The zig-zag property and exponential cancellation of ordered sets (Q1826507)

This meritorious review paper, dedicated to the memory of Ivan Rival, concerns an area of general poset theory which has been both successful and yet not explored as fully as it might be, even though the techniques developed to show that exponential cancellation for finite posets (\(A^C\cong B^C\) implies \(A\cong B\), \(C\neq\emptyset\)) holds are of independent interest associated with questions promising the mining of many beautiful results as being very likely. Since the author has played a very major role in the development of the results contained in this survey, and since he has provided other methods of proving certain results previously known, the paper is both of historical as well as technical interest. The references concerning work done in this area are not as complete as they might be, but this does not detract from the presentation itself. What this reviewer has considered ``general poset theory'' is often avoided in the literature for being difficult in its very nature, to be replaced with specific studies of specific classes of posets. Nevertheless, any result obtained in this area is likely to be of value because of its vast generality. In addition, such results also speak to the deeper meanings of what posets really are in a way which is of necessity obscured by studies in more restricted areas. Thus, if the idea of a ``general poset theory'' goes ignored for too large a duration of time, the understanding of the unity of the subject may also fail in a babel of particulars each governed by a local jargon soon unintelligible to non-specialists in each particular subdiscipline. The author, like too few others, has served in the field in the interest of this not taking place, and this paper is an effort to make sure that others will follow in order that this particular quest will continue as well.