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Rank identifications in join-meet ideals of thin distributive lattices

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Abstract

Let LL be a thin distributive lattice of rank m+1m+1, and let ILI_L be its join-meet ideal in the polynomial ring SLS_L. For A⊆{1,…,m}A\subseteq\{1,\dots,m\}, let JAJ_A be the ideal obtained from ILI_L by identifying, for every i∈Ai\in A, the variables of the two elements of LL of rank ii. We prove that JAJ_A is prime if and only if AA contains no turning rank and does not contain both ranks adjacent to a turning rank. In this case, SL/JAS_L/J_A is the toric ring obtained from Hibi's parametrization of the Hibi ring of LL by identifying suitable pairs of variables, and for an arbitrary AA we describe the saturation of JAJ_A as a lattice ideal.

Introduction

Let LL be a finite distributive lattice, let KK be a field and let SL=K[xα:α∈L]S_L = K[x_\alpha: \alpha\in L] be the polynomial ring whose variables are indexed by the elements of LL. The join-meet ideal ILI_L of LL is the ideal of SLS_L generated by the binomials xαxβ−xα∧βxα∨βx_\alpha x_\beta- x_{\alpha\wedge\beta}x_{\alpha\vee\beta}, where α,β∈L\alpha,\beta\in L are incomparable. It was introduced by Hibi [9], who proved that K[L]=SL/ILK[L] = S_L/I_L is a normal Cohen–Macaulay domain and an algebra with straightening laws on LL. Since then, join-meet ideals and their quotient rings, nowadays called Hibi rings, have been studied from many points of view; see, for instance, [6, 8] and the references therein.

In this paper we focus on the thin distributive lattices, also known as generalized snake posets [12]. A finite distributive lattice LL of rank m+1m+1 is thin if it is simple and has exactly two elements of rank ii for every i∈[m]:={1,…,m}i \in[m] := \{1,\ldots,m\}. Denoting these two elements by cic_i and did_i, we study what happens to the Hibi ring when the two elements of some ranks are identified. More precisely, for A⊆[m]A \subseteq[m] we consider the ideal

JA=IL+(xci−xdi:i∈A)⊆SL.J_A = I_L + (x_{c_i} - x_{d_i} : i \in A) \subseteq S_L.

and we ask when JAJ_A is a prime ideal. The answer depends on the turning ranks of LL, namely the integers 2≤k≤m−12 \leq k \leq m-1 such that ck−1∨dk−1=ck+1∧dk+1c_{k-1} \vee d_{k-1} = c_{k+1} \wedge d_{k+1}. Our main result, Theorem 2.4, states that JAJ_A is prime if and only if AA contains no turning rank and, for every turning rank kk, the set AA does not contain both k−1k-1 and k+1k+1. Interestingly, although JAJ_A need not be prime, the quotient SL/JAS_L/J_A is Cohen–Macaulay for every A⊆[m]A \subseteq[m]; see Remark 4.10. Finally, when AA is admissible, we describe SL/JAS_L/J_A as the toric ring obtained from Hibi’s parametrization of K[L]K[L] by identifying suitable pairs of variables. This parametrization has a natural probabilistic meaning in terms of the conjunctive Bayesian networks introduced in [1], where it is shown that, in suitable coordinates, such a model is the toric variety of the Hibi ring of LL. In this setting, a rank identification corresponds to requiring that two events have the same conditional probability. Our

2020 Mathematics Subject Classification. 06D05, 13C70, 13H10, 13P10.

Key words and phrases. Distributive lattice, join-meet ideal, Hibi ring, prime ideal, lattice ideal, Cohen–Macaulay ring, linear resolution.

This research was supported through the program “Oberwolfach Research Fellows” (OWRF) by the Mathematics Forschungsinstitut Oberwolfach in 2026. The second and third authors are supported by Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey TÜBİTAK under the Grants 126F175 and 124F113, respectively; they are thankful to TÜBİTAK for their support. The second author is a member of GNSAGA Indam and he acknowledges their support. results then say that the homogeneous relations among the probabilities of the resulting submodel are generated by the join-meet relations together with the obvious linear ones if and only if AA is admissible, and that in general they are described by the saturation of JAJ_A; see Remark 5.4 and Example 5.5.

The paper is organized as follows. In Section 2 we fix the terminology and describe the structure of thin distributive lattices: they are obtained by gluing diamonds and, roughly speaking, they look like staircases whose steps are products of a chain and a chain with two elements. In Section 3 we prove that the two conditions above are necessary, by exhibiting explicit zero-divisors modulo JAJ_A, and we show that JAJ_A is prime if and only if it coincides with the lattice ideal of the lattice ΛA\Lambda_A spanned by the exponent vectors of its generators. Section 4 contains the proof of the sufficiency, which is the core of the paper: we show that every binomial of the lattice ideal of ΛA\Lambda_A of degree at least three is generated by binomials of smaller degree, by induction on the rank of LL and by means of suitable linear functionals vanishing on ΛA\Lambda_A, which we call AA-weights. Finally, Section 5 is devoted to the toric parametrization and to its probabilistic interpretation.

Thin distributive lattices and rank identifications

Posets and distributive lattices

Posets and distributive lattices. A partially ordered set, or poset, is a set PP endowed with a relation ≤\le which is reflexive, antisymmetric and transitive. Throughout the paper, all posets are assumed to be finite. Two elements p,q∈Pp,q \in P are said to be comparable if p≤qp \le q or q≤pq \le p, and incomparable otherwise.

A chain of a finite poset PP is a totally ordered subset of PP, and its length is its cardinality minus one. The rank of PP, denoted by rank⁡(P)\operatorname{rank}(P), is the maximal length of a chain of PP. For r≥1r \ge1 we denote by CrC_r the chain {0<1<⋯<r−1}\{0 < 1 < \cdots< r-1\}. If PP and QQ are posets, P×QP \times Q denotes the Cartesian product of PP and QQ ordered componentwise, that is, (p,q)≤(p′,q′)(p,q) \le(p',q') if and only if p≤p′p \le p' in PP and q≤q′q \le q' in QQ. A subset UU of PP is a poset ideal if q∈Uq \in U whenever q≤pq \le p for some p∈Up \in U, and J(P)J(P) denotes the set of poset ideals of PP, ordered by inclusion.

A finite lattice is a finite poset LL in which any two elements α,β\alpha,\beta have a greatest lower bound α∧β\alpha\wedge\beta and a least upper bound α∨β\alpha\vee\beta, called the meet and the join of α\alpha and β\beta, respectively. It is distributive if meet and join distribute over each other. We denote by 0L0_L and 1L1_L the least and the greatest element of LL, and for α≤β\alpha\le\beta we set [α,β]={γ∈L:α≤γ≤β}[\alpha,\beta]=\{\gamma\in L:\alpha\le\gamma\le\beta\}. If α<β\alpha< \beta and [α,β]={α,β}[\alpha,\beta]=\{\alpha,\beta\}, we say that β\beta covers α\alpha, and we call {α,β}\{\alpha,\beta\} an edge of LL, since it corresponds to an edge of the Hasse diagram of LL. A diamond is a poset isomorphic to C2×C2C_2 \times C_2, that is, a set {a,c,d,b}\{a,c,d,b\} with a<c<ba<c<b, a<d<ba<d<b, and c,dc,d incomparable. Its four edges are the lower edges {a,c}\{a,c\}, {a,d}\{a,d\} and the upper edges {c,b}\{c,b\}, {d,b}\{d,b\}; two of them are adjacent if they share an element, and opposite otherwise. An element α∈L\alpha\in L is an apex of LL if it is comparable with every element of LL, and LL is simple if its only apexes are 0L0_L and 1L1_L. An element 0L≠p∈L0_L \ne p \in L is join-irreducible if p=α∨βp=\alpha\vee\beta implies p=αp=\alpha or p=βp=\beta. We denote by PLP_L the subposet of LL consisting of its join-irreducible elements and, for α∈L\alpha\in L, we set

iα={p∈PL:p≤α}.\mathfrak{i}_\alpha=\{p \in P_L:p \le\alpha\}.

By Birkhoff’s fundamental structure theorem [6 Theorem 9.1.7], if LL is a finite distributive lattice, the map α↦iα\alpha\mapsto\mathfrak{i}_\alpha is an isomorphism of lattices from LL onto J(PL)J(P_L); in particular, iα∧β=iα∩iβ\mathfrak{i}_{\alpha\wedge\beta}=\mathfrak{i}_\alpha\cap\mathfrak{i}_\beta and iα∨β=iα∪iβ\mathfrak{i}_{\alpha\vee\beta}=\mathfrak{i}_\alpha\cup\mathfrak{i}_\beta for all α,β∈L\alpha,\beta\in L. The rank of α∈L\alpha\in L, denoted by rank⁡L(α)\operatorname{rank}_L(\alpha), is the maximal length of a chain of LL whose greatest element is α\alpha, and rank⁡(L)=rank⁡L(1L)\operatorname{rank}(L)=\operatorname{rank}_L(1_L). We shall freely use the following elementary facts (see, e.g., [11 Chapter 3]).

Remark 2.1. Let LL be a finite distributive lattice. Then the following hold.

(a) rank⁡L(α)=∣iα∣\operatorname{rank}_L(\alpha)=|\mathfrak{i}_\alpha| for every α∈L\alpha\in L. If α<β\alpha< \beta, then rank⁡L(α)<rank⁡L(β)\operatorname{rank}_L(\alpha)<\operatorname{rank}_L(\beta), and all the maximal chains of [α,β][\alpha,\beta] have length rank⁡L(β)−rank⁡L(α)\operatorname{rank}_L(\beta)-\operatorname{rank}_L(\alpha). In particular, two distinct elements of LL of the same rank are incomparable, and, for every α≤β\alpha\le\beta, the interval [α,β][\alpha,\beta] contains an element of rank ρ\rho for every rank⁡L(α)≤ρ≤rank⁡L(β)\operatorname{rank}_{L}(\alpha) \le\rho\le\operatorname{rank}_{L}(\beta).

(b) rank⁡L(α∧β)+rank⁡L(α∨β)=rank⁡L(α)+rank⁡L(β)\operatorname{rank}_{L}(\alpha\wedge\beta) + \operatorname{rank}_{L}(\alpha\vee\beta) = \operatorname{rank}_{L}(\alpha) + \operatorname{rank}_{L}(\beta) for all α,β∈L\alpha,\beta\in L.

(c) For all α≤β\alpha\le\beta, the interval [α,β][\alpha,\beta] is closed under meet and join, so it is a distributive lattice with the operations of LL.

Thin distributive lattices

For a finite distributive lattice LL and an integer i≥0i \ge0, let ρL(i)\rho_{L}(i) be the number of elements of LL of rank ii. A finite simple distributive lattice LL of rank dd is called thin if ρL(i)=2\rho_{L}(i) = 2 for every 1≤i≤d−11 \le i \le d - 1; see [7]. Thin distributive lattices are also called generalized snake posets [12]. Their structure is easily read off from the definition. We describe it in the following discussion, which also fixes the notation used throughout the paper.

References

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