{2, 3} {1, 3} {1, 2}

{2}
{1}
{2}
B2
B3
{3}
3. Dn = {all divisors of n}, with d d0 d | d0 .

Figure 2: D12 = {1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 12}
12
4
6
2
3
1
4. n = {partitions of [n]}, ordered by refinement.
5. Generalizing Bn , any collection P of subsets of a fixed set X is a partially ordered

set ordered by inclusion. For instance, if X is a vector space then we can take P to
be the set of all linear subspaces. If X is a group, we can take P to be the set of all
subgroups or the set of all normal subgroups.
1
A partition of a set X is a set of disjoint subsets of X whose union is X. We say that a partition
refines another partition (so, in the example, ) if every i is a subset of some j(i) .
7-2
Maps between partially ordered sets
Definition 6 A function f : P Q between partially ordered sets is order-preserving if

x P y f (x) Q f (y).
Definition 7 Two partially ordered sets P and Q are isomorphic if there exists a bijective,
order-preserving map between them whose inverse is also order-preserving.
Remark 8 For those familiar with topology, this should look like the definition of homeomorphic spacesspaces linked by a continuous bijection whose inverse is also continuous.
A continuous bijection can fail to have a continuous inverse if the topology of the domain
has extra open sets; and an order-preserving bijection between posets can fail to have a
continuous inverse if the codomain has extra order information.
2.1
Examples
1. D8 ' 4
2. D6 ' B2
Figure 3: Hasse diagrams of isomorphic posets
D8
D6
B2
{1, 2}
6
2
{1}
{2}
Operations on partially ordered sets
Given two partially ordered sets P and Q, we can define new partially ordered sets in the
following ways.
7-3
1. (Disjoint union) P + Q is the disjoint union set P t Q, where x P +Q y if and only

if one of the following conditions holds.
x, y P and x P y
x, y Q and x Q y
The Hasse diagram of P + Q consists of the Hasse diagrams of P and Q, drawn
together.
2. (Ordinal sum) P Q is the set P t Q, where x P Q y if and only if one of the
following conditions holds.
x P +Q y
x P and y Q
Note that the ordinal sum operation is not commutative. In P Q, everything in P
is less than everything in Q.
3. (Cartesian product) P Q is the Cartesian product set, {(x, y) | x P, y Q}, where
(x, y) P Q (x0 , y 0 ) if and only if both x P x0 and y Q y 0 .
The Hasse diagram of P Q is the Cartesian product of the Hasse diagrams of P and
Q.
Example 9 Bn ' 2
2}
| {z
n times
Proof: Define a candidate isomorphism

f : 2 2 Bn
(b1 , , bn ) 7 {i [n] | bi = 2} .
Its easy to show that f is bijective. To check that f and f 1 are order-preserving,
just observe that each of the following conditions is equivalent to the ones that come
before and after it.
(b1 , , bn ) (b01 , , b0n )
bi b0i for all i
{i | bi = 2} {i | b0i = 2}
f ((b1 , , bn )) f ((b01 , , b0n ))
2
Example 10 If k = p1 pn is a product of n distinct primes, then Dk ' Bn .
7-4
TheQproof of Example 10 is similarly easy, using the isomorphism f : Dk Bn defined

by iS pi 7 S.
4. P Q is the set of order-preserving maps from Q to P , where f P Q g means that
f (x) P g(x) for all x Q.
The notation P Q can be motivated by a basic example.
Example 11
n
z }| {
P = 1 + + 1
k
z }| {
Q = 1 + + 1
nk
z }| {
' 1 + + 1
Perhaps more importantly, the following properties hold (the proof is the 15th homework problem).
P Q+R ' P Q P R
R
P Q ' P QR
Example 12 The partially ordered set 22 is isomorphic to 3.
Proof: The order-preserving maps are specified by f1 (1) = f1 (2) = 1, f2 = id, and
f3 (1) = f3 (2) = 2; so f1 f2 f3 . 2
Graded posets
Definition 13 A chain of a partially ordered set P is a totally ordered subset C P i.e.

C = {x0 , , x` } with x0 x` . The quantity ` = |C| 1 is its length and is equal to
the number of edges in its Hasse diagram.
Definition 14 A chain is maximal if no other chain strictly contains it.
Definition 15 The rank of P is the length of the longest chain in P .
Definition 16 P is graded if all maximal chains have the same length.
7-5
Figure 4: Hasse diagram of a poset that is not graded
Definition 17 A rank function on a poset P is a map r : P {0, , n} for some n,

satisfying the following properties.
1. r(x) = 0 for all minimal x (i.e. there is no y < x).
2. r(x) = n for all maximal x.
3. r(y) = r(x) + 1 whenever y covers x.
Lemma 18 P is graded of rank n there exists a rank function r : P {0, , n}.
Example 19 Bn is graded, and cardinality is a rank function on Bn .
Proof:
: If P is graded of rank n, define r(x) = #{y C | y < x} where C is a maximal chain
containing x. To check that this is well-defined, we need to show that it is independent
of C.
So suppose C and C 0 are maximal chains containing x. Write
C = C0 t {x} t C1
C 0 = C00 t {x} t C10
where C0 = {y C | y < x} and C00 = {y C 0 | y < x}. If |C0 | =
6 |C00 |, then assuming
0
without loss of generality that |C0 | > |C0 |, the chain C0 x C10 would have length
greater than n. P being graded of rank n disallows this, so |C0 | = |C00 | = r(x).
This establishes that r(x) is well-defined. It is easy to see by maximality of the chains
involved that r is indeed a rank function.
7-6
: Given a rank function r : P {0, , n} and a maximal chain C = {x0 , , x` }, we

observe that
x0 is minimal (otherwise C could be extended by anything less than x0 ),
x` is maximal (otherwise C could be extended by anything greater than x` ), and
xi+1 covers xi (otherwise the element between them could be inserted into C).
Then r(x0 ) = 0, r(x` ) = n, and r(xi+1 ) = r(xi ) + 1 for i = 0, 1, . . . , ` 1, so we see
that ` = n.
2
Remark 20 If a rank function exists, it is in fact uniquely defined.
Corollary 21 Any interval in a graded poset is graded.
Proof: For [x, y] P , use the rank function r[x,y] (z) = rP (z) rP (x). 2
Lattices
Definition 22 A poset L is a lattice if every pair of elements x, y has

a least upper bound x y (a.k.a. join), and
a greatest lower bound x y (a.k.a. meet);
i.e.
z x y z x and z y
z x y z x and z y.
Example 23 Bn is a lattice. The meet and join can be explicitly specified as
ST =ST
S T = S T,
and this can serve as a mnemonic for the symbols.
7-7
Figure 5: Hasse diagram of part of a lattice

xy
y
x
xy
7-8

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18.

312: Algebraic Combinatorics

Notes by: Andrew Geng

Partially ordered sets

1. n (handwritten as n) is the set [n] with the usual order on integers.

{2, 3} {1, 3} {1, 2}

3. Dn = {all divisors of n}, with d d0 d | d0 .

4. n = {partitions of [n]}, ordered by refinement.

5. Generalizing Bn , any collection P of subsets of a fixed set X is a partially ordered

Maps between partially ordered sets

Definition 6 A function f : P Q between partially ordered sets is order-preserving if

Figure 3: Hasse diagrams of isomorphic posets

Operations on partially ordered sets

1. (Disjoint union) P + Q is the disjoint union set P t Q, where x P +Q y if and only

Proof: Define a candidate isomorphism

TheQproof of Example 10 is similarly easy, using the isomorphism f : Dk Bn defined

Definition 13 A chain of a partially ordered set P is a totally ordered subset C P i.e.

Figure 4: Hasse diagram of a poset that is not graded

Definition 17 A rank function on a poset P is a map r : P {0, , n} for some n,

: Given a rank function r : P {0, , n} and a maximal chain C = {x0 , , x` }, we

Definition 22 A poset L is a lattice if every pair of elements x, y has

and this can serve as a mnemonic for the symbols.

Figure 5: Hasse diagram of part of a lattice

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