A classification of the face numbers of Buchsbaum simplicial posets

The family of Buchsbaum simplicial posets generalizes the family of simplicial cell manifolds. The \(h'\) -vector of a simplicial complex or simplicial poset encodes the combinatorial and topological data of its face numbers and the reduced Betti numbers of its geometric realization. Novik and Swartz showed that the \(h'\) -vector of a Buchsbaum simplicial poset satisfies certain simple inequalities; in this paper we show that these necessary conditions are in fact sufficient to characterize the \(h'\) -vectors of Buchsbaum simplicial posets with prescribed Betti numbers.     

On face numbers of manifolds with symmetry

Necessary conditions on the face numbers of Cohen-Macaulay simplicial complexes admitting a proper action of the cyclic group of a prime order are given. This result is extended further to necessary conditions on the face numbers and the Betti numbers of Buchsbaum simplicial complexes with a proper -action. Adin's upper bounds on the face numbers of Cohen-Macaulay complexes with symmetry are shown to hold for all (d−1)-dimensional Buchsbaum complexes with symmetry on n?3d−2 vertices. A generalization of Kühnel's conjecture on the Euler characteristic of 2k-dimensional manifolds and Sparla's analog of this conjecture for centrally symmetric 2k-manifolds are verified for all 2k-manifolds on n?6k+3 vertices. Connections to the Upper Bound Theorem are discussed and its new version for centrally symmetric manifolds is established.     

Applications of Klee’s Dehn–Sommerville Relations

We use Klee’s Dehn–Sommerville relations and other results on face numbers of homology manifolds without boundary to (i) prove Kalai’s conjecture providing lower bounds on the f-vectors of an even-dimensional manifold with all but the middle Betti number vanishing, (ii) verify Kühnel’s conjecture that gives an upper bound on the middle Betti number of a 2k-dimensional manifold in terms of k and the number of vertices, and (iii) partially prove Kühnel’s conjecture providing upper bounds on other Betti numbers of odd- and even-dimensional manifolds. For manifolds with boundary, we derive an extension of Klee’s Dehn–Sommerville relations and strengthen Kalai’s result on the number of their edges. I. Novik research partially supported by Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship and NSF grant DMS-0500748. E. Swartz research partially supported by NSF grant DMS-0600502.     

Convex Hulls of f- and β-Vectors

In this paper we describe the convex hulls of the sets of f- and β-vectors of different classes of simplicial complexes on n vertices. These include flag complexes, order complexes of posets, matroid complexes, and general abstract simplicial complexes. As a result of this investigation, standard linear programming problems on these sets can be solved, including maximization of the Euler characteristics or of the sum of the Betti numbers. Received July 16, 1995, and in revised form May 1, 1996.     

Moment-angle complexes from simplicial posets

We extend the construction of moment-angle complexes to simplicial posets by associating a certain T ^m -space Z _S to an arbitrary simplicial poset S on m vertices. Face rings ℤ[S] of simplicial posets generalise those of simplicial complexes, and give rise to new classes of Gorenstein and Cohen-Macaulay rings. Our primary motivation is to study the face rings ℤ[S] by topological methods. The space Z _S has many important topological properties of the original moment-angle complex Z _K associated to a simplicial complex K. In particular, we prove that the integral cohomology algebra of Z _S is isomorphic to the Tor-algebra of the face ring ℤ[S]. This leads directly to a generalisation of Hochster’s theorem, expressing the algebraic Betti numbers of the ring ℤ[S] in terms of the homology of full subposets in S. Finally, we estimate the total amount of homology of Z _S from below by proving the toral rank conjecture for the moment-angle complexes Z _S .     

Resolutions of letterplace ideals of posets

We investigate resolutions of letterplace ideals of posets. We develop topological results to compute their multigraded Betti numbers, and to give structural results on these Betti numbers. If the poset is a union of no more than c chains, we show that the Betti numbers may be computed from simplicial complexes of no more than c vertices. We also give a recursive procedure to compute the Betti diagrams when the Hasse diagram of P has tree structure.     

On f-Vectors and Relative Homology

We find strong necessary conditions on the f-vectors, Betti sequences, and relative Betti sequence of a pair of simplicial complexes. We also present an example showing that these conditions are not sufficient. If only the difference between two Betti sequences is specified, and not the individual Betti sequences, then the characterization is complete, and the characterization of all pairs of simplicial complexes matches the characterization of pairs of near-cones. Our necessary conditions rely upon a combinatorial decomposition of pairs of simplicial complexes that reflects the homology and relative homology of the complexes.     

Empty Simplices of Polytopes and Graded Betti Numbers

The conjecture of Kalai, Kleinschmidt, and Lee on the number of empty simplices of a simplicial polytope is established by relating it to the first graded Betti numbers of the polytope and applying a result of Migliore and the author. This approach allows us to derive explicit optimal bounds on the number of empty simplices of any given dimension. As a key result, we prove optimal bounds for the graded Betti numbers of any standard graded K-algebra in terms of its Hilbert function.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">f</Emphasis>-Vectors of barycentric subdivisions

For a simplicial complex or more generally Boolean cell complex Δ we study the behavior of the f- and h-vector under barycentric subdivision. We show that if Δ has a non-negative h-vector then the h-polynomial of its barycentric subdivision has only simple and real zeros. As a consequence this implies a strong version of the Charney–Davis conjecture for spheres that are the subdivision of a Boolean cell complex or the subdivision of the boundary complex of a simple polytope. For a general (d − 1)-dimensional simplicial complex Δ the h-polynomial of its n-th iterated subdivision shows convergent behavior. More precisely, we show that among the zeros of this h-polynomial there is one converging to infinity and the other d − 1 converge to a set of d − 1 real numbers which only depends on d. F. Brenti and V. Welker are partially supported by EU Research Training Network “Algebraic Combinatorics in Europe”, grant HPRN-CT-2001-00272 and the program on “Algebraic Combinatorics” at the Mittag-Leffler Institut in Spring 2005.     

Iterated homology and decompositions of simplicial complexes

Kalai has conjectured that a simplicial complex can be partitioned into Boolean algebras at least as roughly, as a shifting-preserving collapse sequence of its algebraically shifted complex. In particular, then, a simplicial complex could (conjecturally) be partitioned into Boolean intervals whose sizes are indexed by its iterated Betti numbers, a generalization of ordinary homology Betti numbers. This would imply a long-standing conjecture made (separately) by Garsia and Stanley concerning partitions of Cohen-Macaulay complexes into Boolean intervals. We prove a relaxation of Kalai’s conjecture, showing that a simplicial complex can be partitioned into recursively defined spanning trees of Boolean intervals indexed by its iterated Betti numbers.     

Resolutions of Stanley-Reisner rings and Alexander duality

Associated to any simplicial complex Δ on n vertices is a square-free monomial ideal I_Δ in the polynomial ring A = k[x₁, …, x_n], and its quotient k[Δ] = A/I_Δ known as the Stanley-Reisner ring. This note considers a simplicial complex Δ^* which is in a sense a canonical Alexander dual to Δ, previously considered in [1, 5]. Using Alexander duality and a result of Hochster computing the Betti numbers dim_k Tor_i^A (k[Δ],k), it is shown (Proposition 1) that these Betti numbers are computable from the homology of links of faces in Δ^*. As corollaries, we prove that I_Δ has a linear resolution as A-module if and only if Δ^* is Cohen-Macaulay over k, and show how to compute the Betti numbers dim_k Tor_i^A (k[Δ],k) in some cases where Δ^* is wellbehaved (shellable, Cohen-Macaulay, or Buchsbaum). Some other applications of the notion of shellability are also discussed.     

Asymptotique des nombres de Betti,invariants $l^2$ et laminations

Let K be a finite simplicial complex. We are interested in the asymptotic behavior of the Betti numbers of a sequence of finite sheeted covers of $K$, when normalized by the index of the covers. W. Lück, has proved that for regular coverings, these sequences of numbers converge to the $l^2$ Betti numbers of the associated (in general infinite) limit regular cover of K. In this article we investigate the non regular case. We show that the sequences of normalized Betti numbers still converge. But this time the good limit object is no longer the associated limit cover of K, but a lamination by simplicial complexes. We prove that the limits of sequences of normalized Betti numbers are equal to the $l^2$ Betti numbers of this lamination. Even if the associated limit cover of K is contractible, its $l^2$ Betti numbers are in general different from those of the lamination. We construct such examples. We also give a dynamical condition for these numbers to be equal. It turns out that this condition is equivalent to a former criterion due to M. Farber. We hope that our results clarify its meaning and show to which extent it is optimal. In a second part of this paper we study non free measure-preserving ergodic actions of a countable group $\Gamma$ on a standard Borel probability space. Extending group-theoretic similar results of the second author, we obtain relations between the $l^{2}$ Betti numbers of $\Gamma$ and those of the generic stabilizers. For example, if $b_1^{(2)} (\Gamma ) \neq 0$, then either almost each stabilizer is finite or almost each stabilizer has an infinite first $l^2$ Betti number.

---

Asymptotique des nombres de Betti, invariants $l^2$ et laminations

     

Topology of Hom complexes and test graphs for bounding chromatic number

The Hom complex of homomorphisms between two graphs was originally introduced to provide topological lower bounds on the chromatic number. In this paper we introduce new methods for understanding the topology of Hom complexes, mostly in the context of Γ-actions on graphs and posets (for some group Γ). We view the Hom(T, ⊙) and Hom(⊙, G) complexes as functors from graphs to posets, and introduce a functor (⊙)¹ from posets to graphs obtained by taking atoms as vertices. Our main structural results establish useful interpretations of the equivariant homotopy type of Hom complexes in terms of spaces of equivariant poset maps and Γ-twisted products of spaces. When P:= F(X) is the face poset of a simplicial complex X, this provides a useful way to control the topology of Hom complexes. These constructions generalize those of the second author from [17] as well as the calculation of the homotopy groups of Hom complexes from [8].     

A combinatorial decomposition of simplicial complexes

We find a decomposition of simplicial complexes that implies and sharpens the characterization (due to Björner and Kalai) of thef-vector and Betti numbers of a simplicial complex. It generalizes a result of Stanley, who proved the acyclic case, and settles a conjecture of Stanley and Kalai.     

Enriched homology and cohomology modules of simiplicial complexes

For a simplicial complex Δ on {1, 2,…, n} we define enriched homology and cohomology modules. They are graded modules over k[x ₁,…, x _n ] whose ranks are equal to the dimensions of the reduced homology and cohomology groups. We characterize Cohen-Macaulay, l-Cohen-Macaulay, Buchsbaum, and Gorenstein^* complexes Δ, and also orientable homology manifolds in terms of the enriched modules. We introduce the notion of girth for simplicial complexes and make a conjecture relating the girth to invariants of the simplicial complex. We also put strong vanishing conditions on the enriched homology modules and describe the simplicial complexes we then get. They are block designs and include Steiner systems S(c, d, n) and cyclic polytopes of even dimension. This paper is to a large extent a complete rewriting of a previous preprint, “Hierarchies of simplicial complexes via the BGG-correspondence”. Also Propositions 1.7 and 3.1 have been generalized to cell complexes in [11].     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">f</Emphasis>-vectors of simplicial posets that are balls

Results of R. Stanley and M. Masuda completely characterize the h-vectors of simplicial posets whose order complexes are spheres. In this paper we examine the corresponding question in the case where the order complex is a ball. Using the face rings of these posets, we develop a series of new conditions on their h-vectors. We also present new methods for constructing poset balls with specific h-vectors. Combining this work with a new result of S. Murai we are able to give a complete characterization of the h-vectors of simplicial poset balls in all even dimensions, as well as odd dimensions less than or equal to five.     

Characteristic-independence of Betti numbers of graph ideals

In this paper, we study the Betti numbers of Stanley-Reisner ideals generated in degree 2. We show that the first 6 Betti numbers do not depend on the characteristic of the ground field. We also show that, if the number of variables n is at most 10, all Betti numbers are independent of the ground field. For n=11, there exists precisely 4 examples in which the Betti numbers depend on the ground field. This is equivalent to the statement that the homology of flag complexes with at most 10 vertices is torsion free and that there exists precisely 4 non-isomorphic flag complexes with 11 vertices whose homology has torsion.In each of the 4 examples mentioned above the 8th Betti numbers depend on the ground field and so we conclude that the highest Betti number which is always independent of the ground field is either 6 or 7; if the former is true then we show that there must exist a graph with 12 vertices whose 7th Betti number depends on the ground field.     

A Geometric Lower Bound Theorem

We resolve a conjecture of Kalai relating approximation theory of convex bodies by simplicial polytopes to the face numbers and primitive Betti numbers of these polytopes and their toric varieties. The proof uses higher notions of chordality. Further, for C ²-convex bodies, asymptotically tight lower bounds on the g-numbers of the approximating polytopes are given, in terms of their Hausdorff distance from the convex body.     

Quaternionic geometry of matroids

Building on a recent paper [8], here we argue that the combinatorics of matroids are intimately related to the geometry and topology of toric hyperkähler varieties. We show that just like toric varieties occupy a central role in Stanley’s proof for the necessity of McMullen’s conjecture (or g-inequalities) about the classification of face vectors of simplicial polytopes, the topology of toric hyperkähler varieties leads to new restrictions on face vectors of matroid complexes. Namely in this paper we will give two proofs that the injectivity part of the Hard Lefschetz theorem survives for toric hyperkähler varieties. We explain how this implies the g-inequalities for rationally representable matroids. We show how the geometrical intuition in the first proof, coupled with results of Chari [3], leads to a proof of the g-inequalities for general matroid complexes, which is a recent result of Swartz [20]. The geometrical idea in the second proof will show that a pure O-sequence should satisfy the g-inequalities, thus showing that our result is in fact a consequence of a long-standing conjecture of Stanley.     

On the Betti Numbers of Chessboard Complexes

In this paper we study the Betti numbers of a type of simplicial complex known as a chessboard complex. We obtain a formula for their Betti numbers as a sum of terms involving partitions. This formula allows us to determine which is the first nonvanishing Betti number (aside from the 0-th Betti number). We can therefore settle certain cases of a conjecture of Björner, Lovász, Vreica, and ivaljevi in [2]. Our formula also shows that all eigenvalues of the Laplacians of the simplicial complexes are integers, and it gives a formula (involving partitions) for the multiplicities of the eigenvalues.