Bounds on the number of compatible \(k\)-simplices matching the orientation of the \((k-1)\)-skeleton of a simplex (Q822644)

The authors extend the notion of tournaments to orientation of the \((k - 1)\)-skeleton of an \((n - 1)\)-dimensional simplex as follows. For a set \(X\) of cardinality \(n\) let \(\Lambda^k(X)\) be the set of all \(k\)-tuples of distinct elements from \(X\). An orientation \(s\) of \(\Lambda^k(X)\) is a function \(s:\Lambda^k(X)\longrightarrow \{1, -1\}\) such that for all permutations \(\pi\in S_k\) we have \(s(x_{\pi(1)}, x_{\pi(2)}, \dots, x_{\pi(k)}) = (-1)^{\pi}s(x_1, x_2, \dots, x_k)\), where \((-1)^{\pi}\) denotes the sign of the permutation \({\pi}\). Then \((x_1, x_2, \dots, x_k)\) will be seen as an oriented \((k - 1)\)-dimensional simplex in the \((k - 1)\)-dimensional skeleton of the \((n - 1)\)-dimensional simplex with vertex set \(X\). The notion of an orientation of \(\Lambda^2(X)\) is equivalent to the notion of a tournament \(T\) on the complete graph on the vertex set \(X\).\par The authors ask for the maximal number of \(k\)-simplices whose boundary matches the orientation, extending the question on the upper bound of the number of directed 3-cycles of a tournament. In the general case they give polynomial upper and lower bounds. For the case \(k = 3\) they improve the lower bound. Furthermore, this lower bound reaches the upper bound when \(n\) or \(n-1\) is a prime power congruent to 3 modulo 4.