Why the characteristic polynomial factors (Q4235481)

This beautifully written article surveys methods of proving that characteristic polynomials of finite ranked lattices factor over the nonnegative integers, making connections with graph theory, geometry, algebra and pure combinatorics. It is written in a style which makes it very accessible, while including many new results and listing open problems along the way, as well as containing an extensive bibliography. It was presented at the 35th meeting of the Séminaire Lotharingien de Combinatoire, October 4-6, 1995. The paper starts by introducing the Möbius function \(\mu\) and Möbius Inversion Theory for a poset, by analogy with the number-theoretic Möbius Inversion Theorem. Next, generating functions are introduced, that of \(\mu\) being the characteristic polynomial \(\chi(P,t)\) of the poset \(P\). The characteristic polynomial \(\chi(A,t)\) of a hyperplane arrangement \(A\) is also introduced. In the next three sections, three main techniques for deriving factorizability of characteristic polynomials are given. Firstly, for arrangements embeddable in Weyl arrangements, associated to the Weyl groups, where Zaslavsky's theory of signed graphs is used to relate characteristic polynomials of certain hyperplane arrangements to chromatic polynomials of their associated signed graphs. Secondly, for free arrangements, in which \(\chi(A,t)\) can be completely factored in terms of the degrees of a set of generators of the module of derivations of \(A\). The final method discussed is the combinatorial approach of Stanley, which works on lattices which do not necessarily arise from hyperplane arrangements; this time the nonnegative integer roots arise as cardinalities of certain subsets of the set of atoms of the lattice.