Connected order ideals and \(P\)-partitions (Q1753036)

Summary: Given a finite poset \(P\), we associate a simple graph denoted by \(G_P\) with all connected order ideals of \(P\) as vertices, and two vertices are adjacent if and only if they have nonempty intersection and are incomparable with respect to set inclusion. We establish a bijection between the set of maximum independent sets of \(G_P\) and the set of \(P\)-forests, introduced by Feray and Reiner in their study of the fundamental generating function \(F_P(\mathbf{x})\) associated with \(P\)-partitions. Based on this bijection, in the cases when \(P\) is naturally labeled we show that \(F_P(\mathbf{x})\) can factorise, such that each factor is a summation of rational functions determined by maximum independent sets of a connected component of \(G_P\). This approach enables us to give an alternative proof for Feray and Reiner's nice formula of \(F_P(\mathbf{x})\) for the case of \(P\) being a naturally labeled forest with duplications. Another consequence of our result is a product formula to compute the number of linear extensions of \(P\).