Distributive lattices and Auslander regular algebras (Q2078872)

A partially ordered set is called a distributive lattice if every pair of elements in the set admits a join and meet, and the operations of join and meet distribute over each other. The incidence algebra of a finite partially ordered set \(P\) over a field \(K\) is a quotient of the path algebra \(KQ\) of the Hasse quiver \(Q\) of \(P\) by an admissible ideal. The paper under review reduces a problem of lattice theory to a problem in homological algebra by giving a homological characterisation of incidence algebras of distributive lattices. More precisely, the authors proved that a finite lattice is distributive if and only if its incidence algebra is Auslander regular. Furthermore, they show that the incidence algebra of a finite distributive lattice is a diagonal Auslander regular algebra. Auslander regular algebras possess very nice homological properties and they are very common in nature, for instance, it was proven in [\textit{H. Ko} et al., Doc. Math. 26, 1237--1269 (2021; Zbl 1486.16008)] that all blocks of the BGG category \(\mathcal{O}\) are Auslander regular. Diagonal Auslander algebras were introduced by the first author in [\textit{O. Iyama}, Trans. Am. Math. Soc. 357, No. 2, 709--734 (2005; Zbl 1058.16012)] and they can be defined as the finite-dimensional algebras \(A\) with finite global dimension and whose non-zero direct summands of the injective module \(I^i\), in the minimal injective coresolution \(0\rightarrow A\rightarrow I^0\rightarrow I^1 \rightarrow \cdots\rightarrow ,\) have projective dimension \(i\) for all non-negative numbers \(i\). As the second main result of the paper, the authors show that the global dimension of the incidence algebra of a finite distributive lattice with at least two elements coincides with the order dimension studied in [\textit{B. Dushnik} and \textit{E. W. Miller}, Am. J. Math. 63, 600--610 (1941; JFM 67.0157.01)]. As a consequence, the global dimension of the incidence algebra of a finite distributive lattice is independent of the underlying field. The main tool in both results is the use of explicit projective resolutions, which are constructed by the authors, of the injective and simple modules over an incidence algebra of a finite lattice. For the second main result, the authors use in addition a result of [\textit{R. P. Dilworth}, Ann. Math. (2) 51, 161--166 (1950; Zbl 0038.02003)]. As an application of their main result, the authors establish that a certain permutation of the simple modules over an Auslander regular algebra, called grade bijection, categorifies a bijection on the distributive lattice of order ideals of a poset known as rowmotion bijection studied in [\textit{J. Striker} and \textit{N. Williams}, Eur. J. Comb. 33, No. 8, 1919--1942 (2012; Zbl 1260.06004)].