On the \(h\)-vector of a simplicial complex with Serre's condition (Q659898)

Let \(\Delta\) be a \((d-1)\)-dimensional simplicial complex, \(K\) a field and \((h_0,h_1,\dots, h_d)\) the \(h\)-vector of the {Stanley-Reisner} ring \(K[\Delta]\). Murai and Terai proved that if \(K[\Delta]\) satisfies Serre's condition (\(S_r\)), then (1) \((h_0,h_1,\dots, h_r)\) is an \(M\)-vector and (2) \(h_r+h_{r+1}+\cdots+h_d\geq 0\). In this paper the authors extend this result and show the following Theorem. If \(K[\Delta]\) satisfies Serre's condition (\(S_r\)), then (1) \((h_0,h_1,\dots, h_r)\) is an \(M\)-vector and (2) \({i\choose i}h_r+{i+1\choose i}h_{r+1}+\cdots+{i+d-r\choose i}h_d\geq 0\) for any \(i\) with \(0\leq i\leq r\). The authors raised the following question which is in a sense converse to the above theorem. Question: Suppose that \((h_0,h_1,\dots, h_d)\) is a sequence of integers which satisfy (1) and (2) of the above theorem. Then does there exist a \((d-1)\)-dimensional simplicial complex \(\Delta\) such that \(K[\Delta]\) satisfies (\(S_r\)) and whose \(h\)-vector is \((h_0,h_1,\dots,h_d)\)? The authors proved that the case where \(r=2\), this question is affirmative by showing that a \((d-1)\)-dimensional quasi-forest simplicial complex satisfies (\(S_2\)) if and only if \(h_2+h_3+\cdots+h_d\geq 0\).