Antichains of (0, 1)-matrices through inversions

Abstract

An inversion in a matrix of zeros and ones consists of two entries both of which equal $1$, and one of which is located to the top-right of the other. It is known that in the class $\mathcal{A}(R,S)$ of $(0,1)$--matrices with row sum vector $R$ and column sum vector $S$, the number of inversions in a matrix is monotonic with respect to the secondary Bruhat order. Hence any two matrices in the same class $\mathcal{A}(R,S)$ having the same number of inversions, are incomparable in the secondary Bruhat order. We use this fact to construct antichains in the Bruhat order of $\mathcal{A}(n,2)$, the class of all $n\times n$ binary matrices with common row and column sum~$2$. A product construction of antichains in the Bruhat order of $\mathcal{A}(R,S)$ is given. This product construction is applied in finding antichains in the Bruhat order of the class $\mathcal{A}(2k,k)$ of square $(0,1)$--matrices of order $2k$ and common row and column sum~$k$.