On a conjecture by Kalai (Q480815)

Eisenbud, Greene and Harris [\textit{D. Eisenbud} et al., Astérisque 218, 187--202 (1993; Zbl 0819.14001)] conjectured that for every homogeneous ideal \(I\) in a polynomial ring that contains a regular sequence of degrees \(d_1\leq \cdots \leq d_r\), there is a homogeneous ideal \(J\) with the same Hilbert function as \(I\) and containing the monomials \(x_1^{d_1}, \dots , x_r^{d_r}\). The main result of this paper is the proof of this conjecture for monomial ideals generated in degree two. As a consequence, for every flag Cohen-Macaulay simplicial complex there is a Cohen-Macaulay balanced simplicial complex with the same face numbers. This consequence is the special case of a conjecture made by Kalai (unpublished) and by \textit{J. Eckhoff} [Isr. J. Math. 62, No. 2--3, 283--301 (1988; Zbl 0653.52003)], making the same statement also for simplicial complexes that do not need to have the Cohen-Macaulay property. The Kalai-Eckhoff conjecture was shown by \textit{A. Frohmader} [Isr. J. Math. 164, 153--164 (2008; Zbl 1246.05115)].