On posets whose products are Macaulay (Q1273668)

Let \(P\) be a finite ranked poset with levels \(P_i\). The shadow of \(A\subseteq P_i\) is the set of those elements in \(P_{i-1}\) which are covered by elements of \(A\). The shadow minimization problem is the background of various extremal problems: for given \(i\) and \(m\) find a subset \(A\subseteq P_i\) with \(| A| =m\) and with the shadow of minimal cardinality. For Macaulay posets this problem has a nice nested structure of solutions [see \textit{K. Engel}, Sperner theory (1997; Zbl 0868.05001)]. Let \(\mathcal P\) be the class of upper semilattices whose Hasse diagrams are trees. The main result of the paper under review is that if \(P\in{\mathcal P}\) and the cartesian power \(P^n\) is Macaulay for some \(n>2+\text{rank }P\), then the Hasse diagram of \(P\) is a regular spider with all legs of the same length. The reverse statement is also valid and is the subject of a forthcoming paper of the author and R. Elsässer.