Complete Valuations on Finite Distributive Lattices

Abstract

We characterize the finite distributive lattices which admit a complete valuation, that is bijective over a set of consecutive natural numbers, with the additional conditions of completeness (Definition 2.3). We prove that such lattices are downset lattices of finite posets of dimension at most two, and determine a realizer through a recursive relation between weights on the poset associated to valuation. The relation shows that the weights count chains in the complementary poset. Conversely, we prove that a valuation defined on a poset of dimension at most two, through the weight function which counts chains in the complementary poset, is complete.