• 1 Department of Mathematics [Sweden]
• 2 Department of Mathematics
• 3 Department of Mathematics and Physics

We prove the conjecture of A. Postnikov that ($\mathrm{A}$) the number of regions in the inversion hyperplane arrangement associated with a permutation $w \in \mathfrak{S}_n$ is at most the number of elements below $w$ in the Bruhat order, and ($\mathrm{B}$) that equality holds if and only if $w$ avoids the patterns $4231$, $35142$, $42513$ and $351624$. Furthermore, assertion ($\mathrm{A}$) is extended to all finite reflection groups.