Counting interval orders

An algorithm is obtained for enumerating the interval orders of a given cardinality.     

Linear extensions of partial orders preserving monotonicity

Given a poset (A, r) and an acyclic r-monotone function f: AA, we prove that r can be extended to a linear order R with xRyf(x)Rf(y) for all x, yA.     

Simultaneous representation of interval and interval-containment orders

We characterize the polysemic interval pairs—pairs of posets that admit simultaneous interval and interval-containment representations—and present algorithms to recoginze them and construct polysemic interval representations.This work, supported in part by NSF grant CCR-9300079, also appears in the author's doctoral thesis [9], written at the Johns Hopkins University under the supervision of Professors Edward R. Scheinerman and Michael T. Goodrich.     

Random k-dimensional orders: Width and number of linear extensions

We consider the width W _k (n) and number L _k (n) of linear extensions of a random k-dimensional order P _k (n). We show that, for each fixed k, almost surely W _k (n) lies between (k/2–C)n _1–1/k and 4kn ^1-1/k , for some constant C, and L _k (n) lies between (e ^-2 n ^1-1/k ) ⁿ and (2kn ^1-1/k ) ⁿ . The bounds given also apply to the expectations of the corresponding random variables. We also show that W _k (n) and log L _k (n) are sharply concentrated about their means.     

Preemptive scheduling of interval orders is polynomial

In 1979, Papadimitriou and Yannakakis gave a polynomial time algorithm for the scheduling of jobs requiring unit completion times when the precedence constraints form an interval order. The authors solve here the corresponding problem, for preemptive scheduling (a job can be interrupted to work on more important tasks, and completed at a later time, subject to the usual scheduling constraints.) The m-machine preemptive scheduling problem is shown to have a polynomial algorithm, for both unit time and variable execution times as well, when the precedence constraints are given by an interval order.     

Interval orders and circle orders

A finite poset is an interval order if its point can be mapped into real intervals so that x in the poset precisely when x's interval lies wholly to the left of y's; the poset is a circle order if its points can be mapped into circular disks in the plane so that x precisely when x's circular disk is properly included in y's. This note proves that every finite interval order is a circle order.     

A 3/2-approximation algorithm for the jump number of interval orders

The jump number of a partial order P is the minimum number of incomparable adjacent pairs in some linear extension of P. The jump number problem is known to be NP-hard in general. However some particular classes of posets admit easy calculation of the jump number.The complexity status for interval orders still remains unknown. Here we present a heuristic that, given an interval order P, generates a linear extension , whose jump number is less than 3/2 times the jump number of P.This work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG).     

Circle orders and angle orders

A poset is a circle order if its points can be mapped into circular disks in the plane so that x in the poset precisely when x's circular disk is properly included in y's; the poset is an angle order if its points can be mapped into unbounded angular regions that preserve < by proper inclusion. It is well known that many finite angle orders are not circle orders, but has been open as to whether every finite circle order is an angle order. This paper proves that there are finite circle orders that are not angle orders.     

On minimizing the jump number for interval orders

The purpose of this paper is to give an effective characterization of all interval orders which are greedy with respect to the jump number problem.This research (Math/1406/30) was supported by the Research Center, College of Science, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.     

Tackling the jump number of interval orders

Although the jump number problem for partially ordered sets in NP-complete in general, there are some special classes of posets for which polynomial time algorithms are known.Here we prove that for the class of interval orders the problem remains NP-complete. Moreover we describe another 3/2-approximation algrithm (two others have been developed already by Felsner and Syslo, respectively) by using a polynomial time subgraph packing algorithm.     

Fractional dimension of partial orders

Given a partially ordered setP=(X, ), a collection of linear extensions {L ₁,L ₂,...,L _r } is arealizer if, for every incomparable pair of elementsx andy, we havex<y in someL _i (andy<x in someL _j ). For a positive integerk, we call a multiset {L ₁,L ₂,...,L _t } ak-fold realizer if for every incomparable pairx andy we havex<y in at leastk of theL _i 's. Lett(k) be the size of a smallestk-fold realizer ofP; we define thefractional dimension ofP, denoted fdim(P), to be the limit oft(k)/k ask. We prove various results about the fractional dimension of a poset.Research supported in part by the Office of Naval Research.     

Weak orders admitting a perpendicular linear order

Two orders on the same set are perpendicular if the constant maps and the identity map are the only maps preserving both orders. We characterize the finite weak orders admitting a perpendicular linear order.     

Angle orders and zeros

An angle order is a partially ordered set whose points can be mapped into unbounded angular regions in the plane such that x is less than y in the partial order if and only if x's angular region is properly included in y's. The zero augmentation of a partially ordered set adds one point to the set that is less than all original points. We prove that there are finite angle orders whose augmentations are not angle orders. The proof makes extensive use of Ramsey theory.     

A note on sphere containment orders

Using the ideas of Scheinerman and Wierman [1] and of Hurlbert [2] we give a very short proof that the infinite order [2]×[3]× cannot be represented by containment of Euclidean balls in ad-dimensional space for anyd. Also we give representations of the orders [2]×[2]× and [3]×[3]×[3] by containment of circles in the plane.The work was financially supported by the Russian Foundation of Fundamental Research, Grant 93-011-1486     

Circle orders,N-gon orders and the crossing number

Let ={P ₁,...,P _m } be a family of sets. A partial order P(, <) on is naturally defined by the condition P _i <P _j iff P _i is contained in P _j . When the elements of are disks (i.e. circles together with their interiors), P(, <) is called a circle order; if the elements of are n-polygons, P(, <) is called an n-gon order. In this paper we study circle orders and n-gon orders. The crossing number of a partial order introduced in [5] is studied here. We show that for every n, there are partial orders with crossing number n. We prove next that the crossing number of circle orders is at most 2 and that the crossing number of n-gon orders is at most 2n. We then produce for every n4 partial orders of dimension n which are not circle orders. Also for every n>3, we prove that there are partial orders of dimension 2n+2 which are not n-gon orders. Finally, we prove that every partial order of dimension 2n is an n-gon order.This research was supported under Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC Canada) grant numbers A2507 and A0977.     

Posets isomorphic to their extensions

A standard extension for a poset P is a system Q of lower ends (descending subsets) of P containing all principal ideals of P. An isomorphism between P and Q is called recycling if [Y]Q for all YQ. The existence of such an isomorphism has rather restrictive consequences for the system Q in question. For example, if Q contains all lower ends generated by chains then a recycling isomorphism between P and Q forces Q to be precisely the system of all principal ideals. For certain standard extensions Q, it turns out that every isomorphism between P and Q (if there is any) must be recycling. Our results include the well-known fact that a poset cannot be isomorphic to the system of all lower ends, as well as the fact that a poset is isomorphic to the system of all ideals (i.e., directed lower ends) only if every ideal is principal.     

Two properties of projective orders

We prove a closure property of the class of projective orders without infinite chains, and strengthen Larose's theorem on the equivalence between projectivity and quasiprojectivity for finite orders.     

Angle orders,regular n-gon orders and the crossing number

A finite poset P(X,<) on a set X={ x ₁,...,x _m} is an angle order (regular n-gon order) if the elements of P(X,<) can be mapped into a family of angular regions on the plane (a family of regular polygons with n sides and having parallel sides) such that x _ij if and only if the angular region (regular n-gon) for x _i is contained in the region (regular n-gon) for x _j. In this paper we prove that there are partial orders of dimension 6 with 64 elements which are not angle orders. The smallest partial order previously known not to be an angle order has 198 elements and has dimension 7. We also prove that partial orders of dimension 3 are representable using equilateral triangles with the same orientation. This results does not generalizes to higher dimensions. We will prove that there is a partial order of dimension 4 with 14 elements which is not a regular n-gon order regardless of the value of n. Finally, we prove that partial orders of dimension 3 are regular n-gon orders for n3.This research was supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, grant numbers A0977 and A2415.     

Line directionality of orders

Some orders can be represented by translating convex figures in the plane. It is proved thatN-free and interval orders admit such representations with an unbounded number of directions. Weak orders, tree-like orders and two-dimensional orders of height one are shown to be two- directional. In all cases line segments can be used as convex sets.     

Counting linear extensions

We survey the problem of counting the number of linear extensions of a partially ordered set. We show that this problem is #P-complete, settling a long-standing open question. This result is contrasted with recent work giving randomized polynomial-time algorithms for estimating the number of linear extensions.One consequence of our main result is that computing the volume of a rational polyhedron is strongly #P-hard. We also show that the closely related problems of determining the average height of an element x of a give poset, and of determining the probability that x lies below y in a random linear extension, are #P-complete.Research carried out while this author was visiting Bellcore under the auspices of DIMACS.