Extendability of $1$-decomposable complexes

Abstract

A well-known conjecture of Simon (1994) states that any pure $d$-dimensional shellable complex on $n$ vertices can be extended to $\hat{I}{”}_{n-1}^{(d)}$, the $d$-skeleton of the $(n-1)$-dimensional simplex, by attaching one facet at a time while maintaining shellability. The notion of $k$-decomposability for simplicial complexes, which generalizes shellability, was introduced by Provan and Billera (1980). Coleman, Dochtermann, Geist, and Oh (2022) showed that any pure $d$-dimensional $0$-decomposable complex on $n$ vertices can similarly be extended to $\hat{I}{”}_{n-1}^{(d)}$, attaching one facet at a time while preserving $0$-decomposability. In this paper, we investigate the analogous question for $1$-decomposable complexes. We prove a slightly relaxed version: any pure $d$-dimensional $1$-decomposable complex on $n$ vertices can be extended to $\hat{I}{”}_{n+d-3}^{(d)}$, attaching one facet at a time while maintaining $1$-decomposability.

20 pages. v2 : Lemma 3.4, Example 3.5 fixed v3 : Example 3.12 fixed