Discrete Mathematics & Theoretical Computer Science |
We study a natural generalization of the noncrossing relation between pairs of elements in $[n]$ to $k$-tuples in $[n]$. We show that the flag simplicial complex on $\binom{[n]}{k}$ induced by this relation is a regular, unimodular and flag triangulation of the order polytope of the poset given by the product $[k] \times [n-k]$ of two chains, and it is the join of a simplex and a sphere (that is, it is a Gorenstein triangulation). This shows the existence of a flag simplicial polytope whose Stanley-Reisner ideal is an initial ideal of the Graßmann-Plücker ideal, while previous constructions of such a polytope did not guaranteed flagness. The simplicial complex and the polytope derived from it naturally reflect the relations between Graßmannians with different parameters, in particular the isomorphism $G_{k,n} \cong G_{n-k,n}$. This simplicial complex is closely related to the weak separability complex introduced by Zelevinsky and Leclerc.