No label defined (Q4356136)

Buildings are geometric objects introduced by Jacques Tits in an effort to provide a unified framework in which to study simple groups of Lie type. The simplest examples of buildings are Coxeter complexes (geometric realizations of real reflection groups) for which a good source is \textit{N. Bourbaki}, ``Groupes et algèbres de Lie, Chapitres 4, 5 et 6'', Hermann (1968; Zbl 0186.33001). The standard textbooks on the theory are \textit{K. Brown}, ``Buildings'', Springer-Verlag (1989; Zbl 0715.20017) and \textit{M. Ronan}, ``Lectures on buildings'' Academic Press (1989; Zbl 0694.51001). Unfortunately, they use different definitions of a building and it is an eight page exercise to prove that these two definitions agree. This paper lives up to its title and includes a proof that the two definitions are equivalent. It compensates for its brevity by including a score of diagrams which help to illuminate the text and bring the basic examples to life. It is a ``rough guide'' to buildings of the sort suitable for those who need a basic grounding without having to read a book. Those who are more geometrically minded might also find it useful to refer to the diagrams in this paper when reading the corresponding results in the books. This article is based on a series of lectures given by the author at a workshop ``Harmonic functions on trees and buildings'' held in New York in October 1995. Another introduction to buildings which includes a proof that the two definitions are equivalent and which dates from a similar time is ``Buildings'' by \textit{R. Scharlau} in Handbook of Incidence Geometry, 477-645, North-Holland (1995; Zbl 0841.51005). For the entire collection see [Zbl 0869.00032].