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Linear Extensions of Partially Ordered Sets

Let \PXP be a partially ordered set. A linear order L on X is called a linear extension (also, a topological sort) of P, if x\lt y in L whenever x\lt y in P.

Linear Extensions of Partially Ordered Sets

Let \(\PXP\) be a partially ordered set. A linear order \(L\) on \(X\) is called a linear extension (also, a topological sort) of \(P\), if \(x\lt y\) in \(L\) whenever \(x\lt y\) in \(P\). For example, the table displayed in shows that our familiar example \(\bfP_3\) has11 linear extensions.

The classical sorting problem studied in all elementary computer science courses is to determine an unknown linear order \(L\) of a set \(X\) by asking a series of questions of the form: Is \(x\lt y\) in \(L\)? All the well known sorting algorithms (bubble sort, merge sort, quick sort, ) proceed in this manner.

Here is an important special case: determine an unknown linear extension \(L\) of a poset \(\bfP\) by asking a series of questions of the form: Is \(x \lt y\) in \(L\)?

Now you No calculator settles this one, but the pieces of it are computable. Try one below, or type your own.

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Questions people ask

Permutation or combination?

Ask whether order matters. A lock code is a permutation (order matters); a hand of cards is a combination (it does not).

What is a graph in this sense?

Dots (vertices) joined by lines (edges), not a plot. Road maps, social networks and molecules are graphs; questions like "is there a route" and "how few colours" are graph theory.

Parts of this page are adapted from Keller & Trotter, Applied Combinatorics (CC BY-SA 4.0). Condensed and re-explained here; errors are ours.

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