The intrinsic stratification of a Schubert variety (Q1190222)

This paper provides an interesting approach to the topological study of Schubert varieties, as well as a self-contained exposition on Schubert geometry. Let \(G_ k(\mathbb{R}^ n)\) denote the Grassmannian of \(k\)-planes in \(\mathbb{R}^ n\). For a sequence \(\underline n=(n_ 0,n_ 1,\dots,n_ s)\) of natural numbers with \(n_ 0=1<n_ 1<\cdots<n_ s=n\), we define Schubert strata \(S(d)\), \(d=(d_ 1,\dots,d_ s)\), by the sets of \(V\in G_ k(\mathbb{R}^ n)\) satisfying \(\dim V\cap\mathbb{R}^{n_ i}=d_ i\), \(i=1,\dots,s\), with respect to the flag \(\mathbb{R}^{n_ 1}\subset\cdots\subset\mathbb{R}^{n_ s}\). Let \(\sigma=(\sigma_ 1,\dots,\sigma_ k)\) be a Schubert symbol and \(\overline{e(\sigma)}\subset G_ k(\mathbb{R}^ n)\) the corresponding Schubert variety. -- Then the main theorem 2.12 in this paper says that there exists an \(\underline n\), such that the stratification of the Schubert variety \(\overline{e(\sigma)}\) given by \(\{S(d)\}\) is coarsest among all topological stratifications of \(\overline{e(\sigma)}\).