Lexicographic shellability for balanced complexes

Abstract

We introduce a notion of lexicographic shellability for pure, balanced boolean cell complexes, modelled after the $CL$-shellability criterion of Bj\"orner and Wachs for posets and its generalization by Kozlov called $CC$-shellability. We give a lexicographic shelling for the quotient of the order complex of a Boolean algebra of rank $2n$ by the action of the wreath product $S_2\wr S_n$ of symmetric groups, and we provide a partitioning for the quotient complex $\Delta (\Pi_n)/S_n $. Stanley asked for a description of the symmetric group representation $\beta_S $ on the homology of the rank-selected partition lattice $\Pi_n^S $ in [St2], and in particular he asked when the multiplicity $b_S(n)$ of the trivial representation in $\beta_S$ is 0. One consequence of the partitioning for $\dps $ is a (fairly complicated) combinatorial interpretation for $b_S(n) $; another is a simple proof of Hanlon's result that $b_{1,..., i}(n)=0$. Using a result of Garsia and Stanton, we deduce from our shelling for $\Delta (B_{2n})/S_2 \wr S_n$ that the ring of invariants $k[x_1,..., x_{2n}]^{S_2\wr S_n}$ is Cohen-Macaulay over any field $k$.