No label defined (Q4348362)

A maximal flag of \({\mathbb R}^n\) is a sequence \(F=(F_1\subset\cdots\subset F_n)\), where \(F_i\) is a subvector space of \({\mathbb R}^n\) of dimension \(i\). Two such flags \(F\) and \(G\) are called transversal, if \[ \dim F_i\cap G_j = \begin{cases} i+j-n,&\text{ if }i+j\geq n,\\ 0, &\text{ if }i+j<n.\end{cases} \] The set \(U_F\) of all flags transversal to \(F\) is an open Schubert cell. The main result of the paper identifies the number \(N_n\) of connected components of the intersection \(U_F\cap U_G\) for two transversal flags \(F\) and \(G\), with the number of orbits of a certain finite group acting on some \({\mathbb F}_2\)-vector space. For \(n=3\), \(4\) and \(5\) one gets \(6\), \(20\) and \(52\) for \(N_n\), respectively. Based on computer calculations, the authors conjecture that this number should be \(N_n=3\cdot 2^{n-1}\) if \(n>5\).