Higher Bruhat orders connected with the symmetric group (Q1103718)

As it is known, the triangle or Yang-Baxter equations express a ``factorizability'' condition for a certain matrix-valued function S on the symmetric group \(\Sigma_ n\), \(n\geq 3\) (see \textit{I. V. Cherednik} [Teor. Mat. Fiz. 61, No.1, 35-44 (1984; Zbl 0575.22021)]). This interpretation is a consequence of the fact that as a complete system of relations in \(\Sigma_ n\) one can take the Coxeter relations. In the present note we derive objects which play the role of \(\Sigma_ n\) relative to the equations of \textit{A. B. Zamolodchikov}'s d-simplexes [Zh. Eksp. Teor. Fiz. 79, No.2, 641-644 (1980); the authors, Proc. Int. Semin., Group-theoretical methods in physics (1986)] (the latter form a multidimensional generalization of the Yang-Baxter equations). More exactly, for all \(n\geq k\geq 1\) we define partially ordered sets B(n,k) such that B(n,1) is isomorphic to \(\Sigma_ n\) with the weak Bruhat order [\textit{R. P. Stanley}, Eur. J. Comb. 5, 359-372 (1984; Zbl 0587.20002)] and B(n,k) is a quotient set of the set of maximal chains in B(n,k-1). The fundamental result of the paper is the purely combinatorial theorem of Sec. 2, in which for B(n,k) one establishes the analogues of the classical properties of \(\Sigma_ n\). The ``Coxeter relations'' in B(n,k) have length \(k+2\) (see Example 3). This reflects the fact that the equation of the \((k+2)\)-simplexes has in the left- and right-hand sides a product of \(k+2\) operators. The solutions of these equations give examples of linear representations of B(n,k). The sets B(n,k) are closely related with the combinatorial structure of the convex hull of the general orbit of \(\Sigma_ n\) in \({\mathbb{R}}^ n\). It seems that the investigation of the sets B(n,k) and their representations may have an indepedent interest.