A proof of Frankl's union-closed sets conjecture for dismantlable lattices (Q334974)

The famous Frankl union-closed sets conjecture states that if \({\mathcal F}\) is a family of subsets of a finite set \(X\), \(| \mathcal F| \geqslant 2\) and \(\mathcal F\) is union-closed, i.e. \(F\cup G\in {\mathcal F}\) whenever \(F\in {\mathcal F}\) and \(G\in {\mathcal F}\), then there is some element \(x\in X\) which is in at least \(| {\mathcal F}| /2\) sets in \({\mathcal F}\). An equivalent formulation in terms of lattices is that for every finite lattice \(L\) with \(| L| \geq 2\) there is a join-irreducible element \(j\) (i.e. an element \(j\) such that \(j=a\vee b \Rightarrow j=a\) or \(j=b\)) for which \(| \{x\in L: j\leq x\}| \leq | L| /2\). In the paper under review, the authors prove the lattice formulation for the special case of dismantlable lattices (a generalisation of planar lattices). The authors pose at the end of their paper the open question of whether the lattice formulation of Frankl's conjecture holds for the broader class of 2-distributive lattices.