Algebraic properties of classes of path ideals of posets (Q393514)

The \(t\)-path ideal of an undirected graph is defined by \textit{A. Conca} and \textit{E. De Negri} [J. Algebra 211, No. 2, 599--624 (1999; Zbl 0924.13012)] to be the squarefree monomial ideal whose generators correspond to the \(t\)-paths in the graph. It is natural to extend this definition to directed graphs and, hence, to posets via the Hasse diagram. The authors study the algebraic properties of these ideals. For arbitrary posets, they prove a lower bound on the Castelnuovo-Mumford regularity of the path ideal. Further, they provide an in-depth study of posets whose Hasse diagrams are trees, chain posets, and cycle posets. In particular, they show the simplicial complex associated to the \(t\)-path ideal of a forest poset is shellable, hence the ideal is sequentially Cohen-Macaulay. For chain and cycle posets, they compute explicit formulae for various algebraic properties. In the final section, the authors consider the ascending and Luce-decomposable models on a graded poset. To these models, there are associated monomial ideals which happen to arise as path ideals of related posets. These ideals are studied extensively for their Betti numbers and other homological invariants.