Pattern avoidance and smoothness of closures for orbits of a symmetric subgroup in the flag variety (Q1048209)

Let \(G\) be a complex connected reductive algebraic group, \(\theta\) an involutive automorphism of \(G\), \(K\subset G\) the group of fixed points of \(\theta\), and \({\mathcal B}\) the flag variety of \(G\) (i.e., the variety of maximal solvable subalgebras of \(\text{Lie}(G)\)). The question of whether a \(K\)-orbit on \({\mathcal B}\) is smooth can be phrased in terms of local intersection homology and thus can be settled by applying an algorithm due to \textit{D. A. Vogan jun.} [Duke Math. J. 46, 805--859 (1979; Zbl 0421.22008)]. In contrast, in the present paper the authors approach the question of rational smoothness from a combinatorial standpoint: Building on the work of \textit{W. M. McGovern} [J. Algebra 322, No. 8, 2709--2712 (2009; Zbl 1185.14040)], the authors use an isogeny-independent pattern avoidance scheme to identify the \(K\)-orbits on \({\mathcal B}\) that have rationally smooth closure for flag varieties of types \(C\) and \(D\). Further, the authors show that all of these rationally smooth orbit closures are in fact smooth.