A partitioning and related properties for the quotient complex \(\Delta(B _{lm})/S_{l }S_m\) (Q1861508)

The wreath product of symmetric groups, \(S_l \rmoustache S_m \) acts on the Boolean algebra, \(B_{lm}\), of subsets of \(\{ 1,\ldots, ln\}\) ordered by inclusion. This action induces an \(S_l \rmoustache S_m \)-action on the chains of comparable poset elements, which gives rise to a quotient cell complex \(\Delta (B_{lm})/S_l \rmoustache S_m \). This complex is studied and shown to be Cohen-Macaulay over fields of characteristic \(p\) larger than \(m\) but independent of \(l\) (for \(l>2\) and \(m>1\)), while it is not Cohen-Macaulay over fields of characteristic~2. These results are used to deduce algebraic facts about the ring \(k[x_1, \ldots,x_{lm}]^{S_l \rmoustache S_m}\). Cohen-Macaulayness of this ring for \(l>2\) and \(2<p\leq m\) is still open.