On the rank of incidence matrices in projective Hjelmslev spaces (Q398975)

The authors prove a partial generalization of the following result [\textit{W. M. Kantor}, Math. Z. 124, 315--318 (1972; Zbl 0228.50022)]: Let \(\Omega\) be a finite \(n-1\)-dimensional projective space and \(0\leq s< t\leq n- s- 1\). Let \({\mathcal S}\) be the set of all \(s\)-dimensional and \({\mathcal T}\) the set of all \(t\)-dimensional subspaces of \(\Omega\) and \(M_{s,t}\) the incidence matrix given by \({\mathcal S}\), \({\mathcal T}\) (incidence given by \(\subseteq\)). Then the rank of the \(\mathbb{Q}\)-matrix \(M_{s,t}\) is \(|{\mathcal S}|\). The present article considers the projective Hjelmslev space \(\Omega\) given by the module \(R^n\), where \(n\in\mathbb{N}\) and \(R\) is a finite chain ring (so \(|R|= q^m\), where \(R/\text{Rad\,}R\) is isomorphic to the field with \(q\) elements; and the ideals of \(R\) have the form \(R\Theta^i= \Theta^i R\) for some \(\Theta\in\text{Rad\,}R\setminus(\text{Rad\,}R)^2\) and \(i\in\{1,\dots,m- 1\}\)). The structure of \(R\)-submodules in \(R^n\) is well-known and given by the `shape' \(\lambda= (\lambda_n)\in\mathbb{N}^n_0\), where \(m\geq\lambda_1\geq\cdots\geq \lambda_n\). Notation: \(\lambda\preceq\mu\) when \(\lambda_i\leq \mu_i\) for all \(i\); further, \({\mathbf m}^s:= (m,\dots,m,0,\dots,0)\in\mathbb{N}^n\) (where \(m \in\mathbb{N}\) appears \(s\) times). Main Theorem: Let \(s\in\mathbb{N}\) and \(\tau= (\tau_1,\dots, \tau_n)\) a shape such that \({\mathbf m}^s\preceq\tau\preceq{\mathbf m}^{n-2}\). Let \({\mathcal S}\) denote the set of all subspaces of shape \({\mathbf m}^s\) and \({\mathcal T}\) the set of all subspaces of shape \(\tau\). Then the rank of the incidence matrix assigned to \({\mathcal S}\), \({\mathcal T}\) is \(|{\mathcal S}|\). An example shows that a similar result is not true when \({\mathbf m}^s\) is replaced by an arbitrary shape.