On chains in the Tamari lattice

The Tamari lattice T(n) was originally defined on bracketings of a set of n+1 objects, with a cover relation based on the associativity rule in one direction. Since then it has been studied in various areas of mathematics including cluster algebras, discrete geometry, algebraic combinatorics, and Catalan theory. Although in several related lattices the number of maximal chains is known, the enumeration of these chains in Tamari lattices is still an open problem.

This dissertation defines a partially-ordered set on equivalence classes of certain saturated chains of T(n) called the Tamari Block poset, TB(lambda). It further proves TB(lambda) is a graded lattice. It then shows for lambda = (n-1,...,2,1) TB(lambda) is anti-isomorphic to the Higher Stasheff-Tamari orders in dimension 3 on n+2 elements. It also investigates enumeration questions involving TB(lambda), and proves other structural results along the way.