Type d'homotopie des treillis et treillis des sous-groupes d'un groupe fini. (Homotopy type of lattices and lattices of subgroups of a finite groups) (Q1084422)

It is well known that a p(artially) o(rdered) s(et), or lattice, L, determines a simplicial complex \(| L|\). In the paper under review, for a finite poset \(\bar L\) with a minimal and a maximal element 0 and 1 respectively, the homotopy theoretic properties of \(| L|\) are investigated, where \(L=\bar L-\{0,1\}\). A criterion is given in (1.8) in order for \(| L|\) to be contractible. Moreover, certain elements of L, which the authors call pivots, enable them to describe the homotopy type of \(| L|\) in (2.4). Furthermore, in Section 3 it is shown that each maximal element of a modular lattice is a pivot, and, moreover, that the complex associated with a finite modular lattice of length n has the homotopy type of a bunch of spheres of dimension n-2. This is related with, in fact generalizes, results of \textit{J. Folkman} [J. Math. Mech. 15, 631-636 (1966; Zbl 0146.016)] and \textit{G. Lusztig} [The discrete series of \(GL_ n\) over a finite field (Ann. Math. Stud. 81, 1974; Zbl 0293.20038)]. In a final Section the results of the paper are applied to the complex arising from the lattice of subgroups of a finite group.