The worst way to collapse a simplex (Q2055286)

Let \(X\) be a simplicial complex. A nonempty face \(f\) of \(X\) is said to be a free face if \(f\) is a proper subset of exactly one other face of \(X\). An elementary collapse of \(X\) is the operation of removing a free face together with the unique face properly containing that free face. \(X\) is said to be a collapsible complex if there exists a sequence of elementary collapses (collapsing sequence) which reduces \(X\) to a single vertex. Furthermore, \(X\) is said to be a contractible complex if it is homotopy-equivalent to a single point. This paper deals with the case in which \(X\) is an \((n-1)\)-simplex. The main result states that if \(n \geqslant 8\) and \(d \notin \{ 1, n-3, n-2, n-1 \}\), then there exists a collapsing sequence which reduces the \((n-1)\)-simplex to a \(d\)-complex with \(n\) vertices but without free faces. Similar sufficient conditions are obtained for the nonexistence of such a sequence. As a corollary it is obtained that for each \(n \geqslant 8\), there exists a contractible \(d\)-complex with \(n\) vertices but without free faces whenever \(d \notin \{1, n- 3, n - 2, n-1 \}\). This result is best possible due to the following statement also established in the paper under review: If \(n \leqslant 7\) or \(d \in \{ 1, n - 3, n - 2, n-1 \}\), then every contractible \(d\)-complex with \(n\) vertices has a free face; in case \(n \leqslant 7\), this statement was established earlier by \textit{B. Bagchi} and \textit{B. Datta} [Discrete Math. 305, No. 1--3, 1--17 (2005; Zbl 1085.57019); corrigendum ibid. 338, No. 4, 569--570 (2015; Zbl 1304.57037)]. (The paper has a flaw which was corrected, after a decade since its publication, in a later paper by the same authors.) In the paper under review, contractibility is established by checking anticollapsibility. An anticollapsible complex is simple-homotopy equivalent to a simplex. Any simplex is collapsible to a vertex and thus is contractible.