A matrix approach to the structure, enumeration, and applications of partially ordered sets

Abstract

We present a matrix-theoretic approach for studying and enumerating finite posets through their incidence representations, referred to as poset matrices. Naturally labelled posets are encoded as Boolean lower triangular matrices, allowing a unified treatment of Birkhoff problem on non-isomorphic posets and Dedekind problem on antichains. A key idea is a systematic construction and indexing of poset matrices as principal submatrices of the binary Pascal matrix, leading to new structural insights through permutation similarity and domination relations. This approach provides a consistent matrix-based perspective on classical enumeration problems in poset theory.