Forbidden configurations and subframe varieties (Q331025)

A finite poset \(P\) is a forbidden configuration in a Priestley space \(X\) if \(P\) is not isomorphic to a subposet of \(X\) (in symbols, \(P \not\hookrightarrow X\)); and \(\mathcal{H}(P)\) denotes the set \(\{A \in \mathsf{Heyt} \;: \;P \not\hookrightarrow A_* \}\) If \(P\) is a finite rooted poset, \(\mathcal{S}(P)\) denotes a class of Heyting algebras \(B\) such that \(P\) is not a continuous bounded image of a subframe of the dual \(B_*\) of \(B\). Class \(\mathcal{S}(P)\) forms a variety. Such varieties and their intersections are called subframe varieties. It is proven that if \(P\) is a finite tree, then \(\mathcal{H}(P) = \mathcal{S}(P)\). Moreover, \(\mathcal{H}(P)\) is a variety and the equational theory of \(\mathcal{H}(P)\) is decidable. In addition, for a finite rooted poset \(P\), the class \(\mathcal{H}(P)\) is a variety iff \(P\) is a tree (comp. [\textit{R. N. Ball} et al., Appl. Categ. Struct. 15, No. 5--6, 457--472 (2007; Zbl 1134.06011)]).