Sign-graded posets, unimodality of {\(W\)}-polynomials and the {C}harney-{D}avis conjecture (Q1773153)

The properties of posets and certain associated polynomials have been the source of several interesting conjectures, e.g., the Charney-Davis and the Neggers-Stanley conjectures. In this paper the first conjecture is the subject. Rather than proving such conjectures directly or disproving them as in the case of the second conjecture, the classes of posets for which they hold have been shown to be very large by means of constructive arguments leading to ever larger classes where they do hold. Thus, no matter what the ultimate situation, the question becomes one of deciding which ``symmetry conditions'', e.g., graded, Eulerian etc., on posets describe exactly when and how a particular conjecture stands or falls under the circumstances. This paper focuses on an extension of the class of graded posets, i.e., sign graded (labeled) posets defined here, where the author proves that the \(W\)-polynomial of such a poset is symmetric and unimodal and has the right sign at \(-1\) to prove the Charney-Davis conjecture for the simplicial polytopal spheres associated according to a result of Reiner and Welker with these posets.